Graceland - General Discussion

[thuganomics85]

Ha, I do have to admit that I loved that both Paige and Jessica/Emily Rose seemed to figure out both had been sleeping with Mike, as soon as they were introduced.  Mike truly had one of the worst poker faces ever, during that scene.  You could never be a player, Mikey.  But, I should have known that Paige would be the one who would be more concern about her sex trafficking case, and basically tell Mike to sleep with Jessica, if that would get her on their side.  Damn, Paige!  Of course, that didn't work, and instead, she and Jakes went rogue, everything got crazy, and now Paige is undercover, all by herself.  Uh oh!

 

Well well... looks like Carlito is gay, and has a thing for Johnny.  That's certainly a way to go.  Johnny is currently playing along and doing a decent job, but it seems like he might actually have the hots for the sister.  Oh, Johnny.

 

Jakes is just sad to watch now.  I'm assuming that woman is a prostitute, and he's basically paying her to be his girlfriend.  Of course, it looks like she's going to be one of those prostitutes with a "heart of gold", and is probably actually falling for Jakes.  But, it looks like he got arrested again.  I'm guessing his ex somehow found out his son visit him, and called the cops.  Lame.

[catrice2]

I can't understand why he would not have called the mother and explained that the boy showed up, or explained when he returned him.  I am interested to see how Johnny gets out of sleeping with the brother.  I suspected he was gay from the beginning, and was sure in the scene where he was having sex with the girls and wanted Johnny to watch.  Is it possible that the sister called after kissing Johnny and told him something was not right?  How will Johnny be able to keep from sleeping with him?

 

My biggest problem with this show is I don't enjoy the two male leads, Briggs and Mike.  When any other character is the focus I am engaged, but those two bore me.  I cringed in the scene where MIke was being "forceful" with the supervisor/girlfriend.

 

Was the mic one way?  Had they not agreed upon some type of signal? Did Paige not have a cell phone?  Why would she go ahead and substitute herself without some type of acknowledgement that Jakes heard her, and why would he just not tell the police he was on an assignment and someone was possibly in danger if he did not respond?

 

yeah, I don't know about another season.

[TD3000]

I'm glad Paige is portrayed as a talented, dedicated fed and not just a pretty face. But damn if she hasn't ended up in the most perilous situations this season. I hope the Jakes thing works out, tired of him being the kicked dog. This show has gotten even darker, but it seems like that's what USA wants. I don't mind that much; I just think they've fallen back a little lately.

[Irishmaple]

Who was supposed to be watching Jakes' kid before he showed up?  The kid is too young to be free-ranging, yet there was no mention of anyone looking for him while he spent the day with his biological father.  His custodial parents should have been freaking out that he was lost or kidnapped, yet there was no mention of that when the cops arrested Jakes for violating his restraining order.  If his custodial parents or caregivers don't notice that the kid is basically gone for the day, maybe he would be better off with Jakes.

 

I really liked Charlie pointing out to Johnny that she and Paige and other female agents use the promise of sex and/or emotional connections while undercover.  I think this is the first time I've seen a straight male character put in that position on one of my shows.  I had to roll my eyes though at Johnny endangering his cover by assuring the target's sister that he isn't gay.  Last season, I never got the sense that the agents were incompetent but were outsmarted by clever people like Briggs and Bello, but this season I'm continuing to question the fact that they haven't been assigned a babysitter.  They all seem unsuited to their work: Paige is over-identifying with the girls to the point that she ignored the shift in the investigation and went into the field with Jakes.  There must be other task forces or agencies tasked with human trafficking, but she never even consulted them.  Jakes is a mess.  Johnny seems more interested in his target's sister than in safeguarding his part of the investigation.  I think it was fine that he stepped in when she was being choked, but to assure her he isn't gay when his cover depends on being her brother's new love interest?  I like the darker storylines but the characters seem over-matched by their circumstances.

[Turtle]

I agree that the agents seem a little less competent this season, and it's annoying.  Johnny risking his cover because the target's sister is pretty, Jakes blowing up his whole life and risking the job and the other agents, Paige putting her life in danger unnecessarily, Briggs doing I-don't-even-know-what to try to keep the whole Badillo mess covered up .. they all just seem to be hot messes.  No wonder they can't catch the bad guys!

 

I don't mind the darkness, and in fact I think it's kind of interesting to watch, but some occasional humor wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.  

[thuganomics85]

That Briggs.  Say what you will, but he knows how to get people to talk.  Don't just water-board the guy with mere H2O!  Since he's a recovering alcoholic, do it with vodka, and really fuck him up!  Hey, it did work.

 

Well, the good news is they already got Paige back.  The bad news is that everyone is far from happy.  Since they lost the drugs, Mike is letting the sex trafficking ring continue in order to nail Solano, which has extremely pissed off Paige.  And, since he is staying in Graceland, Jessica basically told him it's over.  Looks like Mike ain't going to be having any sex, any time soon.  But it looks like he's got a lead on the mole, so he's got that going for him.

 

No update on Johnny's stuff, so who knows where that is heading.  Jakes mainly was around to feel guilt over what went down with Paige.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I thought for 100 percent the mole was Jessica. She has seemed intent on getting Mike to shut down the operation and undermined him in various ways. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mike comes face to face with his biggest enemy and vows to do whatever is necessary to take him down, even if it means pushing the agents of Graceland beyond the boundaries of the law.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oHIRbyeSiU

[Ailianna]

They got someone arrested to get that payout, so there's another, obvious place the scam will fall apart--when the guy's defense attorney challenges the sting, when the judge orders the CI into court for a hearing to show that the CI had valid info for the team to rely on--in other words, not only did they dump the drugs that were "extra", but they're going to have to dump the dealer's case too if they really don't want Kelly to find out.

[Sake614]

I also thought Jessica was the mole. It just deemed to fit since as you said, she's been trying to shut down the operation and get him back to DC. I wonder if she'll still turn out to be it in the end or if she was just a red herring?

[Ailianna]

I couldn't believe Mike didn't take one of the actual victims when he had a chance to buy a girl.  And, you know, save a teenage girl from slavery.  And it wasn't "like slavery"--when you are buying and selling human beings, it IS slavery.  I know they all had a hard-on to get Paige saved, but by being in there she had already saved one girl, and could have gathered intel and protected other girls.  So he should have gotten a victim out, and learned what they know about how the girls are recruited and collected, what goes on, and so forth.  That would be what an agent diong his job would have done though.  It was making me crazy the last two episodes that they were acting like the drug ring was more important than over a half dozen slavery victims.  And even the PR would be better for freeing sexual trafficking victims than for having no arrests and a bunch of drugs burned up.  Just make no sense to me.

[methodwriter85]

I gotta say, I love that the obstacle for Paige and Mike isn't some icy blonde named Jessica, but the fact that he's willing to keep a sex slave ring open and he didn't save a teenaged girl. That's pretty justifiable reason for Paige to be pretty pissed off at the guy for the foreseeable future.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was annoyed with everyone after this episode.

So Briggs is okay with killing people, framing people, lying to the people he lives with (including the girl he's sleeping with) on a regular basis, etc. but water board a former alcoholic to get one of his roommates back and suddenly he's racked with guilt and crying?

I get that Paige was trying to do the right thing and keep her word but the entire episode she was so focused on the one girl she wanted to save and had absolutely no regard for all the other girls who were in the exact same position. Being sold into prostitution is good enough for you because Paige never had a conversation with you!

Then of course there's Mike who has been a dillhole all season. I know that he's trying to look at the bigger picture but dude, there is a warehouse full of teenagers who are about to be pimped out to gross men.

Where did Mike get the $20K to buy Paige? I'm pretty sure that someone is going to notice it's missing sooner or later.

I guess we are supposed to see Mike turning into Briggs, willing to break any rules to get what he wants, while Briggs grows a conscience and becomes more like S1 Mike but right now all I see is everyone acting like idiots.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Well wow.  With the exception of Johnny's storyline, that's an hour of my life I'm never getting back.

 

It seemed like a filler episode, otherwise.  Not much movement on any other plot line.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Johnny was trying to think of a place to take Lucia, I was yelling, "DO NOT TAKE HER TO GRACELAND!" But then he went and did something equally stupid by bringing her to his mom's house. Way to go, jackass. I hope that any of those trigger happy idiots murder your mom, you will comfort yourself with the thought that you didn't leave Lucia at some motel.

 

Wasn't it really stupid to have Paige on the prostitute stakeout? What if one of the guys from the operation spotted her and recognized her as one of the girls they just sold a few days ago?

 

The way they pronounced Tagalog threw me.

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, Johnny taking Lucia to his mother's house is just mind-boggling.  I really find it hard to believe that there wasn't one motel out there she would have been safe, despite her claims.  Or, as Jakes said, getting her out of town might have worked.  Whatever, I'm guessing this was an excuse to get those two to hook up.  I'm sure that's going to end perfectly for everyone.

 

So, the cop is totally dirty after-all, and Briggs has gone undercover to try and find an angle.  Meanwhile, Mike and Charlie find the guy's secret stash, and are actually planning on a bank robbery to get it?!  OK, then.

 

Paige and Jakes are continuing the sex-trafficking angle, and, of course, Paige is going off the rails, and beating buyers up.  That was totally unsurprising.

[Irishmaple]

Watching this episode, the only word that came to mind was 'clusterfuck' which describes both the episode I saw and, to be honest, the season so far.  I can't believe these are the same characters I met last summer.  Briggs is still his twisty self but I much preferred him cornered, lying his ass off, and hurting the people he cared about while genuinely trying not to hurt them.  The show's taken away his edge.  I even miss Odin Rossi.  Briggs, last season, seemed like a man with nowhere to go, but he always found a way to wriggle out and I liked that about him.  Smooth Washington Mike isn't working for me either.  I preferred the guy who hung out with Bello and tried to figure out if Briggs was all that he appeared to be.  That Mike was smart and competent, but outmatched.  New Mike is a dick and none of the antagonists are a patch on clever, ambitious Bello.  I really don't like the direction the show has chosen to take these characters. 

 

I get that Johnny was trying to delay the inevitable but why would he want to be around two armed, unpredictable and violent men hopped up on coke?  Offering the drugs seemed like a terrible risk to take.  And taking the cartel princess to his mother's house?  I have no words for the stupidity.  When a total screw-up like Jakes is telling you something is a bad idea, then Johnny should realize it is the king of bad ideas and avoid kissing the asset. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Charlie attempts to form a bond with a bank robber while Johnny tries to keep his feelings for a cartel leader's daughter in check. Briggs' personal life creates huge complications for his undercover.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIf3QAu-UdU

[Chicago Redshirt]

In fairness, one of the things that led to Briggs being as broken as he is was that Jangles essentially did something similar -- get him addicted to extract information. For all his various facades, Briggs is an addict in recovery who attends NA meetings regularly. So I could see that playing off another addict's weaknesses and torturing him would have a personal effect on him in a way that killing people, lying to people etc. would not.

[freebie]

The thing that was most unbelievable to me is that Johnny's mom *doesn't know what he does for a living.* What the hell? He acted like he's some kind of screw-up, but if he is, then wouldn't telling her about his law enforcement career help to change that view (which, by the way, she didn't really seem to have). Yes, she was concerned about his injuries (not the face!) and the fact that he brought this random chick home, but she didn't seem like she was unhappy to see him. And I do understand that they needed her to have no clue so she wouldn't blow Johnny's cover, but is she really necessary to the plot? Why bring the mom in at all, unless she really is cannon fodder, or -- God help me -- needs to be a part of Johnny's love story because this utterly doomed relationship will be real, dammit! Don't they teach these guys anything at Quantico or wherever? Surely there's a class on recognizing that beloved daughters of cartel members are off-limits, even if they aren't drug or arms dealers themselves, right? Meanwhile, where is Carlito? I was promised a love triangle! 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Charlie: You have skills and I want to use them.

Amber: I guess I'm flattered but if I gave in to everyone that flattered me, I'd have a dozen kids and a vaginal echo chamber.

 

Jakes: If it looks like something Snoopy would fly, I'm not interested.

[TrininisaScorp]

So, Briggs is way screwed up....I was only half paying attention to the episode.  What did that part at the end mean?  Like, Juan's wife is infiltrating his mind b/c he feels bad?  Is he attracted to her?  What is happening?  (shallow) Daniel Sunjata continues to be a pretty, pretty man (/shallow)

 

Oh, JT, JT, JT.  Bro, when Jakes is the voice of reason, you know you're screwed.  I'm glad Manny has something to do this season, so I'm willing to see where it goes, but bad choices.

 

I don't know who this Mike is.  He's deviated so far from the agent walking a line during the first season.  He's just an ass now.  There is no emotional grounding to him anymore.

 

I'm feeling very, very dense, but it took until this episode to get the CSI:NY connection!  Messer!  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Johnny pitches an alternative way to traffic drugs to the head of a drug cartel in Mexico.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoqEgCeZ3IQ

[Irishmaple]

So having spent most of the episode watching Kelly barf into the toilet, Briggs fantasizes about her going down on him; that's the Briggs I know and love.  The man is completely incapable of passing up an opportunity to screw up his own life and the lives of those close to him.  I liked that Kelly got a punch in, but she annoyed for the rest of the episode.  I do understand what she's going through, but I think the show is laying it on too thick.  First she relapses into alcoholism and then she attempts suicide?  There are ways of showcasing grief without kicking the character in the teeth constantly. 

 

Somewhat to my surprise, I'm enjoying Charlie a lot this season.  Last season, she hovered and bugged, but while I don't like her relationship with Briggs (I feel like I missed the best parts, watching him lying his ass off to win back her trust) I like the character a lot more.  Vanessa Ferlito looks fantastic and she has the badass side of Charlie nailed down.  She made a great-looking tattoo artist earlier in the season and I'm liking her as a bank robber too.  The robbery at the diner was a bit improbable though.  The place was jam-packed with people who looked low on impulse control and were very likely armed.  It seemed like the kind of place where the bar tender would pretend to reach for the cash but grab a shotgun instead.  I get why Charlie's robbery had to be successful, but it seemed way too easy.

 

Mike and Paige are both beyond annoying now, but no-one has me reaching for the fast-forward like Johnny.  I can't even watch his storyline right now.  Johnny is supposed to be an experienced FBI agent, right?  I don't feel any sympathy for his love interest because she's spent twenty-some years enjoying the benefits of being a cartel princess.  Her life of luxury and privilege comes off the backs of people victimized by narco-terrorism and she knows it. 

[Shriekingeel]

So WTF is wrong with Mike? Not a fan of this season's big lightswitch transformation into Mike The Asshole.

[lynny]

What in the actual fuck is going on? Seriously, Mike has been a total ass all season and Johnny is getting stupider every episode. At least Johnny seems to have made some forward progress by the end. The only thing Mike did is let the teen girl get raped some more and then murdered. How is this allowed to continue? Paige is going to find out and then she's going to be so pissed.

 

Also, didn't that dad listen to that tape at the end of last season? What's he been doing since then?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Briggs and Paige plan to use Briggs' cover to end Mike's operation.

 

Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV4tOl-hruA

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mike is not only an asshole this season but now he's also an idiot. Lying to Paige and whacking himself in the head with a tire iron so he doesn't have to tell her the truth about what happened to her favorite illegal underage sex slave was just ludicrous. At least he reminded her that there are other girls inside. She's always so focused on just her one girl. I guess it's a good thing that Mike was so slow about wiring the rest of the building or Paige would have been able to check the surveillance and know what really happened.

[Irishmaple]

That was just awful.  I know I watched the show because I clearly remember sitting down to do so but everything just hopped by and completely failed to interest me.  I think the main issue for me is: Mike is not Briggs.  When Briggs was the lead, he was interesting and busy and always doing something smart to counterbalance the something stupid he'd just done.  Mike isn't compelling enough to centre the show for me.  I really enjoyed this show last season and was looking forward to its return, but it's just not working for me this summer.

[Beezella]

I'm about ready to bail on this show. So dark. So many bad and inexplicable choices. (I'm talking to you Johnny, I'm talking to you Mike.) Isn't a show supposed to be good for at least a couple seasons before it jumps the shark? Last season there was some levity, beach scenes, kitchen scenes, telling funny stories, smart people doing their jobs well. Does anyone know how many episodes there are this season? Last fall they said it had been renewed for 13 episodes, but I don't know if I can hang in there.

[RachelKM]

Last season I spent the latter half seriously trying to figure out if this show was trying to tell me Paul was not the worst human ever. I was stunned that the show kept him around after he spent years being an actual drug lord responsible for countless human rights violations and deaths.  I couldn't understand how they thought they could recover his character.  

 

This season I cannot figure out if they just want us to hate everyone by ruining a character per season or if they think making Mike a soulless dick will rehab Paul by comparison.  If it's the latter, it's not working.  They are both sociopaths.  Note to show runners, the ends do not justify the means. 

 

That and the endless dumbing down of Johnny and manic depressive behavior of Jakes is making hard to even watch this show.  But I do, because I'm a completionist.  God help me. 

Edited August 22, 2014 by RachelKM

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Who the hell takes a home pregnancy test and then leaves the pee stick on a perfectly clean bath towel? Answer: Charlie.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Briggs learns that someone at Graceland has proof of his past crimes.

 

[RachelKM]

Who the hell takes a home pregnancy test and then leaves the pee stick on a perfectly clean bath towel? Answer: Charlie.

This show has numbed me to the horrific decisions these psychos make.  But my OCD is apparently still intact, because this.

 

Who else would was not overly bothered by the idea that Mike might get shot?  Good for Paige not being dumb and and yay for Mike looking like a ass.

 

Between the tape of the season 1 murder surfacing and Paige being on to Mike, is it too much to hope that both Paul and Mike are going to face some kind of consequences by the end of this shit? 

 

Oh Johnny. You are dumb, but thank you for not being completely amoral. 

Edited August 21, 2014 by RachelKM

[3girlsforus]

Did I miss the part where Charlie actually tells Briggs she's pregnant or was that the 'leave a pregnancy test on a towel and when he comes into the shower with his clothes on you know he knows'? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I am there with you. I get the same feeling as when I watch The Vampire Diaries: why am I supposed to give a crap about what happens to any of these horrible people?

[catrice2]

I had very little faith in this show from last year, and this season has just proved me right. Egad!

[Irishmaple]

I really thought the end of the first season was going to lead to something good.  I like Paul Briggs, I enjoyed watching him squirm, and I was looking forward to watching him rebuild the bridges he had burned and the trust he had squandered.  The tape was still out there to threaten him so there was still the possibility of some classic slippery moves.  I was curious to see if the Badillo murder would threaten his sobriety.  There would also have to be a case to bring Mike and his suspicions back into Briggs' orbit.  Would Mike and Charlie team up to investigate him on the side or would he have won Charlie's trust back?  With the lies Briggs told her last season, their love connection isn't working for me at all and I'd rather the show hadn't gone there. 

 

This season isn't working for me at all.  The tape's back in play but by now I don't really care.  I'm still watching, hoping for a sign that the show I loved last year is still somewhere inside this mess.

[Pepperclove]

Not only did Briggs join Charlie in the shower with this clothes on, but in his next scene, he was wearing a dry version of the same outfit that he had worn into the shower.  Apparently, he has a collection of identical gray t-shirts and he was really committed to that outfit for the day.

 

I totally agree about the downfall of what was a decent show in season one.  I think sidelining Briggs to the B plot for most of this season was a mistake - like Irishmaple, I was interested in his squirming and digging holes that he was just barely slippery enough to get out of.  They've also isolated the characters from each other so that there's relatively little interaction between them this season, and in the process, they've lost all the humor and failed to take advantage of both the decent chemistry of the cast and the fake-Southern-California setting.  And of course, the plots holes have gotten even bigger this season - in fact, the entire plot feels like they took a brainstorming session of TV cliches and threw them all into the scripts with no concern for character, logic, or plausibility.  Charlie's pregnancy is just the latest example.

 

I was hoping for Mike to get shot, too.  Now that would have been a twist!  (Well, only if it was fatal....)

[Irishmaple]

They're also missing out on the sheer awesomeness of Bello this season.  He was a magnificent antagonist.  He and Mike watching movies together, bonding.  Briggs clucking like a mother hen over dropping Mike in the deep end.  I've never felt so bad for a violent drug dealer who ended up in jail.  Not a single one of this year's crop of bad guys comes close.  I wish I'd taken note of the actor's name because he sold Bello hard.  I liked him even when he was torturing his own lieutenant.  The guy was intelligent, motivated and ruthless but still charismatic, even vulnerable at times.  Johnny's guy is boring and ridiculous, and the guy Mike was working was just pathetic.  It's impossible to feel anything but disgust for a guy who abuses sex slaves even if he does have a brother in a longterm care facility. 

[SoapDoc]

Bello was played by Gbenga Akinnagbe. He was just on the last season of 24.

 

This season has been such a let down -- I watched this episode and realized that I don't care about the characters like I did last year. What happened to Mike in DC?  He's more of an a** without redeeming qualities this year. Paige is never going to forgive him for lying because she is not stupid. She knows that Lena was cremated and that Mike knew it. However, since Charlie took Briggs back, perhaps Paige will forgive Mike.

 

I agree that moving Briggs to the side was a mistake. Maybe it was not sustainable over the long term but I wonder if this show has another year in it.

[Ailianna]

I know everyone is taking Paige somehow (magically) finding the incinerator as proof she knows Lena was cremated, but really, how could she?  Even if she can tell that someone was cremated in there (and if they are being realistic, there would be items left which would indicate that, but I'm not sure this show is that realistic), there is no way to know it was Lena.  There were no unique clothing items or anything even. That seems like a bad way to have Paige figure things out.  Also, I'm not sure why Mike needed to fake her escape--just let them know she was murdered.  Or even fake that the traffickers attacked him and killed her.  Since apparently Paige already figured out he faked the attack, that would have been her way in without giving her an illogical trek exploring through the factory and miraculous powers of ash identification.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Bello was played by Gbenga Akinnagbe. He was just on the last season of 24.

He will always be Chris Partlow from The Wire to me!

 

I'm not sure why Mike needed to fake her escape--just let them know she was murdered.

Because he wanted to look like the good guy to Paige. By saying that he was taking Lena out and then Lena is the one who attacked him and ran away, he's still the hero and blameless in her death. But admitting that she was shot and murdered, he not only failed but it's his fault that she was killed.

[RachelKM]

I think Mike also knows that Paige was still upset that he was allowing the place to stay open and the compromise they found was him buying all the girls and keeping them safe.  Though he was trying to get Lena out when it happened, she would not have been killed at all if he'd just raided the place when they first found it.  Paige has been mad that Mike prioritized the finding cartel over the girls since he first refused to order a raid and he didn't want to tell her he got Lena, the girl Paige had personally invested in, killed.

I know everyone is taking Paige somehow (magically) finding the incinerator as proof she knows Lena was cremated, but really, how could she?  Even if she can tell that someone was cremated in there (and if they are being realistic, there would be items left which would indicate that, but I'm not sure this show is that realistic), there is no way to know it was Lena.  There were no unique clothing items or anything even. That seems like a bad way to have Paige figure things out.  Also, I'm not sure why Mike needed to fake her escape--just let them know she was murdered.  Or even fake that the traffickers attacked him and killed her.  Since apparently Paige already figured out he faked the attack, that would have been her way in without giving her an illogical trek exploring through the factory and miraculous powers of ash identification.

I don't think she's certain of anything nor that it was finding the incinerator that convinced her.  She's just putting pieces together of how Mike could have accomplished what she was already suspecting.  She had already mentioned to Briggs that Mike's wounds were inconsistent with his story and wondered aloud to him if Mike was capable of a cover up.  And she hasn't been able to find any trail or sign of Lena.  Finding the incinerator was just a possible explanation for the part she hadn't figured out, i.e. if Lena didn't run, where was she.  I don't know that Paige could ever prove it unless Mike or one of the other guys present when she died (if any are still alive) admitted it.

Edited August 29, 2014 by RachelKM

[Pyewacket]

Anybody? No? Okay. There were some things I liked about this episode, it did have a lot of action, but it's kind of looking to me like the new writers this season didn't actually watch S1 and instead were given a list of bullet-pointed character traits for each of the original six. That's the only reason I can come up with for the S2 guests, like the Solanos, being better developed in this arc and characters like Johnny being more interesting when they're with them. (In my opinion, of course.) I don't know, I think maybe they were overly ambitious this year and lacked a decent plan for incorporating everyone into the overall story line without the injudicious, lazy use of anvils. 

[RachelKM]

Well at least Charlie knows.  The thing I found the hardest to stomach last year was Charlie apologizing to Paul for doubting him.  Paul was already pretty irredeemable at the end of last season anyway, but trying to kill Mike (soulless ass that he's become) was just icing on the shit cake.  

 

I continue to be amazed that this show continues to make 2 of the 6 main characters amoral, borderline sociopaths, 1 incompetent, and 1 varying degrees of emotionally unstable.  Although, in Jakes defense, at least he's no longer cool with being an accessory after the fact to Paul's murder.  Basically, Paige and Charlie are the only rootable characters left and even they have dubious approaches.  Charlie gaslighted Paul rather than just turning him in which almost leads to Paul killing Mike and Paige is (rightly) fairly certain Mike covered up a murder and lied to her, and yet all she does is act passive-aggressive about it.  I will forgive Paige if something ultimately comes of her attitude. 

[luckyroll3]

Am I bad person for actually wanting Mike to get shot?  He's been rubbing me the wrong way all season.

 

Charlie, either turn Briggs in or ask him outright about the tape.  The whole, I'm going to call you and play it Scream-style was obnoxious, especially since it almost led him to murder 2 people.

[3girlsforus]

I think all of them are insane. Setting aside the obvious psychopathy of Briggs and Mike, let's look at Charlie. Ok - so she's pregnant by a guy who turns out to have killed an FBI agent. So does she turn him in, leave him, tell him etc. No - she gaslights him. Then while she's doing this she tells him she's worried that they don't talk enough to handle the issues having a baby will require. I was incredulous at the line 'we will have a  monster running around here'. I'm ok with monster - but HERE??? Do either of them not realize that they can't keep this secret from the FBI? Do they really think they will still be assigned to Graceland after the FBI finds out she's pregnant and they've been sleeping together? But she doesn't think about that. She is just hung up on being left out of the loop. I really don't think she's all that upset that Briggs killed someone. I think she's upset that he didn't tell her. That's screwed up.

[Mor]

I know everyone is taking Paige somehow (magically) finding the incinerator as proof she knows Lena was cremated, but really, how could she?

I agree, also found Paige intuition during the raid as hard to stomach.( maybe if it came after she talked to the girls ).

The other thing I found hard to stomach, was the blunder at the raid. With mike ever growing desperation\pressure and all that he already done (like disposing of body), wtf he had to clear the cop, saying to the reporter that the russian guy reached for his gun?!?!?! The cop clearly came there to kill him, only two of them were there, so its FBI agent vs cop, and the russian guy never drawn his weapon(still was in his belt), Mike could easily bench the cop through internal affairs, further pressuring him.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Mor

[Mor]

I really don't think she's all that upset that Briggs killed someone. I think she's upset that he didn't tell her. That's screwed up.

Don't forget that it was an accident i.e. he was emotional unstable, drunk, encountered by his worst enemy and the gun went off during a struggle. Considering all the other things they all have been involved in, I can see how she can "let it slide" eventually, however, letting her live with guilt over it its much much worse, it is a direct betrayal...