c/o newstoshows.com
Back in my boring high school days, Fox’s “Lie to Me” was the sole source of adventure in my life. When it got cancelled, my heart yearned for a replacement adrenaline rush to spice up the weeknights, and USA’s American police drama, “Graceland,” is that perfect show. The series, which premiered early this summer, follows a group of undercover agents from various law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
With agents from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) all living under the same roof in Southern California, the excitement never ends. Within the first episode, I was stunned by a tangled web of drug buys, Russian gangs, and murder cases, and even more drama followed in future episodes.
Four men and two women live in the “Graceland” house: a rookie FBI agent, an FBI Senior Agent, two other FBI agents, an ICE agent, and a DEA agent. Calling themselves a “family” for enduring the physical and mental demands of being undercover together doesn’t stop them from questioning each other, going behind each other’s backs, and fighting intensely about their missions, creating additional tension in the house.
What first got me hooked on “Graceland” were the surprising twists, turns, and secrets in the storyline that kept me guessing what was coming next and totally unsure of whom to trust, similar to “Lie to Me.” So far, I’ve yet to outsmart the show and figure out anything more than the writers want me to know.
The first mystery of the show is the assignment of FBI agent Mike Warren to the Graceland house despite his graduating first in his class and requesting a post in Washington. Mike, along with the audience, learns at the end of the episode that his true assignment is to investigate his mentor Paul Briggs, a mission that creates a constant fear of being caught. Briggs is a legend of the bureau, making Mike’s mission even more dangerous and difficult, especially as Mike begins to admire Briggs and question the FBI’s motive for investigating him.
The premise of undercover agents, as opposed to the overt missions on other cop shows, creates an intensely suspenseful and exhilarating dynamic on “Graceland” because the viewers never truly know which side of the law each character is on. The nature of their missions requires the agents to work in extremely close proximity with hardened criminals, keeping hearts pounding and palms sweating just witnessing the danger from the safety of the couch. With every episode, more and more layers are uncovered, revealing secrets and developing deep mysteries about every agent in the house—and making me completely clueless about which characters to trust.
As I watched “Graceland” with my best friend, we went back and forth trying to figure out whether certain people were going undercover as a drug lord or truly were drug lords that had infiltrated the law enforcement agencies. Our heated debates about whether certain characters were true junkies or had been forced to take drugs during undercover missions proved useless because we are always shocked with every episode.
With all the new drama that arose, I found myself confused, curious, afraid, and itching for the chaos that was bound to ensue. As the uncertainty grew, so did the intrigue. I haven’t been able to stop watching. Ten episodes of “Graceland” have already aired and can be watched on USA’s website. The series returns to USA Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST and will definitely deliver a thrill.