Perpetual Grace, LTD season 1, episode 5 recap: Wandering Left

Perpetual Grace, LTD filled in a lot of blanks with “Wandering Left.” We know how our heroes got here and what troubles are waiting for them. Check out the recap!

Steve Conrad (Patriot) and Bruce Terris (Patriot) spent the first four episodes of Perpetual Grace, LTD telling a dark, deeply gratifying story. It essentially aimed every character at each other in some kind of beautiful death match for the ages. Some of those showdowns are starting to take place. Some of them promise to be heavyweight battles to the death. Others will putter out quickly but lead to more fun. We’re halfway through the season. We’re deep in the story, but we’re just getting started.

Speedy Socks and Right Turns

Valerie Spoonts (Dana DeLorenzo) has already played a major role in Perpetual Grace, LTD. She hasn’t needed a lot of screen time to do so. In “Eleven,” she drops James (Jimmi Simpson) off to start his con. The ankle bracelet gifted to her by Hector (Luis Guzman) has fueled much of the Glenn (Dash Williams) and James relationship. It’s why they’re in Mexico now. But how did she come to be referred to as Hector’s Angel?

Well, Hector started to gain weight. His wife started to make light of his weight gain. Ever the family man, Hector decided to get into humiliation porn. Yes. That’s totally a thing. Hector claims he did it to be a good husband, but, like a drug, he became addicted to it. Valerie tells him that’s the dumbest thing ever, and she’s being honest with him. She’s also happy it’s Hector’s truth.

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You see, back at the North American Sheriff Convention, Valerie scoped out possible targets. She noticed Hector watching porn on his laptop at the hotel buffet. When he got up for a small plate, Valerie swooped in and found that he was watching an amateur guy be humiliated by a woman in glasses. That’s all she needed. When Hector goes to get on an elevator, Valerie is there waiting. Hair perfect. Glasses on point. She introduces herself by immediately going in on Hector’s manhood and tells him that his neck fat looks like a pack of hot dogs. Hector is stunned. Not by embarrassment and anger. By love and the rush of blood.

Perpetual Grace, LTD-Luis Guzman as Hector-Courtesy of Epix

We find out that Valerie is a car salesperson. She’s equal parts Jerry Lundegaard from Fargo and Gloria Trillo from The Sopranos. She has plans and she has attitude. But unlike the doomed-from-the-start Jerry or Gloria, Valerie is cold, calculated, and confident. If a plan fails or a mark realizes the con, she’ll wiggle out of trouble and move on to the next caper.

We never see the moment she asks Hector to join the Allen plan. We don’t need to. In a chilling scene, Valerie keeps her voice bouncy but uses a monotone to jab three horrifying insults that would make me cry. Then, in a higher voice that cracks just the right amount, she asks Hector to run away with her. Man, alive. Hector had no chance. He’s being offered the opportunity to help the woman who holds all power over him. How can he say no?

In one of the greatest sex scenes ever, we see Valerie’s leg hanging off the bed. That’s all we see. Both lovers question whether or not the act has actually started, which means both are throwing eclipse level shade at each other. Does Valerie take her sock all the way off or put it back on? Is Hector the man for this con? She ultimately decides he is. Later on, in a sauna, the heat is literally on and Valerie makes the hard sell to Hector. We never see him agree. Again, we never have to.

We’re About Positive Reinforcement

Before James assumed the identity of Paul Allen Brown (Damon Herriman), he was a whacked out lost soul. He still is, but he’s on a mission. A mission to provide for the eleven daughters he made orphans when he went AWOL from the fire department during a fire. We get real insight into his ability to confront a disaster and just keep moving. Valerie and Paul Allen are sitting in the back of a car inside the dealership. They need a disillusioned man to play a big role in their con. Valerie hasn’t found one yet.

Perpetual Grace, LTD-Wandering Left-Courtesy of Epix

Just then, James drives through the front window of the dealership. He had wanted to trade in his car and give the money to the orphans. Now, he suggests to all the shocked employees that he just leave the car as payment for the damage he’s done. Then he steals a test drive car. Valerie, unlike her co-workers, is not shocked and knows she’s found the perfect man for the con.

In present-day Mexico, the Special Boys have missed the last bus back to New Mexico. They decide to eat at Chili’s. In the promo for this week’s episode, we see New Leaf (Chris Conrad) with two Chili’s pagers. I thought this was some kind of switch situation. But, not on Perpetual Grace, LTD. New Leaf simply mixed up which Chili’s pager let him know when their table was ready and which pager let him know his parents were dead.

Jimmi Simpson and Chris Conrad share one of the best-acted scenes in recent memory. James and New Leaf are explaining to Glenn exactly what kind of gang the Special Boys are. It looks completely improvised. Simpson and Conrad play and bounce ideas off of each other and genuinely seem to be putting their issues aside to make Glenn feel better.

A Picture Tells a Thousand Words

Wesley Walker, Texas Ranger (Terry O’Quinn) is disgusted by Dave (Kurtwood Smith). After he shakes hands with the child botherer, Walker, Texas Ranger washes them. But he’s determined to use him for information in tracking down Paul Allen Brown. He believes that Paul Allen killed a young girl years back and that he’s kidnapped the missing Glenn.

But what he really needs is the picture that shows the real Paul Allen. Dave holds onto it at a bar. Walker, Texas Ranger doesn’t go for it. When he’s handed the picture, he gets a call from his daughter. When he accepts the picture, he puts it in an evidence folder. While he’s driving, the picture falls out of the folder and under the seat of his car. When Dave hands him a box of correspondence from Paul Allen, there are no pictures included. But there’s enough evidence to issue a warrant for James, which is executed at the end of “Wandering Left.” Any talk of Special Boys is about to sound really bad to law enforcement.

A Black Belt with Cool Secret Lines in It

Ma (Jackie Weaver) is left in a grave by Hector. He sticks a real piece of wild straw into the dirt to help funnel air into the grave for Ma. But, a horse or donkey walks by and eats it. Hector can do nothing right. He’s in a mad dash to get back home to his kids before Pa (Sir Ben Kingsley) gets them. But he’s already way too late. Pa is where we left him last week. In line at the Father’s Day Show-And-Tell.

As he nears his turn, Pa wants to pull out his gun and forcibly kidnap the boys. But, another parent walks in the room: a cop. Pa improvises by giving an epic, near episode long speech about how he is the boys’ real father. He met their mother in Honduras. He had to kill all of his captives, but he promises to be around now. The boys will enjoy video games because they enhance hand and eye coordination. They will consume massive amounts of pornography because it will help them gain girlfriends.

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My favorite part of this is that the boys buy it and love it. This is the action man they want for their father. And the class is captivated. The other boys stare in amazement. The girls gaze with their heads in their hands. At the end of the day, the boys gladly go with Pa in the back of the ice cream truck. They are now in mortal danger.

For that matter, so is Ma. She can’t be getting a lot of air. Any rain would basically drown her. And she’s using up what air she has by yelling for Pa. The second half of Perpetual Grace, LTD is going to feature a lot of showdowns. I can’t wait to see where they take me next week.

Are you enjoying Perpetual Grace, LTD? What did you think of Valerie Spoonts? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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