Photo Courtesy Of USA Network
Warning: Spoiler Alert
Graceland is officially under the command of FBI Agent Mike Warren, as the team tries to determine, who hired the two men who tortured Warren last week and possibly behind an operation to smuggle heroin out of Mexico via bus-lines. As the episode opens, Agent Paul Briggs is on the beach waiting for Warren to arrive. He proceeds to tell Mike, that they won’t identify who hired the pair through usual law-enforcement channels. He tells Warren that he has arranged a meeting across the border with a representative of the Caza Cartel, to find out who arranged for Mike’s kidnapping and torture. Warren is against the plan, believing it is too dangerous, he also reminds Briggs about the anger Charlie will display when she hears the news, and Briggs asks Mike not to tell her.
Once Paul crosses the border into Mexico, he leaves his car and gets into a vehicle with two guys from the Caza Cartel. After driving for a while they hand the FBI Agent off to two other men, who give Briggs a black hood to put over his head during the ride. They drive out to a mostly deserted area, get Briggs out of the car, take the hood off his head and drive away. Briggs hears an animal and walks a bit to find a young goat tied to a post in front of a simple green wooden house. Seconds later, much to Briggs surprise Alfredo Armas, the head of the Caza Cartel, pulls up in a car and comes out carrying two bags of groceries that he gives to Briggs. He then pulls out a knife and slits the goat’s neck, as the animal will be their lunch.
Armas tells Briggs while they are eating that he has no respect for what the Agent does. Although he realizes the law needs enforcement, he berates the Agent for working undercover and lying to the people he is trying to bust. Paul counters that the cartel had employed Jangles for years and he was in fact a member of Mexican Law Enforcement. Armas tells Briggs that he never felt he could trust or get close to Jangles because of the double-life he had led. The two men part with an agreement that if Armas provides Briggs with the name of the man who hired the hit on Warren, Briggs will do his best to get the FBI to lower the heat on the cartel.
Back at the house, Johnny walks in on Jakes packing up his possessions as he is moving out of the house. Johnny attempts to talk him out of it, but Jakes reveals to his housemate that he has a nine-year-old son that he wants to start a relationship with. He had been with the boy’s mother years before, but just after their son Daniel was born, he broke things off with her in fear of putting her and their son in danger. Jakes tells Johnny, that he has rented a two bedroom apartment and requested a desk assignment, so that he can be a responsible father for Daniel. He asks Johnny not to tell anybody else in the house that he is moving, then gives in to a hug from Johnny.
Paige has worked on a case for the DEA for four months and she is upset that just when it seems about to break, her assignment has changed to becoming a member of Mike’s task force. She has video of the petty dealer named Finch she has worked with in her under-cover guise, on the phone with whom she believes is the big shark she is trying to snare, Moreno. She also believes that Finch is setting up a meet with Moreno, however without any audio she has no clue what is really taking place. Mike offers to help Paige, but she waves off his offer of assistance.
Charlie has discovered that Briggs is nowhere around and she is not taking the news well. She asks her housemates if they know where he is, but they all deny any knowledge. She sees the look in Mike’s eyes that he is hiding something, he confesses that Briggs is in Mexico and Charlie blames Warren for Paul’s decision. When Briggs gets back home he finds out Charlie knows and goes to her undercover assignment where she is posing as a tattoo artist. She expresses her anger and feelings of betrayal, but Briggs turns the situation back on her, saying she has sneaked around at night. Charlie hands Briggs a blue binder and tells him her secret’s contained in it.
Briggs soon finds that the binder contains information on Kelly Badillo, widow of Juan, whom Briggs accidentally killed in a scuffle over a gun last year. The Bureau cleared Paul of the crime, when they blamed his death on Jangles, but Briggs is afraid that Charlie has determined the truth. He heads to Jakes new apartment, to tell him about the binder, Jakes is aware that Briggs killed Badillo, as he helped Paul by tampering with evidence after the crime. Jakes tells Paul in no uncertain terms he will not go down for the crime and tells his former housemate to talk to Charlie to find out what she is doing.
When Briggs leaves the apartment, Jakes calls Daniel’s mother Cassie to confirm their meeting tomorrow, so he can be introduced to his son. Cassie tells Jakes he is not supposed to call her house, but he tells her he is just excited about his new apartment and the room he has for Daniel. She cuts him off telling him they will talk about things the next day and hangs up the phone.
Mike takes Paige down to the local FBI bureau and introduces her to a lip reader who can determine what Finch said on the phone. They find out that Finch’s meeting with Moreno is in a half-hour, so they hurry out of the bureau and get a Swat team setup at the location when the meeting takes place. They convene at a house next to Finch’s place and Paige grabs the agents’ pizza and walks over to the dealer’s house.
When Finch answers the door, he tries to get rid of Paige but she barges right in. He then tells her to go into another room to check out his new microphone and when she leaves he pulls out a pistol, then follows her into the room. Paige realizes it is a setup and overpowers Finch, grabbing the gun in the process. She then tells Finch he can either meet Moreno with her or she will knock him out and stick him in the closet, take all the money and come back later to kill him. Of course Finch takes the first option and they both answer the door when the big fish arrives.
Seconds after Moreno walks in the door and after she has verified he has the money to buy the drugs, she calls out the code-word and the Swat team storm the house. Moreno crashes through a full length window to escape capture, but Paige runs after him, jumps on his back and accuses him of calling the feds. At that point Mike and housemate Bates show up, Bates tries to subdue Moreno but nearly gets his light knocked out. Mike however knocks the Drug Kingpin to the ground, cuffs him and then cuffs Paige to keep her cover intact. As soon as he has the handcuffs on Paige his cellphone rings and Jess is on the other end with a lead about a building that is allegedly a drug distribution center run by the Caza Cartel.
Charlie is once again in front of the Badillo house when Briggs jumps into her car and asks her why she is doing this. She tells Paul that she feels responsible for her husband’s death, because she trusted Jangles. Kelly is back to drinking heavily again and she says their daughter is a mess as well.
Later that day another Swat team crashes though the building Jess called Mike about, all this building is another baby-goat tied to a pole, but the only other thing they find a photo on the floor covered with goat waste. The two head back to house and inform the crew the suspect is Carlos Solano. Johnny and Paige both argue that man in the picture, is far older than the guy they know as Solano, as they have run into him constantly and he is just a young guy. Briggs informs that the guy they have run into is Carlito, who is trying to run the family business with all the villains, now. His father, doesn’t seem too convinced to the idea that Carlito, will take the operation to a more profitable and corruption free environment. Which is why he is still in charge of his organization.
The next afternoon has arrived and Jakes’ stoked to finally be a father in every sense He knocks on Cassie’s door and he finds out the meeting had a been a disaster from the word go. Her fiancée comes to the door in seconds telling Jakes he has to go as he is violating a restraining order from last year. Then two cops walk out of Cassie’s home and promptly arrest Jakes for breaking the arrest warrant. When he gets out of jail he goes back to his apartment and smashes up the room he prepared for Daniel.
Briggs feeling guilty about Kelly Badillo, starts following her around in his car. When he sees her enter a liquor store, he follows her in and just as she is picking out a bottle of whiskey, Briggs tells her that he recognizes her from the counseling group she belongs to in hopes of maintaining sobriety. He then sarcastically describes the pair as two drunks who fell off the wagon. Kelly then tells Briggs she has been sober for three-days, he responds that he has been sober for five as he picks up two bottles and begins to head towards the cashier. Kelly asks him if she buys him a cup of coffee from a nearby would he attempt to stay sober for six days? Briggs smiles and says that sounds like a good idea.
The final scene of the episode begins with Mike getting a call from Jess in FBI Headquarters and she does not seem too pleased. She tells Mike she stuck her head on the line to see this project through, if it fails there will a lot of men and women out of work. Meanwhile Paige fresh from a shower walks past Mike wearing nothing but a towel, she goes into her room without shutting the door allowing Mike to watch. He walks in and the camera fades to black.
Graceland can be seen Wednesday nights on the USA Network.
