Graceland – Guadalajara Dog

• Title: Graceland – Guadalajara Dog
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Now officially part of the undercover team, and forced to learn an entire new set of rules not given to him at Quantico, Mike (Aaron Tveit) begins to question the consequences of Briggs’ (Daniel Sunjata) undercover methods while trying to force his way onto an active case by proposing to sell the cop-killer bullets Jakes (Brandon Jay McLaren) recently confiscated in an effort to take down a lieutenant (Sheaun McKinney) of a would-be gang lord that Briggs has been working of for months. Mike also takes a mandated trip to a FBI shrink following last week’s shooting, only to discover the psychiatrist assigned to his case is actually his control officer (Pedro Pascal) for his secret investigation into Briggs.

The team comes together to celebrate Mike’s expert marksmanship (which takes down quite a number of dangerous teddy bears in bullet proof vests) that cements what the need to make the bust. However, Mike is far less celebratory the next day when Briggs doesn’t bust Eddie (McKinney) after the exchange, choosing instead to let the cop-killers out onto the street in order to play out his own scenario that helps out Paige’s assignment and gets the bust on his terms while trusting Mike’s loyalty at the same time (and by the episode’s final scene, it appears he’s not completely satisfied with what he’s seen).

Helping out the team, Mike also takes a trip out as Charlie’s (Vanessa Ferlito) boyfriend to make a drop to the one member of the team he hasn’t yet met, Paige (Serinda Swan).  She makes quite an impression. We also get a sequence with Lauren (Scottie Thompson) dealing with the news that Donnie (Clayne Crawford) won’t be returning to Graceland and foreshadowing the fact that her own undercover stint at the beach house may be coming to a quick end as well (which is no big surprise as she’s the one member of the regular cast who wasn’t included in the show’s opening or it’s First Season promotion photoshoots).

“Guadalajara Dog” is an improvement over last week’s “Pilot” and certainly showcases both Mike’s impressive skill set and his realization that he may well be in over his head secretly investigating the methods of a genius FBI wild card who, despite his reckless chances, gets the the job done. Although Lauren doesn’t get much time, the other two female characters get a bit more to do in this episode, especially in the club’s restroom with Mike. I’ll also admit to very much enjoying both Mike’s bear attack and Tuturro’s (Manny Montana) retelling of his mythic exploits to the rest of the Graceland family.