Contributor: Henry T.
Written by Graham Yost and Fred Golan
Directed by Michael Dinner
What I love about “Justified” is that it doesn’t want to be a procedural cop show. It dares to be something much different. Like cop shows now on television, “Justified” will always have the criminal element for Raylan and the Marshal service to take on, but this show is more interested in developing the criminals into something more. They are running around, causing trouble or setting up big plans that will come to fruition later. It makes the world of the show that much more fascinating.
Last season had Mags Bennett and her crime syndicate trying to run things. With her out of the way this season, who will take her place as the large criminal element? The season premiere offers a number of choices at the beginning, then settles all debate by the end. We’ll be seeing a lot more of Neal McDonough’s nameless man in a suit character, and that will likely be true for Raylan as well.
It’s great to see that they haven’t forgotten about Mags’ departure at the end of last season. Her large marijuana business is now up for grabs so that means Boyd will want it. Only, since he’s in jail for assaulting Raylan at the beginning of this episode, it’s left up to his minions (Devil and Arlo) to take care of it. They predictably bungle the sale to a guy from Memphis because they left the weed too wet for three weeks and it goes bad. This means Ava, functioning as Boyd’s right hand despite having just one good arm, rises up to carry out Boyd’s orders.
When Devil and Arlo scoff at this and insult her right to her face, she gives Devil a hard smack from a frying pan. That was a good moment. It meant that Ava was active in the plot instead of one of the women characters who are bystanders on this show. But that’s not all that’s going on with Boyd. Turns out that his assault on Raylan was intentional so that he could get close to Dickie and play his revenge out for Dickie shooting Ava last season. Boyd’s mind is always working, which makes him such an impressive character. This is only going to invite more trouble for Dickie.
Mags’ death also means that there has to be a Big Bad for this season and the new guy in town has plans to take the local branch of the Dixie Mafia for his own. He has a roundabout way of doing it, sending a psychopathic killer named Fletcher “Icepick” Nix on a mission to first take out Delmer Coats, then Raylan. Nix’s scene with Coats sets the stage for the showdown between him and Raylan later in the episode. It’s a fascinating and original way to kill, a nifty twist on the traditional quick-draw that the show loves to do.
It’s not like Raylan himself is at full strength after getting shot last season. He’s older, weaker, and has a baby on the way with Winona. Maybe it’s time he got himself out of the game. He does, however, show himself to be much smarter and more observant than any of his other counterparts. He may have missed Nix the first time they met (in the elevator, as he’s looking to question Arnett), but he’s been paying attention while on “restricted duty.”
It all comes into play at the final showdown with Nix in Raylan and Winona’s hotel room. Can Raylan overcome his injuries and weakness to beat this guy? Maybe he uses the cross-pull draw that caused him pain? Is he aware of Nix’s nickname of “Icepick”? Did he see Nix pull the icepick at that last moment? In one swift move, he outsmarts Nix by using the tablecloth (!) to his advantage, and shoots him. We’ll have to see if Raylan’s intelligence will serve him well when he comes to blows with the new boss of the Dixie Mafia.
I thought this was a fantastic way to kick off the third season of Justified. Mags Bennett is gone, but the chessboard is stocked with new players, and the game keeps going. Last season stayed in the countryside parts of Harlan County with personal vendettas between people who knew each other for a long time. Now, it seems that the world is expanding into the more urbanized parts of Kentucky, with a higher class of organized crime for the Marshals to deal with. It’s exciting, and I’m so glad to spend more time in a world where the crime doesn’t stop at the end of the hour. It keeps going, and the criminals feel even more dangerous that way. Can Raylan stop all of them, or will he just be so overwhelmed that he’ll walk away?
Grade: 9/10