"Heat Run" is the third episode of the first season of Graceland. It was released June 20, 2013 on the USA Network.
| Heat Run | |
 | |
| Season 1 · Episode 03 | |
| Rating | TV14-LV |
| Airdate | June 20, 2013 |
| Writer | Stephen Godchaux |
| Director | Renny Harlin |
| Episode images | |
| Episode chronology | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Guadalajara Dog |
| Next | Pizza Box |
Summary[]
Using Lauren’s intel, Briggs helps her shut down the Russian gang she had been working on for months. But her dishonesty forces Briggs to put Graceland’s safety first. And Charlie has to drop an informant when he puts them both at risk.
Plot[]
Dockside warehouse in California, Mike walks ahead of Briggs as he tries the lights. Briggs notices signs they are being watched and pulls his gun on Mike. He demands who Mike has been talking to but the anger is an act.
Mike says, “No one.” Briggs stops him from drawing his gun and takes it from him. Mike stays quiet to Briggs’ interrogation.
The lights come on to reveal four armed men and Jeremiah Bello, who commands Briggs to put the guns down. Once Briggs complies, Bello is friendly and respectful. He says that Eddie has said a lot about him. Eddie and Briggs share friendly smiles.
Bello asks Briggs why he drew his gun on Mike. Briggs then suggests Bello suspects one of them for the Bobby Moi business. And as Briggs knows he did not do it, Mike must have.
Mike and Briggs proceed to bicker before Bello tells Mike to talk to him, instead. Mike tells Bello a lie about returning to base after the exchange with Eddie. He tells Bello to call his Quartermaster, Henry Friedler. Eddie mocks him before Briggs suggests Mike had followed Eddie and sold Bobby Moi the information. Mike suggests Eddie would notice a tail, using reverse psychology to imply Eddie is incompetent.
Eddie threatens Mike, but Bello turns his attention to Eddie. Bello has his men light a stove. He then asks Mike what the main ingredient of a bullet is. Mike answers, “Lead, Sir.” Eddie grovels to Bello in fear as Bello informs Mike and Briggs that this is an internal matter. Bello politely offers Mike his gun back and praises his skill with it.
On the highway, Briggs screams into the night with relief. Mike has got him the meeting with Bello after he has struggled for months to do so. Mike is stressed, saying he is sweating everywhere. Briggs continues to praise Mike and then asks who Henry Friedler is. Mike reveals he was his high school football coach.
When Mike says he is about to be sick, Briggs says, “Stand up and scream your lungs out. Do it right now. Do it.” Mike does and it seems to work.
After, Briggs asks who Mike was going to say he called. Mike lies, saying he was making it up as he went. Briggs continues to praise him.
Back at Graceland, Charlie comes in with a shaker full of Zombie Virus to calm Mike’s nerves. Jakes, Paige, Mike and Charlie participate in Johnny’s toast, “To living, lying and loving.”
On the landing, Briggs notices Lauren dressed as her Russian cover, Alina. When he shows concern, she claims she is just wrapping things up. He reveals Donnie got transferred to Miami. But Lauren says that if she can get Kusmanov, Donnie will be allowed back to Graceland. Lauren then tells Briggs that Kusmanov is planning something. Briggs is sceptical but takes the bait.
Downstairs, Charlie gets a text from her CI, Whistler. Paige tells Mike that Whistler is a pain in the ass. Charlie defends him before leaving to call him back.
When Briggs and Lauren enter, Johnny tries to convince Briggs to drink with them. But Briggs informs them that all the FBI agents have an early morning. Jakes and Paige hurry out with the shots to watch a show upstairs.
Lauren and Briggs tell Mike and Johnny that Kusmanov has a business where they sell tracked Lamborghinis before stealing them back. The FBI and DEA intend to intercept the truck.
Mike meets Juan in his car the next morning. When he reads Mike's report, Juan is shocked to learn that Briggs drew his gun on Mike. He presses him about their relationship, which Mike says is great. But Juan chides Mike for not putting many details in the report. Mike complains that he is in California without being given a reason. Juan then heavily implies that they are investigating Briggs because Briggs is possibly skimming money from operations. He wants Mike to see if Briggs is living beyond his means. Before leaving, Juan reminds Mike to add more detail to his reports and uses Washington D.C. as an incentive.
Charlie pulls up to a suburban house where Whistler is building a dollhouse. He is jittery and out of sorts. But Charlie cuts straight to the point. He tells her that a dealer called Sam Cotonio is looking for a supplier after a recent sting took out his last. Whistler suggests Charlie pretend to be the new one.
Charlie pretends to believe him when he swears he is sober. She tells him to set things up. But before she can leave, Whistler asks to be paid twenty-five percent instead of the usual twenty. His sister is kicking him out. But Charlie tells him to finish the dollhouse and stay out of trouble.
The guys set up the sting operation on the highway using button-operated spike strips. As the tuck approaches, Mike notices it is going too fast to have a heavy load. Briggs tells Johnny to abort the mission.
Lauren gets angry and initiates the spike strips, infuriating Briggs. He turns them off and commands her not to touch the button again. Frantic, Lauren runs into the middle of the road and it stops just in time. Aiming her gun at the driver, she announces she is DEA. Briggs sends the TAC team to back her up.
Briggs gets pissed when he discovers the truck is empty. Lauren makes more excuses but he tells her that she has burned her Russian cover. She makes things worse when she suggests holding the driver for twenty-four hours. Without probable cause, that would be illegal.
At The Drop, Johnny tries to teach Mike how to date while undercover. He and Jakes reinforce that he cannot, under any circumstances, break cover.
Mike asks them who they are pretending to be tonight. Paige pretends to have a different job for every man, ensuring she never uses an identity they can disprove. Johnny always claims to be a pilot. But if the woman is a flight attendant, he will pretend to be a photographer. Jakes pretends to play bass in a jazz band that travels a lot and has never released an album. When Mike is sceptical, Jakes brags that women love starving artists if they are as hot as him. He tells Mike, “Watch and learn, my young friend."
Lauren enters Kusmanov's base as Alina. Kusmanov is jumpy but relieved it is just her. One of his men reveals that they are on edge because the FBI and DEA hit the gang that morning. Kusmanov then points out his driver through a window and tells her that a crazy DEA chick was to blame. Lauren digs into the Lambo deal and finds Kusmanov intends to proceed once they have dealt with the FBI situation. He tells her the cars will stay at his warehouse in Woodland Hills until then. Lauren narrowly avoids the driver as she leaves.
At The Drop, Mike pretends to be a golf teacher as he flirts with a young woman. But it turns out that her dad is a huge golfer. She then recognises Briggs entering the bar. He is the last astronaut on the Endeavor. She makes an awkward escape after admitting to giving Briggs a fake number.
When Mike tries to pay his tab, he finds Briggs already has. He joins the others, leaning on Briggs' credit card. He teases Briggs about the astronaut lie. It turns out that Briggs never tried the woman's fake number.
Mike takes a photo of the imprint of Briggs' credit card numbers left on his palm before Paige drags him away.
At an obscure meeting place, Cotonio checks the purity of Charlie’s meth. He is impressed with the quality. Cotonio offers $500,000 for fifty pounds. But Whistler tries to get more money from the deal. Charlie manages to pull Cotonio back in long enough for the TAC team to swarm in, led by Jakes. As Charlie and Whistler get handcuffed for show, Charlie tells Whistler she is going to shove his money up his ass.
Lauren comes home with a black eye. Briggs gets mad when she reveals it was Kusmanov. She had got caught checking his warehouse for proof the cars existed. Lauren tells him that they are there.
Charlie turns up at Whistler’s where his niece is playing with her finished dollhouse. Whistler is watching TV inside. She asks if he is high but gets an indirect answer. He repeats that his sister is kicking him out. Charlie says that her supervisor no longer wants Whistler to work with them. On her way out, Whistler asks Charlie if she fought for him. To which she says, “I gave it all I had.”
Outside of Kusmanov’s Woodland Hills Warehouse, Jakes and Johnny lead the TAC team as they prepare for the assault. When Lauren asks where Briggs is, Jakes is dismissive. Johnny then has Lauren confirm only three or four men are in the warehouse. Jakes asks Mike if he is ready to run comms on a bust. Mike claims this is the first time he can do something Quantico actually trained him for.
The TAC team blows the warehouse door and storms in. But far more than four men are waiting for them. Forced to fight close-quarter, Johnny gets badly cut by the truck driver before Jakes shoots the driver dead.
Once detained, Jakes takes Kusmanov to a side room where Briggs sits in wait. Pinning Kusmanov to the wall, Briggs goes to punch him. When he sees Kusmanov has no markings on his hands, Briggs steps back and tells him to have a good night.
Briggs joins everyone at The Drop where Johnny shows off his wounded arm. Briggs flatly tells him it looks pretty serious before asking where Lauren is. Mike says she wasn’t up for it.
As the group go toward the bar, Paige pulls Mike aside and points out a girl who has been staring at him all night. Mike is reluctant because he wants to relax with his roommates as the real him. But Paige goes over to the girl for him.
Mike relents and finally goes over to meet the girl. Abby playfully introduces herself with a handshake.
Across the bar, a creep wraps his arms around Charlie and Paige. They tell him to back up.
Mike uses Abby's choice of Madras cocktail as a way to ask her where she is from. She is from Baltimore and he claims he is from Virginia - where Quantico is based.
Across the bar, the creep gets pushy before Briggs steps in. He punches him in the face twice before Paige drags him out.
Abby sarcastically says Mike’s friends look like a nice group.
On Briggs’ bed, Paige pries into why he attacked the creep. Briggs reluctantly reveals that Jakes saw the truck driver at the warehouse and cannot understand why Kusmanov would beat Lauren up for snooping. Briggs leads Piper to suspect that the Russians planted a tracker on Lauren’s car. And Paige immediately reports Lauren to the DEA.
Sunrise on the beach, Mike and Abby talk about her education as they walk holding hands and barefoot. She reveals that her dad told her to experience life before losing it to work. When Mike asks Abby what Paige said at the bar, Abby says, “That guy, that’s Mike. And, of all the guys in the bar, he’s real.’” They then kiss.
Graceland, Mike comes in to immediately have Paige drag him out to play frisbee. He is reluctant. But he immediately joins her when he realises it is work.
Charlie drives Whistler to a small suburban single-storey house. Charlie reveals she has put in a word to the realtor for him.
Paige and Mike play frisbee on the beach before Mike launches it under Lauren’s Jeep. When Paige retrieves it, she finds a large tracking device underneath, just as she suspected.
Whistler is excited about the house, coming up with grand plans. Charlie tells him all he has to do is hand in the check and sign the papers.
Briggs is in the living room when Lauren enters, ranting about Paige. The DEA is kicking her out of the house. But Briggs is unamused, revealing that Lauren did this to herself. She is lucky she still has her job.
Briggs tells her that it is lucky that the tracker found on her car did not transmit. Lauren begs him to help her but Briggs refuses point blank. He reveals that he knows she lied about the warehouse, almost killing Johnny. The worst part was that she used him. He proves he knows Kusmanov did not hit her and shows his bruised fist. That was what punching someone looked like.
Lauren admits that she did it all for Donnie. But Briggs no longer has sympathy for her. He tells her she can still be transferred to Miami to be with Donnie. He hugs her.
Mike checks Briggs’ credit card statements in his room. He gets suspicious when he notices a suspicious payment of $548.23 to Terry’s Auto Supply. Mike goes straight there and shows an employee a photo of Briggs. The guy reveals Briggs bought a GPS tracker.
Mike enters Briggs’ bedroom and claims he is upset about Lauren's situation. He tells Briggs that the Russians use sophisticated tech but the one on Lauren’s was something from over the counter.
Briggs tries to dismiss his concerns. But when Mike pushes, Briggs admits that he had to. As much as he loved Lauren, she was reckless and almost killed Johnny.
As Briggs explains why he had to frame Lauren, Charlie drives to the house she set up for Whistler. Instead, she finds a young family moving in.
Briggs tells Mike not to make attachments and that he would do it again to protect Graceland. He would do it to Mike.
Mike leaves without another word.
Cast[]
Starring[] |
Guest Starring[]
|
Co-Starring[]
|
|
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- On Briggs’ bank statement, he has spent over a $1000 at The Drop, often dropping around $200 whenever he goes.
- Briggs’ card number is 1298 7944 3681 4851.
- After stressful events, Charlie makes the whole team Zombie shots to calm them down. Zombie shots are notoriously foul-tasting but beloved by the house.
Soundtrack[]
| Song Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Charly | Higgins | 7:18 |
| Slipping Away | Barcelona | 39:46 |