Perpetual Grace LTD

In the premiere of this modern noir drama series, Pastor Byron Brown, known as Pa (Ben Kingsley) sees drug addict James (Jimmi Simpson) collapsed on a deserted roadway. Pa and Ma (Jacki Weaver) bring him back to their secluded ranch in Half Acre, NM, where Pa places James on a fitness regimen. When Pa and Ma tell James about their rotten son Paul Allen Brown (Damon Herriman), who’s gone missing, James offers to find Paul. James reports that Paul is in Hermosillo, Mexico, so the couple drive across the border. Unknown to them, back in Half Acre, James applies for a license under the identity of Paul Allen Brown, which leads to the appearance of Texas Ranger Wesley Walker (Terry O’Quinn), who’s been pursuing Paul. In flashbacks, we find out about James’s guilt over his past as a disgraced firefighter, as well as the plan Paul proposed to James to assume Paul’s identity so the two could gain possession of the proceeds from Pa and Ma’s corrupt church fund, Our Lady of Perpetual Grace, LTD.

In Mexico’s Cereso Prison, Pa (Ben Kingsley) is separated from Ma (Jacki Weaver) by Sheriff Hector Contreras (Luis Guzman). Hector drives the handcuffed Pa towards Monterrey in a fake ice-cream truck, as Pa devises a painful escape strategy. In Half Acre, James (Jimmi Simpson) encounters ex-convict New Leaf (Chris Conrad) while detained in jail. Wesley (Terry O’Quinn) interrogates James, who’s posing as Paul Allen Brown, about a long-ago murder after which Paul went missing. James asks church accountant Scotty Sholes (Hana Mae Lee) about accessing church funds, now that Pa and Ma are gone. At a highway rest stop, James and the real Paul Allen Brown (Damon Herriman) have a clandestine meeting to plan their next move, and Paul reveals his magic skills. In flashbacks, we find out about how convicted felon New Leaf originally landed in jail.

In Mexico, Pa (Ben Kingsley) outmaneuvers Sheriff Hector Contreras (Luis Guzman), hijacking the ice-cream truck. In Half Acre, James (Jimmi Simpson) and the real Paul Allen Brown (Damon Herriman) orchestrate James getting intentionally bitten by a rattlesnake in hopes of James having his ankle bracelet removed. Wesley (Terry O’Quinn) befriends Uncle Dave (Kurtwood Smith), showing Dave unexpected respect. Local ruffian New Leaf (Chris Conrad), believing James to be Paul Allen Brown, threatens to kill James if he doesn’t return the money Pa and Ma stole from New Leaf’s parents. In Houston, coroner Felipe Usted (Efren Ramirez) pursues his dream of becoming an astronaut so he can rise above the forces that drag humanity down, and wonders if an unnatural death occurs because of a choice to become a good man or a bad one?

Pa (Ben Kingsley) drives the fake ice-cream truck to Hector’s house in Hermosillo, where he trails Hector’s sons to school. Hector (Luis Guzman) catches Ma (Jacki Weaver) escaping from the Hermosillo prison. James (Jimmi Simpson) rides a Greyhound bus to Houston, where he interrupts coroner Felipe’s (Efren Ramirez) astronaut training. Felipe regrets that once he could have climbed the sky and lived above the world, but now he has ahead of him only death. Regret also preoccupies James and Hector, who realize their plan is ruining lives. James boards a bus for Mexico in search of the missing Glenn (Dash Williams), who he tasked with depositing money into Hector’s bank account. New Leaf (Chris Conrad) shadows James.

Repercussions of fatherhood rise to the surface on Father’s Day, as Pa (Ben Kingsley) follows Hector’s sons into their classroom in Hermosillo, Mexico, and impresses them. James (Jimmi Simpson) tries to connect with his astronaut father, then travels to Hermosillo, where he guides young Glenn (Dash William) out of the desert and into El Banco Nacional. New Leaf (Chris Conrad) tags behind. Hector (Luis Guzman) commiserates with his mistress (Dana DeLorenzo) on his cell phone from the deserted field where he brought Ma (Jacki Weaver). In Half Acre, Wesley (Terry O’Quinn) continues his quest for an arrest warrant for Paul Brown. In England, Donny DeLoash (Timothy Spall) applies for a passport.

The characters consider what makes love last or not, as Pa (Ben Kingsley) forces Hector (Luis Guzman) to reunite him with Ma (Jacki Weaver), prompting an all-night search in a dark field where a dove cries. On a bleak tennis court at night in Mexico, James (Jimmi Simpson) confesses to New Leaf (Chris Conrad) about his guilt over his firefighter colleague dying in James’s stead. The despair of a parent whose child is out of reach overpowers Everly Pirdoo (Michael Chernus), who mourns the disappearance of his son Glenn (Dash Williams). Police come looking for Paul Allen Brown in Mexico, while on the north side of the border Wesley (Terry O’Quinn) drives through the night hoping to execute an arrest warrant it’s taken him years to obtain. In the past in Half Acre, church accountant Scotty Sholes (Hana Mae Lee) grapples with a flawed marriage.

Each of the characters must concentrate all their power to confront a drastic situation, like a bull trapped in a rodeo ring. Pa (Ben Kingsley) amasses his fortitude to keep digging in a dirt field, hoping to contact the abandoned Ma (Jacki Weaver). With bad news mounting all around him, New Leaf (Chris Conrad) must outwit Wesley (Terry O’Quinn). A stressed-out James (Jimmi Simpson) admits to his elaborate plot for redemption. The dangerous Englishman Donny DeLoash (Timothy Spall) travels to the unfamiliar US to settle a long-ago score with Pa that began with a murder at an orphanage. Paul (Damon Herriman) tries his utmost to persuade Uncle Dave (Kurtwood Smith) over to his side.

Perspectives change now, with more of a long view. In Mexico, Pa (Ben Kingsley) and Ma (Jacki Weaver) pit their themselves against the cartel sisters. In Half Acre, James (Jimmi Simpson) loses an ally in Hector (Luis Guzman), and faces increasing pressure from Wesley (Terry O’Quinn) to explain his actions. Paul Brown (Damon Herriman) reveals more of his magic skills, along with his troubled past. The Special Boys gang grows stronger, as James, Paul, New Leaf (Chris Conrad), and Glenn (Dash Williams) join together. Uncle Dave (Kurtwood Smith) plans a funeral that involves them all. In flashback, more is brought to light about Paul’s culpability in the mysterious death of Theresa Williams (Camryn Jones).

Pa (Ben Kingsley) and Ma (Jacki Weaver) find themselves outnumbered at the Mexican cartel headquarters. Valerie (Dana DeLorenzo) pays a visit to Hector’s (Luis Guzman) house in Mexico, threatening to reveal their affair if he doesn’t pursue Pa. In Half Acre, James (Jimmi Simpson) learns new abilities from Paul (Damon Herriman), as undertaker Jonathan Joy (Julian Richings) pressures them for Pa’s and Ma’s corpses, explaining how after death a body’s molecules cycle into the universe. Scotty Sholes (Hana Mae Lee) uncovers the scheme hatched by James and Paul. Wesley (Terry O’Quinn) has an epiphany, realizing Half Acre has been bled dry and papered over in the same manner as the small Texas town where Theresa Williams died and Paul went missing six years ago.

In the suspense-filled season finale, it’s reckoning day as Pa (Ben Kingsley) and Ma (Jacki Weaver) are driven to the killing fields by a cartel henchman in Mexico. James (Jimmi Simpson) pleads with Hector (Luis Guzman) to intervene on Pa and Ma’s behalf, but Hector protests that he’s just a sheriff in the era of the cartel. In Half Acre, James meets with the Special Boys gang, including Paul Allen Brown (Damon Herriman), New Leaf (Chris Conrad), Glenn (Dash Williams), and Scotty (Hana Mae Lee), designating how each will deflect Wesley’s (Terry O’Quinn) questions as they prepare for a funeral that may enable them to finally inherit $4 million from Pa and Ma’s crooked church. More duplicities are required as they get closer to their goal, with high stakes and tragic consequences looming. In the end, somebody may not survive.

Take a look at Epix’s thrilling new show Perpetual Grace Ltd.