TV REVIEW: Graceland’s  “Faith 7” Leaves Us Breathless

The season finale of Graceland left us asking, “What the heck just happened?” Is this the year of killing off beloved characters? Main hottie Mike Warren’s been on a reckless, wrong side of the law slide all in the name of the greater good justifying the means. Tonight, his sins seemed to catch up to him, and he paid the ultimate price… and no, I’m not talking about being evicted from that gorgeous beach house.

Let’s look at what happened while I try to pick my jaw up off the floor.

Drug Cartel Crossed Lovers

Tonight’s finale begins with Johnny admitting to Lucia that he’s FBI. Tthe drug cartel crossed lovers are still clinging to a happily ever after that feels more like Romeo and Juliet than Cinderella and some random Prince.

Back at the Solano estate, Carlito bums a ride from JT, letting Johnny know that he knows about his “real” job with the U.S. government. He gets the drop on our tattooed agent and holds a gun to his head saying, “It’s time.”

Lucia is dumped on the scene and crazy Carlito has the two kiss, then bite, then… Lucia says, “No more.” Baby Solano tells Johnny he needs to convince the FBI that the operation is ongoing and keep running the drug planes. He’s keeping Lucia as a little insurance policy. So Johnny’s going to become the new Markham?

Pictured: (l-r) Manny Montana as Johnny Tuturro, Erik Valdez as Carlito, Jamie Gray Hyder as Lucia — (Photo by: Jeff Daly/USA Network)

Solano’s Going Down

Is there anything better than Paul Briggs saving the day? Tonight he gets the opportunity to show his hero side, and it’s almost as hot as his bad guy side. Briggs is getting taken on a ride with Sid who discovered his Graceland connection last week. I’m thinking the “ride” may include a bullet to the brain.

Meanwhile, Mike is in Iraq, I mean Mexico, it just looks like Iraq, complete with camo, tents, and binoculars. The bust at the Solano compound is finally going down. That is until Mike gets a call saying to pull back. Warren calls Paul to let him know what’s going on and lets it slip that Charlie’s missing. Paul ditches the Solano sting and takes off to look for his girl. Mike decides he’s going to fill in for Briggs and catch Markham getting a little Carlos payoff.

Mike shows up at the Solano estate and a gun battle’s already going on. Dead bodies are everywhere. Markham’s injured telling Mike that the agent is done for. Sid used Mike’s gun (the one he stole from Graceland last week) to shoot everyone including Carlos Solano, his own team and himself. “If it helps, Mikey, you almost had me.” He tells Warren to run, and Mike does. What? Why do they always run?

Badass Briggs Saves the Day

You thought Mike was having a no good, awful day, until you got a little peek into Charlie’s escapades. She was kidnapped last week, but in “Faith 7” she’s brought to a warehouse where Amber and a British heavy with an even heavier accent question her about her perhaps being a cop. The bad guy is going to torture her until she talks, while Amber sagely advises “just talk.” Charlie stays tough through it all and insists she’s not a cop.

Chuck’s being roughed up through much of the episode, but Paul crashes the party at the end, shooting Amber dead and rescuing his lady love. Back at the house, Paul cries and Chuck cries, both emotionally spent, but also happy that they made it out alive, even unborn baby Briggs is doing fine. Maybe they’ll get a happily ever after?

Mike Pays for his Sins

Meanwhile, Mike doesn’t get far on his “run” due to a pesky bullet he took in the side in the Solano shootout. He needs Paul’s help. He wants a fake ID, so he can get treatment at a hospital. Briggs is more than willing to come through with the assist. He ends up sending Paige who says, she’s “so sorry she didn’t believe him.” What an instant replay of last season’s Charlie apology to Briggs. In his weakened state, Warren inadvertently admits that Lena’s dead and all of Paige’s earlier suspicions are confirmed. The blonde walks out and heads straight to Markham to turn over her former lover. She tells Sid that Mike’s in a hospital as Mike Richards.

In an emotionally charged scene, Briggs rallies behind Mike telling his fellow agents, “He needs our help.” He adds, “When systems are failing, that’s exactly when we need each other most.”

Paige breaks down and confesses to Paul that Mike burned Lena, also admitting that she gave Mike to Sid. Paul takes off … but does he have another rescue in him?

We see Sid at Mike’s hospital bed reading the agent’s chart. He tells Mike that Paige gave him up. In a hard scene to watch, we see Markham cutting off Mike’s air supply, but Brigg’s is heading up, so it’ll be okay. Right? Sid keeps squeezing that life giving tube and … Mike codes and dies. What?!

Graceland, you know how to end with a true shocker of a finale that left all of us disciples in a state of shock and awe.

In a Twitter age that makes any network “surprise” more spoiler than bombshell, USA’s cop drama pulled it off.

This season of Graceland has been about Mike doing everything and anything to bring down a slew of bad guys. Carlos Solano and little Solanito, bad cop Sid Markham, Sulla and his icky sex trading ways… they all needed to meet a little Graceland justice. Sulla went down, but the others remained free to continue their evil ways. Mike Warren resorted to some pretty shady dealings through this second season, culminating with the cover up of the Lena killing, to takedown a band of baddies. In the end, he paid for his sins with his life.

What did you think of Graceland’s season finale? Will Charlie and Paul exemplify parental bliss with season three? Will Paige be able to live with her betrayal? Are Johnny and Lucia doomed to be Carlito puppets? And most pressing, do you really believe that Mike is dead and gone or will we get a shock at the beginning of next season with Warren getting shocked back to life?