I’ve been watching “Saving Grace” since the pilot aired, and the show is so well-written, well-acted, and edgy that it converted me to become a Holly Hunter fan. Though the show’s angel-spirituality side can get a bit syrupy at times for my taste, overall the characters and episode plots are so engaging, I overlook those times when the show crosses the line (in my opinion) into the realm of cheesiness.

Aside from Earl the angel (Leon Rippy), who I can take or leave depending on the moment, one of my favorite parts of the show is how the writers have developed Grace’s large and complicated, blue collar Catholic family. This serves as the show’s best vehicle in teasing out Grace’s relationship to the faith she grew up with and her waffling between ambivalence and awe in her life now (I think).

In particular, Grace’s brother Father Johnny stands out as a wonderfully- layered portrait of a priest who is both good but flawed, though he always meaning well. The latest episode, “Watch Siggybaby Burn,” features Father Johnny and other members of Grace’s family. To watch Grace, her brothers, and her nephew navigate an attack on their family is intense and moving and not to be missed. My only wish for the show is that they’d spend more time on family and faith–and a little less on Earl.