Contributor: Henry T.
Story by Elmore Leonard and Jon Worley
Teleplay by Jon Worley and Benjamin Cavell
Directed by Adam Arkin
The writers of “Justified’ are a sadistic bunch. The whole story that Lance tells Dewey about the kidneys he’s looking to harvest is a complete lie, yet Lance sells the story completely and Dewey is stupid enough to fall for it. His petty robbery “adventure” through Harlan is the ultimate in black comedy, and it actually has a really good payoff at the end that involves Raylan. That subplot is separate from the serial storyline that has Boyd finally meeting the man from Detroit face-to-face, and boldly holding his ground while neither man reveals his long-term plans. Now that all sides has met each other, the fun with this show is going to begin.
By the end of this episode, I almost felt sorry for Dewey Crowe. That’s hard to do with a man who is basically a thug with a giant swastika white supremacy tattoo across his chest, but again, this is why he’s just a pawn on the chessboard. It’s quite funny to see Dewey try as hard as he can to get some petty cash by robbing whatever place of business is in his path. Robbing the strip club and home appliance store had me in stitches because while they would make logical sense initially, the setbacks (credit cards in the store; lack of customers early in the morning at the strip club) cap off the comedy.
That Raylan the Marshal service trail just minutes behind him adds to the ridiculousness of the whole subplot. When Raylan finds Lance at the end — and realizes he was duped by the pretty nurse who probably masterminded the whole thing — he stumbles into yet another risky life-and-death situation. Raylan is moments from death, groggy from a sedative, yet aware enough to grab his gun with a dead Lance on top of him, and firing a shot through Lance to kill the nurse. In the post-mortem, no one, even Raylan himself, can quite believe he was that lucky with the shot. How many lives does this US Marshal have? That must be the primary thought going through his head, which, along with that Dear John letter from Winona at the end, might hasten his departure from Harlan County. It might be the smart move if the various villains in Harlan start battling each other over turf and money.
Mags’ fortune takes a backseat, although Limehouse’s conversation with one of his minions suggests he may have increased the amount of money way beyond the original three million dollar amount. It feels like Limehouse is standing in the background, waiting for the man from Detroit (who finally gets the name of Quarles in this episode) and Boyd to slug it out before taking on the winner. Boyd and Quarles finally meet, and each man realizes what the other is up against. Quarles has been underestimating Boyd’s intelligence, his face and air of confident arrogance instantly dropping once Boyd tells him about the “carpetbagger” term.
Boyd isn’t the country bumpkin he sounds when he speaks. From that riveting final conversation between them, though, it appears that Boyd fears Quarles just a bit. He knows that his organization is weak, what with the recent death of Devil depleting his ranks of muscle. Boyd better get strong quickly because something tells me Quarles makes moves with a purpose and isn’t likely to wait around for the other side to fire the first shot.
The parameters of the battle are set. Everyone has met each other in some manner. It’s time to see the big boys get into the game. I think Quarles is the lynchpin. He doesn’t betray a scent of weakness when Raylan first encountered him, and his meeting with Boyd here feels like he’s sizing up the competition. His ruthlessness makes him dangerous, though he’s not from Harlan and he might have a tendency to look down on his various enemies.
That could be the mistake that ultimately leads to his undoing. Boyd and Limehouse are dangerous in their own different ways. The question is whether or not Raylan will be fully committed to stopping all of this with his own personal issues getting in the way. If Winona has truly left him on his own, it could not have come at the worst possible time. All kinds of danger lurk right around the corner.
Grade: 9/10
