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Justified: Blaze of Glory

"When someone's threatening the woman you care deeply for, there's no end to the lengths that you will go to keep that woman safe."

There is a certain type of man (the best kind) who always shows respect for women, and always protects and provides for the woman he cares for, no matter what. Yes, it works both ways, women protect their men, too. But it all went in pretty much one direction this time.

Leaving aside the idiocy of what Winona did, and the extremely high level of coincidence that the bank robbery immediately put her in danger of discovery, Raylan's gallantry toward her and the way he was determined to help her out of a stupid mistake was admirable, especially when you consider that he was breaking the law he swore to uphold in order to do it. Yes, you can argue until the cows come home that no one would ever know or care about that money, but it's just not something you do if you work in the justice system. It was like Art determined to catch Frank Reasoner when a part of him almost certainly wished he could just let him go. Even though Raylan covered for Winona and never hesitated, he had to be conflicted about it.

(Raylan was of course not at all conflicted about hurting Carter, the man that kicked Winona in the face.)

Raylan and Winona were again talking kids. Apparently, Winona initially decided against having kids because of Raylan's job. I know, easy for me to say, I've never dated a cop. But isn't it unfair to get involved with a man and then hold his job against him? Winona finally told Raylan that she wanted him out of his job, but I don't think Raylan would be Raylan doing anything else.

The Boyd/Ava stuff was a nice little parallel to Raylan and Winona, and I wish we'd gotten more of it. Boyd told the ATF guys some of the truth about what he did, but he was ready to alienate them completely because they were disrespecting Ava. I really liked that Art backed Boyd up the way he did. I also liked Boyd telling Raylan that they'd done pretty much the same thing and for the same woman. Two sides of the same coin, as always.

Even Frank Reasoner the bank robber was protective of his wife, and planned to leave her a ton of cash. He wouldn't have shot the guard, or kicked Winona in the face. Frankly, this episode was worth it just for the scene where Art was toddling along, dragging the oxygen tank behind him, in pursuit of a toddling elderly bank robber who could barely breathe. And I liked how Art and Frank reminisced about their paths crossing thirty years ago. It made me think of Raylan and Boyd twenty years in the future.

That was a fun plan Frank had. I'm sort of sorry he didn't get away with it.

Bits and pieces:

-- Gary did it again. A race horse? What an idiot.

-- Raylan tends to touch Winona casually on the stomach. Perhaps he really wants children.

-- Even more with the parallel, since Winona and Ava both had stolen money, and for both, it was because of a house.

-- Art acquired hearing aids.

Quotes:

ATF guy: "Ms. Crowder, do you realize that we could charge you with felony murder?"
Ava: "Felony murder? Is that like hot lava or frozen ice?"

Boyd: "If you disrespect Ava one more time, I'm gonna come across this table."

Winona: "You think all I'm doing when I'm lying in bed alone is thinking about you?"
Raylan: "Not necessarily."
Winona: "There was a good five or six minutes when I didn't think about you once."

Carter: "She didn't seem so innocent. Does she taste as good as she looks?"
Raylan: "You know where I'm from, asshole?"
Carter: "No."
Raylan: "Harlan county."
Carter: "So?"
Raylan: (hits him) "Down there, we know the difference between dynamite and road flares."

Art: "Now, Reasoner, my knees are not gonna hold up to a foot chase. If you run, I'm gonna put a bullet in that tank. You remember the end of Jaws?"

Two out of four road flares,

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

6 comments:

  1. I like your analysis, Billie. It made the episode seem much deeper than it felt while I was watching it. This one seemed rather slight to me, and I missed the Bennets.

    That said, I really loved Raylan taking down the two bank robbers. And Art going after Frank was freaking hilarious. Nothing like a really slow, geezer foot chase to make you chuckle. Great music for that scene, too.

    I'm starting to really see that, despite all their chemistry, Raylan and Winona just don't work as a couple. She might love him, but trying to get him to change to suit her idea of what their life together should be is not going to work.

    Also, I was rather put off by Winona's incredible stupidity here, but thought it created an interesting parallel with Ava. Both women are now doing or have done something legally and morally questionable due to trying financial circumstances. It's funny. Winona's offense was the lesser crime, but somehow seems far more foolish than Ava protecting Boyd and keeping that robbery money.

    Of course, you could also draw the parallel between Ava and Raylan, if you view Ava's actions as protecting someone she cares about, and not just about the money. Very, very interesting.

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  2. Frank was played wonderfully by Scott Wilson, who plays Hershel on The Walking Dead and who played Sam Braun on C.S.I.

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  3. Great review, Billie. I hadn't thought it about that way, but you are absolutely right in terms of the parallels between Boyd and Raylan. They are among my favourite bromances going on right now. I love the way they talk to each other. So, so polite, yet a lot going on beneath the surface.

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  4. I liked the music that was playing when Raylan arrived at the 2nd bank robbery at the end of the episode. It's just background stuff though, part of the OST likely and is going to be a pain to track down.

    Winona st00pid

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  5. This episode gets a lot of heat because Winona does something stupid but it's almost like people are choosing to ignore all the things leading up to Winona making a very stupid decision. Gary has flushed almost all their money and significant assets down the drain. She just learned that about his latest money ploy which will put them further in debt. And she's very unsure about her future with Raylan at this point. They are all gooey eyed and in love but the reason she is pushing Raylan for a commitment is because he's quite content with the status quo. So, she makes a stupid decision to steal money that she thinks no one will look for. And had it not been for the bank robbery, she probably would never have been caught. Raylan spends the entire episode (and the next one) covering for her, helping her, and essentially risking his entire job and possible prison time to make sure Winona is safe. Raylan does want kids as he says Winona was the one who was against it. And why shouldn't she be? Raylan is reckless and incapable of prioritizing anyone or anything over his job. He needs Winona to push him, to confront him, on his own selfishness if he wants to start a FAMILY together.

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