TV REVIEW: The Revelations Keep Coming in Graceland’s “Head of the Pig”

Graceland’s latest showed Mike falling further into despair after his dead Lena coverup, Briggs falling in further with Sid Markham, and Johnny falling into those big brown eyes of Lucia.

For an episode with a veritable blood bath shootout at the end, there was a bunch of lovey dovey stuff in the middle.

Let’s take a look at the love, the lies, and that twisty Graceland ending we’ve come to expect.

Daddy Solano Disowns Baby Solano

“The Head of the Pig” opens with a big meet where Johnny and Jakes try to impress Carlos Solano with their plane-dropping drugs scheme. They set up a demo using flour that falls flat or rather parchutes into big clouds of exploding bags of flour, not exactly a soft landing. Papa Solano is not impressed. It’s a bust but not going to lead to a bust. At least not yet.

Lady love Lucia tells Johnny he better get out of Mexico because his baking disaster has caused him to lose favor with daddy. Carlito is thrilled that he’s the favorite son now with Johnny on the outs. He says his cruise ship idea is golden as he basks in his new role as the golden child.

Leave it to bad cop Sid Markham to out the younger Solano (no, not that way) and knock that halo off his head. Markham calls the elder Solano and rats out son about the sex trafficking operation he’s running. Drug kingpin has his standards and this violates his less than strict moral code. He punches son several times in the face then kicks him viciously in the stomach. Carlito’s fall is Johnny’s big break. Carlos says to get the plane drop off fixed because he “no longer does business” with his son.

Johnny tells Jakes about the Carlito beat down with both wondering what the deal is. Dale asks if it could be baby Solano’s limp wristedness. No, he’s been turning the other cheek on that one for years.

Lucia’s got the Johnny bug, bad. She says that after this one deal with dad, they’ll take the money and get out for good. She’s obviously in love with JT and he’s feeling the love connection also. Could this be leading to a south of Graceland happy ending? No, it’s got the feel of drug crossed lovers ending tragically.

Pictured: Aaron Tveit as Mike Warren — (Photo by: Jeff Daly/USA Network)

Mike Is a Mess (Even his Hair)

Mike is spiraling downward quickly. The messier his hair gets the more out of control and desperate he is. Witnessing the bloody death of a young sex slave you promised your sometime girlfriend to protect and then disposing the body to cover up the wrongdoing can do that to a person. Paige and Mike meet up with the blonde worried about her Lena, the dead Tinker Bell. Mike cryptically says she’s in a better place.

From the cuts on Mike’s face, Paige surmises that Mike did something to Lena. Wow, she’s good, kinda like the Graceland Medium. She asks Briggs for help with freeing the girls, and he says he’s got someone to hit the compound. That someone turns out to be gang unit leader Sid Markham.

Paige sashays into Briggs’ new gang unit posing as an FBI agent (that’s called deep cover) swinging that long blonde hair and flashing her perfect row of pearly whites. Markham takes notice and says he wants Paul to see what she’s up to. Briggs mentions it’s the Solano case and that’s all Sid needs to get involved, bait taken.

Paige and Mike meet up again with Mike being told to go get some rest. Paige doesn’t trust him anymore and definitely doesn’t respect him much, but she doesn’t want him caught in the raid. He gets back to Graceland for a little quality naptime.

Meanwhile, Briggs gives Markham the address where the girls are being held. His intel gets him an invite to the big bust. Strap on that vest, Paul. You’re finally gaining a little trust.

Pictured: Daniel Sunjata as Paul Briggs — (Photo by: Jeff Daly/USA Network)

In a “pretend this could really happen” moment, Johnny calls Mike right before the bust, saying that Carlos found out about the girls. Warren heads to the house to get Sulla out safely, his Solano busting dreams fading away. Mike locates Sulla in the house and tries to get him out … not an easy task considering Markham and crew are using the bad guys’ heads for target practice. It’s a blood on the walls kind of day.

Paige is outside and takes forever to get her team in – it’s almost laughable how slow they are to move. (I think a couple of the guys were getting pedis in the parking lot.) The sex trade girls all rush out and Paige sends her team back with the girls and goes in alone. Again, pretty unbelievable. The whole unit watches her go in alone.

Inside, Markham pursues Sulla and Mike finally catching up to them. He shoots Sulla to death and aims his gun at Mike’s head. Paige rushes in before Markham can kill messed up Mike.

Paige sees the Lena burning incinerator looking like she knows exactly what it was used for. I repeat, she’s that good. She questions Mike, but he admits nothing. Mike turns the tables and quizzes Briggs about why he didn’t let Warren know the raid was on. Briggs tells him he was a little busy kissing Markham ass. It paid off. He’s now in with Markham, so it’s a win-win situation.

Call Me Daddy

Tonight Briggs finds out why Charlie’s been so hormonal lately. He spies Charlie in the shower and walks in, smile on his face. He sees a pregnancy test with a definite plus sign. Smile gone, the shocked look on his face is priceless. He hesitates for a long second before joining Miss pregnant Chuck in the shower looking pretty content.

Briggs calls Dale and tells him Charlie’s pregnant. DJ tries to give a mini-lesson on the benefits of a condom while Paul asks, “Can you press pause on being an asshole?” DJ admits even with the restraining order drama, he wouldn’t give up being a father for anything.

In the final scene of the night, Charlie is making her super secret special sauce. Johnny and Jakes are comin’ home, so it’s time for some family bonding.

Charlie and Briggs talk babies with Paul saying he wants to keep it. “You wanna help me cut the peppers?” asks Charlie looking pretty satisfied. Could this be a Graceland happily ever after? These two crazy kids raising kids, staying happy and in love. Nah, this is Graceland!

The Briggs’ phone rings, and we see his shocked face as he listens to the Juan Badillo tape. You knew this was coming, but it doesn’t make it any less shocking. The previews for next week look intense with the holder of the tape appearing to be … Mike Warren. Can’t wait to see where the writers go with this one. The contentious relationship between these two was a huge part of what made season one so stellar. We’ve missed it this season, but it appears Graceland will finish strong with a Mike/Briggs showdown.

What did you think of “The Head of the Pig?” Do you think Mike will bust Paul or is he so far down the rabbit hole he won’t be able to judge his former mentor? Will Paige ever get the truth out of Mike about Lena’s demise?

Graceland airs Wednesdays on USA Network at 10 pm