‘Graceland’ Episode 3.1 Recap And Review: 4 Things We Learn From ‘The Heat Run’

The third installment of Graceland plunges into action from the start, picking up where we last left off. In the opening scenes, Daniel Sunjata (Paul Briggs), is seen pointing a gun toward Aaron Tveit (Mike Warren) asking “Who you been talkin’ to?” and just when we start to question if Briggs has gone haywire, in walks Bello (a Nigerian crime boss) and his crew with their weapons drawn. This is all part of a con where Paul tries to pin the blame on Mike — for having his men robbed of their cop-killing-bullets – who later points the finger at Eddie allowing both agents to live to see another day. Elated that his plan worked, Sunjata asks Tveit what inspired the compulsive lie, in which the rookie goes on to explain he was making it all up at the time.

Back at Graceland, the agents decide to go for a spill at a local hangout spot, but Lauren (Scottie Thompson) is missing in action, as she is still distracted over Donnie’s re-assignment. She learns that Kusmanov wants her former partner dead, so of course she goes to bat for him, by attempting to bring down the Russian Mob in a vehicle smuggling operation. Unfortunately the bust goes south when she blows her cover and puts the rest of housemates in jeopardy.

Later, Tveit meets with his FBI case manager, Juan, who tells him to beef up his vague investigative reports on Briggs, when Mike explains difficulty of spying on his roommate. Juan then responds by telling the rookie to hit up a local Starbucks if he needs more downtime, and if anyone asks say “I’m working on a screenplay about a man’s quest to make it back home to D.C.”, though I highly doubt anyone is dumb enough to believe such a lie. Still, the best part of that entire scene is when viewers find out that the bureau suspects Briggs stealing dirty money, which makes sense considering he used some of the money Bobby Moy stole last week to buy his team a round of drinks.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Ferlito’s Charlie gets some more development, as we learn more about her criminal informant, Whistler – a meth addict who lost his architect job for the mayor – in which she hopes to use his intel to capture a drug dealer. Sadly, the sting gets comprised when Whistler tries to negotiate a bigger fee for his services.

However, the best scenes in the “Heat Run” are all the ones with Johnny dishing interpersonal and social skills to Graceland‘s audience. They are:

  1. The art of using your poker face to get you out of sticky situations – the beginning scenes between Aaron and Daniel are a perfect example of improvisation at its finest.
  2. Dating etiquette – during this week’s happy hour session, Johnny (Manny Montana) schools the rookie on how to pick up girls. (Thank goodness, this is TV though because his lines were hella cheesy!)
  3. How and when to listen and follow directions – I was always taught to listen to my elders as they are wiser and more experienced, but apparently Lauren failed to grasp that life lesson, which caused her to get transferred out of the house.
  4. Sound judgment skills – during the closing scenes, it was revealed that Paul Briggs was the reason for Lauren’s departure, in an effort to protect the other agents at Graceland, after Paige (Serinda Swan) found a GPS tracker under her car. And even though Daniel purchased the transmitter, it shows he knew Kincaid’s stubbornness would eventually pose as a threat.

What have you learned about Graceland so far? Leave a comment, and tune in at 10p EST, on June 27, for a brand new episode!

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  1. Thanks for the recap, especially the best scenes. Lots of action and unexpected twists in this series. I wonder who will replace Lauren, then Warren won’t be the newest in the house.