Graceland - Series Premiere - Recap

Graceland - Series Premiere - Recap

Graceland is USA Network's new crime drama, a based-on-true-events tale about undercover FBI agents. The show joins Burn Notice, White Collar, Suits, and Royal Pains as a cool, stylish drama with a sunny setting and a wise-cracking cast. The series (or at least this pilot) follows a young FBI agent named Mike Warren (played by Aaron Tveit) as he joins a crew of undercover fellow agents working out of the titular Graceland, former beachside home to a drug dealer busted by the Bureau. His housemates include the mischievous "Johnny" Tuturro (Manny Montana), short-fused Dale "DJ" Jakes (Brandon Jay McLaren), territorial Paige Arkin (Serinda Swan), smooth-talking Catherine "Charlie" Lopez (Vanessa Ferlito), and the mysterious Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata).

The episode opens with a really cool scene juxtaposing Agent Warren's graduation from FBI training with the shooting of an undercover DEA agent. The undercover agent is making a drug deal, and when it comes time to test the supply, he fakes the injection by hiding a small rubber ball in the crook of his arm. The ball falls out, bounces to the bad guy drug boss, and gets our undercover FBI guy shot through his shoulder. Agent Warren , straight-laced and fresh out of school, is shipped over to Graceland immediately to replace the injured agent.

Upon arriving in California, Agent Warren meets up with his future Graceland housemate Agent Tuturro, aka Johnny. It's revealed that Agent Warren, though he's been brushing up on his Spanish for the job, is woefully unprepared for SoCal life. Tuturro teases him for not having brought sunscreen, shorts, or sandals, then sends Agent Warren off shopping.

When he gets back to Graceland, Agent Warren meets the various other agents, not making a good first impression with any of them. We're treated to some roommate food-labeling humor, a mistaken identity goof, and a clash with the overly territorial partner of the injured agent. Then he meets Agent Briggs, the mysterious and seemingly irresponsible leader of the group, and tensions ease.

Agent Warren's first mission is a simple deal with a counterfeiter. On the way, Agent Briggs explains to Mike a cover story they had to invent on the fly once to get out of a jam. Briggs was in a tight spot once when he was  on a TV documentary and almost got recognized, so he convinced some mobsters with guns that he played a cop in a movie, even showing them his real badge, telling them it was a prop from the set of the movie. Agent Warren gets in on this, telling the suspect that filming this movie is where he met Briggs.

The bust goes wonky, but thanks to Agent Warren's quick thinking, the suspect is apprehended. Unfortunately, when they're bringing him in for booking, he's walked past Agent Warren, blowing his cover. Knowing that his family will be in big trouble if his mobster pals find out he got duped by an undercover FBI agent, the perp tells a mob guy who visits him that Agent Warren is his brother-in-law. Unfortunately for Agent Warren, this means that the mob is interested in him.

Our agents discover this perp they busted actually does have a brother-in-law, one who doesn't look too different from Agent Warren to raise suspicion. After a little game of dress-up, Mike is sent off to meet the mob guys, in the hopes that doing them a favor will save his "brother-in-law's" family. Agent Warren convinces them that he's a killer and can be of use, so the mob sends him off right away.

Agent Warren is delivered to a home and given a gun. He's told to kill the man in the back bedroom and empty the gun. The agents back at base are scrambling to get him out of the situation, hearing all of it through a radio in Agent Warren's watch. Briggs is sent out as back-up. Agent Warren goes into the house, where he discovers that the man he's been sent to kill is the DEA agent who he replaced at Graceland. After a tense stand-off, Agent Warren is able to confirm his identity and avoid being killed by friendly fire.

Outside, the suspicious mobsters demand that Agent Warren get back in the car with them, and one of them draws a weapon. He's shot and killed by Agent Briggs, who has arrived in the nick of time to save the day... or uh, the night. Briggs then shoots the nervous second mobster before he sees that the guy is holding a gun. Agent Warren questions this, but is thankful nonetheless.

During the official reports, Briggs doesn't mention anything about the second mobster being shot before it was certain he was armed, and Agent Warren doesn't blow his cover. In the celebratory aftermath, Agent Warren gets a phone call from his superior FBI headquarters, who we last saw giving the commencement speech in the beginning of the episode. It's revealed during the call that Agent Warren's primary mission is to investigate Agent Briggs, who the Bureau suspects of some kind of wrongdoing.

Overall, this was not a remarkable hour of TV. It didn't drag on too long, despite being a slightly longer episode than most, but it also didn't grab me as being anything special. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, though, since I'm sure the kinks will have been worked out past the pilot. Be sure to tune in next week, check out our preview of episode two, and come back here next week for another recap!