Justified - S4x11 "Decoy"
Summarizing line of the night: Holeee she-it. Also pretty much my reaction the entire time. That, and mad cackling.
After however many eps of the setup, finally we got our balls-to-the-wall showdown. And there's still two eps coming, with plenty of explosives left for them to blow up.
But for all the big action set pieces, this show still finds time to take a closer look at Drew, Raylan, Boyd, and Ava. Drew's "reminiscin'" (god I love how Olyphant says that word), in addition to annoying Raylan in entertaining fashion, reminded me strongly of Jody's tough-guy posturing, and while we know Drew's a real badass and not some pretender, there's still a common thread of "ain't nobody could touch me" underlying the not-so-tall tales. He's learned how human he really is, though, unlike Jody. Is Raylan just being ornery in refusing to believe Drew might have become something more than a criminal during his time as Shelby? Don't get me wrong, he was totally right about Drew possibly playing an angle - he is a good lawman, at least when dealing with criminals he's not sleeping with, even if he is a shit marshal - and I'm glad the show subverted that little thread of redemption. But I guess that's part of his stubborn asshole charm, and the next two episodes may see him starting to see things a little grayer.
Boyd's situation is now totally up in the air, even more so than at the end of the previous ep. The Detroit outfit, while somewhat de-clawed now that we see they can be outsmarted, still has a ton of thugs on the ground, still has Nicky alive and pissed, and still has hapless Johnny in its clutches. Oh, and they've got a helicopter. So they've got a few plays left, enough to make things tricky for our favorite Harlan criminals. Ava's likely off to find Boyd to warn him about all the double-crossing, and Colt is in all probability thinking of unexpected ways to make several thugs' or maybe even a marshal's life much shorter, now that he's got a sniper rifle. As for who buys the farm by the end of the season, I think the odds are the same for Johnny and Colt. They've been set up for pretty hard falls - Johnny's got a literal handicap - but they're also survivors of the Dickie Bennett variety. Cockroach-like. I guess we just gotta wait and see.
- Art had no Speech of Awesome, but that phone conversation between Tim and Colt more than made up for it. Ohmigod, I was in tears.
- Speaking of Tim: BADASS. Plus, the one time PTSD isn't debilitating on TV. Not that I don't want Tim to get better, but hell, if he's gonna have a mental health problem, at least it leads him to blow up cars in spectacular fashion.
- I want more Arlo stories from Drew.
- Oh Ava honey, hitching your wagon to Boyd's star. You knew it'd come to this, sooner or later, no matter what other dreams you fooled yourself with. Please don't get hurt. Please stay alive.
- Joelle Carter needs an award of some kind, between her scene with Ellen May last week and with Nicky Augustine this week. She does such incredible work with Ava.
- Underestimate Bob at your peril, indeed. I was waiting for YOLO to bite it through a case of LLSA (lowlife lack of situational awareness), and Bob's knifing skills paid off again. Patton Oswalt is a fuckin champ.
- "You don't need a watch to tell time in Harlan." Brilliant setup for the last shot.
After however many eps of the setup, finally we got our balls-to-the-wall showdown. And there's still two eps coming, with plenty of explosives left for them to blow up.
But for all the big action set pieces, this show still finds time to take a closer look at Drew, Raylan, Boyd, and Ava. Drew's "reminiscin'" (god I love how Olyphant says that word), in addition to annoying Raylan in entertaining fashion, reminded me strongly of Jody's tough-guy posturing, and while we know Drew's a real badass and not some pretender, there's still a common thread of "ain't nobody could touch me" underlying the not-so-tall tales. He's learned how human he really is, though, unlike Jody. Is Raylan just being ornery in refusing to believe Drew might have become something more than a criminal during his time as Shelby? Don't get me wrong, he was totally right about Drew possibly playing an angle - he is a good lawman, at least when dealing with criminals he's not sleeping with, even if he is a shit marshal - and I'm glad the show subverted that little thread of redemption. But I guess that's part of his stubborn asshole charm, and the next two episodes may see him starting to see things a little grayer.
Boyd's situation is now totally up in the air, even more so than at the end of the previous ep. The Detroit outfit, while somewhat de-clawed now that we see they can be outsmarted, still has a ton of thugs on the ground, still has Nicky alive and pissed, and still has hapless Johnny in its clutches. Oh, and they've got a helicopter. So they've got a few plays left, enough to make things tricky for our favorite Harlan criminals. Ava's likely off to find Boyd to warn him about all the double-crossing, and Colt is in all probability thinking of unexpected ways to make several thugs' or maybe even a marshal's life much shorter, now that he's got a sniper rifle. As for who buys the farm by the end of the season, I think the odds are the same for Johnny and Colt. They've been set up for pretty hard falls - Johnny's got a literal handicap - but they're also survivors of the Dickie Bennett variety. Cockroach-like. I guess we just gotta wait and see.
- Art had no Speech of Awesome, but that phone conversation between Tim and Colt more than made up for it. Ohmigod, I was in tears.
- Speaking of Tim: BADASS. Plus, the one time PTSD isn't debilitating on TV. Not that I don't want Tim to get better, but hell, if he's gonna have a mental health problem, at least it leads him to blow up cars in spectacular fashion.
- I want more Arlo stories from Drew.
- Oh Ava honey, hitching your wagon to Boyd's star. You knew it'd come to this, sooner or later, no matter what other dreams you fooled yourself with. Please don't get hurt. Please stay alive.
- Joelle Carter needs an award of some kind, between her scene with Ellen May last week and with Nicky Augustine this week. She does such incredible work with Ava.
- Underestimate Bob at your peril, indeed. I was waiting for YOLO to bite it through a case of LLSA (lowlife lack of situational awareness), and Bob's knifing skills paid off again. Patton Oswalt is a fuckin champ.
- "You don't need a watch to tell time in Harlan." Brilliant setup for the last shot.