Things are looking rough for Briggs in the 'Graceland' finale. (USA)It might be darkest before the dawn, but things got pretty damn dark in tonight's "Pawn," the clever, suspenseful finale to Graceland's first season. We jump into where we left off last week, with a Briggs on the run. As Mike and Paige try to trace him, he eludes Johnny's hesitant suspicions at the house and then calls on Jakes to give him a ride to the docks and a boat heading for South America!

But it's a FAKEOUT! Briggs is only there to meet up with Quinn, who needs a new identity so he can actually go on the run. Briggs gives him a new identity as Anthony Busca and watches him get on board the freighter, before he slips away. Briggs heads to the desert where he buried Juan and digs the guy up, grabbing a key off his loop labeled "apt" then he calls Jakes, who handily fills him on the fact that Charlie's been working with a Federale. Paul is concerned; he makes a frowny face. But not enough to come back, he goes to ground.

Eight days later, our crack team of agents still hasn't found him, but the government is cracking down on them — pulling the roomies in for an entertaining montage sequence of interrogations where everyone gets caught up to speed on how Briggs is persona non grata at the agency and Mike was assigned there to investigate him. The roommates pout and snipe at each other while the FBI checks Graceland for bugs and evidence. Jakes and Johnny stick up for Briggs, while Mike and Paige are convinced he's guilty, and Charlie's basically just trying to keep up.

Mike slips into Briggs' room to do some brainstorming about where Paul might have gone, but he manages to piece it together: the crafty bastard hasn't even left town. He's still on the Jangles hunt and wouldn't take off until Lisa's death was avenged, Mike figures. Paige comes in and Mike fills her in on his theory then beats himself up for not figuring it all out sooner. A distraught Mikey decides it's a good time to make out with Paige a little bit, but she pulls back and tells him that though "there's a version of this" she wants, he's lost and she's not the answer. Oh Mikey.

Briggs is busy calling all his contacts about that suspicious Federale and he narrows it down to two in the area — one of whom is our friend Cortez. Huh. So he really is a Federale. I thought that was just a cover.

Next Paul shows up at a soccer field (this episode is like a Where's Waldo?), where Jakes is watching his son play from afar. Jakes is pissed that Briggs has gotten them all suspended, but he tells him to focus here because Charlie's Federale might just be Jangles. Jakes ain't buying his hero act, but Briggs slips him the number to his burner phone and asks him to call if Charlie gets in trouble.
Charlie and Cortez are at the fancy bar again, and she's kinda spilling her heart out to the guy, talking about how Paul left and took a chunk of her heart with him. What is this? Where did suspicious Charlie go? It gets worse when they suddenly get flirty and he invites her to come back to his house for champagne. Grr. At least Briggs is in a nearby car watching them. But still... I don't like that they're trying to turn her into a stereotypical ditz who naively trusts the guy she's been wary about for weeks just because the plot requires her to be saved in 20 minutes or so. Hmmpf.


Back at Graceland, Mikes is laying on Jakes to tell him where Briggs is at. Jakes professes to know nothing in his usual surly manner, but he deliberately drops the burner number so Mike will pick it up and trace Briggs.

Cortez goes home, and Briggs is right on his trail, sneaking into the house and — not really being subtle about it — grabbing his infamous key-chain to plan that "apt" key on there. Clever, Briggsy, clever. Jangles hears the very loud jangling and comes down the stairs, but Briggs pulls a gun on him and then puts him in a choke hold. Unfortunately for him, Charlie had second thoughts and comes walking on in, training her gun on them and ordering Briggs to let him go. While he protests that he's telling the truth, Cortez grabs the champagne bottle and clocks him good, knocking him out. Charlie yells for him to call an ambulance, but he says he'll call her bureau and orders her to restrain him. Finally Charlie starts getting suspicious, and asks, "Why'd he call you Jangles?" Cortez tries to downplay it and distract her by putting on the moves but Charlie hits him with the bottle. Unfortunately his head is a lot thicker than Briggs' apparently, because it barely phases him and he wrestles Charlie down and holds a knife to her throat. Gulp.

Luckily for both Briggs and Charlie, who are now — after a convenient commercial break — tied up in his bedroom, Jangles is a TV villain. Which means before he actually gets around to hurting anyone, he decides it's time for a dance party break! So he puts on loud music and does a little strutting. No, seriously, He must know that Mikey is really taking his time cruising down the PCH to get there (this has to be at least an hour later — What? Did he stop for a Guadalajara dog or something?) Anyway, he finally gets down to business pressing the knife menacingly to Charlie's chest and forehead, but then suddenly he hears Mike's rumbly old truck pull into the driveway. First Briggs, now Mikey. Either Jangles has supersonic hearing or these guys seriously need to take a refresher course on stealth entries.

Cortez creeps downstairs, gun in hand, but pauses at the top of the landing inexplicably instead of plugging him immediately, while his back is still turned. But no, Mike just stands there at the bottom for almost a full minute before he turns around and the men give each other the evil eye. It's like a Wild West showdown, and Mike is improbably the quickest on the draw and he nails Cortez in the chest so the man artfully can tumble down the stairs to his feet. He runs up and frees Briggs and Charlie (who gives dead Jangles a really nice kick on her way out the door.)

Outside, Briggs marvels that Mike was smart enough to know he didn't leave town, then he rewards him by telling him the whole story of what went down with Jangles and the estate. (I really thought maybe Lisa was going to be alive after all, but it seems like that's a no. For now anyway. If they make it to season five, all bets are off!)

The next day, the Bureau guys are puckering up for Mike, calling him a golden boy and telling us he's headed to DC to be the assistant deputy to the director of the FBI (which is kind of like going from the mailroom to the board of investors). Mike is thrilled, but wants to know what'll happen to Graceland? The answer... is pretty much nothing. So what will happen to Briggs, he asks. Those were the magic words I guess, because then he gets to watch as Paul is let off the hook for Juan's murder (which he pinned on Jangles by slipping Juan's key on his ring) AND for being Odin Rossi (as the FBI says they've traced the burner phone that Odin was using to a location in South America... and an Anthony Busca. That was a pretty neat frame-up of Quinn, the despicable drug dealer who got Charlie high, right there. Well played, Briggs, well played.

An emotional Charlie is waiting out front for a freed Briggs to give him a ride home, and she feels awful that she didn't trust him and wonders if he can ever forgive her. He hugs her and looks conflicted about letting her believe he was just pure as the driven snow all along. But he doesn't fess up.

Back at Graceland, the gang gathers on the beach for one last bonfire. Jakes asks Briggs if they're even and if that recording Juan made is still conveniently missing, which it is. He says good and tells Paul to "fix this place." Briggs gets his sentimental speechifying on and gets all, "I love everyone in this BONFIRE!" and tells them he screwed up and forgot about "home." Then Paige toasts to Mikey who's... off to DC!

Apparently to sit in fast-paced meetings plotting important stings in a suit and with nerdy hair. His phone starts ringing as we cut back to California to find two skater dude teens in a pawn shop. We go back and forth between Briggs small talking with him and the kids as they find a boxy old tape player and hit play... only to hear Juan's confrontation with Briggs play out. Cut back to Briggs and Mikey's phone call, and Paul has decided to cut the small talk. He asks if Mikey can take a vacation because,  "Listen, Mike, I haven't told anyone else about this..."

And that's all folks! We'll have to wait till summer 2014 for Briggs to confess his newest secret. All in all, it was a solid and compelling first season for the USA drama, and I'll be looking forward to seeing what crazy hijinx these kids get up to next year.