Following suit (ha! because he always wears them) from last week, Quarles employs someone else to do his dirty work. This time manipulating poor, stupid, clumsy, badly-dressed Devil into killing Boyd. Also, can we refer to Harlan as “Shit Kick Holler” from now on? Also, I’m going to take Tanner’s line “Devil I’m taking you to see the wizard, brother,” as a “Veronica Mars” reference. Because I can.
If there is ever a spin-off of “Justified,” can it please be The Dickie Bennett And Old Dewey Crowe Medicine Show? Who wouldn’t want to watch “an imbecile and an undernourished half-cripple” getting in and out of scrapes, Dukes of Hazzard style. The opening credits could just be one minute of Dewey Crowe thrashing around in that body bag.
LORETTA! Alive and well and stuck in babysitting hell.
According To Raylan, Noble’s Holler (as opposed to Shit Kick Holler) is a “nice” predominately black community which Limehouse apparently rules with a reign of terror, fertilizer and BBQ. Did we enjoy Raylan flirting with Deputy Marshall Rachel Brooks (the Ambassador of African America)? Sharpen your fanfic pencils: “I believe Ol’ Miss has the best looking girls in the country.” Oh Raylan, you scamp.
Raylan also scampers over to Boyd’s Bar & Grill & Headquarters for some good ol’ fashioned information gathering, Givens family backstorying and neo-Nazi baiting. I love when Boyd and Raylan work together.
Sadly, prison guard Ash learned the hard way that you don’t bring a gun to a car fight. The Lincoln wins every time.
The clever folks of Harlan vandalized the “Bennett General Store” sign to read “Benedict General Store.” That’s some fancy book learnin’ graffiti!
According to Limehouse, the Bennett fortune has gone from “way North of $3 million” to $46,313 worth of dirty bills in a cooler. And Dickie, taking a page from Boyd’s book, finds his way back into the slammer.
Just when I was reflecting on how happy it made me that Kevin Rankin was getting regular work, ol’ Devil met his maker. Boyd Crowder, always two steps ahead.
Carnage:
Harlan Goon Jr. and Harlan Goon Sr. (Cause of Death: Limehouse and Limehouse’s Henchmen.)
Devil (Cause of Death: Boyd’s Incredibly Sympathetic But Resolute Sense Of Self-Preservation.)
Deputy Marshall Rachel Brooks and Deputy Marshall Tim Gutterson Line Count
Rachel=Too many to count! Like a real supporting character!
Tim=0
Winona B*tchwatch
Not even a mention of the old ball and chain. 0 b*tch points for Winona this week.
Favorite Line:
“You get hungry, you come on up. I’m gonna hook you up with some bacon you ain’t ever gonna forget.”
The Gist: Though this episode didn’t sing the same way last week’s did, it was a damn fine hour of television. The show keeps bringing back the “lesser” characters we’ve come to know and love. Boyd and Raylan took a backseat this week to Devil, Dewey and Dickie. (With bonus Loretta!) Both Dewey and Devil have been around since the very first episode and it provides such a nice sense of continuity and a clearer sense of the Harlan universe to have them both pop up. I really do have a fondness for Kevin Rankin and will miss Devil and his sleeveless shirts. The death of Devil, however, plays into a larger “issue” the writers have with Boyd Crowder. How do you write a villain, a criminal that we can continue to root for? It’s paramount in this series that we’re on the side of both Boyd and Raylan. Their push and pull drives the whole thing. Ava Crowder does a lot to humanize Boyd and lord knows Walton Goggins is a phenomenal actor and can pull off as much nuance as anyone could ask for. But it was hard to watch Boyd kill Devil, despite having both good reason to do so and a reservoir of compassion in the execution. The character of Boyd has come a long way from the pilot where he flippantly assassinated a henchman and as he climbs higher it will be harder and harder for him to keep his hands clean. I prefer Boyd the clever schemer to Boyd the killer. That being said, the writers are doing a phenomenal job bringing all the threads together. Quarles is deep in the mix earlier than I expected and as Limehouse, Boyd, and The Dixie Mafia dance around each other getting closer and more tangled, it’ll be so much fun to see Raylan try to unravel it all.
P.S. God bless Jeremy Davies for this call back. He is a national treasure.
