‘Graceland’ 1.2 Episode Review & Recap: Guadalajara Dog

During the cliffhanger ending of Graceland‘s June 6th premiere, FBI rookie Mike Warren (Aaron Tveit), learns the reason he was sent to the flophouse was to investigate his training officer Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata), as his superiors back at the agency suspects that Briggs is a crooked cop. While viewers weren’t given a reason as to why the bureau wants Mike tailing Paul’s every move, we are given a deep look into two of the other characters.

In the second episode, the focus is shifted to Dale Jakes’ (Brandon Jay McLaren) undercover operation as an exotic bird smuggler. He gets locked in a van by some fleeing perpetrators after noticing a case of illegal missile-like bullets. After Jakes is relived from his predicament, he returns to Graceland, where he meets Charlie (Vanessa Ferlito) and Mike, who are both headed to another covert affair, which involves Paige (Serinda Swan), who plays the girlfriend of a criminal named Bobby Moy. The introduction between Warren and Arkin is brief as he heads back to the house shortly after to prepare for his psychiatric review at the FBI headquarters. It’s later revealed that Mike is meeting with his secret case manager, who urges him to get more involved in one of Briggs’ operations.

Briggs also has an agenda of his own, as he is trying to infiltrate the organization of a crime boss named Bello, and Mike has the idea of selling Bello’s men the cop-killer bullets obtained by DJ. It takes some convincing at first, but Paul eventually uses Mike in a complex plan to complete the sale (and thus establish their credibility with Bello), but recovers the bullets and incidentally takes down the Korean gang in the process to free DEA agent Paige from a difficult position. Later, Mike tries to covertly report to the case manager during this operation, leading Briggs to confront him about who he is talking to.

Since Sunjata’s character plays the #1 operative in the group, I get the feeling that he is fully aware of the rookie’s intentions, which is why he asks “do you trust me?” at one point in the episode. at one point in the episode. I also believe that while the rules in which he follows to crack a case are unconventional, there is a method to his madness. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.

A few afterthoughts before the next episode…

• So far, the women on Graceland seem to be good for two things: serving as eye candy, and being dependent on Paul Briggs to come to the rescue when they make bad calls. Do you think Charlie, Paige and Lauren will become more interesting as the season progresses?

• In the beginning of the episode, Mike almost blew his housemates’ cover over a petty crook that stole some junk food at a taco truck. Do you think this will become a habit?

• It appears that Donnie isn’t returning to Graceland, and that scenario doesn’t seem to sit well with Lauren. Could the two have been romantically involved?

• Warren was obviously goo-goo-eyed over Arkin during their first encounter. Will they be mixing business and pleasure later on?

Did you enjoy the Guadalajara Dog, or did it give you indigestion? Share your thoughts below and tune in to USA tonight for another edition of Graceland TV!