On Graceland, the first major lesson of undercover work that Mike learned was that the rule book doesn’t apply. On “O-Mouth,” Charlie broke one of the sacred rules of undercover work. It could cost her not only her job, but her life. Meanwhile, Mike carefully manipulated Bello into trusting him.
Charlie’s Betrayed by Her Caring
One of the most difficult aspects of being an undercover agent has to be developing trustworthy assets in the dark, drug-infused, criminal world. Charlie’s relationship with Whistler was an example of how it can go wrong. After he nearly messed up a sting, she had to let him only to need him again.
Regardless of his drug problem, he’s a person and she grew to care about him. She wouldn’t have tried to get him to buy the house with his government check if she didn’t. After he nearly saw her when she was undercover as Katie she paid him a visit. Yes, she went because it was her job, but her humanity was exposed when she bought him the shirt. She cares.
She broke after seeing Whistler dead in the bathroom, especially when she saw he kept the shirt she bought. He was responsible for his own drug use, but she felt responsible for putting him in that place in that moment. Briggs wanted to pull out of the deal, but she couldn’t let Whistler’s death be for nothing.
When the deal almost died because Briggs didn’t want to use the mark’s drugs, Charlie shot herself up instead. She wanted Whistler to get clean and then she used them herself to honor him.
The final moment of Charlie with an O-Mouth was heartbreaking, touching, and shocking all at the same time. Did she actually use the drugs? Or could she have switched out the bottle for the hemoglobin somehow?
From the opening scene when she was practicing her “high” act, she proved she could fake it perfectly, but was she faking it or was she high? Either way, it was a jaw-dropping moment.
Briggs Steals Heroin?
Mike finally had enough of his handler and the investigation into Briggs. When he met with his handler, he demanded to know what was going on. After watching Eddie kill himself right in front of him, Mike felt he deserved to know the truth.
Mike recognized that Briggs has an unorthodox way of getting things done, but none were worthy of an investigation. Plus, his motivations were either to protect the house, the FBI, or get the bad guy.
His handler revealed the true reason they were investigating Briggs. Every one of Briggs’ heroin busts ended up being short of the load that was expected. The FBI believes that Briggs is skimming on the drugs and then selling them.
Mike’s Cases Collide
Due to this new information about Briggs, Mike decided to use Bello and his heroin trafficking to test Briggs and set him up if he’s dirty. First, Mike had to buddy up to Bello and become a trusted ally.
How did he do it? He used Bello’s love of classic, old school, American westerns. They bonded over the movies. They even went DVD shopping together. How cute! Well, until the store clerk insulted Bello. Though, Mike used that to his advantage and stepped up by knocking the clerk down.
That action solidified Mike’s value to Bello. While chilling out watching a western, Mike asked to be Bello’s bodyguard and he accepted. Just like that Mike infiltrated Bello’s organization. And, he wasted no time in snooping.
He found a note on a calendar that said, “Bigfoot.” With Briggs’ help, he deciphered the code to mean a heroin shipment was arriving by submarine later that week. The mission is on to bring down Bello … and maybe Briggs, too?
Relationships are Crazy
The agents’ lives are constantly at risk and their cover is their life. That makes romance difficult to maintain. Mike’s relationship with Abby continued when Johnny forced his buddy to make a move again. And, even developed a cover for Mike as a fellow pilot.
Abby was introduced to Mike’s beach dog. She even took it to the vet for a check up. Are his housemates right? Is it first a dog and then a baby? Maybe not, since Abby ended up letting the dog go. Mike and Abby make a cute couple, but with his job it won’t be easy.
It turns out that Charlie and Briggs used to be a thing when they were younger. Given the danger of their jobs and closeness, it’s surprising they haven’t hooked up again. They have a closeness though that works for them.
It was probably a good thing they didn’t really hook up again. Though, it was hilarious that they make Johnny think that they did,, so he’d lose the bet. Briggs will undoubtedly stand by her whether she took the drugs or not.
Do you think Charlie really took the drugs? What will happen next? And, is Briggs dirty? Or, is the FBI data just wrong?
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(Image courtesy of USA.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
