Wendy: “There’s no cause for that, Marshal. Now, you’re just putting a couple of innocents in jeopardy acting out like this.”
Another apt title this week, as the weight of various choices and wrong turns is finally starting to press in on our characters, forcing them to confront their situations. For everyone except Raylan, that is. He still can’t recognize the danger of the path he’s on, and instead of seeing the “shape of things to come” warnings all around him, he just sees divine providence.
I’m more worried than ever for Art and Alison. But mostly Art. Is this where Raylan’s habit of starting fires comes back to bite someone he cares about? Are Darryl and Kendall going to go after Alison to try to hurt Raylan? I’ve got a terrible feeling the man’s “responsibilities” that Darryl has in mind for Kendall are going to involve attempted murder, and that Art is going to be collateral damage.
Last week we had the very obvious Raylan parallel with Agent Miller, but this week we instead got several smaller beats and comments that seemed to foreshadow tragedy inadvertently caused by Raylan. There was the Wendy quote noted above. There was what happened to Chelsea. “Chelsea’s dead, asshole. She ran off last night, chasing after some animal. Got hit by a car over on Copper Road.” There was even what happened to Danny with the unseen hole in the ground. “Shit, Danny. I woulda said something. I swear to God, I didn’t see it either.” No, Raylan, you don’t. You just don’t see it. Let’s hope that’s because there’s nothing to see. For Art’s and Alison’s sakes.
For everyone else, the mess they’ve made of their respective lives is becoming quite clear, yielding a variety of reactions. Wynn is seeking outside counsel. Darryl’s lashing out and grasping for control of whatever family he has left. Ava is shutting out Boyd and trying to manage things on her own. Boyd is slowly accepting that he’s just as bad as all the criminals he surrounds himself with, and that everything he’s done may have been for nothing because Ava might be beyond his reach.
I’m having a bit of trouble processing all the Boyd and Ava stuff. First of all, I don’t see how Ava can be “saying goodbye” and breaking it off with her man, when he’s her heroin connection. I love you, I don’t want you connected to what I have to do in here, but I need you keep supplying heroin to the prison nurse. That was her original plan, right? Take out Judith and work with Rowena. Before she decided at the last minute that she wanted to broker an arrangement between Judith and Rowena. (Yet another terrible read on her situation and best course of action.) It doesn’t quite fit.
Nor does the way they all act about her overall situation. Maybe I’m forgetting or just plain misremembering something, but they all behave as though she’s in prison on trumped up charges. “I gotta woman looking at doing a long stretch for something she didn’t do.” I know she’s in the State Penitentiary because of Albert’s faked attack, but wasn’t she in county lock-up for killing Delroy? Everything Boyd’s “had to do” for her was about helping her get away with an actual murder, right? She’s a criminal, just like Boyd. The two of them really need to start owning that. At the end of last season, I was hoping that Ava getting arrested was finally going to bring her to a place of reflection and maybe redemption. But so far, it’s been all about denial and survival. Boyd, purveyor of lies, might be starting to accept reality. Maybe, on the cusp of rock bottom, Ava’s about to come around, too.
Bits:
Apparently Agent Miller wasn’t run over by the tow truck. He was just clipped and suffered a fractured pelvis. Someone probably should have mentioned that to the sound designer for ‘Wrong Roads.’ Because last week it sounded like he got crushed as Dewey drove off.
Dewey is such an inept criminal. I wonder where he’s going to end up next. I seriously doubt that “golden times for Dewey Crowe” are in the future.
The weight of working for Boyd is starting to wear on Jimmy, too. “Listen, son, I know recent times it’s been hard road. But you didn’t sign up with me ‘cause you thought it was gonna be easy.”
Lovely to see Mary Steenburgen joining this ‘verse. It should be a great deal of fun to see her in a room with Wynn, Picker, and Boyd. I can’t wait!
The scene between weasely Dickie Bennet and too-cool-for-the-room Raylan Givens didn’t really feel overly significant in the grander scheme of things, but it sure was fun. Maybe Dickie functions as another “shape of things to come” marker, in that he always thinks he’s smarter than he is and doesn’t wholly accept responsibility for his own actions. Look where it landed him. Take heed, Raylan.
Loved the dealer resolving the confrontation between Dewey and Danny. The staging and the dialogue was a lot of fun. “Little Dipshit” and “Big Dipshit.” Tee hee!
Danny’s dead! Woo hoo!!! Finally did himself in with his stupid “21-foot rule” challenge and his precious dog’s grave. Fitting. And strangely funny. Seeing those legs sticking out of the ground made me laugh out loud.
Is Judith dead? Did we see her bleed out? After last week, I’m going to go with “no” unless someone pronounces her.
Is Albert the prison guard for real? He can’t recant his statement against Ava because he loves her, but can’t have her. WTF? Is that just crazy talk or some bigger power player exerting influence on him? Because that just sounds crazy.
Quotes:
Dewey: “This conversation is just you and me.”
Boyd: “Hold on, Dewey, I’m gonna put you on speaker phone.”
Darryl (after getting clocked by Raylan): “What the hell, man?”
Raylan: “What the hell is today is ‘not gonna tolerate any of your bullshit’ day. You wanna test me?”
Katherine: “Wow, you got yourself caught between the Detroit rock and the shitkicker hard place. Trafficking in weight, like you said you never would. What happened Wynn? Did you finally just get greedy?”
Wynn (quietly): “I don’t know what happened.”
Like all the characters, Wynn has taken so many wrong turns, he can’t even really process how he ended up in his current mess of a situation.
Dickie: “How about you start, Raylan. Tell me what’s coming to me.”
Raylan: “How about ‘jack’ and ‘shit’?”
Dickie: “Then what you’re gonna do is you’re gonna take your hand, and just go ahead and cram it right up inside. You gotta make sure, Raylan, that you do in a way so that the rest of you just keeps on following your hand right up your ass, right up inside all that shit you’re so full of, Raylan. And then what you’re gonna do is you’re just gonna … [whistles and flutters his fingers] wink out of existence forever.”
Judith: “Amazing, the unconscionable things we’ll do to survive, huh?”
Boyd: “You know, I spend most of my time in the company of criminals. Now one could argue I’m guilty by association, but between me and you, I’m every bit as despicable as they are.”
Albert (re: Ava): “I could tell from the second she walked in that we had a connection. She was special. She wasn’t like those other girls. I never hurt her. I would never hurt her. That’s why I hurt myself instead. I love her, but I don’t have the power to make her mine.”
I thought it was wackadoo, but it certainly struck a chord with Boyd, no?
Wendy: “If I didn’t give a shit, I would’ve cut out a long time ago.”
Three out of four shitkicker hard places.
Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.
Always great to see Dickie, even though he's a scummy weasel. I loved his little interaction with Dewey, and then to see how he flipped on his buddy so quick. What are friends for right? Dewey should just cut his losses and go back to poaching gators or something.
ReplyDeleteFrom what Albert was saying before Boyd cut him off, it kinda sounds like he he might be a little mentally unstable. Whatever it was, he should consider himself lucky.
It was great to finally see the payoff on Danny's 21 foot rule thing. I honestly was not expecting that in the slight, and I agree that the image of his legs sticking in the air was a hilarious image.
I hope Art doesn't end up paying for Raylan's mistakes. And if he does get hurt, I hope Raylan uses it as an opportunity to straighten out, at least a little.
I'm finding this season more and more difficult. Everyone seems to be going down the wrong path and making all the wrong decisions, with horrific consequences.
ReplyDeleteRaylan, Boyd and Ava all keep making turns that puzzle me. I'm confident, however, that all these story lines are going to lead us to a place we will never expect to end up.
Just got to this one and this is a terrific review, Jess. I also found the whole Ava plot confusing, although Boyd's pain got to me. Raylan isn't touching me at all this season, and that's a shame.
ReplyDeleteHahaha I love that I was caught off-guard despite the fact they basically did the same thing to Danny as they did to Quarles. That was great, also a little disappointing since I was expecting him to have it out with Kendall somehow. And him weeping over his dog beforehand, I can't believe that actually moved me a little. That was really good.
ReplyDeleteDidn't like the rest of it... Ava cutting Boyd off, nah. And what the writers are doing with Raylan's no fun, with the whole 'own worst enemy thing' though I can kind of buy in a tragic nonsense way that having a child he's too scared to bond with has left him unmoored. I just don't care for that kind of writer-ly reflection/punishment. Even the Crowes have lost me. I just want them to wrap that up already. And you guys have me worried about Art now.. Just bring back the procedural stuff.
Watching for Boyd, he's as miserable as anyone but I'll never get sick of watching him do ANYTHING.