Cast: · Holly Hunter · Leon Rippy Grade: A

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The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. -- Thomas Henry Huxley, 1825-1895

For three seasons, Grace Hanadarko (Holly Hunter) has been wrestling like Jacob with her angel -- a literal angel named Earl (Leon Rippy). And now, with Grace finally willing to explore just what divine purpose God might have for her life -- due in part to miraculously surviving a twelve-story fall, uninjured, and on live broadcast -- it would seem that the other cosmic team has decided to come onto the field and make their play.

Grace took her sacrificial swan-dive trying to save Neely (Yaani King), a young drug addict whom Earl has charged Grace to protect, insisting their fates are intertwined. But now that Neely (who also survived without injury) has her proof that God loves her, she also claims to have received a message from On High, a message she gives to Earl: Grace is about to die. Earl, of course, hasn't received that message, and one would think that if anyone would have gotten it, he would have. "I work for God, not you," he rebuffs her.

Two Angels Walk Into a Bar... While Earl consults, a darker presence awaits. (L-R: Leon Rippy, Carol Rippy, Gordan MacDonald. Photo (c) 2010 Erik Heinila)

Indeed, that seems to be the case, as we catch glimpses of a tall, blonde and sinister type (played by Hunter's real-life boyfriend, Gordan MacDonald) who continues to show up throughout the episode, as the weather around Oklahoma City gets more ominous by degrees. With Grace totally tanked on tequila and ready to hear God's message directly, the two characters are on a collision course of disastrous proportions, attracted to each other immensely and for all the wrong reasons.

As a backdrop to the cosmic, the OCPD find themselves investigating a case of murder-by-canine when a woman is mauled to death by a German Shepherd while jogging. Her friend witnesses the crime, and reports that a man recorded the whole thing on camera, sending our peripheral players into the underground world of dogfighting as they seek out their man.

This is the final season of Saving Grace, and it looks as though the producers are gearing up to send this one out with a cosmic bang. Now more than ever fans will want to stay tuned in to find out what's in store for Grace Hanadarko.

Saving Grace, "Let's Talk" airs Monday, March 29, 2010, 10|9c on TNT.