Last night’s episode of Justified featured manhunts and murder and dialogue loaded with layers of meaning and all the things the show has been known for over its run, but first…
Heeeeeey Winona and Baby Raylene are back. (Yes, technically the baby’s name is Willa. Let’s agree to disregard this.) And they have a proposition for Raylan: Instead of forcing him to move to Florida to be closer to them, Winona had a change of heart and realized she loved the lanky, denim-wearing lug just the way he is and would bring their screaming child back to Harlan for good if he wants to give it a go, anxious late nights alone in bed be damned. This really puts it to him because he has spent the entirety of his child’s life conveniently avoiding the promise of a quieter life down south by chasing spiky-haired reprobates through the hills of Kentucky. He’s been punting on making a long-term decision by hiding behind the ongoing, open-ended investigation into Boyd Crowder, but now he has the chance to have all three of his true loves — woman, child, hillbilly huntin’ — in his life without having to give up much of anything. Can Raylan Givens have it all? (No, he probably can not.)
Elsewhere in an episode that basically amounted to the Justified version of a Couples Skate…
All things considered, the episode didn’t actually go that bad for Ava. I mean, sure, she did get dragged out to a cabin in a place called Bulletville more or less against her will. And yes, she did spend most of the episode on the receiving end of threats both explicit and thinly-veiled. (Very thinly veiled. Like, tissue-paper-thin.) And, okay, if you want to be a stickler about things I suppose getting into a physical altercation with your crime boss fiance (whose brother you were married to right up until you blow open his chest with a big-ass gun) that was set off by his newly-acquired knowledge that you’ve been snitching on him to his Stetson-wearing Johnny Law nemesis (with whom you also have a tangled romantic history) isn’t ideal in the strictest, dictionary-defined interpretation of the word. And Boyd did put some bullets in the gun right at the end of the episode. None of that is particularly great for her.
But… she did get that free bourbon. Coulda been worse, that’s all I’m saying.
And now, the highlights:
– As much as I loved Raylan running around the Marshal’s office carrying a baby, a big part of me wanted to zip ahead five years to see him bring a precocious, defiant kindergartner to work. Remember, this is Raylan and Winona’s daughter we’re talking about. The kid is going to be a menace. Imagine her flinging case files around his cubicle, refusing to listen to anyone, her frustrated father included. Imagine her and Tim having a conversation. IMAGINE TIM BABYSITTING.
– Fun baby note from Graham Yost’s weekly portmortem: Baby Willa/Raylene was played by either “two sets of triplets, or three sets of twins.” That’s … that’s a lot of babies.
– One issue we need to bring up: Remember last season how Art spent multiple episodes talking about retiring and going fishing and then he got shot? Well, now Raylan is making plans for a lovely family life after he finishes his big case. I doubt the show is going to put Raylan down the way Breaking Bad put down Walter White, but it is way too early in the season for things to look this good for our hero. The other cowboy boot is bound to drop at some point.
– Speaking of Art, man, did I ever love that scene between him and Markham in the Marshal’s office. Just two old dogs on the hunt talking about their “fishing poles.” We know Art’s still works, because he appears to have himself quite the Marshal stiffy right now.
– If the episode seemed a little light on beach bum revelations and grandmothers doing huge lines of pharmaceutical-grade cocaine, that’s because Wynn and Katherine were absent this week. I get that the show has other stories to tell, but it still left me mighty aplexed. I need my Wynn fix. This is important.
– Meanwhile, things aren’t looking great for noted beard-haver Ty Walker. First his distress call to Seabass went nowhere, because, well…
… then he had to dig a bullet out of his shoulder with a pocket knife in a grimy rest stop, then he got hassled by a couple douchebro proctology majors from FU, and then, when he finally did get medical help to show up it turned out to be some hero paramedics who wanted to bring him in themselves. Which, nah.
– Sassy Tim Alert: “You mean Walker’s not an alcoholic porn addict with a full tank of gas who compartmentalizes his vices from his staples?” “I know, that’s why I was condescending to you just now.”
– Looking for a little window into the mind of Boyd Crowder? Assuming Boyd is approximately the same age as the man who portrays him (43), that means he was in his early-’20s when he took that double-stolen bottle of Pappy Van Winkle and buried it under the floor of his hunting cabin to save it for his future bride after they got married. The man is a romantic, really. I mean, kind of. Let’s see how this thing with Ava plays out before we go making any firm declarations.
Your thoughts below.
