Season 3, Episode 1-2
“Not much call for cowboys these days.”
Right off the bat, “The Gunfighter” endeared itself to me with the simple act of how quickly it recovered from the event's of the season two finale and moved onto to set up the story for the third. If you recall, the season two premiere opened with a very lengthy, and somewhat unnecessary, 10 minute cold open which sought to tie up everything from the first season before moving on to the next story. We then had a couple of awkward episodes that, while in hindsight worked well within the whole of the second season, were a bit slow as they set about setting up all the various players for what would become the most organically told season of television I have ever seen. Hating on those episodes is hard due to what came after, but it is important to note that they didn't work that well on first viewing.
With season three, it appears as if we'll have none of that. Picking up three weeks after the events of “Bloody Harlan”, very little has changed. Sure, Raylan's on desk duty, Dickie's in jail, and Arlo's now got a bunch of weed stored in his backyard, but these are natural progressions of the events, so natural in fact that the show doesn't have to stop and explain how these things happened. Instead, we get right into the action, with everyone still smarting from the event of last season, and attempting to take care of the power vacuum left by Mag's death.
That power struggle comes in the form of Qaurles (Neal McDonough, who really should be filming that third season of Terriers about now), who's moving into Harlan county in an attempt to take advantage of the drug trade. He's brought along with him Fletcher “The Ice Pix” Nix (Dexter's Desmond Harrington, who's apparently not connect with stinking up just one show), his muscle, and has roped in Wyn Duffy (Jere Burns, who clearly just wants to remind us of how unserved he was on Burn Notice). Elsewhere (because this is Justified, and just one antagonistic just isn't going to cut it) is crime boss Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, because apparently Graham Yost couldn't resist a Boomtown reunion) seems to have gotten a hold of his own bit of power, specifically a money stash that used to belong to Mags Bennett, and it seems like he's also on the hunt for her drug routes as well.
These two forces seem destined for a face-off before the season is out, but this is Justified after all, so we shouldn't count on anything being certain – especially when Boyd Crowder's still in the mix. I'll admit, at the end of “The Gunfighter”, I didn't catch on the fact that he intentionally put himself in prison in order to get at Dickie, but it's a move that holds importance for a number of reason. We've always known that Boyd's a crafty bastard, but his methodical planning to get at Dickie is perhaps him at his craftiest. More notably, his hunt of Dickie is largely motivated for his love for Ava (which would seem to indicate that the sociopath has found a heart), but is also wisely tempered by his want for Mag's money. Boyd is growing in both hearts and brains, and seeing how much he can accomplish when those two meet is scary in it's efficiency.
Hidden beneath all of this messiness is Raylan, whose recovery may have sidelined him from the action, but it also allows the show to reflect on how far the character's come since the pilot. When he was first introduced, Raylan was the shoot-first-ask-questions-later type (or an Winona put in in the pilot “the angriest man [she's] ever known”), but the show has been pulling him back from the edge since then. On most show's, this would be the symptomatic softening that happens as shows age, but here it's intentional. We're supposed to be invested in Raylan's attempts to get rid of his darker impulses, and that's going to be become important now that he has a child on the way. Unfortunately, with Boyd, Quarles, and Limehouse all running around, trying to get a piece of the drug-trade pie, that's going to be a bit difficult.
The other upside of Raylan riding the desk is that is allows the show to give more of the action/screen-time over to the his fellow Marshalls, the characters who have been the most neglected throughout the show's run. Yost attempted to use the supporting characters better last season, and while there was some improvement, their stories never hit as hard as those that were on the other side of the law. The case in “Cut Ties” did some good legwork in that regards, as it took Art out of the office (which it's done before) and showed us his particular view on the methods of law enforcement (which it hasn't), and - to a lesser degree - gave us some time with Rachel, playing off her episode last season where she killed a guy. This episode still isn't exactly what I want for these characters, but it's the best we've gotten so far, and it's a step in the right direction.
Above I ragged on the season one standalone episodes, but the show has gotten a lot better in telling these kinds of stories, to the end that they're far more entertaining here is season three. Part of that of course comes from the way this case was used to lift up the other Marshalls, but what really made this episode pop was Carla Gugino's turn as a character that legally can't be called Karen Sisco, but come on, we know that's who she's supposed to be. Anyways, the apparently forename-less Mrs. Goodall (ah, the copyright-saving unseen marriage) brings an interesting element to the show, both in her infectious attitude, and the obvious chemistry that exists between her in Raylan.
Have enough complications yet? Between the three main villains, whatever Arlo and his crew are going to be up to next, and Raylan juggling Winona, the baby, and Goodall, this is shaping up to be a juicily and precariously complex season. But if any show can handle this load, it's Justified, and I'm just happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“Why, did you do something you shouldn't have?” “Well that's a pretty low bar to clear.”
“Well, I've been to Mexico. I don't think you'd like it.” “Why not?” “Well, there's a whole lot of Mexicans.”
“Well, as much as I appreciate you putting lipstick on this particular paltypus...”
“Raylan, I would love to be more help, but I've got to get back to watching women's tennis.”
“You can't run and you can't shoot, what's there for you to do?” “I can be the guy on the radio, telling people what to do.” “That's my job, asshole.”
**********
“Like a lion tamer.”
“Don't come running to me when it busts out your ribcage.”
With season three, it appears as if we'll have none of that. Picking up three weeks after the events of “Bloody Harlan”, very little has changed. Sure, Raylan's on desk duty, Dickie's in jail, and Arlo's now got a bunch of weed stored in his backyard, but these are natural progressions of the events, so natural in fact that the show doesn't have to stop and explain how these things happened. Instead, we get right into the action, with everyone still smarting from the event of last season, and attempting to take care of the power vacuum left by Mag's death.
That power struggle comes in the form of Qaurles (Neal McDonough, who really should be filming that third season of Terriers about now), who's moving into Harlan county in an attempt to take advantage of the drug trade. He's brought along with him Fletcher “The Ice Pix” Nix (Dexter's Desmond Harrington, who's apparently not connect with stinking up just one show), his muscle, and has roped in Wyn Duffy (Jere Burns, who clearly just wants to remind us of how unserved he was on Burn Notice). Elsewhere (because this is Justified, and just one antagonistic just isn't going to cut it) is crime boss Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, because apparently Graham Yost couldn't resist a Boomtown reunion) seems to have gotten a hold of his own bit of power, specifically a money stash that used to belong to Mags Bennett, and it seems like he's also on the hunt for her drug routes as well.
These two forces seem destined for a face-off before the season is out, but this is Justified after all, so we shouldn't count on anything being certain – especially when Boyd Crowder's still in the mix. I'll admit, at the end of “The Gunfighter”, I didn't catch on the fact that he intentionally put himself in prison in order to get at Dickie, but it's a move that holds importance for a number of reason. We've always known that Boyd's a crafty bastard, but his methodical planning to get at Dickie is perhaps him at his craftiest. More notably, his hunt of Dickie is largely motivated for his love for Ava (which would seem to indicate that the sociopath has found a heart), but is also wisely tempered by his want for Mag's money. Boyd is growing in both hearts and brains, and seeing how much he can accomplish when those two meet is scary in it's efficiency.
Hidden beneath all of this messiness is Raylan, whose recovery may have sidelined him from the action, but it also allows the show to reflect on how far the character's come since the pilot. When he was first introduced, Raylan was the shoot-first-ask-questions-later type (or an Winona put in in the pilot “the angriest man [she's] ever known”), but the show has been pulling him back from the edge since then. On most show's, this would be the symptomatic softening that happens as shows age, but here it's intentional. We're supposed to be invested in Raylan's attempts to get rid of his darker impulses, and that's going to be become important now that he has a child on the way. Unfortunately, with Boyd, Quarles, and Limehouse all running around, trying to get a piece of the drug-trade pie, that's going to be a bit difficult.
The other upside of Raylan riding the desk is that is allows the show to give more of the action/screen-time over to the his fellow Marshalls, the characters who have been the most neglected throughout the show's run. Yost attempted to use the supporting characters better last season, and while there was some improvement, their stories never hit as hard as those that were on the other side of the law. The case in “Cut Ties” did some good legwork in that regards, as it took Art out of the office (which it's done before) and showed us his particular view on the methods of law enforcement (which it hasn't), and - to a lesser degree - gave us some time with Rachel, playing off her episode last season where she killed a guy. This episode still isn't exactly what I want for these characters, but it's the best we've gotten so far, and it's a step in the right direction.
Above I ragged on the season one standalone episodes, but the show has gotten a lot better in telling these kinds of stories, to the end that they're far more entertaining here is season three. Part of that of course comes from the way this case was used to lift up the other Marshalls, but what really made this episode pop was Carla Gugino's turn as a character that legally can't be called Karen Sisco, but come on, we know that's who she's supposed to be. Anyways, the apparently forename-less Mrs. Goodall (ah, the copyright-saving unseen marriage) brings an interesting element to the show, both in her infectious attitude, and the obvious chemistry that exists between her in Raylan.
Have enough complications yet? Between the three main villains, whatever Arlo and his crew are going to be up to next, and Raylan juggling Winona, the baby, and Goodall, this is shaping up to be a juicily and precariously complex season. But if any show can handle this load, it's Justified, and I'm just happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“Why, did you do something you shouldn't have?” “Well that's a pretty low bar to clear.”
“Well, I've been to Mexico. I don't think you'd like it.” “Why not?” “Well, there's a whole lot of Mexicans.”
“Well, as much as I appreciate you putting lipstick on this particular paltypus...”
“Raylan, I would love to be more help, but I've got to get back to watching women's tennis.”
“You can't run and you can't shoot, what's there for you to do?” “I can be the guy on the radio, telling people what to do.” “That's my job, asshole.”
**********
“Like a lion tamer.”
“Don't come running to me when it busts out your ribcage.”
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