Justified might never reach the heights of last season, but I still think there have been some pretty electric moments this year. This was a fun one-off episode, and I've enjoyed seeing Raylan slightly off his game. I think the tension is only going to build as the various players begin to clash with one another in a more serious way. Last week, I actually thought "Oh, that's sad, there are only nine episodes left this season." It's clearly still working for me.
Organ theft is always a stupid plot device, and we've already seen the "flirty witness turns out to be one of the bad guys" thing this season, but it's one bad episode following two pretty good ones (3.1 and 3.3) and a mediocre one (3.2). Plus, the model for Justified seems to be to pack most of the standalone episodes into the first half of the season and focus on the larger arc in the second half. So I'm not worried. Plus, I liked Winona this episode, and even though I saw the last scene coming, it pushed my buttons just the same.
Okay, maybe I'm just being grouchy, or maybe I just got spoiled last season and shouldn't expect so much, but to this point I've spent season three rolling my eyes.
Part of the problem is that I haven't been able to buy into the Dixie Mafia Capo, at all, although the "amen to that" line at the end of this episode held some promise. Mostly it feels like they're trying to replace Mags with equal parts Tony Robbins and the villain from Road House.
Relatedly, most of the problem is that the writing feels off, particulalry with the villains, large and small, persistent, recurring, and one-off. Goggins is still doing great work with what he's given, but what he's being given doesn't seem nearly as smart. Dickie has gone from a convincing portrayal of stupid-that-thinks-it's-smart to just plain old no-one-is-this-stupid, and taken Dewey with him. The jailbreaking organ harvesters were drivel. ... Maybe I just miss Mags and I'm taking out on everyone else for not being her.
As long as nobody's baby is kidnapped and taken to Belfast I suppose I'll stick with it.
Nobody had to take Dewey anywhere to get him to no-one-is-this-stupid. Remember when Raylan convinced him that he had to follow Raylan's orders by fake-deputizing him? And Dickie isn't acting stupid at all -- he made a smart play, refusing to release Limehouse from his agreement with Mags (and thus prolonging their partnership) while using Limehouse's team's murders to rehabilitate his reputation and status when he goes back to jail.
Carpetbagger/Quarles does stick out, both in the intended way (his name is "carpetbagger," after all, and I think that the contrast between McDonough's acting style and the quieter manner of the Harlan locals is supposed to bring that out), but also in that he's the first of this show's major villains who doesn't have a personal history with Raylan. Up until now, it's been two generations of Crowders (one of whom survived a mine explosion with Raylan), two generations of Bennetts (one of whom walks with a limp that Raylan gave him in a high school baseball game), Limehouse (who gave Raylan's mother a place to hide from his father), and Raylan's own father (who is Raylan's father). I guess there was the cartel, but nobody from it was really a recurring villain as much as an off-screen notion. So the show was going to have to branch out a bit. There's bound to be a difference in how Raylan relates to and chases Quarles. I did like their first scene together, when Raylan took his picture.
I've enjoyed McDonough's performance. He's a tad smarter than thinking he's way too smart to be beaten by the locals, but still with the necessary amout of carpetbagging hubris that will be his downfall. (That sentence probably makes no sense.) This is all encapsulated in the sleeve gun, and the shit-eating grin he gets whenever someone is patting him down for a normal holster.
Justified arcs generally go like this. The middle of season one is pretty slow before the stuff with the Crowders/cartel picks up, and early season two had such gems as the prison guard pregnancy episode and Rachel's brother-in-law. Heck, the middle of last season had the "Winona, Accidental Thief" storyline. I have faith that we'll be a-okay.
Not particularly. I will admit that Raylan's final showdown this week was pretty ridiculous, but I was still entertained.
ReplyDeleteJustified might never reach the heights of last season, but I still think there have been some pretty electric moments this year. This was a fun one-off episode, and I've enjoyed seeing Raylan slightly off his game. I think the tension is only going to build as the various players begin to clash with one another in a more serious way. Last week, I actually thought "Oh, that's sad, there are only nine episodes left this season." It's clearly still working for me.
ReplyDeleteOrgan theft is always a stupid plot device, and we've already seen the "flirty witness turns out to be one of the bad guys" thing this season, but it's one bad episode following two pretty good ones (3.1 and 3.3) and a mediocre one (3.2). Plus, the model for Justified seems to be to pack most of the standalone episodes into the first half of the season and focus on the larger arc in the second half. So I'm not worried. Plus, I liked Winona this episode, and even though I saw the last scene coming, it pushed my buttons just the same.
ReplyDeleteOkay, maybe I'm just being grouchy, or maybe I just got spoiled last season and shouldn't expect so much, but to this point I've spent season three rolling my eyes.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem is that I haven't been able to buy into the Dixie Mafia Capo, at all, although the "amen to that" line at the end of this episode held some promise. Mostly it feels like they're trying to replace Mags with equal parts Tony Robbins and the villain from Road House.
Relatedly, most of the problem is that the writing feels off, particulalry with the villains, large and small, persistent, recurring, and one-off. Goggins is still doing great work with what he's given, but what he's being given doesn't seem nearly as smart. Dickie has gone from a convincing portrayal of stupid-that-thinks-it's-smart to just plain old no-one-is-this-stupid, and taken Dewey with him. The jailbreaking organ harvesters were drivel. ... Maybe I just miss Mags and I'm taking out on everyone else for not being her.
As long as nobody's baby is kidnapped and taken to Belfast I suppose I'll stick with it.
Nobody had to take Dewey anywhere to get him to no-one-is-this-stupid. Remember when Raylan convinced him that he had to follow Raylan's orders by fake-deputizing him? And Dickie isn't acting stupid at all -- he made a smart play, refusing to release Limehouse from his agreement with Mags (and thus prolonging their partnership) while using Limehouse's team's murders to rehabilitate his reputation and status when he goes back to jail.
ReplyDeleteCarpetbagger/Quarles does stick out, both in the intended way (his name is "carpetbagger," after all, and I think that the contrast between McDonough's acting style and the quieter manner of the Harlan locals is supposed to bring that out), but also in that he's the first of this show's major villains who doesn't have a personal history with Raylan. Up until now, it's been two generations of Crowders (one of whom survived a mine explosion with Raylan), two generations of Bennetts (one of whom walks with a limp that Raylan gave him in a high school baseball game), Limehouse (who gave Raylan's mother a place to hide from his father), and Raylan's own father (who is Raylan's father). I guess there was the cartel, but nobody from it was really a recurring villain as much as an off-screen notion. So the show was going to have to branch out a bit. There's bound to be a difference in how Raylan relates to and chases Quarles. I did like their first scene together, when Raylan took his picture.
I've enjoyed McDonough's performance. He's a tad smarter than thinking he's way too smart to be beaten by the locals, but still with the necessary amout of carpetbagging hubris that will be his downfall. (That sentence probably makes no sense.) This is all encapsulated in the sleeve gun, and the shit-eating grin he gets whenever someone is patting him down for a normal holster.
ReplyDeleteJustified arcs generally go like this. The middle of season one is pretty slow before the stuff with the Crowders/cartel picks up, and early season two had such gems as the prison guard pregnancy episode and Rachel's brother-in-law. Heck, the middle of last season had the "Winona, Accidental Thief" storyline. I have faith that we'll be a-okay.
You're right, CW. I'm working with a selective memory here. This show has sucked (briefly) in the past and still been worth coming back for.
ReplyDeleteThank you all, generally, for talking me down.
Any episode with that much Dewey Crowe more than makes up for the stupid organ harvester plot.
ReplyDeleteI hope we haven't seen the last of icepick Nix. I assume he's in jail with Dewey and Dickey now?