‘Graceland’ season 2, episode 3 review: The ups and downs
The first two episodes of “Graceland” to us were certainly mixed, as there were powerful moments (Jakes melting down after learning some sad news related to his son) mixed with some that was also difficult to really wrap your head around.
Jakes was still feeling the pain of his most-recent developments, and spent a good percentage of Wednesday night’s episode under the influence. His story feels now like more of a slow burn than anything, and there is not a whole lot else to say about that right now.
Meanwhile, there is still plenty to say about Paige given her relationship with Mike right now, and the fact that it doesn’t seem to be slowing down despite the pretty-darn-dangerous mission that took place during this episode. How many of you cringed when you saw that impaling moment? It was cringe-worthy, but luckily the entire episode was not as we saw this develop into so much more, and a violent confrontation to cap off the second half of the episode.
As solid as most of this storytelling was, we still struggle at times to wrap our head around what is going on all of the time. In a sense, we attribute that to the show’s emphasis on violence. There is so much of it going on here from start to finish that you very rarely have an opportunity to breathe. That becomes problematic in a short period of time, and we wish there was more devoted to getting to know the people as people, and not just accessories in drug cartels in taking down the bad guys.
We’re still waiting this season for the turning point where “Graceland” starts to become what we know it can be, and USA also really needs that. The network is in somewhat of a ratings slump this summer, with “Covert Affairs” and “Royal Pains” each only bringing in so-so numbers so far. Even “Suits” has seen some better days. The potential is there with this series to be more, but right now there is a little too much action, and not enough build. Grade: B-.
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