Graceland is an American drama television series created by Jeff Eastin that premiered on the USA Network on June 6, 2013. On October 1, 2015, USA Network canceled Graceland after three seasons.
A group of undercover agents from various law enforcement agencies in the United States, including the DEA, the FBI, and the ICE, live together in a confiscated Southern California beach house known as "Graceland". Rookie FBI agent Mike Warren is assigned to the house fresh out of Quantico training.
Recurring cast
Jay Karnes as Supervising Agent Gerry Silvo (Pilot): An FBI supervisory agent responsible for overseeing all operations at Graceland. He is not seen after the pilot episode.
Pedro Pascal as Juan Badillo (Season 1): An FBI control officer who was assigned to Mike's investigation into Briggs. While undercover as "Jangles", he confronts Briggs about his suspicions and is drunkenly shot and killed by the agent. Briggs pulls down the mask covering Badillo's face and later buries him, not realizing that he is a fellow FBI agent.
Jenn Proske as Abby (Season 1): A woman from Baltimore, Maryland who became Mike's girlfriend, after being introduced to him by Mike's roommate, Paige. She moved out west for the summer to take a break before beginning her career in law. One day, Mike brought Abby home and upstairs (which is against the house rules), where Abby saw Paige dressed undercover and holding a gun. Frightened, she confronted Mike and broke up with him when she felt he was lying to her.
Scottie Thompson as Lauren Kincaid (Season 1): A DEA agent who initially lived in Graceland before Mike moved in. Her partner, Donnie Banks was shot during one of their undercover ops, where she was undercover working with the Russian Vzakonye crime family. Donnie got transferred out of Graceland and she tried everything in her power to bring him justice, even going as far as putting the rest of the agents and herself at risk. She gets kicked out of Graceland after Paige reports her to the DEA. In actuality, Briggs set Lauren up to get transferred in order to keep her identity safe from the Russians.
Gbenga Akinnagbe as Jeremiah Bello (Season 1): A rising criminal warlord and ex-military man from Nigeria, who resides in Long Beach and was involved in smuggling both drugs and weapons. His drug supply came from the Caza Cartel, and he worked with Mike, who went undercover in order to get close to him. He is shown to be merciless, even towards his own men. He gets arrested and sentenced and discovers that Mike is a fed.
Vincent Laresca as Rafael Cortes/Jangles (Season 1): A Mexican Federale who befriended Charlie and worked with her. He was revealed to be "Jangles", the mass murderer affiliated with the Caza Cartel. He was named so by the FBI due to the sound of his jangling keys during his murders. He was the one responsible for torturing Briggs and getting him addicted to heroin. Charlie goes to Cortes' vacation house and they are trailed by Briggs, who confirms that he is Jangles after discovering a set of keys in his bag. Both Briggs and Charlie are captured, tied up, and tortured by him until Mike arrives and shoots him dead.
Christopher Redman as Whistler (Season 1): He was a heroin junkie, C.I. (confidential informant) for the FBI and a friend to Charlie. Charlie had Whistler's best interests at heart, seeing his skill as a carpenter and giving him a chance to start his life over by suggesting that he put his cut of money from the FBI into buying a house to fix up. He does not go through with the buy and later on dies from a heroin overdose given to him by Quinn.
Ciera Payton as Cassandra (Season 1–2): Jakes' ex-wife and mother of his son Daniel. She left Jakes due to the difficulties of having a family while he works undercover. She works as a nurse in a local hospital. In Season 2, she files a restraining order against Jakes, preventing him from seeing their son.
Raheem Babalola as Derek (Season 1–2): Cassandra's boyfriend and father figure to Daniel. He met Jakes at a bar, unbeknownst to him that Jakes knew exactly who he was. After striking up a conversation, he reveals to Jakes that he is a former gang member who left that life behind after getting shot twice during a drive-by. He woke up in a hospital and fell in love with the nurse, who turned out to be Cassandra. He currently lives with Cassandra and Daniel.
Deniz Akdeniz as Wayne "Bates"' Zelanski (Season 2): A DEA agent who was assigned to work and live in Graceland, taking over Mike's room after he left for D.C. He quickly formed a friendship with the other roommates, especially Johnny. He was transferred out of the house after Mike moved back in and had to decide between him and Jakes in order to work on the bus line case.
Emily Rose as Jessica Foster (Season 2): Assistant Deputy Director of the FBI, and Mike Warren's lover.
Erik Valdez as Carlito Solano (Season 2–3)
Jamie Gray Hyder as Lucia Solano (Season 2–3): Carlito's sister.
Brianna Brown as Kelly Badillo (Season 2): The widow of Juan Badillo.
Nestor Serrano as Carlos Solano (Season 2): Lucia and Carlito's father, and the head of the Solano cartel.
Carmine Giovinazzo as Sid Markham (Season 2-3): The head of the LAPD’s Gang Task Force.
Frank Licari as FBI Director
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Deputy Agent Sean Logan (Season 3): The F.B.I. agent in charge of the Los Angeles branch who is aware of Paul Briggs's accidental killing of Juan Badillo and assigns Briggs to infiltrate the Sarkissian family.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 71% approval rating for the first season with an average rating of 6.3/10 based on 31 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Graceland is a formulaic cop show, but its tight pacing and intriguing plot twists make for light, escapist fare." On Metacritic, the series holds a 58 out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
