
Whenever a bad guy opens up and reveals something human about himself that makes you hate him a little less, odds are he’s about to meet his maker. And Graceland‘s “Hand Of Glory” was no exception. Toros kicked the bucket, but even with one less member of the Sarkissian clan to take down, things are about to get a lot messier for the agents. This episode not only gave us a bloody good ending, it also gave us money in the walls, Jakes in his underwear and, once again, Mike failing to trust Briggs and landing everyone in a whole heap of trouble. Let’s discuss.

Cortney: Tina, I have to start by saying I am beyond frustrated with Mike right now. Is it bad that I liked him drugged-up better? I mean, at least you could blame the pills and his addiction for his stupid decisions, but now it’s all on him. How many times does he have to wrongly doubt Briggs and ultimately make things worse before he learns to stop stepping in? I got him being suspicious in Season 1, he was new to both the house and the field, but now, his chronic mistrust of Paul is clearly a bigger issue and he’s dragging Johnny in to it too. You would think all his failed attempts to “catch Briggs,” not to mention a near-death experience, would make him think twice before jumping the gun, no?
Tina: Okay, so we’re on the same page here. I was trying to talk myself out of being annoyed with Mike. Maybe there’s something else going on here, I told myself. Something I’m just not getting. But now that I’ve read your thoughts, I’m back to being super frustrated with the man. Here’s what I typed up after watching this episode:

I hold these Graceland truths to be evident: 1. Bearded!ShadyMike is a much cooler individual than Clean-shaven!DoGooderMike. 2. Sleepy!ShirtlessJakes may possibly be my favorite Jakes EVER. 3. Rhys Coiro continues to rule my world on this show. 4. Paige is seriously ripped. Like whoa, she’s in shape. It’s inspiring (I type as I eat a mini-cookie). 5. Number one comes off the list if it turns out Mike’s mistrust of Briggs is something else entirely. 6. More Shirtless!Jakes scenes need to happen.
See? I was seriously trying to talk myself off the ledge when it comes to Mike. Because I love him so much but I become conflicted when he outwardly shows such lack of faith in Briggs. To be fair, when Paul says the “plan’s all on the table” — that’s almost never the case. But you’d think after Briggs supported him through the withdrawal phase of his recovery, he’d wait a little longer before he — as you put it — jumped the gun.

Cortney: Haha! I love your truths. And I second all of them. Although I don’t know at this point what Mike’s “something else entirely” could be. This DoGooder determination never ends well for him. And while yes, Paul can be a *little* withholding at times, he is a pro when it comes to anticipating every possible move and planning accordingly. I certainly wouldn’t want to face him in a game of chess. That being said, Paige could’ve and did almost DIE because of Mike. I mean, hello! He literally gets his sights set on something and won’t let go. I mean, Mike had the SWAT team on site and was going in ready to SHOOT and literally take down the man who had just saved his life. That’s messed up, right? Granted, Mike’s logic held a bit of sense, but it’s Briggs, sometimes you have to let go and trust. That being said, I did LOVE Briggs’ reaction to Mike when he came in guns a-blazing. And I was even fond of Logan (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) and his bravado too for a brief second…until he reminded Briggs that the target is still on his back.
Tina: There are many words I can say about Logan, “fond” is never one of them. Not even for a second. Not even when he backed up Briggs’ story and put a halt to Johnny arresting Ari.
I’m going to go with Mike’s mind and his world being a bit jumbled right now. I think the show purposely didn’t give us a flashback to the phone conversation when Briggs mentioned Logan’s license plate number. I remember seeing that conversation from Mike’s perspective. Did he witness things the way it actually happened? I can see where Mike would have doubts. I don’t see why he felt the need to bring a team of agents down on Briggs. I’m sorry. No matter how many reasons Paul gives me to doubt him, I can’t ever lose faith. He always has a goal in mind. He may get there a little shady, but he’s so damn smart. There’s a method to his madness and the wise move would be to go for the ride.

As for Paige, that shot of her standing in the Graceland house in her bloodied up white dress looking all devastated, was well done. Serinda Swan has been fantastic this season, don’t you think?
Cortney: Yes, absolutely. And I am beyond grateful for it since I was extremely frustrated with her character last season. That final shot was exceptional, but even before that, her scenes with Toros (Val Lauren) this week were some of her best. In past weeks, it’s been all cover and mission as she clearly puts up with his handsy advances. However, as mentioned early, he actually showed some humanity this week — first being nervous and feeling unworthy and then with the revelation of his father and how the Sarkissians rescued him. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t justify all that he’s done, but I can see why he feels such a sense of loyalty to them and I like that Paige picked up on that as well and almost seemed to feel bad for him. I realize the irony of this sentence, but if he wasn’t such a slimy murderous scumbag raised by the Sarkissians, I could see him actually being a decent person. And the way Paige handled him and supported him, even as a cover, was both badass and sweet.
Toros: They were expecting this to be Ari, I can see it on their faces. Where the hell is Tev?
Paige: Come here, listen to me. They may have been expecting Ari, but who they got is so much greater. You made everybody in this room realize your strength. Do you know how much I admire that? Do you know how rare that is? I want a man who takes what he wants.
Toros: You’re exactly what I need. Thank you.

Tina: Yeah, one of my Toros takeaways is that I appreciate how much he appreciated the support of a good woman in his life. It was — dare I say it — adorable? But then the macho other side of him roared back as he felt betrayed by Paige’s escape from the church. I feel bad Paige had to kill him. But not as bad as Paige feels. In the promo for next week’s episode, it’s clear killing this guy affects her.
Cortney: Right?! If he had THAT much rage simply because she bailed on him at the church, I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened had he found out she was DEA! Now that Toros is out, does that mean Ari is a shoo-in?

Tina: Will Martun anoint Ari in the wake of Toros’ absence? Who knows. He might be busy trying to figure what the hell happened to his right hand man. In fact, there’s a chance he could be suspicious of Ari now that Toros is gone. It’s hard to guess with this show. I think one thing, they do the exact opposite.
Cortney: Ooh, interesting idea, I kind of like that. Might be an opportunity for the agents to either divide and conquer or just let them take each other out. They already have enough blood on their hands so letting the bad guys just kill each other would certainly save them from adding more.

Tina: What are your thoughts on Operation Nab Germaine? I enjoyed how we’re finally getting to see more Jakes…in more ways than one. He has been working out! I’m also enjoying getting to hear Hal Ozsan’s real accent. I feel like he often plays Americans. I had no idea he was British….well, according to IMDB, the actor was born in Northern Cyprus but grew up in East London. Actually, scratch that. I feel like I should know this bit of news and maybe I just forgot. Whatever. The accent was nice to hear.
Cortney: First off, back to your truths — Sleepy (and slightly cranky) Jakes is my favorite!! Honestly, I thought spiffy Jakes was good, but this was even better
Jakes: Why are you bothering me?!
Charlie: I want Germaine.
Jakes: Yeah, well I want a big house, I want a million dollars and I want the love of a beautiful woman, but it’s not in my cards.
Charlie: Yeah, well then you need a new deck, let’s go.
These two are so phenomenal together. Â And thanks to recent casting news, Jakes may not have to wait too much longer for that third wish. But back to the op, I love that Charlie has refocused on Operation Nab Germaine. After being defeated last week, I wasn’t sure if she was going to give up, but I am so glad to see she just needed a few days to regroup before getting back on track. And agreed, Geramine’s accent is pretty charming…heck, it’s even charming when Jakes attempts to mock it.
Tina: LOVED that moment. Jakes gave the accent the old college try. I’m up for him trying again. I also appreciated him telling Charlie she would have made a good mom. Poor Chuck.
Cortney: That being said, as far as the business side of things, my knowledge of money laundering is admittedly limited so I’m not entirely understanding the whole $$ in the walls part of the process. Nor do I get how Jakes being Germaine’s North American “guy” will help to take him down without ruining the ATF investigation, but I am enjoying watching it go down and am definitely along for the ride. That being said, any idea why Chuck seemed so hesitant and unsettled when she saw Germaine and Jakes on the deck of the yacht? Something seemed off and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Tina: I got nothing. I guess we’ll have to sit back and see where this story goes next. And I can’t believe you quoted the Charlie/Jakes bedroom scene. I WANTED TO! I think you and me need to have a conversation with Jakes. Does he really think it’s not in the cards to get the love of a beautiful woman? The dude is kinda damaged and that makes me sad. He deserves some happiness. Although, this is Graceland. True happiness is seemingly unobtainable in this universe. At least so far.
Graceland airs Thursday nights at 10/9c. Heads up: Elementary actress Lucy Liu directs next week’s episode. Can’t wait.
Related posts
10 Comments
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Classics
Alison Sweeney Talks About What’s Next for Hannah and Mike After Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery
[Warning: Spoilers for Carrot Cake Murder.] Everybody OK after that Hannah Swensen Mystery twist? Thankfully, our favorite crime-solving couple is still on speaking term, even if they’re on a break (hopefully not that kind of break). Most importantly, we already know this isn’t the last film in the series. No…
Counting Down to From Season 2
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] We’re just shy of two weeks away from Season 2 of last spring’s obsession, From, which premieres at 9 pm/8c, Sunday, April 23rd, on MGM+ (formerly EPIX). If you never picked it up last year, now’s your chance, and you can do it for free, catching…
Thank Me Later: Will Trent
[Warning: spoilers ahead.] I’m on record as loving and losing shows over at ABC so I’m usually very reticent to pick something up on the network until it’s been renewed, and I seriously hope I’m not jinxing it, but I took a chance on the deeply odd and very sweet…
Dennis Heaton Talks The Imperfects
Longtime readers at TV Goodness will know that Motive is one of my ride-or-die series, and as such, I am fiercely loyal to its creator, Dennis Heaton. He followed up that fantastic reverse procedural with Netflix’s The Order and is back on our streaming screens with The Imperfects, which dropped…
Kelly McCormack Talks Favorite Moments in A League of Their Own
[Warning: Mild spoilers for season 1.] Now that you’ve had a chance to watch A League of Their Own, here’s the rest of my chat with Kelly McCormack about her favorite moments of the season. Seeing the iconic Peaches uniforms for the first time wasn’t just a goosebump moment for…
John Griffin and Harold Perrineau Talk From Season 1 Finale
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] How are we doing, #FROMily? In case you missed it this morning, the very good news is that that cliffhanger will be followed by a second season, which was gifted this morning ahead of the linear broadcast of the finale. I always legitimately appreciate when we…
Elizabeth Saunders Talks From
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] One of the things that makes EPIX’s From such a fun ride is the abundance of Canadian cast members. Elizabeth Saunders, who plays Donna, is a favorite from her turn on the third season of Mary Kills People [streaming on Global TV in Canada and Roku…
Corteon Moore Talks From “Broken Windows, Open Doors”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight’s episode of From had us all in our feels as we learned through flashbacks about the Sophie’s Choice Boyd had to make to save his son, and back in the present as Boyd said his piece with Ellis before heading into the woods with…
Pegah Ghafoori Talks From “All Good Things…”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode] Tonight on From, Fatima’s anniversary celebration turned into a Colony House of horrors when a misguided Kevin let his monster bae in and she promptly killed him and left the window open for her crew. While the party devolved into terror and sent everyone running,…
Shaun Majumder Talks From “Book 74”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight on EPIX’s From, Father Khatri made a bold move, kidnapping Sara instead of turning her in, and then recognizing her as a vessel for some big messages. That startling realization speaks to him on multiple levels–as a man of faith, a man trapped in…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…
3 Moments of Goodness from Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Johnny and Dora”
The most satisfying part of this season’s finale has to the Jake and Amy kiss. Well, they kiss three times but the last one is the best one — and it means something. The Charles and Rosa dynamic was also great. I love how she’s convinced he doesn’t know anything…
Re: the phone conversation, try watching the last episode again. The exact dialogue is “Hey, did you find him yet? No, no, no, no. It’s ‘T.’ Not ‘D.’ Tango. TLX119. Yeah. No, we need to establish patterns, you know, where he goes, how he moves, evasive maneuvers – things like that. All right. Speak soon.” “TLX – that a plate? Who you tailing?” “One of the Sarkissians.”
It was presented as a straightforward scene, not from Mike’s POV – it actually starts with Briggs alone in the room. He was already lying to him in that scene itself, I don’t think Mike’s chronic mistrust is the problem. You can’t justify trusting Briggs with that example at all.
I don’t blame Mike for doubting Briggs. Briggs makes it so hard to trust him sometimes. But I do feel like there may have been another way of handling it.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Briggs makes it really difficult to trust him. Everytime he makes an effort to redeem himself, he goes back to his old ways. I didn’t blame Mike at all for wanting to get to the bottom of this. I felt frustrated for him to be honest. But as the commment before mine has said, this all could have been handled a better way.
I.e Briggs telling his entire plans to those involved; Mike, Paige and Johnny so they wouldn’t be making such huge mistakes like that. Such as Paige being told she’d be burned so she could have avoided seeing Toros altogether that night. I guess that wouldn’t have added to the drama that is the show though lol.
The highlight of the ep for me was Charlie and Jakes working together again~
I also like when Johnny and Mike work together too, but I wished this could have ended better.
Thanks for your comment. I agree, Briggs does make it hard. I don’t know why he continues to be anti-transparency. But Mike only made himself look bad with the way it turned out. And I love him too much to want him to look bad.
I wish Briggs had been a bit more forthcoming with the rest of his plan and I also wish Mike had a little more faith in him, I mean how many times can a guy save your life before you trust him. These situations do make for a very exciting Graceland episode though. It’s got me psyched for next week, can’t wait.
Yeah, they both have issues. haha
Thanks for the comment and thanks for reading!
When I re watched the phone call episode, I thought it said “Paige, have you found him yet?”, since Paul was working on the case with Paige. I agree about the Mike/Paul dynamic–but it’s gone back and forth so many times, it’s becoming unbelievable to me. They are BOTH really smart guys, who are supposed to be on the same team. Also, wish it could be clearer how much time passes between scenes/episodes. Hard to believe all this happens in 1 day, or from one day to the next. Obviously, I’m WAY too invested 🙂
I feel the same way about time between episodes/scenes. The scene where Briggs tells JT “not everything that’s happening is happening right in front of you” in reply to JT asking him about his plan to resolve the Carlito problem had me wondering if I’d missed a scene or episode because as far as I could tell, we hadn’t seen any interactions between Briggs and JT where JT actually discusses the details of his activities with Carlito. I’d like to think that the fact that things like these bother us(just a teensy weensy bit) make us awesome fans ?
As far as showing time between episodes/scenes – during Mike’s intervention — Cortney had to point out to me that three days went buy for him to go through withdrawals. There was a line but I missed it. So to me the whole thing seemed like it went by VERY quickly. So I agree.
While watching the show (without going back to watch last week’s), this is what I thought. Briggs did give the license plate of Logan last week. When Briggs visited Logan and said he needed an agent to question, the scene ended with Logan thinking (from recollection, not verified). When Logan was kidnapped I just assumed that was the plan. Logan volunteered himself to be the agent who was questioned. Or even if he didn’t volunteer, he was compliant with the request, so Briggs picked who he wanted: Logan. Logan was in on the plan one way or another so what should Mike care if Briggs gave the license # or repeated it after hearing from someone else. Briggs doesn’t tell Mike the full details because he can’t trust Mike. Mike doesn’t like not being trusted so responds by not trusting Briggs.