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Justified: Truth and Consequences

"How say you, flock?"

Snake in the face! Snake in the face!

Was there a theme in this episode, other than unexpected snakebites and snake metaphors?

Boyd sent his two henchmen into a literal nest of snakes, because apparently, he isn't thinking too clearly; it was so utterly obvious even to me that Cassie would have set a trap for him, and I'm a librarian, not a criminal mastermind. Did Boyd take revenge for the sake of what's-his-face's face? No, I think it was a calculated move to show up Billy in front of his flock and drive a wedge between Billy and Cassie. I honestly don't think Boyd believed that Billy would take the dare and pick up that snake; he tried to talk Billy out of it. Billy was just hoisted with his sister's petard, you could say. Will he live? Hey, at least he wasn't bitten in the face.

Boyd and Raylan haven't had a scene together yet and this was episode three, but Raylan, like Boyd, is also facing bizarre challenges in his work. Raylan's boss and workmates aren't being tactful about their current negative opinion of him, and yet, Raylan did some pretty cool stuff in this episode. He faced down Lindsey's scary ex-husband and agreed to a showdown -- and even showed up. And he figured out what was up with FBI guy Barnes and saved psychic Eve Monroe from an unpleasant death.

But Raylan also didn't read Randall correctly, and now Lindsey is gone. Did she and Randall re-hook up to steal all of Raylan's hard-earned moonlighting baby money, or was she forced to go with Randall against her will? Raylan also stepped into a not literal nest of rattlesnakes with the Drew Thompson case, since the guy apparently faked his own death in order to deceive the very scary Theo Tonin. Does that mean we're going to get Adam Arkin this season? Maybe Michael Ironside as Sarno, too, pretty please with sugar on it?

Eve Monroe the psychic widow is a great character; could we have more of her? She actually had the presence of mind to send her captors to where she knew Raylan would be, which was clever as well as probably her only chance of living through that situation with the very scary Tonin assassin. How could she even think that clearly?

Maybe another theme (along with SNAKES! in the FACE!) was partners in crime with one partner a bit less willing than the other. Eve Monroe knew her husband Drew Thompson was alive, but tried her best to stay out of it... and didn't succeed. Lindsey revealed her past life of crime with Randall to Raylan, as well as the fact that she'd pretty much left it behind... but that didn't work out, either. Preacher Billy was definitely not happy to learn that Cassie had been giving him safe, fraudulent snakes to wrassle during his sermons. Her bad.

Because there wasn't enough duplicity in this episode, the duplicitous snake Johnny went behind Boyd's back to Wynn Duffy. I don't see that working out either, although I did wonder if maybe Boyd got Johnny to do it for Boyd-like reasons of his own? No, Johnny was being secretly duplicitous last season, too. And Wynn and Johnny had an entire conversation in which Johnny's back was turned, so that the director could be sure we picked up on the fact that Johnny was literally a turncoat. I love stuff like this.

In other news, Rachel the perfect deputy marshal got herself a written reprimand because she was acting like Raylan. Is Rachel being reckless because her marriage didn't work out and she's angry and unhappy? Maybe Raylan is a bad influence on her. It wasn't very nice of Art to do that in front of Raylan. Is this a signal that something bad is going to happen to Rachel this season?

Bits and pieces and fangs:

-- Randall is a smart guy. He isn't the stereotypical braggart and/or fool that characters like this usually are. I actually thought for a minute that he'd decided taking Raylan on was a bad idea. It'll happen anyway, because I doubt Raylan will just let all this go.

-- Boyd intimated that Billy and Cassie had a sexual relationship. Was he being perceptive, or was he just trying to get a rise out of Cassie? Maybe Billy and Cassie are just pretending to be siblings.

-- When Raylan met Eve Monroe and she was talking about psychics and psychometry, he mentioned The Dead Zone movie with Martin Sheen and Christopher Walken.

Quotes:

Lindsey: "Since when do you sleep in your clothes?"
Raylan: "Couldn't figure out a way to keep a gun in my undershorts."
Lindsey: "Since when do you sleep with a gun?"
Raylan: "Since I found out the woman I been seeing has a husband I couldn't knock down with a hammer."

Ava (looking at the guy with half a snake attached to his cheek): "What the hell happened?"
Colton: (drily) "I think a snake bit him."

Rachel: "How many times has Wyatt Earp here put himself in positions like that and worse, and how many reprimands have you written him?"
Art: "Well, he's a lost cause. I still have some hope for you."
Did Art really have to say that in front of Raylan? Maybe it's Art's version of shock therapy.

Art: "What's your opinion?"
Raylan: "On your stiffy? I don't have one."
And still with the marshal stiffy.

Raylan: "She's a psychic."
Tim: "Certified spiritualist."
Raylan: "Certified by who?"

Eve: "You're doing something later today, something you shouldn't. But you're gonna do it anyway."
Tim: "He does something stupid every day. Could you be a little more specific?"
It may be true, but et tu, Tim?

Raylan: "Psychoplasm."
Tim: "Psychometry."

Raylan: "Is this where I'm supposed to ask if you want to talk about it? (Rachel shakes her head no) Thank God."

I have to say, this was some episode. How many shows do you watch that give you a guy with half a rattlesnake attached to his face?

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

8 comments:

  1. I loved the Eve character and I loved Raylan’s reaction to her knowledge. She would be a fun addition for a while.

    Agree that Raylan is taking a lot of stick at work, but he kind of deserves it. Even so, in this episode all three of his work mates had his back at some point. They may think he’s off the reservation, but they stick by him.

    I really enjoyed the conversation Raylan had with Randall about coming from Florida. That pilot episode seems like a long time ago now.

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  2. I think Art and Tim were just taking the mickey out of Raylan. Haven't they been doing that more or less since day one? Though he is a bit of a lost cause. I really can't see a promotion in his future, can you? Anyway, he already hates being stuck behind a desk. We wouldn't want him to get marshal blue balls, now would we?

    Speaking of inter-martial relations and genitalia (metaphorical or otherwise), does anyone else get the sense that they may be setting Raylan and Rachel up for, if not a relationship, at least a tryst? Personally, I've kind of wanted to see it happen ever since she tried on his hat, but that's probably just the pathological shipper in me.

    Anyway. Loved the episode. 3 1/2 out of four rattlesnakes. (Get it?)

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  3. Bugrit. Stupid homophones. Marshal =/= martial. And I even used the correct one in the previous sentence. That's what I get for being verbose.

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  4. JK, three and a half out of four rattlesnakes? LOL. Perfect.

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  5. I agree with Chris that Raylan is sort of reaping what he sows when it comes to how his coworkers regard him. He's got to be a huge pain in the rear to work with, especially for Art. And I think we've seen him put Rachel and Tim in difficult positions on numerous occasions.

    That said, I think Art brought him into the office for Rachel's reprimand because he's hoping that Raylan will try to do the decent thing and keep her from going down his same, troubled path. Art may think Raylan's a lost cause from a marshal perspective, but he doesn't believe he's completely lost.

    I don't think Boyd fully realized that Billy was a true believer until their confrontation in the tent. He went there expecting to call a con man's bluff. When he realized that he had just shattered Billy's faith the same way Bo had shattered his, I think he felt rather bad about it. He clearly remembered what that moment felt like (great work from Walton Goggins). I'm looking forward to seeing where things go next. Although I could do without any more snakes in the face! :)

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  6. I'm not all that convinced about how bad he felt about shattering poor Billy's faith. I kind of hated him for doing it, but he's not wrong about calling it self-glorification. Billy seemed like a sweet guy though.

    While I'm not a shipper, I too definitely felt... something there, for a moment, in that scene with Rachel and Raylan at the bar. It surprised me. But I think it's just me reading too much into lulls in conversation in scripted TV.

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  7. Ughh Lindsay is such an annoying character. And her stealing Raylan's money that is meant for his child really made me hate her more. She's a poorly developed character, bad acting, and is such a downgrade from the women Raylan is normally attracted to. I get that he's having a tough time dealing with losing Winona again but I wish he wouldn't jump into bed with such a weirdo.

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