- Title: Graceland – The Unlucky One
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The morning after Mike‘s (Aaron Tveit) somewhat hollow victory that threw a wrench into the Solano Cartel’s drug smuggling operation, but netted the FBI no big fish, the harsh light of day brings with it news of Jakes‘ (Brandon Jay McLaren) arrest and Paige (Serinda Swan) taking the place of one of the human trafficking victims who is now lost in a system Mike and his team know almost nothing about. Already keeping Lawrence (John Kapelos) locked down in a safe house not knowing who the identity of the Solano’s mole inside law enforcement who disrupted the operation and not knowing who to trust, Mike decides to use the uncooperative insider to get any information out of Lawrence which might lead the team to Paige, but to do so he will need Briggs‘ (Daniel Sunjata) help.
Waterboarding the 16-year sober alcoholic gets Mike and Briggs an introduction to buy one of the girls and the team does the rest to create his cover and be ready as back-up, but not knowing if or when back-up may ever alive forces Paige to attempt a late-night escape with Lina (Marina Shtelen) that doesn’t end particularly well for the undercover DEA agent. Mike’s big rescue attempt the next morning doesn’t earn him a hero’s welcome either as, after losing Carlito and the buses, he is able to save Paige but needs to keep the trafficking operation going in order to find who is protecting the cartel and their various interests.
“The Unlucky One” ends with the unresolved fallout of the case and of Paige’s ordeal. Jakes makes an effort to apologize to Paige, Charlie (Vanessa Ferlito) forgives Briggs for his part in the torture necessary to bring Paige home safely, and Jessica (Emily Rose) chooses to return to D.C. and spin the crippling of the drug smuggling into a major win while Mike, despite earning Paige’s animosity for leaving the rest of the girls in the warehouse, decides to remain in Graceland and see the case through. Choosing to let Lawrence go creates another situation which could potentially come back to bite members of Graceland in the ass, however the episode ends with that possibility being nipped in the bud when the informant is quickly killed by the cartel leading Mike to suspect he’s found his mole (Carmine Giovinazzo) within the Los Angeles gang task force.