‘Graceland’ season 3: Are renewal prospects helped by shock ending?

Tonight, “Graceland” season 2 came to a conclusion on USA, and now we are left in what is a pretty tricky and enviable position of trying to figure out just what the future for the show will ultimately be.

We will have to start off here by saying the following: The ratings for this season were not a disaster, but they do not inspire a whole lot of confidence either. The show and USA as a whole really struggled this summer, and in some cases saw their shows lose massive chunks of their audience. Look at “Royal Pains,” for example, or the way “Covert Affairs” has sunk the past two years.

What is to blame for all of this? We blame in a part a not-great off-network promotional strategy, but there’s also the issue that many people still associate the network with fun, breezy shows that can be picked up anytime, and they are not binge-worthy like a “Breaking Bad.” This is not actually the case anymore, but we wonder if the actual viewer is unaware of that. Both “Graceland” and “Suits” are fine examples that USA has something different to offer; “Graceland” actually feels more like an FX show at times than anything else on its own network.

The biggest thing that “Graceland” has going for it are the struggles of other shows, but also that USA may need a show like this to consider the culture-change movement. Get the show more of an impact on streaming sites, wait a year, and then see what happens.

We feel like it may be a few weeks before we really know the show’s fate, but if this was the end, we will give creator Jeff Eastin a little credit for going out with gusto. If we never learn Mike’s fate, it will be very frustration; however, we do at least appreciate that the guy was bold enough to make this move in the first place.