Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

69% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings

Oklahoma City Police Detective Grace Hanadarko has an angel on her shoulder - and boy, is she peeved about it. Since making it through devastating tragedy in her life, Grace lives life on the edge. She's brilliant in her job but makes very bad mistakes with her men. One night, driving far too fast after far too many drinks, Grace sideswipes a pedestrian. Crawling shakily from her car, Grace gasps out a plea for help, a cry that is answered by Earl, her tobacco-chewing "last chance angel."

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Saving Grace — Season 1

Saving Grace — Season 1

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Critics Consensus

Saving Grace, though trying to balance too many elements all at once, shines through with Holly Hunter, combined with some outstanding scripts that master the show's dark tone.

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Critics Reviews

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Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Barry Garron Hollywood Reporter The main reason to watch can only be Holly Hunter... Although she's a prisoner of the material, her performance is so good that it can distract you from this otherwise simplistic take on a complex issue. Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel [Holly] Hunter excels as a hard-drinking cynic. Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Matthew Gilbert Boston Globe All the warnings about damnation are particularly odd on a show that's as explicit as some of FX's racier dramas. They ring hollow on a show that's so marvelously textured, with filmic cinematography that brings the rural Midwest to life. Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Ed Bark Uncle Barky Saving Grace looks as though it can make it through many nights on the strength of Hunter's full-tilt performance. A lot is packed into its first uneven hour. Burning at its core, though, is a character that makes this show crackle. Rated: B+ Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Frances Grant New Zealand Herald It is not afraid to ask the big questions about God and evil. It is just hard to pick whether it's heaven Saving Grace is trying to raise, or hell. Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Christopher Lawrence Las Vegas Review-Journal "Saving Grace" doesn't have a prayer. Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Tomorrow I SPOILERS ABOUND BELOW ON ALL 3 SEASONS.Watched all three seasons of this show on Hulu. I'm a huge holly Hunter fan and think that she is almost infinitely talented and, as an added bonus, gorgeous.Grace is a fascinating character, with her "last chance angel" Earl (played amazingly by Leon Rippy) playing off of each other with humor tinged with sadness. Grace, a gifted detective (I've yet to see a detective as hot as most of the ones on TV, lol) is objectively a mess in her personal life. And by "mess," I'm being gender neutral, because a guy living her lifestyle (HARD drinking, sex out the wazoo, affairs with married coworkers) would be labelled the same. The show is meh. When it focuses on the premise, it's interesting, but the cases that Grace goes on are formulaic and predictable. Every once in awhile a supernatural event occurs (aside from when Earl appears, as only Grace can see him except in rare occasions he allows others to), but the terrestrial cases Grace works on arent head scratchers: it's the usual "Walker: Texas Ranger" villain of the week, with a perfectly timed confession in the final 6-10 minutes.I give the show 2.5 stars because the part that WAS interesting (Grace and her purpose and how it connects with the supernatural) just didn't pay off after 3 seasons of waiting for it to do so.Leon can intervene, but the rules on when he can/can't, will/won't seem to be arbitrary. He doesn't know why God has chosen her to receive his support any more than she does. There's a running sight gag about God being a dog with a giant lolling tongue... Don't know why that was or where it came from.Hunter kills it as Grace, showing a character with nuance, depth, and flaws. It's when she's playing Grace when GRACE is undercover that sometimes elicits groans, like when Hunter played a hassidic Jewish wife, or a junkie. Not the best scenes.There's also a character NAMED "Leon" who grace hits with her car in a drunk driving accident early on, but Earl intervenes and somehow he's in death row for another murder and somehow he and Grace are linked. Why? No idea. Doesn't pay off at all.Around Season 3, they introduce an evil character, alleged Satan or Satan-adjacent. This character comes out of nowhere and they retcon events from Grace's life to attach to him as the source of some consistent negative force... Every meaningfully bad thing that's happened in her life, it's this characters fault.Except he only shows up in the last few episodes of the final season so you don't really have time to build up a dislike for him before he's the embodiment of everything Grace is not. I spoiled a lot here but I'm not going to spoil the very end. That said, it's undercooked, abrupt, and anticlimactic.Great premise, done "meh." Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/09/23 Full Review Lee H I loved every episode. I loved each character. There is something very loveable about this cast. Almost as endearing as the FIREFLY cast. I love Holly Hunter and she's fabulous as Grace. But the rest of this ensemble was a nice surprise. Everyone carries their own and helps to execute a master class on how to entertain. When an episode airs on TV, I still watch the whole thing. I know what's going to happen but it's like slipping on an old fuzzy robe. Saving Grace is my comfort level. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/25/22 Full Review Read all reviews

Saving Grace — Season 1

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Cast & Crew

Holly Hunter Grace Hanadarko Leon Rippy Earl Kenny Johnson Ham Dewey Bailey Chase Butch Ada Bokeem Woodbine Leon Cooley Laura San Giacomo Rhetta Rodriguez
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Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Jul 23, 2007 Pilot The Oklahoma City police search for a young girl who has been abducted; fast-living police detective Grace Hanadarko meets an unconventional angel named Earl. Details Episode 2 Aired Jul 30, 2007 Bring It On, Earl The detectives investigate the murder of an oilman; Grace's friendship with Butch puts strain on her relationship with Ham; Lt. Yukon's brother has information about the case. Details Episode 3 Aired Aug 1, 2007 Bless Me Father, for I Have Sinned Grace clashes with a Roman Catholic priest when a woman suspected of murdering a sleazy motel manager takes refuge in his church. Details Episode 4 Aired Aug 13, 2007 Keep Your Damn Wings Off My Nephew A key witness in a murder trial stays with Grace for protection; Grace lashes out at Earl when she has a vision of her nephew talking to Leon. Details Episode 5 Aired Aug 20, 2007 Would You Want Me to Tell You The squad investigates the theft of a bull statue; Grace's Aunt Cathy arrives for a celebration to honor Grace's father. Details Episode 6 Aired Aug 27, 2007 And You Wonder Why I Lie A reporter is found dead with a newspaper stuffed in her mouth; Earl challenges Grace about her lying. Details Episode 7 Aired Sep 3, 2007 Yeehaw, Geepaw The body of an American Indian veteran is found buried face down; Grace seeks help from her grandfather and learns he has Alzheimer's disease. Details Episode 8 Aired Sep 10, 2007 Everything's Got a Shelf Life An officer dies while trying to apprehend a killer; Leon spends time with his son. Details Episode 9 Aired Sep 17, 2007 A Language of Angels Evidence at a murder scene reminds Grace of a crime that happened 11 years ago; Rhetta visits Leon in order to gather information in support of her hypothesis about Earl. Details Episode 10 Aired Dec 3, 2007 It's Better When I Can See You Grace becomes trapped with a victim while she is at the site of a disaster. Details Episode 11 Aired Dec 10, 2007 This Is Way Too Normal for You A concerned citizen shoots a robber at a drive-in diner; Grace begins dating the atheistic son of her elderly neighbor. Details Episode 12 Aired Dec 17, 2007 Is There a Scarlet Letter on My Breast? The squad prepares for a murder suspect's hotshot attorney; Grace learns that Rhetta is keeping secrets about Earl. Details Episode 13 Aired Dec 18, 2007 Taco, Tulips, Duck and Spices A rape kit and pictures of Grace's sister are found in the remains of a charred car. Details

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Photos

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Saving Grace — Season 1

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Director
Tom McLoughlin, David Von Ancken, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Guy Ferland, Tricia Brock

Executive Producer
Nancy Miller, Gary A. Randall, Artie Mandelberg, Lori-Etta Taub

Screenwriter
Nancy Miller, Annie Brunner, Hans Tobeason

Network
TNT

Rating
TV-MA (L)

Genre
Crime, Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date
Jul 23, 2007
Saving Grace: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)
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