Lies and Hopes

Tonight's episode of Justified is bookended by a pair of scenes that represent menacing violence looming on the horizon, and hope for the future. Limehouse, still on the sidelines of the action so far, gets a monologue at the beginning of the episode, and a monologue at the end of the episode. First, he lies about the Bennet fortune, and then he reveals that he has a spy in the white community feeding him intel. Slowly but Surely, the writers put the pieces into place for him. Winona, meanwhile, seems to be a little more zen about Raylan's more self-destructive tendencies on the job and recalls the first time she saw Raylan and decided that he was the man for her. That's fine but I want to see a more substantial storyline with her.

Dewie is Gutted

Dewie has it hard. Not only has he reached new heights of criminal incompetence in the past, not only is he, well, should we say: a little dimwitted? But he also got his kidneys cut out from an organ selling ring. Lance, the prison nurse who moonshines as an organ harvester, explains to him in vivid terms what will happen to him ("you're muscles will contract so hard it will crush your bones"). Which basically means he's dead unless he buys them back. So he has to figure out how. And the clock is ticking.

Dewie Has to Fight for His Life

So he goes on a robbing spree. First, an appliance shop (not a lot of cash in the register - most customers pay with credit card), then a bordello (not a lot of cash from the hookers - it's only ten in the morning). In the end, it turns out that his kidneys weren't really taken from him and that Lance was just planning on getting some easy money from that idiot. But Lance didn't factor in Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens. And he certainly didn't anticipate that he would bite the dust in the process.

Dewie is Fine

Raylan is on Dewey's tracks all episode long. Not only because an organ harvesting mafia in Harlan would call him to the scene, but because the show has expanded itself so that it can organically integrate a fringe character like Dewey and have Raylan react to it in a significant way. This season, Justified seems to be on the tracks to make Raylan a supernatural character. Last week, him and Boyd could literally feel each other's presence, and tonight he shoots the bad guy (or in this instance: gal) while being more or less unconscious. "I can't believe you shot me!", she says. "Me neither" Raylan answers matter-of-factly, which was one of the more funny lines of the season.

Two Criminal Masterminds

After witnessing last week how powerful the Carpetbeggar is, Boyd has a moment of quite introspection in which he voices his doubts to Ava that, should he go to war with the people Carpetbeggar workd for, he might not match their power. But she assures him that that's not the case at all. And when they finally meet, one could literally feel the tension between the two. The Carpetbeggar was expecting do go into business with Boyd but he, of course, wouldn't accept such a thing, and merely delineated his territory. It should be very interesting to see where this leads us in the upcoming weeks.

All in all, a very strong episode. What did you think? Are you satisfied with the season so far? What do you think about all those crime lords this season? Discuss in the comments!

Jan Cee
Contributing Writer

(Image courtesy of FX)