When Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) unknowingly got onto an elevator car by himself with Fletcher Nix (Desmond Harrington, Dexter’s Joey Quinn) a serial murderer, there was an elephant of tension and suspense that had gotten in too. The size and weight dragged it down, and made the ride feel much longer. Still, there was enough room for both men to feel each other out, one sizing up the other with a cold stare, the other seeing what angles he needed if something went down. A third person stepped in, tipping the capacity. As Nix stepped out, so did that tension.
Raylan: Wait a minute. This isn’t your floor.
Fletcher Nix: Plans changed; See you again.
Both men were going up to see the same man, Emmitt Arnett (Steven Flynn) only Nix knew that who Raylan was because Arnett warned him right before stepped in. Raylan was off his game but managed, Nix had the upper hand. He was right though, they would see each other again, in an intense climax where Raylan, this time knowing who he was dealing with, figured out how to outsmart Nix and lay him out before it got ugly, an absolute brilliant second confrontation. These are rare moments in television–when the audience knows more than the characters. Raylan had to figure out how to diffuse the situation (with his smart wits, his quick draw, his sly mouth, or all three?) and keep Winona (and their baby) safe.
How often do we get to see that on television, much less two or three times in one episode? How often do we question characters’ motives and be actually caught off guard by their actions? Where else are we required to read between the drawls, and give credit to people and a place most people would prefer to ignore? And how often are we scared or concerned that the crooks die in a television series? After another batch of new false promises and insignificant television there’s something to be said about television that meets and exceeds one’s expectations. That’s what we’ve been missing for nearly nine months. That’s what you can expect out of Justifed, every single week. Its Season 3 premiere would be no different.
The new season picked up three weeks after Season 2’s finale. Boyd (Walton Goggins) was asked to Lexington so that Raylan could question him about Mags Bennett’s ill-gotten gains. Someone had ripped open her floorboards looking for a sizeable stash of money and whenever something’s not right in Harlan, Raylan has to see if Boyd is involved. Could it be because he’s checking to see if Boyd is staying out of trouble? Or is he doing it to see the severity of the crime? Either way, Raylan was wise to start with Boyd.
This scene played out beautifully on television, in the Marshal’s conference room–shot in a creative way. It was well lit. Yet when the camera squared up with Boyd’s face, the black blinds behind created this sinister, coal-black backdrop. The shadow of his brow cast such large shadows to mask his eyes, mouth and real intentions. Sitting directly across was Raylan, whose face was completely lit. As the camera roved back and forth, we see light and then an absence of it even when they stood up.
Raylan: There’s still a sizable amount of money missing?
Boyd: How sizeable?
Raylan: Well, over $10.
Boyd: Well now, if I found that kind of money, I’d be in Mexico right now.
Raylan: Boyd, I’ve been to Mexico. I don’t think you’d like it.
Boyd: How so?
Raylan: There’s a lot of Mexicans.
What Boyd wanted to do though was a fight and purposely lose, just to land in jail. If we ’ve come to know anything in the last two seasons, Boyd rarely does anything impulsive, spontaneous or rash. He is calculated in every move. His sacrifice was two-fold. He tested his men, Arlo Givens (Raymond Barry) and primarily Devil (Rankin) to see if he could pass orders through Ava (Joelle Carter) with her right arm in a sling and secondly, how much his woman is willing to pinch-hit.
Ava: Devil, I can imagine it is hard taking orders from a woman, only you’re not, you’re taking orders from Boyd, I’m just passing them along… The way I figure it, is you got a choice. We can play nice, you do what Boyd says and I can keep cooking my fine food. My fried chicken is to die for. The other path, You ignore Boyd, and I get ornery.
Devil: What are you going to do? spit in our food?
Ava: [Knocks Devil cold with the bottom of her iron skillet] We clear?! Do I need to make my point any more emphatically?
Arlo: You didn’t need to do that, Ava,
Ava: Of course I did, Mr. Givens, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it.
I was just happy to see Ava had survived Dickie’s gunshot, I didn’t expect such an incredible moment from her so soon. This makes Ava all the more complex, who has put all of her chips in with Boyd. Arlo felt the need to say something, with caution of course; he’s certainly seen it before with Helen. Lesser women would have ran away, would have considered their man weak if he told them to burn 120 kilos of Bennett remaining (and rotting) premium weed when they could have made thousands. She understood what her man requested because she’s smart, like Boyd. It would have drawn attention to sell it in parts and pieces. They needed a big buyer and had Devil stored it correctly (not in garbage bags) they would have been able to move it. Ava’s not afraid of using a gun; she may not be as deadly as Boyd, but she killed her husband because she was done with being abused.
Speaking of deadly players, a new one is introduced; Robert Quarles (Neal McDonough) from the Detroit Mob sets up shop and cleans up the mess that is Emmitt Arnett. We gather that he’ll be one of the boys to help replace the large stranglehold Mags had over Harlan. Wynn Duffie (Jere Burns) is entrenched in this mess too and I was surprised to see him survive the premiere. We still have Boyd, Devil and yes, Arlo and we’ve yet to meet Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson) who is up on deck. All of it is marinating for one helluva barbeque–people are going to be roasted in Season 3 but it will take time. Remember, Season 2 required establishing who and what was at stake before the explosives were detonated. Justified rewards those who are patient.
But for the meantime, we got a single-meal Manwich with the introduction and farewell to Arnett’s henchman, Fletcher Nix, a hitman with a serial nature to him, who played a game of twisted chicken with victims. A witness counted to ten and Nix made sure he was undefeated. One game. Two victims. There was never any fear that Raylan would get out of his predicament, but he was still recovering from his gun wound. He had lost his ability to shoot with confidence. As Art said, he was “off his game”. But for 40 minutes into the show, you felt as if Raylan had met a real peer in killing ability. And forcing Winona (Natalie Zea) to countdown to her baby daddy’s death was unnerving. Despite all the trouble Winona’s been in with Raylan, she too has stuck by her man.
You’d think that Nix’s game of chicken would have been enough to exhaust viewers but on a sweet (as sweet as Harland can get) ending note, Boyd get transferred to Trammel Prison where he got to make eye contact with Dewey Crowe (Damon Herriman) and more importantly Dickie Bennett (Jeremy Davies). That elephant of tension came trampling back and crammed himself into the prison cells. It appears that Boyd’s just begun on his list of things to do in jail.
We’re not shocked that Boyd will put himself through this, but that doesn’t mean we have any idea what he’ll do next. Walton Goggins’ eyes or smile can’t be read, it’s scary how good he can be. Is he crazy, having fun, masking his fear, or is he just getting started on something far down the line? He is as unpredictable as Aaron Paul is on Breaking Bad, and just like Paul, is able to stand tall and be eye-to-eye with the show’s lead as far as performances go, but I could easily say that about everyone here. Make no mistakes; Justified Season 3 is off to a sumptuous start.
A Few Scant Blades of Bluegrass
Like any good episode of Justified, there was comedy in the poetry of the script. Gutterson (Jacob Pitts) had another entertaining car ride with Raylan and then there were two scenes that just round out Art and Winona’s characters
• In this first one, Art tells Raylan to keep to his light duty… and stay off his turf. At least we get the sense that whatever damage was loss of respect there was in Season 2, it was back where we hoped it would be:
Raylan: You’re not going to let me do anything are you
Art: You can’t run and you can’t shoot, what good are you?
Raylan: I can be the guy on the radio telling people what to do
Art:That’s my job asshole.
• The second features Rayland and Winona talking about baby names and yet somehow, she shows why she gets under his skin. She realizes what he does to protect others and her, but she never passes up a chance to seize the moment to make him feel small like when he unloaded his feelings to her in Season Two and again in the premiere:
Raylan: What about Felix? Felix Givens.
Winona: Like Felix the Cat?
Raylan: Yes, like Felix the Cat, without “the Cat.” Just Felix. What do you think?
Winona: I dunno. Maybe…I think it’s sweet that you think you have a say.
Catch new episodes of Justified on FX Tuesday nights at 10pm ET/PT.
9.25 / 10
