When you think about it, its been
a shitty couple months for Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant)
leading up to season 3 of Justified. He
gets shipped out of Miami back to his home state of Kentucky as punishment for
gunning down a triggerman, has to contend with his old friend Boyd Crowder
(Walton Goggins), his ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea), and numerous illicit family
ties. And where does that all end
up? Well, a confrontation with Boyd’s
father Bo (who ends up dead), another with a crime boss from Miami (that is at
least a stalemate), Winona shacking up with him and getting pregnant (not to
mention getting in trouble with his boss Art for protecting her in an illegal
act), not to mention a feud between his family and the criminal Bennett clan
that ended with many Bennetts dead and one of the few family members Raylan
actually respected dead. And ALL of that
comes before him being shot accidentally in the gut.
And the recovery from that
shooting is where we come back to the world of Justified’s Harlan County, where
its been three weeks since, and Raylan’s still not quite himself. He can’t shoot like he used to, he’s spending
his time at the marshal’s office doing office work, and he spends his time
debating moving out of his hotel room into a house for him and Winona’s
soon-to-be family. And considering how
tumultuous the last two seasons have been, I’m sure there’s a part of him that
enjoys the fact he’s not having to be involved in shootouts. Of course, that respite gets crushed by the
events that occur through this episode.
The main thrust of the episode is
Dixie Mafia man Emmitt Arnett’s plan to get out of a land deal gone bad by
paying his bosses off, namely by having his henchman Flecther Nix robbing and
killing clients on the low. This leaves
Arnett with two problems, among them his partner Wynn Duffy (another supporting
player in the Justified universe) and the representative of his bosses, a
Detroit fixer named Robert Quarles (whose name isn’t even uttered in the
episode, but is in the press notes, so its mentioned here if just to be less
confusing), played by Neal McDonough.
Wynn isn’t happy Nix is in play like this (also because he’s a federal
fugitive, which would get the Marshals attention, and also because, well, Nix
is a grade-a sociopath), and Quarles seems to want Arnett to pay up, although
we discover that’s not the real reason for being in Harlan. If Mags Bennett and her kin were the big
antagonists of last season, this season seems to be about a multitude of
adversaries grasping for power in the vacuum of the Bennetts’ downfall.
Among the other adversaries in
play, there’s Boyd Crowder, whose building up a criminal empire from the
Bennetts’ remnants. That appears to take
a slight detour when talking to Raylan early on about getting Dickie Bennett (Jeremy
Davies) out of custody to deal with him (Dickie did injure his current sleeping
buddy Ava), and Raylan flat out says no (“You want me to hand a man over to
kill him like a pig I borrowed from you?”).
This scuffle ends with Boyd and Raylan fighting in the Marshal’s office,
and Boyd getting shipped off to prison, which we discover is part of his plan,
because among his cellmates is Dickie.
Where this will go is anyone’s guess, but revenge for Ava doesn’t seem
like the big reason for this self-incarceration yet.
While Boyd is in prison, Ava
(still recovering from her injuries) is his voice outside, and considering she
has to corral Raylan’s crotchety father Arlo and ill-tempered right man Devil,
that’s a lot of work. The stripping of
the Bennetts’ weed factories have gone bad, and probably with no help of Devil
feeling like he was the swinging dick of the Crowder organization, and not Ava,
who has been told by Boyd to destroy the remaining weed since the failed sale. Ava is a matriarchal person in a patriarchal
criminal society, although after Ava knocks Devil out with a frying pan to the
face for disobeying her (and by proxy, Boyd’s order), that balance of power
seems to be shifting in an interesting place for her this season.
The Arnett storyline takes a
surprising turn when due to Quarles’ manipulation, the Marshals learn about a
meeting with Arnett and Nix, which turns out to be a wild goose chase. Of course, this is all to put Arnett out of
play (and subsequently killed by Quarles), get Quarles set up in Harlan as a
big player in this season’s events, and sends Nix out to deal with Raylan. Of course, following the theme of Raylan
being off his groove, did not see the file fellow marshal Tim (Jacob Pitts)
about Nix, which is probably why he didn’t notice Nix in an elevator ride
earlier in the episode, but is aware of him when Nix shows up in Raylan’s
room. The main catch of Nix is to play a
game to reach for a gun in the middle of a table to eve the odds, even though
Nix fixes those odds in his favor (his nickname is “Icepick” for a reason). The first time we see it in the robbery, it’s
a pretty shocking scene, but going into the scene, there’s still the tension of
an off Raylan facing a man like this, while Winona is forced to watch. How Raylan escapes getting killed by Nix is
rather simple, yet surprisingly slick since it doesn’t require him being fast
enough to pick up a gun. I almost think
the episode should have been entitled “How Raylan Got His Groove Back”.
If anything about this season
opener seems off, its that there’s a lot of elements at play that aren’t
clashing with each other yet, unlike the last season’s opening salvo. It’s like a game of connect the dots but
there’s no clear path how one will affect the other. You have Raylan in a period of transition,
Boyd building up control of crime in Harlan, and forces outside looking to take
control, and really, “The Gunfighter” is a lot of setup within the Arnett plot
of the episode. But it’s a promising
setup, and considering all of the things in play (and by next week’s teaser,
yet to be revealed players), it’s a good start for a season of Justified.
--Nix is played by Quinn (Desmond
Harrington) from Dexter, and is one creepy dude here. He even kills the pizza delivery guy. Rough.
--A good amount of Boomtown (one
of EP Graham Yost’s previous shows, and worth tracking down on DVD, IMHO)
regulars are popping up this season, like McDonough and (slight spoiler)
Mykelti WIlliamson as another player in the criminal world of Kentucky. Justified has been a great home for some great
character actors over the last two seasons, and this season looks no different.
--Considering the tension between
Art and Raylan late last season, its kind of nice to see both men are still
able to talk comfortably with each other.
--I will suggest the name “Felix
Givens” isn’t the best name choice for Raylan and Winona’s child.
--The nitwitted Dewey Crowe is
also in the prison with Dickie and Boyd.
This can’t be good.
--RIP Arnett. He popped up enough in the show to make his
death seem worth mentioning.
--“I assume you know why I’m not
gonna pay for that pizza.”
--“Boyd, I’ve been to Mexico, and
I don’t think you’d like it.”
--“Of course I had to do
that. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done
it.”
--“Do you know who I am now?”
--“Sorry about your tablecloth.”
--“Nice hat.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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