“Graceland” is the name given to a beachfront mansion in Southern California that was seized by the US government during a drug raid, and is now being used as the residence for a team of undercover DEA, FBI and Customs agents. When DEA agent Donnie Banks (Clayne Crawford) winds up shot after accidentally revealing his identity during an undercover mission, newly-graduated FBI agent Mike Warren (Aaron Tveit) is assigned to take his place at the house. Upon his arrival, Mike meets his new training officer Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata) and the rest of his housemates—FBI agents Johnny Tuturro (Manny Montana) and Charlie DeMarco (Vanessa Ferlito), DEA agents Lauren Kincaid (Scottie Thompson) and Paige Arkin (Serinda Swan), and Customs agent Dale Jakes (Brandon Jay McLaren).

Mike graduated at the top of his class, and has always had a goal of becoming an FBI Deputy Director. He had requested to be assigned in D.C., so when he was sent to Graceland, he was initially disappointed. However, Mike is excited to work with the legendary Briggs, and appreciates the way Briggs and the others are helping him learn the ropes of being an undercover agent. However, Mike soon finds himself tasked with investigating Briggs and reporting back any suspicious behavior. As Mike gets closer to Briggs, he finds himself questioning his loyalties. Is Briggs really the reckless, rogue agent his superiors claim he is? And what will Briggs do if and when he finds out about Mike’s secret mission?

Graceland comes from Jeff Eastin, the creator of White Collar, and features that same mix of drama, action, suspense and humor. I really enjoyed this first season of the series. The characters are well-developed and the cast has great chemistry—it really feels like these housemates have been friends for a long time. And the series does a great job of exploring the backgrounds, personal lives/issues and motivations of these characters over the course of the season.

The show works on many levels. First, we have the excitement of a new undercover agent diving head first into undercover missions. At the same time, Mike is trying to investigate Briggs and secretly report back his findings. And finally, there’s also this whole suspense game of has Briggs figured out what Mike is really up to?, and how much does he know?

While the individual episodes provide interesting, action-packed cases for the team to work on, I found the ongoing dramatic arcs that develop over the course of the season to be the really engaging aspect of the series. As these agents get deeper and deeper undercover and find themselves in riskier and riskier situations, the suspense and excitement really amps up and you never quite know what is going to happen next. This all builds to an explosive and tense season finale that leaves the viewer excited and anxious for the second season.

While Graceland airs in HD on USA Network, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is only releasing the series on DVD. For the most part, the picture looks really crisp and clean on this on this DVD. I didn’t find myself overly upset that there was no Blu-ray release (though I would always prefer Blu-ray releases for content originally aired in HD!). The 5.1 audio track is also quite good, and makes great use of all audio channels. I also really enjoyed the bonus features included on this DVD set—there is over 30 minutes of deleted scenes, a 7-minute gag reel and a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.

The new season of Graceland starts up soon on USA, so now is a great time to check out this excellent first season on DVD!

What’s Included:

Episodes: (9:00:50)

• All 12 episodes of the first season
  
  Disc 1: “Pilot”, “Guadalajara Dog”, “Heat Run”, “Pizza Box”
  Disc 2: “O-Mouth”, “Hair of the Dog”, “Goodbye High”, “Bag Man”
  Disc 3: “Smoke Alarm”, “King’s Castle”, “Happy Endings”, “Pawn”
• 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Closed Captioned

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (32:33)
  A really nice collection of 23 deleted scenes that provide a look at some other expanded storylines that were cut from the episodes. It would have been even better if they had added this footage back into the episodes and provided extended episodes instead of just presenting these scenes separately. The deleted scenes appear on the discs with the respective episodes, and are presented in 4:3 letterboxed format.
• Gag Reel (7:01)
  What you’d expect from a gag reel—the cast flub lines, deal with prop malfunctions, and just have fun on set—and all this finishes up with a music montage. Presented in 4:3 letterboxed format.
• The Real Graceland (10:38)
  The cast and creators talk about the inspiration for the series, the authenticity of the stories, the house itself, how keeping secrets affects the agents, and the dangers faced by the agents. Includes interviews with creator/executive producer Jeff Eastin, DEA agent John Marcello, producer/director Russell Lee Fine and stars Serinda Swan (“Paige”), Aaron Tveit (“Mike Warren”), Daniel Sunjata (“Paul Briggs”), Vanessa Ferlito (“Catherine ‘Charlie’ DeMarco”), Manny Montana (“Joe ‘Johnny’ Tuturro”), and Brandon Jay McLaren (“Dale Jakes”).

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the first season of Graceland when I originally watched it last summer. Revisiting the series on DVD, I was instantly reminded why—the series provides an interesting, dramatic and exciting look into the world of undercover agents. The stories are action-packed and the characters are excellent. This DVD release contains excellent picture and sound, and provides some entertaining bonus material. This series is definitely worth checking out, and with the second season of Graceland starting soon on USA, now is the perfect time!