And so we bid farewell to Justified‘s fifth season, which mostly straddled the line between good and great. “Restitution” is an episode that illustrates how Justified is one of those shows that can always be rescued by its ensemble, which is what makes the set up for season six so exciting.
“Restitution” was all about tying up loose ends. In many ways, it felt rushed, like it sprinted towards the finish line and decided to mosey once it got to the halfway point.
The first loose end would be the Crowes, which Justified seemed to stop caring about a few episodes ago, up until Raylan’s hail Mary play of getting Kendal tried as an adult. Raylan and Wendy both know that Kendal wasn’t the shooter, but they need to prove it. Raylan suggests a wire, Wendy says no way, then cut to Wendy recording Daryl’s confession. That final scene between Wendy and Daryl should end up on Alicia Witt’s highlight reel; it’s the best she’s been all season. Michael Rapaport has had his moments of brilliance as Daryl Crowe, but he was never going to be a villain like Mags Bennett or even Robert Quarles. The Crowes were more or less an afterthought, and dispatched of relatively quickly. Danny was killed, Dewey arrested, and Daryl shot by his sister. It’s not a pretty sight, him bleeding out on the floor while Raylan taunts him (“I told you that you’d wish I’d killed you. Don’t you?”). But Daryl died as he lived: for his family.
Oh, and look, Ava’s out of prison! This came up so abruptly that I almost laughed. In one scene, Ava is being advised to get ready to fight every day until she’s released; the next time we see her, she’s getting released. At first I thought this was a lame-ass deus ex machina, and I continued thinking that way until the end of the episode.
See, here’s what’s going to happen in Justified‘s sixth and final season: the Raylan-Bowd showdown we’ve been waiting for since Raylan put a bullet in Boyd’s belly all the way back in the pilot episode. The US Marshals have decided to declare war on Boyd Crowder, and they need Raylan’s help before he transfers back to Florida.
And as for Boyd, he escapes the clutches of the cartel by more or less using Tim and Rachel as his weapons. Yet another subplot quickly resolved, but as is pointed out by Catherine Hale, Boyd sucks at running heroin. He goes to give the last of the dope to Wynn Duffy, who, along with Catherine, present him with an enticing offer that sounds an awful lot like robbing banks.
So there’s the setup for next season: in this corner, Raylan Givens and the US Marshals; in this corner, Boyd Crowder, bank robber and outlaw gentleman. “Restitution” was slow, and spent a lot of time wrapping up subplots I found myself not really caring about, but if all we get from it is the promise of what promises to be a breathless, thrilling swan song, that’s good enough for me.
Season Grade: 4/5
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