“Warning: Spoiler Alert“
Hey-Diddle-Diddle And Mike’s In The Middle, along with other serious and possibly deadly situations to the members of the house dominated the fifth episode of USA Network Original Series “Graceland,” as the task-force to take down Cal-Coast Bus Lines will end prematurely via orders from FBI Headquarters. Task-Force leader Mike Warren gets the news directly as his boss and friend-with-benefits Jess arrives at the house to deliver the news in person. Warren and his team learn that they have one shot at wrapping things up and collecting as much evidence as possible against Cal-Coast and the company’s owners the Solano family.
We open the episode joining Johnny as he is outside of the home of Carlito and Lucia Solano, brother and sister, as well as children Carlos Solano a prominent drug-cartel leader and the owner of the bus line that’s been smuggling heroin out of Mexico and across the border. They are also involved in sex-trafficking as they’ve used a series of foreign young women as drug mules and then sell the women as sex-slaves.
Johnny has become an intimate of Carlito’s as his undercover assignment and arrives for a visit when he hears sounds of glass breaking and a man and woman arguing emanating from the house. The agent pulls out his pistol and sneaks inside, but puts the gun away when he sees the siblings are having a spat, as Lucia is throwing china at her brother while he bats them away with a metal trophy. Lucia tells Johnny that they are arguing over her new boyfriend whom she said her brother is jealous of while Carlito infers that her guy’s less than manly and she throws a glass that hits him on the side of his head drawing blood.
Solano tackles his sister and pins her to the ground with his hands gripping her throat telling her to apologize which she defiantly refuses to do. Johnny gets concerned, tells Carlito to stop and when he doesn’t punches him in the face, knocking Solano to the ground and off Lucia. The sister tells Johnny he shouldn’t have punched her brother and Carlito screams just one word; leave and the agent vacates the house unsure if he blew his cover.
Paige and Warren are in her room as he’s on his laptop corresponding with headquarters about the heroin found in drums of industrial waste by Jenks in bay five of Cal-Coast in the previous episode. Paige’s happy for Mike’s success but she’s mainly concerned with her assignment finding the facility where the kidnapped foreign young women are held. Warren however seems less than satisfied with the pace of their results and Paige tries cheering him up with an old Shirley Temple song; “You’ve Got To S-M-I-L-E To Be H-A-Double-P-Y.” It’s pretty much the last light moment of the night.
As Mike goes downstairs, he’s greeted by an unexpected visitor in Jess and immediately feels awkward as the two women he’s sleeping with are now shaking hands. After Jess meets the rest of the housemates, she tells Warren that they’re pulling the plug on his task-force, she will lead the final operation, completed by Friday. As she and Warren talk alone, he’s told that Paige’s operation’s shut down immediately as they will need all their forces concentrated on the drug bust.
Jakes, already out on the road in his truck, sees a hooker he had an encounter with in the previous episode passed out on a picnic table outside a restaurant covering her face to block out light. Dale’s concerned she’s alright and wakes her and offers to get her breakfast and she asks whether he has a place she can clean up at. He takes her to the apartment he rented when he thought he would be granted visitation rights to see his son Daniel and as she enters she sees the results of Jakes’ drunken rampage when denied those privileges. The two start kissing when his phone rings and an angry Warren’s on the other end asking why he’s not at Cal-Coast. He tells Mike he’s heading there and realizes the woman is in his shower, so he shouts his goodbye.
Jakes meets Warren and Briggs in the Cal-Coast parking lot and Mike informs him that the operation’s shut down and he needs to know the schedule of pick-up right then. Dale tells him to give him twenty bucks if he wants the schedule then the agent heads to a liquor store and buys a bottle. He enters the Cal-Coast warehouse and goes to his locker where he takes a slug from the bottle, then pretends he’s blasted in front of his recovering alcoholic supervisor. The supervisor’s livid and pulls Dale into his office where he tells Jakes he’s fired and Dale replies by vomiting on his shirt. He storms from the office to clean himself and Jakes uses the opportunity to find out the pick-up happens in two-days.
Mike heads back to the house to tell Paige her operations been cancelled and she surprises him by asking how long he’s slept with Jess, which he explains as an office fling, while he has deeper feelings for her. She tells him to “persuade” Jess, stating that the welfare of the women means enough to her to encourage him to have relations with his boss.
Dale heads back to his apartment and finds a child’s bicycle outside the door, he walks inside to find the woman playing with Daniel. He asks his son how he found him and the boy responds that Jenks’ address’ written on the restraining order. Dale starts to explain to Daniel that the order’s meant to keep them apart, when the woman asks to talk in private with Jenks then proceeds to scream at the agent that he’s blowing things. She tells him to spend time with the boy before bringing him home, then asks her to join him saying he’ll pay her for her time.
Johnny risks the danger to go back over to Carlito’s that evening while Briggs’ observes him through binoculars. Carlito’s wasted and Johnny calls for him as he enters the house. He expresses apologies and Salana asks him if he enjoyed hitting him, after hesitating Johnny replies that part of him did and Carlito praises his honesty. He babbles on how his father and family have no trust in him and how much he resents them for it. He asks the agent if he believes in him and Johnny responds he does and Carlito presses his forward to the agent’s and replies he knows Johnny does and then says he’s going to sleep.
When Briggs and Johnny arrive back at the house Briggs says Solano may have “feelings” for their boy and Warren asks the agent if he’d consider “persuading” Carlito and we see the revulsion on Johnny’s face at the suggestion. But after he thinks he agrees to do what ever it takes to bust Solano.
Jakes, Daniel and the woman are at a fair and the two guys are eating cotton candy when the boy sees the bumper cars and Jakes nods in acknowledgement that they can ride them. After a day of bonding Dale drops his son at his mother’s and the two embrace, as the woman breaks into tears sitting in the truck. As the boy goes inside she wipes away her tears and tells Jenks her fee for the day is two hundred bucks, which takes him by surprise as he thought they had bonded. He tells her he only has eighty dollars but he’ll drive to an ATM to get the balance when she accepts the money, leaves truck and tells the agent he’ll be fine.
Mike arrives at Jess’ hotel room and tells her he understands why the task-force’s been halted and she tells Mike that he did a great job and he’ll get all the credit. They kiss, undress and head to the bed but he brings up Paige’s operation and she tells him she’ll get clearance in the morning. Mike starts fondling her but then sighs from frustration and Jess realizes he’s got deep feelings for Paige.
The agent heads home and tells Paige that he didn’t come through, but omits telling her that Jess realized the truth about them. Upset, she heads to Dale’s room and asks for him to back her up as she tries to find the women’s location and in turn tick Warren off. Hearing the last part Jakes’ gets anxious to get going,
Johnny shows up at the club and tells Carlito that he want’s in on the heist he’s pulling, but Salana laughs him off. The agent asks him if he doesn’t believe in him and Solano displays his anger and takes Johnny to a back room where he tells the agent he’s going to mess up his face when Johnny kisses him on the mouth. Solano swears at him in Spanish, but Johnny tells him that he knows Carlito’s attracted to him and Salana kisses him. He then tells the criminal that he wants the two of them to do the pick-up and Carlito agrees. Briggs and Charlie follow the pair in another vehicle.
We join Paige on the bus as she has located the latest “Tinkerbell,” identifies herself as a federal agent and tells the woman she wants to help her. Although nervous and uncooperative initially, she consents to work with Paige and wear a wire. They pull up to the bus station and get off the vehicle, Jakes behind them in his truck and the woman looking ill. The two enter the lady’s room and the woman starts vomiting up the balloons filled with heroin. She regurgitates nine, but had swallowed ten and she coughs up an empty balloon, goes into a seizure and dies while Paige is trying to contact Jenks via the wire. However Dale’s preoccupied as he’s handcuffed and arrested for breaking the restraining order. Paige unaware that Jakes isn’t listening says that she’s going to masquerade as the woman, swallows the balloons and straps on the backpack, then gets escorted into a van by a man wearing a cowboy hat.
Carlito and Johnny are driving to Cal-Coast when Solano gets a call that the pick-up’s cancelled and makes a U-turn not paying any attention to traffic conditions. Paul radios Mike that the pair are turning around and right then all the drums go up in flames and explode, destroying the evidence. Warren tells Jess that some member of the operation relayed the info on their raid to the Solano’s and is eyeing every one on the scene warily as the screen goes black.
Graceland can be seen Wednesday nights on the USA Network.
