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Justified: The Trash and the Snake

Raylan: "Spins this thing a whole other way."
Art: "Sheds a new light on an ever spreading circle of greed and evil and murder and mayhem."

Now we know the game plan. Avery Markham is buying up land because he has inside information that Kentucky is going to legalize weed. Fitting, considering how the Bennetts and their pot business have been a thread winding throughout the entire series.

To quote the exceptionally quotable Raylan Givens, "Your mama asks you to take out the trash, you do as she says. But you see a copperhead on the way out, you don't go back inside and say you didn't do nothing 'cause all she asked was to take out the trash. You take out the trash and the snake." Art was absolutely right that there's always another snake and we all know Raylan should drop this whole thing and transfer to Florida already, but we also know that Raylan is just not the sort of lawman who can ignore the badder bad guy in a situation like this.

The question is, while Boyd is obviously the metaphorical trash, who is the snake here? Avery Markham or Katherine Hale? Considering the fact that the best bad guy this show ever had was a woman, I think the real snake is going to be Katherine. I kept thinking she would turn on Ava at any moment during their bizarre luncheon adventure turned jewel robbery, but she was probably just trying to get Ava to show her cards, panic and run. Pretty cool stuff from Mary Steenburgen, who discussed cheerleading, domestic abuse and the pleasure of murder while she clued in Ava about the world according to Katherine. She is such a black widow stereotype, sleeping with Markham and saying he's the best lover she's ever had, while she's planning the ultimate revenge upon him.

Ava's fear and desperation were practically palpable, and (again) I am not happy with how Raylan is using Ava. The conversation in the stairwell floated around the fact that while Raylan didn't ask Ava to sleep with Boyd, it was pretty much expected. Ava made a couple of attempts to remind Raylan that the two of them, Raylan and Ava, had once been a couple, but I couldn't tell if that made any difference to him. When Boyd told Ava he was appropriating Markham's money as well as his business plan and they were staying in Harlan, she almost couldn't hold back her tears.

Now that it's all about the pot business, how about the welcome return of Dickie Bennett and Loretta McCready? It wouldn't be the last season of Justified without Dickie Bennett, and I thought it was wonderful revenge that Loretta bought Dickie out without him realizing it. The tense sit-down at Loretta's place with Markham was terrific, too. Markham upped his ante as a bad guy by knowing exactly what the score was with the Bennetts, the McCreadys, and the apple pie. Adding Loretta to the equation raises the stakes for Raylan as well as the audience, because we all know she won't be careful and play it safe.

It's hard to imagine bad guys as bad as Boyd and Wynn Duffy as comic relief, but the bit with Wiz, his snake-loving girlfriend Bridget, and the Excelsior safe was very funny. Yes, let's experiment with C-11 (is there such a thing?) and try to blow up a bank vault. Nothing could go wrong with that. Boyd and Wynn standing there covered with blood with identical expressions on their faces made me laugh out loud. Too bad Wiz won't be back.

Bits and pieces:

-- It's smart of Raylan to keep going to Art and asking for his opinion. Maybe Raylan is finally getting wiser with age.

-- Raylan called Markham 'the big bad wolf.' During the stairwell scene, Ava was wearing a shirt with a wolf on it. I also liked how Ava described Markham as smelling of sulphur.

-- Calhoun very carefully pointed Raylan at the unfortunate Betty and John-O Hutchins without actually saying much of anything about them as Markham's victims. Clever of him. Maybe Calhoun will live through this.

-- Dickie Bennett's hair style has drastically improved.

-- Wynn grew up in Maui. Maybe that explains the tanning bed.

Quotes:

Ava: "What's it like, holding someone's fate in your hands?"

Calhoun: "Murphy's Law. Simplest explanation is usually correct."
Tim: "You mean Occam's Razor."
Calhoun: "Occam's Razor, Thor's hammer, who gives a shit?"

Wynn: "… hence mercenaries guarding a pizza place full of dough. See what I did there?"
Boyd: "A man's wit is never lost on me, Wynn Duffy."

Wiz: "If they catch you with it, they're taking you to Guantanamo Bay and hooking your nuts up to a car battery. Where's my manners? Would you guys like a Negroni?"
Boyd: "I don't know what that is."
Wynn: "It's Italian. Tastes like grapefruit."
Boyd: "I don't want one."

Raylan: "Whatcha wanna bet that she and Mr. Hutchins didn't die peacefully in their sleep?"
Tim: "Oh, but it's such a nice thought. That's how I want to go. I'm kidding. I want Sigourney Weaver to choke me out with her thighs."

Dickie: "Isn't it just like him to find hurtful potty mouth humor in sexual assault?"
Raylan: "Maybe I should apologize. Maybe I should tease you about the wheelchair. I get conflicting impulses when I see you."

Loretta: "I got this from a dear friend. She called it 'apple pie'."
Walker: "Not too sweet, I hope."

Again, so far so good. Three out of four Negronis,

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

1 comment:

  1. Definitely another good one. Katherine and Markham are really terrifying. Any time Markham looked askance at Tim being a smart ass, I was instantly very afraid for Tim. Please don't let Tim fall victim to the final season raising-of-the-stakes! Just let him go out somewhere down the line --- long after the series has ended --- wrapped in Sigourney Weaver's "loving embrace." :)

    It was really delightful to get both Loretta and Dickie this week, plus the great callbacks to the "apple pie." I'm loving the nostalgia parade as things wind to a close. And, like you, I also really loved Ava's line about Markham smelling like sulfur. Quite apt.

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