Graceland, Season 1, Episode 6: “Hair of the Dog”
Written by: Andrew Colville
Directed by: David Straiton
Airs Thursdays at 10 pm (ET) on USA
Photo Courtesy of USA Network
On this week’s Graceland, Charlie recovers from last week’s grief-fueled heroin usage, Mike attempts to score Bello millions in drugs, Johnny suffers an underwater near-death experience, and Briggs keeps a handful of secrets hidden from his roommates.
By far the best storyline of the episode, Briggs keeps a detoxing Charlie holed up in a contact’s grimy apartment. Though she needs a few days to fully recover, the agency wants Charlie to debrief her last mission ASAP. To get her through the meeting, Briggs gives her another dose of heroin (which he claims belongs to his undercover contact). This brings up plenty of heavy and intriguing questions, including how Briggs is so knowledgeable about being high on heroin and whether or not Charlie will find herself craving the drugs she works so hard to keep off the streets.
With Charlie’s drug usage and Mike’s new case–rescuing a bomb-strapped missile full of drugs from the ocean floor with Johnny’s help for Bello–“Hair of the Dog” is the darkest episode of Graceland to date. The episode doesn’t skimp on Charlie’s struggles getting clean (before she shoots up her second dose, she confides to Briggs how much she already wants more), and Johnny is given plenty to do aside from playing Graceland‘s weekly source of comedic relief. The weakest moments in the episode are Mike’s dates with Abby, who’s not interesting enough to play a love interest worthy of threatening Mike’s undercover status. Also, Jakes is absent for the second episode in a row, and Paige is the newest roommate getting cheated on quality storylines.
“Hair of the Dog” saves a satisfying reveal for the episode’s end–which I won’t spoil here–that promises some excellent storytelling to come, as well as new layers to Briggs well-hidden psyche.
Last week’s review can be found here.
Ashley Laggan