It goes without saying that Justified has predictably great opening scenes, but goddamn, how great was that opener? Boyd and Raylan are never better than when they’re flirting at being on the same side; Boyd has his own code of honor and (more importantly) pragmatism, and Raylan has more than a bit of outlaw in him. Boyd’s suggestion of Zachariah as a possible accomplice sets off a manhunt that will take up most of “Fugitive Number One,” which is probably Justified‘s best episode since season five’s “The Weight.”
This has always been a show that can thrill you with sheer competence, and while the majority of its characters have been outlaws and bandits, they never feel expendable or one-dimensional. To wit: Mikey’s betrayal of Wynn, to me, stung way harder than Ava’s betrayal of Boyd, which wasn’t only telegraphed all season, it was basically the backbone of the whole season. But in Mikey’s eyes, Wynn betrayed something about who he is as a person, and more importantly, who he presented himself as to Mikey. Mikey spent the last however many years working for a rat, and the thought drives him to rash decision-making. When Katherine shows up to kill Wynn, she talks about her own code, which promptly gives Mikey a crisis of conscience. “You don’t have to kill him,” he reasons. “Put out the word that he’s a rat, let him fend for himself.” Katherine isn’t having this, and even though she shoots Mikey several times, he still manages to beat her to death. That’s not a pretty phrase, but it’s not a pretty death. Kudos to Mikey for dying on his own terms, redeeming himself and possibly Wynn in the process. And kudos to Justified for not skimping on the brutality, and having a knockdown-dragout fight between a man and a woman. Progress!
Speaking of split loyalties, this was Carl’s chance to betray Boyd (and meet a similar fate as past betrayers). Markham and Boon give him a choice: go find the ten million dollars and kill Boyd, or your brother Earl gets it. Carl dutifully goes to the hospital, but he really underestimates how much Boyd hates having a gun pointed at him. The second Boyd is free, he dresses up like a deputy and shoots Carl in the chest. Boyd Crowder is the most unflappable motherfucker on TV right now.
DA Vasquez is pissed, and understandably so. He thinks that Raylan and Ava set everything up so they could ride off into the sunset with ten million dollars. We know the truth, but it’s easy to see where he’s coming from. The last time Raylan was involved with Ava he screwed up a case, and Vasquez is consistently the best character to point out “Hey, Raylan Givens is kind of a shitty Marshal.” (Sidenote: I remember in season one, maybe two, when Winona accidentally took a hundred dollar bill, and she and Raylan took the entire episode to return it. Now Ava has ten million dollars. This show has evolved nicely.)
The manhunt continues as “Fugitive Number One” draws to a close. Ava and Zachariah come across the desiccated remains of an old moonshiner named Grooves, who was supposed to take them through the mountain. Earl told Raylan about Grooves too, so he can’t be far behind. This episode had such an air of finality to it – three deaths, all of them major-ish characters – that I found myself wondering how Justified could keep up the momentum for two more episodes. I was a fool to worry.
A Few Thoughts
- I know I described Boon as looking like “Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing a retarded cowboy in an SNL skit,” but he’s becoming genuinely menacing. Jonathan Tucker is a good pinch-hitter for shows like this (he had a similarly effective arc on Hannibal last season)
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This is the second episode in a row where someone is lying in wait for Katherine in her hotel. That’s a weird well for Justified to keep going back to
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