Season 3, Episodes 3-4
One of the things that's impressed me so much about this season of Justified is how, over the past two episodes especially, it's begun to cull the inhabitants of the world that it's build over the prior two seasons, to the extent that it's becoming something like the drama equivalent of The Simpsons, or perhaps more appropriately, Parks and Recreation. It's an important step for the show to take, because it means that anytime that the show needs to rely on a standalone cases – as it's done every episode so far this season – it can use characters that we already know, and having these personalities drive the cases, and that makes them far more interesting.
Of course, it helps that the show is using these standalone cases judiciously, as with some of the great past series such as Alias, it uses each cases to help build the season long arc a piecemeal but very satisfying. As I stated about, a lot of this is due to the reliance on using established characters to tell these stories, which not only gives us a familiar flavor, but allows the show to introduce new characters in a organic way that doesn't strain the show's storytelling.
In the case of “Harlan Roulette”, we got to meet Dave Fogel, the new head of the Dixie Mafia, who uses his cronies addiction to get them to carry out his tasks, as well as playing some sadistic games with them. Our introduction is one Wade Messer, who had minor role in the season two finale in which he distracted Raylan so Dickie could get the drop on him. This doesn't exactly rank Messer with the greater-known of Justified's secondary characters, but understanding his relationship with Raylan helps to sell a lot of Raylan's early interest in the case.
In “The Devil You Know”, the characters – Dickie Bennett, and to a lesser extent, Dewey Crow – are better know, and it's probably no coincidence that the connection to the season-long arc is much stronger in this episode. As Raylan's meeting with Lorretta helps to highlight (besides the fact that the actress' talents are being wasted on Last Man Standing) is that this plotline hold strong connections to season two, more so than anything in season two was related to season one. This of course would seem to fly in the face of the “standalone as part of serialization” theory that I forwarded above, but it's important in breaking down the larger plot into more manageable chunks. It makes sure as thought the audience feels as if something has been accomplished by the end of the hour, while also setting up tension for the rest of the season. (Just what is Dickie going to do to get back at Limehouse for spending Mag's money?)
In fact, these standalone plots on their own probably wouldn't create a thoroughly engaging narrative on their own, and so the show supplements them with far more serialized plots that aren't really broken down into these chunks. By contrasting the short-term stories with the long-term, it not only allows the show to build a multi-layered episode where a whole lot of things happen, but it also allows the show to slowly build up these multi-faceted stories with out us getting bored with the natural pace, confused by all of the elements at play, or simply overwhelmed with it all.
So what are serialized plots? Well, on one side, we have Quarles who wants to funnel drugs from Detriot into Harlan County, with the help of Wyn's own contacts. However, he run into complications when he realizes that Boyd himself wants to take up the drug trade in the region. Their paths collide in “Devil” (get it?) when Quarles uses Devil's sense of entitlement against him and attempts to turn him against Boyd and make taking over the Harlan drug trade that much easier. Of course Boyd finds him out – but no before giving him an out mind you – and kills him. The stage it set for a much larger confrontation between the two of them, but the question now remains to when it will take place. This would seem to be the kind of confrontation that would wait to the finale, but if season two taught us anything, it's that Justified doesn't follow traditional storytelling models. It's really anybody's guess at this point.
Elsewhere , we get to stand some more time getting to know Limehouse, the other new character at play here. I don't know if this was an intention of the writers in terms of plot and/or character, or if it's just developed this way, but we haven't learned as much about Limehouse as we have about Quarles, so it was good to see him in action tonight, ruthlessly ripping off Dickie, and effortlessly evading Raylan and Rachel's questions. How much Limehouse is going to be deeply involved with events of this season still seems to be up in the air, but this latest episode was a good start.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“You just said commode, didn't you?” “It sounded better than 'crapper'.”
“These boots weren't made for running.” “And yet a Marshall's primary function is chasing down criminals.” “It's ironic, isn't it?”
“What is this, bring your kids to work day?” “No, it's My Wife is Sicker Than Shit Day.” “That explains the fried chicken for breakfast.”
“Sorry Glen, are you still there?” “Where else would I be, cornholing a pig?”
“Well, I set him up for Dickie Bennet, strung him up in a tree; does that count as a friend?”
“Oh, look at this asshole, bringing a baseball bat to a gun fight.”
“Thinking about buying a house.” “Really? What area?” “The greater Lexington area of Kiss My Ass.”
**************
“Let me get this right: You got ambushed by an imbecile and a malnourished half-cripple?”
“You know what they say: getting old ain't for pussies.”
In the case of “Harlan Roulette”, we got to meet Dave Fogel, the new head of the Dixie Mafia, who uses his cronies addiction to get them to carry out his tasks, as well as playing some sadistic games with them. Our introduction is one Wade Messer, who had minor role in the season two finale in which he distracted Raylan so Dickie could get the drop on him. This doesn't exactly rank Messer with the greater-known of Justified's secondary characters, but understanding his relationship with Raylan helps to sell a lot of Raylan's early interest in the case.
In “The Devil You Know”, the characters – Dickie Bennett, and to a lesser extent, Dewey Crow – are better know, and it's probably no coincidence that the connection to the season-long arc is much stronger in this episode. As Raylan's meeting with Lorretta helps to highlight (besides the fact that the actress' talents are being wasted on Last Man Standing) is that this plotline hold strong connections to season two, more so than anything in season two was related to season one. This of course would seem to fly in the face of the “standalone as part of serialization” theory that I forwarded above, but it's important in breaking down the larger plot into more manageable chunks. It makes sure as thought the audience feels as if something has been accomplished by the end of the hour, while also setting up tension for the rest of the season. (Just what is Dickie going to do to get back at Limehouse for spending Mag's money?)
In fact, these standalone plots on their own probably wouldn't create a thoroughly engaging narrative on their own, and so the show supplements them with far more serialized plots that aren't really broken down into these chunks. By contrasting the short-term stories with the long-term, it not only allows the show to build a multi-layered episode where a whole lot of things happen, but it also allows the show to slowly build up these multi-faceted stories with out us getting bored with the natural pace, confused by all of the elements at play, or simply overwhelmed with it all.
So what are serialized plots? Well, on one side, we have Quarles who wants to funnel drugs from Detriot into Harlan County, with the help of Wyn's own contacts. However, he run into complications when he realizes that Boyd himself wants to take up the drug trade in the region. Their paths collide in “Devil” (get it?) when Quarles uses Devil's sense of entitlement against him and attempts to turn him against Boyd and make taking over the Harlan drug trade that much easier. Of course Boyd finds him out – but no before giving him an out mind you – and kills him. The stage it set for a much larger confrontation between the two of them, but the question now remains to when it will take place. This would seem to be the kind of confrontation that would wait to the finale, but if season two taught us anything, it's that Justified doesn't follow traditional storytelling models. It's really anybody's guess at this point.
Elsewhere , we get to stand some more time getting to know Limehouse, the other new character at play here. I don't know if this was an intention of the writers in terms of plot and/or character, or if it's just developed this way, but we haven't learned as much about Limehouse as we have about Quarles, so it was good to see him in action tonight, ruthlessly ripping off Dickie, and effortlessly evading Raylan and Rachel's questions. How much Limehouse is going to be deeply involved with events of this season still seems to be up in the air, but this latest episode was a good start.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“You just said commode, didn't you?” “It sounded better than 'crapper'.”
“These boots weren't made for running.” “And yet a Marshall's primary function is chasing down criminals.” “It's ironic, isn't it?”
“What is this, bring your kids to work day?” “No, it's My Wife is Sicker Than Shit Day.” “That explains the fried chicken for breakfast.”
“Sorry Glen, are you still there?” “Where else would I be, cornholing a pig?”
“Well, I set him up for Dickie Bennet, strung him up in a tree; does that count as a friend?”
“Oh, look at this asshole, bringing a baseball bat to a gun fight.”
“Thinking about buying a house.” “Really? What area?” “The greater Lexington area of Kiss My Ass.”
**************
“Let me get this right: You got ambushed by an imbecile and a malnourished half-cripple?”
“You know what they say: getting old ain't for pussies.”
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