Justified: "Full Commitment"

Season 2, Episode 11

An episode that’s mostly setup fails to step up in the standalone plot

I’m beginning to think that the show runners think of Gary as a more interesting character than he actually is. Though I could see how Gary – or at least someone like him – could be interesting, the character as is –as he’s written and as he’s played – is just such a sad sack that it’s a bit difficult to take him seriously, either as a threat or as a legitimate plot device. Given how much contempt that he receives from both Raylan and Winona – albeit for different reasons – and how little they respect him, it’s hard for me to believe that he is able to do the things that he has done. Not only does he seem like a fairly easy-going guy most of them time, which makes his various forays into criminal activity seem like a total break in characterization, but Gary never seems like a man to deliver results, even when he’s hiring others to do the dirty work for him. He doesn’t have the brains – or the constitution – for all of this, so why does the show keep putting him in these situations and giving us the same result? Or think that we would expect any different?

And I think that’s what made much of tonight’s episode frustrating for me. Of course, it was fairly obvious from the beginning – thanks in a large part to the spoiler-y nature of the “previously on” segment – that Gary was behind last week’s assassination attempt on Raylan. (And if he cares so much about Winona, wouldn’t he ask that the assassins only go after Raylan when he’s alone?) But I can’t for the life of me figure out why the show decided that here was a good place for this story. Here we are, deep in the bends of the Givens-Bennett-Crowder feud/crime triangle, and the show decided to bring back Wyn Duffy, a character who is interesting, certainly, but had little impact last season and was given even less to do here.

In truth, I wasn’t too concerned with who was trying to kill Raylan last episode – I just assumed, much like he did, that it was an actual criminal he has pissed-off – and I see no reason why it couldn’t have been one of them that ordered the hit. I think that would have made more sense from a thematic point of view; Raylan might get himself in a lot of shit, but Gary was an asshole who deserved what he got, and Winona is just as guilty for hurting Gary’s feelings, even if he doesn’t see it that way. If the show wants to show how dangerous it is to be involved with someone like Raylan, the message would have come across clearer if it was an actual criminal who put Winona in harm’s way.

Yet we can contrast Gary with Dickie, another sad sack who somehow manages to be interesting in all of the ways that Gary is not. Most importantly, Dickie is both evil and insane enough that we can never be sure what he might end up doing, and he remains a constant danger. Though he is likewise dismissed and despised by those around him, and perhaps equally dimwitted, he proves that he can actually bite back if pushed hard enough. And as the closing scene let us know, Dickie can indeed move the plot forward in a big way. (As has been previously established, if you fuck with Aunt Helen, you better be prepared for the shit storm that Raylan will reign down on you.)

The rest of the episode was essentially setup for the weeks to come, and though it holds my interest for what will be, it certainly was my preferred way to spend the hour. I still can’t totally buy that Ava and Boyd are now together – not only does this fly in the face of all of the contempt she had for him in the first season, but her turn to crime, or at least her acceptance of it, seems a bit out of character. And while Boyd stirring things in Harlan’s underground community is intriguing (no one else seems capable of causing the levels of trouble that he does), I’m not sure how I feel about Arlo’s involvement. Though I like Arlo as a character, and I like what he brings out in Raylan, his return to the criminal world, and any possibility of a showdown with Raylan at season’s end, seems just a bit too similar to what we saw last year.

Yet there were a few character moments that kept this hour from being a complete loss. Most of the Raylan/Tim scenes were hilarious, thanks mostly in part to the deadpan delivery by Jacob Pitts. And Margo Martindale continues to steal any scene she’s in, even this week when she’s playing a broken-spirited version of Mags. There was something about her mood – anger quashed down by giant helping of sorrow and regret – that managed to induce both pity and fear. In an episode that precedes climax/resolution, it’s good to know where everyone stands.

Next week: The shit starts goin’ down. (Again.)

Additional Thoughts:

“I love this shit. This shit makes me hard.” “Well, now we’ve both been warned.”

“I ain’t been to a whore since I was 14 years old.”

“Let me get this straight: When Art gives you order you actually follow them? Or are you just trying to hurt my feelings.”

With eggs and milk, ice cream is a great breakfast food.

“Yeah, let’s go see ex-wife, girlfriend, whatever it is we’re calling her.”

“What are you doing? You don’t piss on someone’s lawn.”