I Like to Watch

Although William fits the half-crazy fallen hero to a T, just how lovable is a hero who tells his school-age kids that he was pushing dope in a room next door as his daughter was being born? Are we supposed to think he's being courageous and honest by making his daughter feel crappy about the first day of her life, or that he's disturbed but still plucky and lovable?

It's so hard to tell sometimes. Either way, the grandiose dialogue doesn't begin and end with William. His son Ben (Brett DelBuono), who is justifiably suspicious of his dad's habit of addressing God loudly at every turn, tells him, "I just want to make sure you're not banking this family's future on the idea of someone who doesn't even exist."

Did you hear that, God? That teenage boy actually referred to his family's future. Lord, why can't you send us all such wise and sophisticated teenagers, to replace these squirming, perpetually texting goons who would rather eat live maggots than consider either their families or their futures for more than a millisecond?

Sadly, there's no relief from William's wife, Melissa (Amy Price-Francis), who reprises the same old "Your obsessive devotion to this cause is driving us apart!" routine that Teri Garr mastered 30 years ago.

At the end of the (long, cliché-riddled) day, "The Cleaner" is another variation on the same summer-cable-drama formula that we've seen handled better elsewhere. We start with a kooky, daring lead played by a high-profile actor or actress ("The Closer," "Damages," "Burn Notice"), throw in episodic story lines, a gimmick (He speaks out loud to God!) and a central problem (He might lose his family!). Unfortunately, the writing choices here are easy and obvious. By the time William forgets to take his daughter to dance practice and gives the rookie cop a hot tip, it's clear that outside of Boomer prancing around in hot pants, there's nothing new to see here.

Angles on angels
Of course, even stories as old as the hills can feel fresh and interesting when the writing is smart enough. Just look at our buddy Grace Hanadarko (Holly Hunter) of "Saving Grace" (second season premieres 10 p.m. Monday, July 14, on TNT). Here's a devil-may-care renegade character played by a high-profile actress in a summer cable drama who nonetheless continues to charm our stinky socks right off.

And look, Grace doesn't just talk to God, she actually interacts with a guardian angel, Earl (Leon Rippy of "Deadwood"). That alone should make this show downright suspect, if not utterly intolerable. She's a self-sacrificing public servant and a bold, courageous hero in the Oklahoma City police department with a dark past: Her sister died in the Oklahoma City bombing, and she was molested by a priest when she was 9 years old. How many ripped-from-the-headlines plotlines can you cram into one character's back story anyway?

But Hunter is just so good and the writing is subtle enough that we're willing to go along for the ride, from those looming-tornado opening credits to the last scene of each episode, in which a new heartstrings-plucking tragedy is neatly and satisfyingly resolved. Even when Grace puts on a red cape and is carried through her office on the backs of her adoring fellow detectives, even when she swills whiskey and dances around with a loaded gun in the second season premiere, she has our full attention. This woman serves up a tough but fragile heroine whom you can't help but care about.

I've thoroughly enjoyed every episode I've ever watched of this show, whether it concerned Grace's adulterous affair with Ham (Kenneth Johnson, best known as Lem from "The Shield") or yet another sad case that Grace ended up getting way too emotionally invested in. Even when the overarching story is a little much, with its clear villains and melodramatic scenarios (the school-bus company that skimps on maintenance, causing the death of a bunch of children, for example), Hunter sells it all with her scratchy-voiced, understated rage and sadness.

Best of all, not every aspect of the story is spelled out in the broad, obvious strokes you'd find in a lesser drama like "The Cleaner." We're left to draw our own conclusions, whether they concern the motivations of criminals or of Grace's mother. When Grace tells her mother (played by Jessica Walter of "Arrested Development") that Father Murphy, a trusted member of her church when she was growing up, molested her when she was 9, and that Murphy's now in jail for the crime, her mother stares at her blankly, then says, with feeling, "Please be careful, honey. The church has been through so much." We're not supposed to think that her mother is completely insane or evil, she just has big blind spots in her perspective -- you know, like most parents.

Sweet, elusive parental empathy! Isn't that why we turn to the notion of guardian angels to begin with? But despite this guardian angel gimmick, the God of "Saving Grace" remains mysterious and enigmatic, even to his right-hand man, Earl. God seems to have very little to say to Grace or anyone else. He isn't a personal buddy or a scapegoat; he's an emotionally remote, confusing boss.

Ah, yes. Now that's the God we know so well! We turn to him in our darkest hours ... and when he doesn't answer us, we find a cold bottle of beer, listen to a Gillian Welch song, and sit by the window to feel the summer breezes blow in at dusk.