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As tempted as I am to just post a dozen or so GIFs of Dickie Bennett as the entire recap of last night’s Justified, I think we should probably start out by discussing Darryl Crowe, Jr. for a bit.
Over the course of this season’s first 10 episodes, Darryl has seen his family’s crime operation fall apart in Florida and is now watching it fall apart again in Kentucky. He has killed one incompetent family member and been double-crossed by another. His trusted right-hand man was killed by his trigger-happy brother, who is also dead now. And he just beat the hell out of his sister and made her awkward teenage teenage son swear a blood oath to him inside a hooker’s trailer, making said awkward teenager — who as recently as a few episodes ago was stashing money to get away from him and inventing fancy libations named after his hatred of his present situation, and had just been returned against his will after running off to the social worker ex-girlfriend of the U.S. Marshal who is trying to bring down the whole operation — effectively the family’s new Number 2, all while trying to take on an established Kentucky crime boss despite not having any money or product. Bad, bad times for Darryl Crowe, Jr. I hope next episode opens with him seeking guidance from that Hang in There Kitty poster he hung up in Audrey’s earlier in the season.
And speaking of Crowe family troubles, R.I.P. Danny Crowe. You were an impulsive sociopath who wouldn’t shut up about your 21-foot rule (which, for the record, is a thing), and the two times you had a chance to show it off you (a) got hit by tow truck, and (b) ate sh*t by falling into your dead dog’s grave after about eight feet and ended up bringing about your own demise by landing throat first on your own precious knife. You were the Charlie Brown of unrepentant murderers, and you will be missed. Kind of.
And now, the highlights:
- While we’re on the subject of notable crime figures having significant difficulties, last night was yet another rough one for Boyd Crowder. Half of the Mexican dope he damn near broke his back to acquire is now in the possession of the government, his partners are starting to conspire against him, his jailbird fiancee just broke up with him after he spent all his free time piling up bodies across Kentucky to try to clear her name, and when he finally tracked down the mentally imbalanced weasel security guard who framed her and got her sent to the Big(ger) House, he was so defeated and run-down that he didn’t even have the heart to torture him. I’ve never wanted to see a more deplorable human being catch a win more in my whole life.
- If you’re wondering who the brains of this crime syndicate are, keep in mind that Wynn Duffy and Picker have spent the past few weeks holed up in luxurious hotel suite while all of this has been going on.
- “You know, Duffy, I really do not understand this fascination you hold for Boyd Crowder. What is it, his hair?” As someone who just wrote 800 words about it, I feel comfortable answering this one for Wynn: Yes, it is.
- “You got yourself between a Detroit rock and a sh*tkicker hard place.” Yes, this Mary Steenburgen character will do nicely.
- God bless Dewey Crowe. If ever a GIF has summed up a man’s existence, it’s this one:
- Two other Dewey-related things from last night: 1) I love that he was planning to take his Marco Polo hookers with him once he unloaded the heroin and hit the road. The man is nothing if not loyal. 2) Please note that the dealer he ended up going to — who sold him out to his cousins — was none other than Cyrus, the BB-gun firing member of the Crowder/Duffy gang who got Boyd’s first shipment jacked by spilling the beans to Johnny’s beloved Candy. Harlan is a small world.
- Last night marked the first time I really started caring about Ava’s arc this season. I don’t know if it was just a slow burn, or if her leaving Boyd and starting to handle her own business swayed me, but her taking out Judith has me coming around a bit. I kind of love the idea of Ava Crowder: Queen of the Prison.
- Slow night for Raylan, so allow me to pass along this tidbit about Danny Crowe’s death from Graham Yost’s EW Postmortem: “Apparently on the night that they were shooting that scene, Olyphant couldn’t stop laughing. He was laughing during AJ [Buckley]‘s takes. He was laughing when the stuntman was doing it. He was laughing when it was his stuff. He just got such a kick out of it.”
- Okay, Dickie Bennett time. I loved this so much I almost squealed. (I lied: I did squeal a little.)
- Confirmed: No one answers a telephone better than Dickie Bennett.
- Dewey Crowe’s pseudonym: Parker Stevenson. Amazing.
- Also, amazing: Every last second of the scene with Dickie and Raylan in the interrogation room. I honestly didn’t realize how much I missed that rascal. Turns out it was a lot. Especially once this happened.
- Look at his hair in that GIF. He looks like a cartoon character who swallowed a bomb and had it blow up inside him. Jesus. Someone spring him from prison as soon as possible. We all need more Dickie Bennett in our lives.
- WHAT IF NEXT SEASON IS ABOUT DICKIE BENNETT AND DEWEY CROWE TRYING TO TAKE DOWN WYNN AND BOYD?
- PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE LET IT BE THAT.
Okay, that’s it for me. Feel free to chime in below. As always, thanks to Chet Manley for the GIFs. Please do not let my dog get run over by a car.
