Most of its first season, “Saving Grace” was a police procedural with a little “It’s a Wonderful Life” mixed in: Somewhere down the line, Grace Hanadarko, the hard-drankin’, rough-lovin’ detective was going to come to terms with the angel, Earl, who keeps showing up to challenge her to think a little about her salacious ways. Grace is going to not only find God, but get right with Him. This week, I’m not so sure.
When the tall, handsome but slightly creepy Jack showed up on last night’s episode—he’s the nephew of the old gent next door who catches carefree glimpses of Grace in the bathroom—my first thought was not budding romance but that Grace was going to be the target of an attempted sex crime. My second thought was, cripes, they can’t have run out of ideas this fast. Every female detective since the invention of the cathode ray tube has had to see what if feels like to be the victim, but usually the trope turns up in the out years, when the writers have gotten bored.