TV REVIEW: Graceland’s Season 2 Premiere Shows A Change is in the Air

Our favorite summer bathing beauty is back with plenty of changes, keeping USA network’s Graceland a fresh, must-see.

All the familiar faces have returned in the “The Line” but they’ve transformed in some pretty significant ways. The beach house is still a safe haven for a handful of FBI, CIA, and DEA agents who surf one minute and crack some bad guy skulls the next. The house has the same tranquil outward appearance, but the players inside have been affected by the shenanigans of season one.

Season two’s premiere opens with Mike Warren (Aaron Tveit) being tortured, bag over his head, two bad guys working him over. Yep, Graceland’s back.

Flashback to two week’s earlier and everything is sunny in Southern California.  Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata) is zipping around in his Jeep, big smile in place, ready to take down a dull-witted arms dealer named Leon. Before he can arrest the sort of bad guy, he sees a picture of his old buddy Mike in Leon’s office. It turns out the Caza cartel from season one wants him dead and has put a bounty on his head.

Flash to Mike in Washington D.C. rewarded with his dream job, dressed in a suit, playing grown up. He’s even got a huge dry erase board on his office wall where he can cross off cases as he cracks them.  Mike’s also got a shiny new girlfriend, Jess, who happens to work in the same office.  All is well in Mikeland.  Or so it seems.

Pictured: (l-r) Daniel Sunjata as Paul Briggs, Aaron Tveit as Mike Warren — (Photo by: James Minchin III/USA Network)

He gets a call from Briggs saying, “We’re missing a musketeer. Feel like a vacation?” Aw, Paul misses Mike. I knew they really liked each other last season even though Mike was sent to the house as a mole, Briggs killed Mike’s FBI handler Juan, and Briggs was further revealed as Odin, a big time drug dealer.  Still with me?

Brigg’s confesses that he just wanted to let Mike know that there’s a hit out on him.  Paul says to get his wanted ass (in more ways than one) down to Graceland so they can bring down the cartel together. Three or four days tops.  Really? You couldn’t bust Caza all season last year, but now you can do it in less than a week?  Oh wait, I forgot about the immense dry erase board.

We see the housemate’s transform into a gaggle of sorority sister/frat brothers who play blindfold gun challenge complete with spin your forehead around the rifle.  Mike walks into the Greek life and wonders what dimension he’s just stepped into.  Further confirmation that he’s landed into the Graceland Zone comes when he is greeted by a perky, hugging Dale Jakes (Brandon Jay McLaren). The guy doesn’t even label his OJ anymore.  What?

Johnny (Manny Montana) seems like the same old bouncy Tigger, at least at first. He greets Mike calling him “dead man walking.”  Later, he’s drinking alone, and we see this isn’t the same old carefree ADHD agent. Paige (Serinda Swan) awkwardly greets Mike and you know the pair haven’t said two words to each other since Mike skedaddled off to D.C.. Charlie (Vanessa Ferlito) looks calmer and less crack-whorish. That’s always a good sign.

The biggest change is in Zen Master, Paul Briggs. He is by-the-book now, not taking any unnecessary risks, and definitely a fun ruiner.

Oh, and there’s a new guy they call Bates because he apparently has the habit of satisfying himself on a stakeout. TMI, Graceland writers, TMI.

Another big reveal comes when we see Briggs and Charlie in bed together, officially forming the super couple Chriggs (ew, that’s ugly), let’s try Chaul (uglier?), or maybe Brarlie (no, just no). Well, anyways, they are a couple now.  Brigg’s comments, “This is my happy place.” He’s so dreamy even if he did lie about almost everything last season. Muscles and dream face trump liar, liar pants on fire, right?

Mike and Briggs set up a Caza meet through Leon, but are double crossed when their arms dealer gets greedy.  Hmmm, that three day timeline may need to be extended.

Change is hard, and Mike doesn’t like what he sees. Briggs a scaredy cat, Charlie leavin’ her thong in Brigg’s bedroom, Jakes all touchy feely, and Johnny drinking alone. He calls B.S., or actually calls them all B.B.B. – Beach Bum Burnouts… oh, burn, Mike.

Paige has the line of the night when she talks to Mike at one of the Graceland trademark bonfires saying, “D.C. kinda turned you into an asshole.” Hilarious and true!

Pictured: (l-r) Vanessa Ferlito as Catherine “Charlie” DeMarco, Serinda Swan as Paige Arkin — (Photo by: James Minchin III/USA Network)

He confides that he’s stuck behind a desk in his new job and his first, big wannabe crackdown, a bus operation where public buses are used to transport contraband, was a bust. D.C. isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Paige shows she’s the Yoda of the episode telling Mike, “You’re back here to try to make yourself a rock star again. There are enough dead rock stars. Briggs is just trying to make sure you’re not one of them.”

In a little tidbit sure to be developed in the episodes to come, Charlie is on her own stakeout watching the widow of Juan. Perhaps killing the lady’s husband is going to be a deal breaker, Paul. You better keep that under wraps if you want to keep Charlie under you.

Briggs wants to call off the entire operation because it’s getting too dangerous and Danger is not his middle name anymore. He had it officially changed to Chicken. In the asshole move of the night, Mike goes above Brigg’s head and takes over the Caza crackdown. Paige was right.

They set up another meet with Caza and apparently dogs barking furiously cause cops to lose all their Spidey senses.  Mike is captured because of those yapping canines.

The bad guys take him, and we’re right back where we started this episode with Mike in a chair with a plastic bag over his head. They torture him asking about a “line” over and over. The Graceland gang comes barging in to save him in the nick of time.

Briggs and Mike realize that it wasn’t Caza that took him after all.  The “line” they kept asking him about referred to a bus line. He makes the gigantic leap that his theory about contraband carrying buses was correct after all and demands FBI  backup to investigate.

In the final scene of the night, Mike informs his old unit that the FBI has given him a team to investigate.  “You guys are my team. I’m moving back in for eight weeks. You guys will be working for me.”  They look like they just ate some bad sushi.

“The Line” set the scene for Graceland’s season two, and it drew a definite line in that Southern California sand. The themes of good versus evil and right versus wrong are sure to be explored with the question asked in season one, “When has someone crossed the line?” to be further examined. This episode also set up a line within the house – Mike firmly planted on one side that he’s labeled good, with his housemates on the other side.

This season of summer fun has officially begun leaving a smile firmly planted on my face. Graceland has promised to be darker this season with one main case (that pesky bus ring) the team will focus on. Can’t wait to see where that bus will take us as we cross the line together.

Graceland airs on USA Network on Wednesdays at 10 pm.