Justified S5E2
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Manuela cooks a mean iguana, its very tender.
Raylan has to spend this episode bailing Loretta out of a jam, because she has gotten caught up in a drug deal with Hot Rod Dunham (remember him from Season 2?), and things have gone south. And Boyd is trying to evade imprisionment as he works on springing Ava from her incarceration.
This episode of Justified hits just about all the marks that we have come to expect of a good episode of this show. Great writing, pacing, and dialogue. And fun characters. I firmly believe 10 years from now this show will be in writing textbooks as an example of how to do things right on television. This episode was just so much fun to watch.
Loretta, as mentioned earlier, has gotten sideways with Hot Rod Dunham, and she and her boyfriend are on the run from Hot Rod's enforcers, played by Steve and Wood Harris (real-life brothers playing TV brothers). Yep, Eugene Young and Avon Barksdale are on this episode of Justified.
Raylan comes to the rescue and settles Loretta's debt to Hot Rod, without firing a shot. Or at least a shot from a firearm. He does get to whack Steve Harris in the head with a shovel and fire off an awesome threat to Hot Rod.
Raylan: "I'll kill four of you before you even clear your weapons, and I'll take my chances with the other two. And you see this star? That's gonna make it legal. Now, do we have an understanding here?"
That is classic Raylan and this kind of dialogue is what makes this show so great. Because you know he means it, and can do it. Luckily, Hot Rod (who, if I remember correctly, has never been on the wrong end of Raylan) understands Raylan's threat and makes a good decision to forgive Loretta's debt. Then, as Raylan is taking Loretta home, he realizes that Loretta has gamed him and everyone she has come in contact with. He shakes his head and grins like a proud adoptive father. Oh, and Raylan develops an attraction to Loretta's social worker, the lovely Amy Smart.
Meanwhile, Boyd is being extorted by Mara, the mail-order bride of Paxton, who Boyd beat severely last week. She wants $300,000 to disappear, or she can implicate Boyd in Paxton's beating. And Officer Asshole (is he the Sheriff now, since Shelby stepped down last season?) is hot on Boyd's trail, trying to get Mara to identify Boyd as the man responsible for Paxton's beating. Boyd is also trying to get Ava out of jail, but I noticed a spark between him and Mara. We'll see where that goes this season.
And the Florida Crowe's are now in Harlan County to visit Dewey. And to serve as this season's Big Bad.
Lastly, Art is looking into the murder of Nicky Augustine. Seems the death of Sammy Tonin has piqued Art's interest, so Raylan will likely have to answer for his orchestration of Augustine's demise last season.
The chess pieces are moving into place, and with the announcement this week that next season will be Justified's last, the writers have an endgame in sight. This season will play a major role as the bridge into the final season, so it will be interesting to see where all of our favorite characters are at this season's end.
Random Thoughts:
- Nice throwback to Arlo and Hot Rod's history.
- Is this love interest/social worker on the up-and-up? I dunno, I sense something hinky going on with her.
- Will Art cover for Raylan when he finds out the truth about the death of Nicky Augustine?
- Paxton's out of his coma. More trouble ahead for Boyd?
What did you think?
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