Justified: Riverbrook

"Did you miss my heart on purpose?"

Not as strong as the pilot, but it was definitely quirky and fun to watch.

No hardened evil here, except for vicious "cousin" Dupree. Cooper broke out of jail because he wanted his stolen money, although he ended up wanting his ex-wife Shirley a lot more. Shirley wanted the money and Dupree, although by the end she realized that Cooper was a lot more important to her. And Dupree? Well, he did want the money and was willing to do terrible things to get it, and he reaped the whirlwind, or whatever. The takedown (by sharpshooter Tim this time, not Raylan) was awesome.

(I also thought it was fun that the couple that found the money in the floorboards had spent it all, and yet, it hadn't made them happy, either. As if we didn't get the "money can't buy happiness" point the first time.)

Again, it was the character moments that stood out, and not just Cooper and Shirley slowly realizing that how much they still cared about each other. Tim's description of his experiences as a Ranger sniper in Afghanistan was really interesting, particularly the bit about making up stories about their targets.

And Raylan was great fun. I liked the way he told Cooper a joke as Cooper was making him handcuff himself; it was a smart way of making himself human to a criminal who might kill him. Raylan managed to resist when Ava Crowder threw herself at him, too, although I doubt he has the will to resist her forever. (I was surprised when he actually did sleep on the floor.)

And it's hilarious that Raylan scared the crap out of Winona's new husband, Gary. It sure made Gary look like a total wimp, didn't it? Winona, tell me how you go from a man like Raylan to a man like Gary? Okay, maybe having a lawman for a husband and constantly worrying about him got old, but still.

Even though the takedown scene with the light switch was terrific, the strongest scene was the opener with Boyd. He refused pain medication until he could talk to Raylan, and said that he saw Raylan shooting him as an act of God, intended to set him on a new course. Was he being truthful, or trying to manipulate Raylan? Impossible to tell. Either way, Boyd is just fascinating. And Raylan's motivation for visiting Boyd was also unclear. Yes, Raylan was there because he had to pick up Boyd's idiotic minion Dewey, but I think he really does care a little about Boyd and truly wanted to see how he was doing.

Bits and pieces:

-- Shirley was played by Kristin Bauer, who plays Pam the vampire on True Blood. Love her.

-- Cooper was part of a bluegrass convict band called "Big House Boys" that wore costumes of old-time prison stripes. "Free Bird!"

-- There were Morley cigarettes at the convenience store. The X-Files lives.

-- Cooper asked if Raylan was a marshal like in Gunsmoke. Raylan replied, "More like The Fugitive." Yes, I think he does have something of a Tommy Lee Jones vibe.

-- Raylan's father's name is Arlo. We haven't met him yet.

-- Love Raylan's ratty motel room. It reminded me of all of the ratty motel rooms on Supernatural.

-- It was nice of Cooper to leave Raylan's hat in the car trunk, wasn't it?

Quotes:

Dewey: "Disney's got a lotta negroes and homosexuals working there, so I came back home."
Raylan: "If you're gonna talk, I'm gonna put you in the trunk and drive myself."
That entire scene was a lot of fun. Raylan very nearly lost him. Maybe he should have put him in the trunk.

Raylan: "How can you tell there's a bad drummer at your door?"
Cooper: "I dunno. How?"
Raylan: "Knock speeds up."

Art: (re: Raylan shooting two people in ten days) "If you was in the first grade, and you bit someone every week, they'd start to think of you as a biter."

Tim: "I gotta think, no matter how long you've been divorced, seeing your old lady shack up with someone else is gonna annoy the shit out of you."
He was talking about Cooper and Shirley, but he meant Raylan and Winona. Very funny.

Ava: "Can you just put on a little music and dance?"
Raylan: "Do you know why the Pentacostals don't have sex standing up? It could lead to dancing."

Rachel: "Gotta ask. Why the hat?"
Raylan: "Honestly? I tried it on one time, and it fit."

Three out of four bad drummers,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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