"Pizza Box" is the fourth episode of the first season of Graceland. It was released June 27, 2013 on the USA Network.
| Pizza Box | |
 | |
| Season 1 · Episode 04 | |
| Rating | TV14-LV |
| Airdate | June 27, 2013 |
| Writer | Daniel Shattuck |
| Director | Sanford Bookstaver |
| Episode images | |
| Episode chronology | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Heat Run |
| Next | O-Mouth |
Summary[]
Briggs’ target, Bello, recruits Mike to give his gang members firearms training. But Bello’s best friend and bodyguard has his suspicions. On another operation, Paige uses Jakes’ history with a pot dealer to investigate illegal cultivation. But Johnny gets a little too invested.
Plot[]
While undercover at a drug deal, the young dealer informs Paige that an ounce of top-of-the-line weed costs only two hundred dollars. The police swarm just as they seal the deal.
At Graceland, Charlie tells the boys the story of her family’s legendary ragu as she prepares it. Her great-great-grandmother ran the kitchen at the Cathedral di Napoli. Mike interrupts to question the timeline and Jakes chides him.
Charlie continues her story: Niccolo, a handsome cordwainer, arrived at the Cathedral to hide from religious persecution. Mike interrupts again, asking what a cordwainer is. Charlie and Jakes grow irritated.
Francesca hid Niccolo in the pantry. “She promised to keep her ragu warm until the local vicar declared the city cleansed.” Johnny interrupts, saying that last time he was an archdeacon. Jakes tells him off, too.
“After three long days, the Inquisitors finally left Napoli. Niccolo survived on the smell and the promise of the ragu.” Charlie then tells them that the couple had fallen in love and passed on the recipe to their children and grandchildren til the end of days. The story ends with the three men applauding.
Charlie gives the men the rules of Francesca’s Ragu:
- Do not touch,
- Do not be late,
- There will be no leftovers.
Jakes calls the story the best bedtime story ever before going upstairs. Mike offers to help Charlie but slaps his hand with a wooden spoon.
While talking about the pot with a Lieutenant at the precinct, Paige reveals that there is still an illegal pot market even though it is legal. She identifies the weed they seized as a master kush and indie kush hybrid. It should not be as cheap as it is.
Back at Graceland, Charlie reveals she will be looking after the ragu all weekend because she hurt her back on a case. Her attention goes to Mike, who gets a text that makes him look like a lovesick teen. Johnny steals his phone and reads the texts, surprised to find they are from Abby.
Mike gets defensive when Johnny gets suspicious that Abby is trying to convince him to return to the East Coast. Charlie gets Johnny to return his phone. When Mike reminds them that they don’t date in Graceland, Charlie tells him they can, but they cannot get too close.
Briggs joins them, praising the ragu and teasing Charlie. Johnny tells Briggs that Charlie changed the story again.
Briggs takes Mike to the phone room to play a call recording with Eddie. Jeremiah Bello wants to sit down with them. Mike is suspicious that it is another setup. But Briggs tells him to cheer up because they are finally in with Bello.
In the living room, Paige, Charlie and Jakes inspect the pot Paige seized the night before. The DEA has not approved DNA testing to match it with a suspected batch from the legit supplier, Silver Barn Collective. Jakes informs them that many weed farms grow more than legal and sell the extra on the street.
Jakes then offers to help Paige, using his experience investigating the illegal import of weed from Canada to the USA. Paige asks if he can set up a meeting as Jakes previously worked with the current owner of the Silver Barn Collective, Ashika Pearl. He is reluctant. Not only was Ashika too into him, but his old cover had Latin gang connections. Because Paige does not fit the profile, Charlie calls for Johnny, who has been asleep on a couch behind them the entire time. He is confused when the group asks him if he is Mexican.
At the police precinct, Briggs tells Mike not to wear a concealed shoulder harness. It should remain visible because Bello and Eddie expect them to remember the last meeting. Mike playfully asks if Bello will respect self-preservation. But Briggs says, "Or he’ll shoot you on sight. Who knows?"
In Johnny’s bedroom, Charlie airbrushes a detailed gang tattoo on Johnny's back. Charlie suggests Biccing his head as they argue about authenticity.
Johnny tells her that his cover is that he grew up in Long Beach. He then joined the East Side Longos after his best friend got killed in a drive-by. When Charlie asks why he wants to affiliate with the high-profile Longos gang, Johnny reveals that it is his brother’s true story.
Jakes tries to hurry things up but Johnny argues about how low the tattoos should go. Johnny suggests that the Pearl might want to go skinny dipping. But Charlie warns him not to go swimming in tattoos. When Jakes leaves, Charlie and Johnny continue teasing each other.
Eddie meets Mike and Briggs at a bar. One of his eyes is covered. Briggs shows concern but Eddie is unfriendly. When Eddie leaves to inform Bello, Mike proves to be horrified by Bello’s choice of punishment. But Briggs is unsurprised and unmoved, claiming this is good news for them. Bello does not believe either he or Mike sold him out.
When they approach the table, Briggs fails to charm Bello. But as Eddie tries to frisk them, Mike threatens to break his hand and shows his gun. Bello is unsurprised and understanding. He tells Briggs not to sit because he wants just Mike. Briggs is visibly irritated but leaves Mike alone with Bello and Eddie.
Mike sits as Bello explains how he joined the Nigerian Army at eighteen. A year later, Bello was exiled when the President died. Mike tells him that he picked the wrong side but Bello reveals he is the one sipping champagne.
Mike cuts to the chase, asking what they are doing there. Bello asks Mike if he has ever seen a pitbull in his first fight. He calls it ugly because they have the means but not the knowledge or experience. His recruits are just the same. Mike infers Bello wants him to train them.
Bello wants his men to have their WQBs but gets suspicious of Mike when he shows confusion. Eddie threatens to shoot Mike, but Mike cockily asks if Bello meant a Pizza Box. He then reveals that it is the lowest marksmanship level. No one has called it a WQB since the first week of boot camp. It convinces Bello, who says he will pay Mike handsomely to teach his men to get their Pizza Boxes. They trade banter before Mike agrees.
Back at Graceland, Charlie is working on the ragu when Briggs comes in. He gets himself a rum. Briggs reveals that he spent months working on Bello but Mike got in instead. Briggs does not like that he is carrying the case alone. Charlie accuses him of having quarterback syndrome because he does not trust anyone else can win if he is not involved. Briggs compares himself to Tom Brady, leading to a playful argument about football. Charlie then uses football to remind Briggs that their team has a game now, even if they are not playing. Mike is closer to Bello than anyone in law has been before.
On a street, Johnny chases after Jakes. They are late for the meeting with the Ashika Pearl. Johnny complains that weed is practically legal. Jakes reminds him that until it is literally legal, this is their job. He then tells Johnny that the Ashika once killed six rival growers in a fire and watched them burn. Johnny irritates Jakes with more inane questions about the Ashika Pearl. Jakes calls her crazy.
When they reach the outdoor bar, Ashika Pearl is overly friendly with Jakes, hugging and kissing him. She complains he is awkward, suggesting he tries to be more European. When Jakes introduces Johnny as JT, Ashika asks what his story is but he refuses to answer. The meeting spirals, turning into an argument between JT and Ashika. JT then demands respect before storming off. All while Paige listens in from her truck.
Ashika tells Jakes that he used to keep better company but Jakes assures her that he had no idea JT would do that. Jakes then begs her to give him another chance. Ashika invites Jakes to the farm.
At the truck, Paige chews Johnny out for the argument but he defends his actions. He cannot pretend to be a Longo and let himself get disrespected. Jakes calls him a Federal Agent with a henna tattoo. Paige breaks up their argument and Johnny apologises.
Briggs enters Mike’s room, finding him going through Bello’s files. Mike appreciates that Briggs has done so much for the case and wants to get him back on it. But Briggs tells him that it is his case now. Mike reveals he is frustrated that the ASAC has said that he has to pretend to train Bello’s men with military proficiency. He fears Bello will burn his eyeballs out like Eddie’s if he gets caught. Briggs offers to call the Agency to explain that Mike cannot pretend anything but can slow the process.
The next morning, Briggs and the TAC team are on standby somewhere near Bello’s construction site where Mike is with Bello. Mike complains that the mix of handguns Bello presents him isn’t the matching HKs he asked for. Bello informs him that you cannot be picky with guns without serial numbers. Mike is also surprised that the men he is training are Americans.
Bello tells Mike that he struggled to tame LA at first. The large mix of cultures made it hard for him to fit in. But he claimed the territory bit by bit and won. Mike compares him to Alexander the Great, which amuses Bello.
When Eddie tells them the targets are prepared, Mike reveals they aren't shooting today. Mike then asks to see Eddie’s gun and field strips it. Eddie fights back his rage and asks Bello if this is what they are paying him for. Mike takes another gun and shows off his expert marksmanship. As he hits each target, he lists everything that can go wrong with a poorly maintained gun. It impresses the gang members watching and Bello tells Eddie that this is exactly what he’s paying him for. Bello then informs the gang to follow Mike’s instructions, including Eddie.
On the highway, Johnny tells Jakes that Charlie was sleeping on the couch to protect the ragu. It is something she does every time she makes it. Johnny changes the subject to whether Jakes ever slept with Ashika. But Jakes adamantly denies it. They then talk about their childhoods and how Jakes went to summer camp as the son of a lawyer. But Johnny never got to as, "A kid from the ghetto." The lighthearted conversation turns sour when Jakes implies that Johnny wishes he had been in a gang. Johnny reveals he was attacked by gangs growing up because he wasn’t in one. And when his brother joined, they never saw him again. To end the argument, Jakes tells Johnny not to act up when they are with the Ashika again. Paige is following them in the TAC team van.
At the Silver Barn Collective weed farm, Ashika directs Johnny and Jakes' attention to fields of organic produce. But what they want is in the barn. Ashika insists that Jakes likes oolong tea and gets someone to make it for them even though he is adamant that he does not. She ignores JT when he claims he likes tea, too.
Ashika and Jakes reminisce about their past on the road together. JT interrupts when they mention watching fireflies, asking if they ever saw a group of fireflies lighting up all at once. He gives them a short story from his childhood that warms Ashika to him. She tells him that they do it as a courtship.
Jakes asks if they can see the harvest, but Ashika says they have got to wait until morning because of the UV cycle. She invited them there to let JT grow on her. It dawns on Paige that Ashika never intended to make the deal.
Jakes is upset they drove five hours for nothing, but JT is excited for the chilli. Jakes claims he won’t like the textured vegetable protein in it. Johnny shares intense eye contact with Ashika, claiming he is interested in trying new things. Jakes gets more uncomfortable when Ashika inspects JT's tattoos. When she goes to get them honey for the tea, Jakes warns Johnny not to try getting laid. Paige is calling this off. But Johnny suggests that sleeping with Ashika will get them what they want. Jakes repeats his warning that she is dangerous.
Back on the highway, Jakes pulls up beside Paige. She is unsurprised when he tells her that Johnny’s staying for dinner.
Mike is walking down a street when he calls Abby. He apologises that he hasn’t called much because things have been a little crazy. She tells him she understands but has to go because she is with friends. But she encourages Mike to ask her out when he tries to let her go. They decide to go for drinks at The Drop.
Eddie attacks Mike as he hangs up, flipping him onto the ground. He puts the barrel of a gun in Mike's mouth and warns him to be quiet. He then interrogates him, blaming him for the Bobby Moi incident. As Eddie goes to shoot him, Mike flips them and disarms him. Aiming the gun at Eddie, Mike threatens to take his other eye. He then dismantles it, drops it on Eddie and leaves.
Back at Graceland, the same night, Briggs paces as Mike and Charlie sit at the table. Briggs is worried that Eddie is going to kill Mike. Despite Mike’s assurances, Briggs reminds him that if /Bello/ becomes suspicious, he will immediately kill him. Charlie insists they arrest Eddie. Mike thinks it will add fuel to the fire. Briggs agrees with Charlie, coming up with an idea to split Eddie and Bello. Mike disapproves of the idea.
In an interview room at the police precinct, Paige pretends to be Bobby Moi’s girlfriend again. Eddie watches through the two-way mirror, complaining about the relevance of why he is there. Charlie reveals that Paige is telling the law about him, confusing him because he doesn’t know her.
Taking him to an interrogation room, Charlie feeds Eddie Briggs’ lie about Eddie being the one to give Bobby Moi the bullets. Eddie realises he has been set up and demands a lawyer but Charlie reminds him that he shares a lawyer with Bello.
Watching through the two-way mirror, Mike tells Briggs that Eddie could go tell Bello that the FBI knows more than it should. Briggs reveals that Bello is getting word that Eddie sold him out to Bobby Moi at that exact moment. Mike realises it is not a bluff and genuinely fears for Eddie’s life.
In return for intel on Bello, Charlie offers Eddie witness protection. But he refuses, revealing he has a girlfriend. Charlie then offers him a bus ticket to Flagstaff, which he agrees to. Mike insists that they are writing Eddie’s death warrant. But Briggs flippantly tells him that Eddie signed it himself when he chose to work for Bello. Mike wholeheartedly disagrees with what they have done to Eddie.
The next morning, Johnny wakes at the Silver Barn Collective in Ashika’s bed. Ashika finds traces of his fake tattoos across her bed sheet when he sneaks out. Johnny sneaks into the barn to take photos of the excess weed but is confronted by Ashika and her men, armed with automatic weapons.
Racing down the highway, Paige and Jakes complain that Johnny’s not picking up their calls. They agree they wouldn’t have chosen to move against the Silver Barn Collective this way, but at least they can be arrested for their overgrowth. Jakes plans to call the TAC team once he’s in the barn.
Paige hides in the car as Jakes goes to knock on the door of Ashika’s house. He is immediately escorted at gunpoint to the barn and made to kneel beside Johnny, who apologises to him.
A gunman finds Paige’s truck empty when she sneaks up on him and threatens him at gunpoint.
In the barn, Ashika feels disappointed about needing to kill Jakes but declares that she will not hesitate to kill JT. Johnny is surprised and a little hurt by the news. Jakes’ radio chimes up and suspicion turns to the realisation that Jakes is a cop.
Paige drives through the side of the barn and initiates a gunfight. In the rain of gunfire, Ashika takes Jakes hostage. Paige emerges from her cover and drops her gun. Johnny hits Ashika with a metal bucket from behind, yelling that her chilli sucked.
Jakes takes Ashika’s gun as the agents playfully banter about their recklessness and thank each other for the rescue. Johnny asks if summer camp was like that, but Jakes tells him it was friendship bracelets.
The entire house gathers in the Graceland kitchen for Charlie’s ragu. Mike admits that he skipped his last two meals for this and Johnny complains about the textured vegetable protein Ashika made him eat. But everyone begins to tease Mike about calling Ashika a ‘Marijuana Farmer’. The roommates then challenge Johnny to update Mike on all the names the ‘kids’ call marijuana.
Weed names Johnny gives:
- Zombie
- Weed
- Stack
- Root
- Reefer
- Pot
- Kush
- Herb
- Ganj
- Ganja
- Gandhi
- Dope
- Chillums
- Baby
Charlie interrupts when the alarm declaring the ragu is ready goes off. Before he can get his portion, Mike receives a text from Bello. Mike and Briggs both agree they have to go.
Bello and several gang members are waiting for Mike at the construction site. He claims it is a little late for shooting lessons. But Bello says that he will be the teacher today.
Men bring an injured Eddie as Bello gives Mike a speech about power. Eddie tells Bello that Mike is working for the Feds because they made up a lie that he’s working with Bobby Moi. Bello does not believe him because Eddie called his girlfriend about running away to Arizona immediately after being questioned by the Feds. Bello screams in Eddie’s face, “You were on the bus, Edward!” heartbroken by the perceived betrayal.
Bello asks Mike if he is working with the FBI, but Mike holds his gaze and lies that he is not. Bello asks Mike for his gun and tells his men to let Eddie go. Eddie then threatens to take Mike’s eye.
Bello hands Eddie Mike’s gun and embraces him. He whispers something in his ear and Eddie cries as they part. He aims the gun at Mike but then turns it on himself. Mike yells to stop him but Eddie falls to the ground, dead.
Unable to see who got shot, Briggs yells for the TAC team to go. But Mike whispers, "Oh my God," to notify them otherwise. The TAC team stands down.
Abby is waiting for Mike at The Drop when he joins her. He apologises for his tardiness as they hug. Abby can see that Mike is visibly distressed. When asked, he reveals there was an accident at work and someone died. Abby has to push to get Mike to go home to recover because he doesn’t want to miss their date. Mike kisses her hand before leaving.
At Graceland, Mike stares blankly at the red ragu pots and dishes he is supposed to wash. Briggs comes in to offer help, but Mike wants to be alone. Briggs reveals they broke the leftovers rule to save Mike some dinner. But Mike cannot stand looking at it and offers it to Briggs. Briggs tries to suggest that Mike eats it tomorrow. But Mike insists that Briggs missed sauce night, too. “It’s just sauce, Mike.” Briggs leaves without taking the plate.
Mike fights back tears as he starts to wash the dishes.
Cast[]
Starring[] |
Guest Starring[]
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Co-Starring[]
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Quotes[]
- "We hung out once. And I know we don’t date here."
- ―Mike about Abby Sinclair
- "You mean a Pizza Box? It's the lowest level of marksmanship... It's a square. The name's asinine but that's what people call it."
- ―Mike
- "I think we can both agree that ‘Abby who Likes Crabs’ is a nickname that shouldn’t stick."
- ―Abby Sinclair
- "You show up and we get hit by Bobby Moi. And now you are running this circus. Stinks to me."
- ―Eddie to Mike
- "Okay, but Mike, if Eddie gives him anything suspicious, he’ll slit your throat and dump your dead body in the LA river."
- ―Briggs about Bello
- "If we spread that rumor, we are writing his death warrant."
- ―Mike to Briggs about Eddie
- "Alright dude, in retrospect, this probably wasn’t a good idea to stay the night."
- ―Johnny to Jakes with guns to their heads
- "It’s just sauce, Mike."
- ―Briggs
Trivia[]
- Mike is not lying when he says a WQB is called a Pizza Box. It is the lowest level and least respected marksman rank in the Marine Corps.
- Briggs is a Tom Brady fan or a Patriots fan. Charlie is not, preferring another unnamed team. (She mentions preferring ‘Eli’, possibly Eli Manning of the New York Giants).
Soundtrack[]
| Song Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Act 2 ‘La Traviata: Dite Alla Giovine | Inessa Galante & Samson Izjumovs | |
| Carrying the Torch | Generationals | |
| Trouble Town | Jake Bugg |