66 replies to this topic

[AimingforYoko]

Raylan tangles with a dangerous family keeping a dark secret; Boyd takes on a snake-handling preacher.

I've said it before, but is there any show that does exposition better than Justified? Art's little description of his Deputies gave Rachel and Tim as much character development as the previous three seasons.
And Raylan's dick gets him in trouble again. Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

[ReadIshmael]

Not hugely thrilled about the development with Lindsay and her husband, but I did quite like the scene with him at the backyard fight, and I like Lindsay, so I'll postpone judgment.

Loved the scenes with the Truth family, everything involving Boyd and the church, Wynn Duffy, and Art's little monologue in the beginning. And Tim! Never not happy to see Tim.

[Amester0120]

My favorite Wynn-win situation! That guy is awesome.


Tim's an alcoholic? Rachel's divorced? What in the what?

[Ketch22]

Art: "On a scale from 1 to a shitload..." Oh, my...that has to be one of my all-time favorite lines from this show.

Great episode with lots to love, particularly every minute of Art/Raylan/Tim. The dialogue just keeps coming at you with one gem after another.

Loved how Art described each of his deputy marshals.

[benteen]

Another really enjoyable episode.

So good having Art and Tim back. Art's description of Tim was hysterical. The Tim is an alcoholic thing has been speculated here before. When they needed him to get into the VA, Tim was already pretty strongly buzzed and said he was trying to get drunk. Then Raylan and Winona spotted him at the bar. But since when was Rachael married?

The Truth family sure made for a fun group. The guy who played the fake Waldo Truth also played Kramer's boss in the Festivus episode of Seinfeld. I know that because I watch that episode every year before Christmas. He's also the guy in the Volvo "Moby Dick" commerical. I think the whole Waldo Truth storyline is going to be fun.

I like Boyd's storyline with the preacher. Ava is really descending into ruthless boss territory and I like it.

Typical Raylan...he confronts Arlo about the bag and Arlo kills another inmate. He shacks up with the bartender and finds out she's married. Return to Wyn Duffy was unexpected but welcome.

Edited by benteen, Jan 15, 2013 @ 11:17 PM.

[Mickster]

Just some notes from the guy from Kentucky -

Yes, we pronounce "Versailles" as "Ver - Sales"

Second, the reference to "Drew Thompson"? See "Andrew C.Thornton II". More of that "Blue Grass Conspiracy" stuff.

[babyblackcat]

"a scale of 1 to a shitload" was pretty fantastic. Also really enjoyed the guys working together, the whole thing with the family, Art having a connection to the mystery, and the nicely done back story building for Tim and Rachel - never would have guessed Rachel was married, I totally saw her only focused on her career.

Damn, Duffy! That guy is cold, yet I love him. And I really love the idea of him and Boyd working together again, as he is possibly the only person to ever render Boyd speechless. They're both so fascinating, it's almost too much awesome. Especially once Raylan catches wind of it and starts beating them both up for information.
I don't find the preacher guy that magnetic, especially when facing off with Boyd, so I like the idea that the creepy sister is actually the one running the show there.

Of course Lindsay is married. Raylan couldn't possibly find a nice, uncomplicated girl! That dude's a little scary too. As Raylan said, he couldn't knock him down with a hammer, but I think a gun would work just fine. So how many episodes before Raylan shoots him?

[BakerX2]

Disappointed that they didn't toss in a reference to Tim's sexuality, in Arlo's description of the guy. Would have been a perfect place to confirm that bit of fanon that Tim's gay.

Rachel getting a divorce would explain her new look: she's reinventing herself, possibly because she's now a single woman and more than likely thinking that since Raylan can whore around with impunity, she can probably try and make herself look attractive and maybe get her some of the whole "casual sex" thing going around the marshal's office.

Who played the guy who may or may not be Art's successor? Same with Lindsay's husband (given the fighting angle, I'm assuming Justified hired a UFC guy to serve as a bit of stealth plugging of UFC on FX?).

Speaking of the show confirming fanon, we finally get confirmation that Boyd's reformation in season one was legit and that he lost his newfound faith when his dad killed his followers.

A slow episode but one with some definite building up the storyline for the season. Though I don't know how they will connect Boyd's plotline with Raylan's, unless Arlo drags Boyd into it.

[TiffanyNichelle]

Sniper Tim and Art are back! Yay. Rachel is married? Since when? And yes my personal fanon has her divorce having something to do with Tim.

Of course Raylan's bartender is married. To a big scary man. Raylan knows how to pick 'em.

Now that he's not chasing Quarles around, Wynn Duffy is back to being scary again.

So the church is real and also fake. Preacher Billy is a true believer but of course the sister is bad news. Boyd doing a preach off with Billy was a really good scene.

Loved the story of Mother and Waldo. Someone will have to do a transcript of that story. I loved the punchline.

[benteen]

Who played the guy who may or may not be Art's successor?

I'm wondering that myself. The guy seemed very familiar.

This is the first reference to Rachel getting married. I think it was last season her nephew was teasing her that he found someone for her. It was a guy from the mug shot file on her computer.

[Suck it Trebek]

Lindsay sure had a lot of questions about what Raylan was working on - redirected him several times to stay on that topic in the scene right before her husband (!) waltzes in.
She's up to something.

The back and forth between the preacher and Boyd was electric.

The scene with Duffy was made of Wynn (I'm sorry! I had to!)
Paraphrased:
"You can trust me...."
"But I don't even trust the way you said that..."

[SJ82]

Who played the guy who may or may not be Art's successor? Same with Lindsay's husband (given the fighting angle, I'm assuming Justified hired a UFC guy to serve as a bit of stealth plugging of UFC on FX?).

Don Harvey played the guy who thought he wanted Art's job. He's been in a gazillion things but I always remember him as Swede in "Eight Men Out." Robert Baker played the husband. His bio doesn't have any info on UFC, but he did have a regular spot on "Gray's Anatomy."

[thuganomics85]

Tim and Art are back! Those two and Raylan together was made entirely of win. I missed Tim's dry wit and Art non-stop one liners and wise ass remarks; especially at the expense of Raylan. The Truth family themselves were hilariously dysfunctional. That whole plot was awesome and continued to plant seeds for the season long arc.

Wynn! Glad to see you have recovered from the Quarles saga last season. I love that his silent henchman is still there too; it's little things like that, that make me love this show. I really want to see him and Boyd team up, but his reasons not too were hilarious (and probably right.) Either way, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of his creepy ass, especially after the reveal that the guy Arlo killed was part of his crew.

So, Billy is just the puppet who really believes what he's saying, while it's sister Crystal from True Blood, that is the one running things. I wonder how Boyd will approach this. I liked the Boyd/Billy confrontation, although, despite a good effort from Joseph, he can't match Walton Goggins in the charismatic department.

I have a feeling Elle May might be in trouble. I have a feeling Boyd will think she's a loose cannon and might decided to "get rid" of her, or ask Colton to do it. Or maybe even Ava herself might go there.

Loved the return of Shelby. Colton continues to be a great addition to Boyd's crew.

Rachel was married? Did not see that coming. Speaking of relationships, your taste in women continues to be way off, Raylan. Not like I'd expect anything less from him.

Great episode.

[babyblackcat]

The scene with Duffy was made of Wynn (I'm sorry! I had to!)
Paraphrased:
"You can trust me...."
"But I don't even trust the way you said that..."

I loved that too! It reminded me of how the audience (and Raylan) didn't know whether or not to trust his whole religious thing in season 1. Really enjoying how enthusiastically Boyd has stepped into the role of Harlan crime boss again.

She's up to something.

I agree. I've figured she'd take his cash that he oh so conveniently put away in front of her, but I think the idea of this bag being valuable enough for Arlo to kill and the marshals to go after has piqued her interest. Maybe it will be like Mags' money, everyone trying to get it.

Love the parallel of both Raylan and Ava dealing with bar deliveries. And only one of them actually paying attention to it! Do not try to pawn off more cheap stuff on Miss Ava.

thuganomics, good point - Ellen May is a threat to Ava. Not a good position to be in.

Also wanted to add how much I enjoy any time Raylan walks over to someone point a gun at him and just pulls it away. Granted it was a kid this time, but it was much like his Dewey Crowe moment in the pilot. He just doesn't have the patience for that kind of nonsense.

Edited by babyblackcat, Jan 16, 2013 @ 1:01 AM.

[Atomic Clock]

I enjoyed the episode. I have a better feel for the flow of this season than I did at this same point last year. It's early, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

The Truth family matriarch had kind of a Mags vibe. Wonder if any sensitive souls will get nervous at the image of a kid pointing a gun. That particular visual was referenced in several reviews, indicating that guns now make more critics flinch than they once did.

Ava Vader. She goes from an abused wife to an abusive, oppressive pimp bent on imprisoning a drug-addicted prostitute in a sorry existence. I have zero sympathy for her at this point. If one happy moment comes out of this season, I hope Ellen May truly finds comfort in the love of God and leaves her miserable life under Ava's thumb.

Please, please let Lindsey's husband be the beginning of the end of her time on this show!!! If Raylan ever needs to torture a suspect, he can just play a looped recording of Lindsey's voice.

Tim's an alcoholic?

Art said Tim is "probably" an alcoholic. Art's just guessing, which is what the rest of us are doing. Maybe Art reads TWOP. You know, Art's a christian. Maybe the writers will send him to the church of the snake.

Not surprised about Rachel. The writers have left her character open-ended enough that they could get away with that.

I really love the idea of him and Boyd working together again, as he is possibly the only person to ever render Boyd speechless.

I believe Duffy's bullet to Danny's head was the exclamation point on a very emphatic no thank-you to Boyd's proposition. And Wynn's one scene illustrates why Season 3 was so inferior. Duffy is totally awesome when he is in command of a situation and not serving as a subordinate.

Speaking of the show confirming fanon, we finally get confirmation that Boyd's reformation in season one was legit and that he lost his newfound faith when his dad killed his followers.

Fanon nothin'. We got that confirmation directly after Boyd discovered the slaughter of his flock when he prayed to God and felt he didn't receive a satisfactory answer. That was a very unsubtle way for the writers to confirm that Boyd wasn't full of shit...that time. I did love the giant callback to Boyd's preaching days during his face-off with Billy.

[Tatler]

So good to see the guys together. Pure gold!

A good episode all in all. Boyd & Wyn, the Truth family. All great.

I'm not too sure about the whole Lindsay-Raylan thing. I was one of the few who liked Winona!

[Big Bad Wolf]

Best dialogue of any show on television.

Art’s retirement better end up being delayed indefinitely. No one else will do as Raylan’s boss.

I’ve a feeling Ellen May may not be long for this world.

This season is top notch so far.

[mrk63]

Alright...here are some messages for our cast of characters this week, going from those who need it the most to those I just want to give a shout out to:

Ellen May: It's P-Salms, Honey, not 'Palms'. Now, get the HELL out of Harlan before you disappear and spend eternity in a mine shaft with Delroy. I mean it. Run like a bear was chasing you. GO!!

Art: I am terribly in fear for your safety now that the word 'retirement' has passed your lips.

Raylan: Have you ever considered celibacy? Just for, like, a week or two to clear your head? No? Sigh. I didn't think so. Oh, but...good call on not taking on Bear. I'm pretty sure you'd've gotten your ass kicked.

Lindsay: You STOPPED him? Really? The bar delivery couldn't wait, what...ten more minutes? I thought you had more sense. Which brings us to your bear of an ex (I hope) husband. Maybe that's something you should've mentioned, all things considered.

Boyd: #1 Don't mess with Wynn Duffy #2 Your sheriff(Jim Beaver!!! Yay!!) friend may not be so cooperative the next time he is approached. #3 Don't mess with Wynn Duffy #4 You might need to consider at some point that you are not always the smartest man in the room, which goes to #5 Don't mess with Wynn Duffy.

Ava: Oh, Honey....what's happened to you? I never thought I'd say this, but it would be nice to get a glimpse of S1 Ava from time to time. At this point I have more sympathy for Boyd than you, and that is not a good thing.

Tim: Sardonic as ever...but a warning...YOU, not Raylan, were #1 on your boss's list of worries put out to scare the circling vulture out of applying for his job. Yeah, I know, surprised the hell out of me, too.

Preacher Billy: I think you're actually sincere. Which really scares me for you.

Wynn Duffy! That's all...just a shout out. It's a name that begs to be shouted.

Winona: Miss you, girl-friend!

Rachel: See you next week (I hope). And find out more about the husband you've apparently left that we didn't know you had.

Edited by mrk63, Jan 16, 2013 @ 7:09 AM.

[lynnea6]

I loved nearly every thing about this episode.

Wynn Duffy! (though I miss the mustache).

Tim, Art, and Raylan together! ("Smart money in the office pool's on exotic dancing"). They better not get rid of Art, whether retirement or otherwise. I'm glad Raylan's extracurricular activities aren't going unnoticed by Art. Now, if they could just get Tim and Rachel in the same episode.

Boyd's preach off! Loved that he accomplished his true mission for the church visit, to find out who was in charge.

Beth Grant and the rest of the Truth clan! Mrs. Truth's expression when her "husband" planted a big one on her was priceless.

The only thing I really didn't care about was Lindsay and her husband. I'm assuming they are going to tie him in at some point since they spent a good deal of time on him.

[benteen]

The Truth family matriarch had kind of a Mags vibe.

Yeah, I thought so too. Mags Light. Really light but the characters do share a little in the way they run their families.

Graham Yost is back at Entertainmwent Weekly with his Justified EP. He addresses the Art retirement and Rachel being married stuff. Sadly, the Truth family will not be returning.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/15/justified-wheres-waldo-postmortem/

Edited by benteen, Jan 16, 2013 @ 1:43 PM.

[ajknick]

that's two episodes and two times the unflappable Boyd is totally and hilariously stunned by a shocking death. I think he may be running out of Harlan low life's to wax poetic to!

[Navin]

I like bourbon and never heard of Pappy Van Winkle until last night. I'll have to try it one of these days.

[SnowFox]

I can’t decide what I loved more - Art, Raylan, and Tim, Boyd at the church, or Boyd and Wynn Duffy. So far, this season is off to a great start. It would be funny if Raylan and Boyd’s SLs intersect (like they usually do), and for whatever crazy reason Raylan, Boyd and Wynn wind up on the same side for a little while.

[Earl Camembert]

(given the fighting angle, I'm assuming Justified hired a UFC guy to serve as a bit of stealth plugging of UFC on FX?)

The guy he was fighting - the one who was in the ring with a cowboy hat - is Donald Cerrone, a UFC welterweight.

Boy, that Milo Truth was a little charmer, wasn't he? Flipping off Waylon, pulling a gun, calling them all "par-vaaarts"... though I did enjoy them whipping out the blunts in front of the kids.

[T o b y]

Wynn's so smarmy and pathetic sometimes, you can forget how cold he can be. I knew he was gonna shoot the guy, but damn.

Justified succeeds in having some of the best background/tertiary/somehow-finding-a-way-to-survive-despite-evilness characters on television.

I really, really love this show and I'm so glad it's back.

Though I wonder: did Quarles die? If not, obvs he's in prison with his one-arm, but I wonder if the show will address him or Dickie Bennett anytime soon. It doesn't bother me though - I'm already into the new season's mystery/storyline.

[PictureItSicily]

Ava Vader. She goes from an abused wife to an abusive, oppressive pimp bent on imprisoning a drug-addicted prostitute in a sorry existence. I have zero sympathy for her at this point.

Ava's a madam. They keep their girls in line and make sure they bring in money. They don't read bedtime stories and braid hair. Why does the audience need to feel sympathy for Ava? She's a criminal, like Boyd, like Arlo, like Wynn. It sounds like a double standard that the men can do the most ruthless and violent things, while a woman throws one punch and shoots her mouth off and it's 'I have zero sympathy' for her, because she doesn't want to hear some airhead go on about her saved soul when she should be working. When most hookers don't show up for a shift, they get a lot worse then verbally belittled. Wynn blew a guys head off last night. Should we lose sympathy for him?

Edited by PictureItSicily, Jan 16, 2013 @ 12:03 PM.

[Atomic Clock]

Alan Sepinwall's review of the episode. I know we have a media thread, but I'll post these in the appropriate episode threads since they are more timely.

Thanks Benteen for posting the GY interview from EW. Please keep them coming as available. I didn't know he wrote Speed! That was a good movie. Glad they're keeping Art from retirement now, but the writers better prepare for a mass protest worthy of original Star Trek fans when they finally decide to put him out to pasture.

Why does the audience need to feel sympathy for Ava?

Because Ava was once a good person who let herself get dragged into the criminal life. She was badly abused by her husband until she killed him. Then she fell in with Boyd. Her one objection was that she didn't want Boyd running whores, but almost overnight, she changed her mind (I still don't think the writers did a good job showing us how she made that mental/emotional transition.)

The irony of the situation is that Ava has now become as bad as Delroy, whom she killed in order to save Ellen May.

Ava has taken the same journey as has Walter White on Breaking Bad. They were both decent, sympathetic characters who have transformed into remorseless criminals. I haven't had any sympathy for her since Season 3. And no, I don't have a double standard. I have zero sympathy for Walter White, or Boyd, or Wynn Duffy, or any of them. There's a difference between finding a villain interesting and overtly sympathizing or rooting for them.

Edited by Atomic Clock, Jan 16, 2013 @ 12:24 PM.

[Leroyiscrazy]

Oh whatever. Disliking what Ava has become in the name of love and money has nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with the fact that she was a victim of domestic abuse herself for 20 years. Enough abuse in fact that she methodically thought out how to kill her abuser. But she's apparently ok with it now as long as she's the one doing the abusing, and the way she is so dismissive about it all only makes it worse.

And I personally feel no sympathy for Boyd or Duffy and I doubt that anyone is supposed to. The former shot a guy in the back of the head the first time we met him and the latter likes to chop people up and put them in garbage bags. They're just entertaining criminals who have always been entertaining criminals.

[KalEl]

Great episode with lots to love, particularly every minute of Art/Raylan/Tim. The dialogue just keeps coming at you with one gem after another.

Loved how Art described each of his deputy marshals.

It was awesome, especially how it put his would-be successor in his place.

Ava's conversion to Lady MacAva (which I started calling her when she was bolstering Boyd) is complete. But lets face it, that she married Boyd's brother shows this was always in her from the beginning. Even being with Raylan shows she likes a dangerous man. Loved her smackdown of Ellen Mae's attempt to find redemption. And then froze Cousin Johnny in his tracks in the middle of it. I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of Boyd and she succeeded him as Raylan "enemy that I know too well."

Disliking what Ava has become in the name of love and money has nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with the fact that she was a victim of domestic abuse herself for 20 years. Enough abuse in fact that she methodically thought out how to kill her abuser. But she's apparently ok with it now as long as she's the one doing the abusing, and the way she is so dismissive about it all only makes it worse.

That's a false equivalency. First, Ava doesn't "abuse" Ellen Mae. If I recall correctly, Ava punched out Ellen Mae exactly once as part of a plan to save her life, not because she's taking out her anger at her own sad life. That's the life Ava endured for years. She even points out the difference to Ellen in the first episode that being hit once "Ain't being beat." Much less as part of a plan that, again, saved Ellen Mae's life because it's unlikely a scared junkie could go along with a plan to lure her genuinely abusive pimp into a trap. Ava's not an abuser. She's become a ruthless criminal boss, which is awesome, but she's not an abuser.

And Blonde Bartender was a little too interested in Raylan's work for my tastes.

Edited by KalEl, Jan 16, 2013 @ 12:54 PM.

[babyblackcat]

I think Ava went into the madam business with semi-good intentions - she had a soft spot for Ellen May and related to her physical abuse. When she took out Delroy, I think there was some honesty in her saying she'd rather take over than let another abusive guy like him step in. The power/money/whatever has corrupted her to the point of where she is now, threatening and keeping Ellen May down, but I think there was a little bit of goodness in the move at first. But she also wouldn't be the first abused person to eventually abuse someone herself.

Navin, I believe Pappy Van Winkle was Quarles' brand of choice as well.

Enjoyed that Art and Tim both know something's up with Raylan doing stuff on the side. So many writers build up the main character by making everyone else around them incapable idiots, it's nice to have a show where more than just the lead is smart and observant, and good at their job. I feel like they've nicely conveyed an equality in the skills of all the marshals.