#justified 2010

[callmearcturus]

Okay I must share another clip from S02E01 because it's Raylan being So Fucking Annoying again, and it's delightful.

[annwrites24]

Started Justified (2010) for the first time last night someone be appropriately excited with me

[callmearcturus]

Justified Watch Log - S01E13 (Finale) Part 2

S01E13 - Bulletville (aka I want every season to end with Ava, Boyd, and Raylan stuck in a room together)

Part 1 is over here.

He buried them all. One man, one shovel, and a long row of graves.

"All these men came to you because they believed in me," is such a borderline blasphemous but unerringly honest thing to say. Boyd picked faith because it's something any rural American understands, it was the correct method to reach people so he could help them and fight for Harlan.

But lets be real; Gd was never the leader here, just the tool Boyd used to take his desires to watch over this place and these people, and to make those desires happen. That's fundamentally different than true faithfulness. And maybe he successfully converted a few folks, but that has less evidence than the idea that they were here for Boyd and for each other.

I ain't any kind of christian so this doesn't bother me; if there is a reward or result of life, it's not decided by the sincerity of your intentions. It's the actual real things you do.

You want something real, sweetheart? I think you should serve Harlan. Take power from it and serve it with that power. Fisher King this shit.

Speaking of people who should kill their fathers.

Arlo is so bad at playing this moment, and we have been shown how good he can be at lying, how believable... In this moment when the idea is he's supposed to keep Raylan busy until Bo's goons show then non-lethally shoot Raylan so he can be handed over to Gio for torture...

This reminds me of when Johnny Crowder "threatened" Ava in the hardware store. It was transparently a heads-up, not a genuine threat.

On the other hand, that requires me to think Arlo cares about Raylan outside of a heatsink for all his resentment. This is the guy who dug up Helen's emergency stash of money and told her "I was going to put it back."

(Goons? Thugs? Good Ol' Boys (GOBs)? I refuse to use "redneck" because I feel it has connotations that flatten anyone in this show, which is anathema to the point of the show. Shitkickers might be the most accurate option.)

Raylan really only has the one talent, but damn if he's not good at it.

gddamn the bass in his voice, like grief and anger live in a voice like driving slow over gravel roads.

lmao the shitkickers were waiting on Arlo to shoot Raylan in the leg. So Raylan shoots Arlo instead. Good, fuck him.

Bo turns up to abduct Ava as leverage against Raylan since everything has gone to absolute shit and WHAT NO NOT JOHNNY. I LIKED JOHNNY. oh my gd are Boyd and Ava gonna be the last Crowders standing in this fucking county?

i thought Harlan and Lexington were 2 to 4 hours apart, how did Boyd get here on foot? Until provided with an alternative explanation, I will assume the land simply hastened Boyd's journey as its servant and messenger. shit does this mean Boyd's classpect would be Prince of something? fuck

still absolutely batshit that Boyd loses everything in blood and grave soil, and he goes to Raylan. and FOR ONCE, Raylan is gentle, all soft-toned and slow, luring Boyd out, because it must be one hell of a shake-up, to be waiting on him to talk instead of waiting on him to pause for breath.

y'all got a town called Bulletville?

what am i saying, it's prob an Unincorporated Community, my mistake.

Ava is in danger, Bo wants Raylan, and Boyd doesn't hesitate to come with him to help. "He did say we were on the same side now." finally, Raylan gets it.

Whatever Boyd considers his protectorate, it includes Raylan and it includes Ava. Now we just need Raylan to figure out what he wants, what he'll protect, and what that means.

(points) whoever is handling the lighting, they have a golden lamp casting over Raylan's eyes. It feels like the symbolic opposite of how some shots of Boyd are just dark dark dark eyes with a pinprick of pilotlight inside. Boyd's beacon is within him. Raylan needs guidance from something.

Right after this, Boyd admits he doesn't know if his conversion was real anymore, and asks Raylan if he believes in Gd, and then who is Raylan's Gd.

Emotional intimacy with Boyd seems to set off some geiger counter in Raylan, so he hedges with "idk big beard, dude in the clouds, etc." But c'mon. /gestures. C'mon. "Any of them good with a gun?" "They're not as good as you." When faith deserts Boyd, he goes to Raylan?

I will forgive Raylan his bullshit this one time, because if the smartest, most dangerous person I knew look at me like I was a literal hand of gd, I would be scared too.

HONESTLY? I love how all three protagonists have equal responsibility here. Ava killing Bowman, Raylan killing the drug runner in Miami, and Boyd turning against his father. Each of those actions created this clusterfuck and they're all culpable. Hot. Sexy. Love it.

Boyd splits off to give Raylan backup, but obviously asks for a gun.

Raylan hesitates but it feels almost playful. Like, he's going up against Bo Crowder and the Gio's people; Boyd is the closest you can get to a sure bet.

also this is a dumb aside but I hope Raylan gets a new car at some point. His government-issued town car is so fucking boring and this is finally a show where characters can and should drive real trucks. WHERE IS MY VILLAIN OF THE WEEK RIDING 'LONG ON A TRACTOR MOWER? Actually now that I say that, Raylan legitimately needs a better vehicle for this job. What if Boyd gets antsy and wants to blow up a bank but there's a fuckoff john deere harvester going 25mph and blocking the entire road? He can't go around that in a fucking sedan.

Get a real ride, Raylan.

Boyd isn't a gunslinger like Raylan and I love seeing his methodology shown off. Ava goes for close range and wide spread, she wants to ensure she lands a hit even if the hit is superficial. Raylan is precise and fast and has the genuine quick draw talent. Boyd goes silent, fully lines up his shot, then whistles to draw his target into the right spot.

See, Raylan grabs one guy's gun, moves it the minimum necessary distance to unload the entire mag/clip/chambers, and once that's wedged into place he fucking kicks the other gun out of Bo's hand with a single shot. AND he has the spatial memory to ALSO recover his spare out of this dude's jeans before he even hits the ground. That's wild.

ugh Boyd's voice wavering as he tells Raylan to get clear so he can kill his father.

BOYD OUTRIGHT SAYING BO KILLED HIM, even if Bo thinks of what he did as "sparing" Boyd, he still killed Boyd, no doubt there.

Then a sniper kills Bo and clips Boyd's shoulder. Fuck.

NOW MY FAVORITE PART: THE TRIO STUCK IN A SMALL CABIN TOGETHER. I've been debating which part of the episode to clip and I finally found it. This isn't a specific speech or moment, it's just these three together, and it's phenomenal.

When Raylan's alone with Boyd and Ava, his accent literally slides to match theirs, like a completely involuntary code-switch, I love it.

The way he says "We'll hold our fire" but it's like "foir", love it.

The specific physicality of Raylan solving the problem of each of gunman, the brutal utility of it. Laying on the floor in wait for the second guy, the way he returns to Boyd and Ava and hurls himself down, love that.

BOYD ASKS IF JOHNNY CROWDER IS DEAD AND AVA IS LIKE "I DUNNO, HE WAS GUT-SHOT"

SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE

Boyd clearly keeping count of how many people have died in his place.

For once Raylan would really love it if Boyd had a rocket launcher. I admire that.

BOYD DOING THE SPARTACUS THING FUCK LMAO. "Are you tryin' t'be funny?" "A lil."

Boyd getting shirty with Raylan about how he got to kill the men who tried to kill his daddy, "You give me the same courtesy."

As soon as Boyd and Ava leave, I was like "well either both of them or definitely Boyd will turn around to back up Raylan" then I realized Ava is quite a bit more mercenary than either of the boys, so yeah there's no fucking way in Harlan or hell that Boyd lets yet another person die on his behalf.

Raylan literally checking his magazine and reloading while suggesting everyone disarm and talk is so funny, I would have so much less patience for this idiot if he wasn't funny.

Of course Boyd came back for Raylan. These tourists came in and threatened a child of Harlan, he ain't gonna let that go.

AVA DID JUST LEAVE THO, I LOVE THAT. honestly fuck all this and go home, girl, that house is yours now.

Raylan wants to go after the one Miami gunperson who got away but Boyd claims the right to do so. Got to avenge his father on some level, I guess.

Boyd: You gonna shoot to stop me? Raylan: Maybe. Boyd: I'm pretty sure you're empty.

Raylan: You gonna bet your life on that? Boyd: No, Raylan, I'm gonna bet my life on you being the only friend I have left in this world.

Raylan just watches him go, aims down at him, and lets out a childish little bang.

...

i just watched the most incredible first season of any show ever made, ask me anything, holy shit

[callmearcturus]

Justified Watch Log - S01E12

S01E12 - Fathers & Sons (aka an episode entirely about Raylan, Ava, and Boyd's Issues)

Raylan's insistence that Arlo wears a wire is the smartest thing he's done all fucking season. Arlo would frame anybody to get out from under his bullshit, I would not trust anything he says. Oh, y'all want Boyd? Hell, he'll come up with some way to frame him. HE ALREADY DID IT WITH THE PERKINS GUY, PLANTING THE OXY!

I love, I LOVE, Raylan breaking out his father's own tone to use on him here as he kicks him out. The history between them, the abuse, Raylan running off soon as he was able, the inherent betrayal of becoming a lawman (even if he's a shit one), and how Raylan reacts to Arlo bringing up Raylan's mother-- it's all so heavy. That lil line about how "You'd've preferred I worked in the mines and died of black lung" and Raylan's vicious, "You'd never work that hard," there is such an earned lack of respect here.

I really kind of wonder where Raylan came from, philosophically and morally, given Arlo was his father, and the best I can think is upon leaving Harlan, his own personal Polaris was "figure out what Arlo would've done, do the opposite."

ugh look at this screencap I caught on a random pause. the contempt.

Real shit, does Harlan county do divorce? Perhaps we should import this incredible legal concept, we could drop the crime rate significantly if people have a way to separate that doesn't involve drinking themselves to death or shooting their partner.

Raylan apparently is only allowed to be a smart boy for 5 minutes of an episode. The time has expired and he's going to sleep with his ex-wife, who is cheating of the same man she cheated on Raylan with.

Winona, I don't want to judge, but I'm currently of the opinion you ain't cut out for committed relationships.

AND THE THING IS, after they bang, she says NOTHING to him, she puts her ring back on, and she leaves. Like, putting aside the bullshit of turning your relationship with your husband and ex-husband into some moebius strip of infidelity, set that aside

Raylan's central, core issue once again seems to be he has no real direction in live and no wants or desires. At this point, it seems like he slept with Ava because she wanted him. Now, Winona wants him, so sure thing, saddle up. But I don't even mean this in a shippy way; Raylan is way more committed to this Thing he's got with Boyd than any other relationship in the show.

It's kind of riveting, the accidental (?) heteronormativity he's lost himself in. If someone wants to fuck him, he obliges, but he doesn't seek out their company and gets distracted. On the other hand, he's absolutely obsessed with Boyd, he has conflicted feelings about shooting him, he shows up over and over and over and over again to talk to him even when it's unhelpful, he loses his control at Boyd, he goes full Corrupt Cop to try and get Boyd back in jail, he's only got eyes for this one man, and apparently locking him up isn't sufficient to sate that hunger.

IT DOES MEANINGFULLY INTERTWINE WITH BOYD'S WHOLE CHARISMA MIND VIRUS SHIT. Like the "Dewey got thrown out for onanism" thing is a great joke, but also....... Boyd operates via charismatic control of lonely men. I really think on some level the no-jerking-off thing does heighten that effect. His men want him, they're devoted to him, and even if that's not consciously a sexual thing, it's still a somewhat sexual thing.

Boyd Crowder could probably fix Raylan Givens if either of them were aware of that option.

Ava sees Winona leaving and gurl why you surprised, like fr. This dumbass has been fumbling you for half the season and is not signaling he's in love with you. He ain't shit.

it looks like Ava actually has decided to move on from Raylan and goes to Helen for a new gun, since as a parolee, she shouldn't have one. What is it about Helen that all kinds flock to her like huddled masses? Is it her height? This woman is Harlan County's Official Confidante.

In local news, Harlan preacher accidentally auditions his own replacement live in front of his entire congregation.

.......

oh fuck, Boyd what are you doing.

darling dear what have you done?

Bo trying to bring Boyd to heel and utterly failing is so satisfying.

Because he really did have the chance to do so and secure Boyd, but he handed off his business to Arlo fucking Givens instead of anyone else because he was scared of one of his potential heirs turning on him.

But it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. He extended no trust, so he gets none, no loyalty. Boyd speaks to his congregation about how the usual methods of treating addiction all fail because it's all stick and no carrot. Bo fundamentally cannot reward the people around him, he only knows how to punish rebellion, and so if that single method fails? He's fucked.

And his son hates meth and owns a shoulder-mount anti-tank rocket-powered grenade launcher.

Holy fucking shit the sequence with Arlo lying to the kid.

This actor was incredible.

HE WAS LYING?

i was so right, he lies so clean, you cannot take his word for anything, he cannot be an informant without a wire!!!!!!!!!

he.... agrees to a wire

wait, he agrees to a wire? oh.

I briefly considered "oh man, Ava running the sex trade in Harlan" but she could never. Oh my goodness, she'd get emotionally invested in bad ways and get people killed.

Still: very hot that she shows up with the shotgun to tell Bo to fuck off.

this is gonna be a fucking bloodbath, oh my gd

oh MAN what a SHOT. especially the stark deliberate contrast with the previous scene of Bo's men chilling in her house. now Raylan is intruding and she's ready.

it's gonna be soooooo funny with Raylan fumbles two baddies and gets to watch Ava and Boyd hook up, that's gotta be coming. Raylan telling off ANYONE for being contrary is so gddamn rich of him, how does he stand himself.

Ava: "I'm just a girl from the holler, you know, Raylan? For better or worse, I can be myself here, you know? And whether I die tomorrow or 10 years from now, it's gonna be here. This is home."

I AM UNHINGED ABOUT THIS. Ava, Boyd, and Raylan are forming this trifecta of people haunted by Harlan. Their relationships with this place are their foundation. No one leaves Harlan alive, fair. But some people react to that by getting comfortable and settling in, like putting themselves in the teeth of it, knowing it will eat them and knowing running will only make it faster.

Arc Cannot Stop Thinking About Pathologic Corner: The way Harlan is depicted as a main character of the show reminds me of how the Town-On-Gorkon is portrayed in Pathologic. Boyd is absolutely the Haruspex, feared and crushed by the weight of his responsibilities and legacy, but practically ordained to care for it and willing to put in that work. Ava though feels like the Changeling, the way Clara only exists because the plague upon the Town exists, and is willing to be at its mercy because she knows it is also at her mercy. (by process of elimination, that makes Raylan the Dankovsky, but he's not gay enough, so skip that bit)

Anyway.

Boyd blows up his daddy's shipment of meth-making materials that was already a loaner to Bo from the Miami cartel.

DARLING DEAR WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE

I love the small detail that HE MADE SURE no casualties this time.

At this moment, Madre asked me "do you think his mother died of meth" and no, I don't think his story with meth is personal. The thing about neo nazi shitheels is that, broadly speaking, the movement is the result of white men feeling something is wrong in the world and trying to take action against it. They are just completely fuckheadedly wrong. Instead of looking at imperialism or racism or misogyny or capitalism and noticing how even they, the impoverished tier of the oppressing caste, suffer for all these things, they take an easy out and fall back on the same old shit.

But there is a core truth: something is wrong with the world. In best case scenarios, people who fall into these alt-right blackpilled bullshit systems can realize they were wrong while maintaining the knowledge of that wrongness. What they do with that may not be Perfect Social Understanding And Praxis Nirvana, but better understanding is in reach.

Deciding that the people profiting off an already embattled low-income community with exploitation that's fueled (and fuels) meth use should get all their shit blowed the fuck up with heavy ordinance is a pretty valid tactic. Especially since we know from Raylan's conversation with the Harlan sheriff that Bo going to prison cut crime in half, and that was with the sheriff still allowing traffic through Harlan so long as the drugs didn't stop in Harlan.

I love the Ava And Boyd Show and I am here for it.

[callmearcturus]

i just watched the opening sequence of season 2

Raylan Givens, you are the most ANNOYING man in the world, i'm dying

"Boyd, nice shot" HE WAS HAVING A CINEMATIC MOMENT, RAYLAN. and right after an incredible soulmates moment when they both simultaneously fire on the guy in the plane, and Boyd trusts Raylan to fire over his shoulder with a narrow angle at night while it's fucking raining, do you understand how easily Raylan could have either genuinely missed or "missed" and killed Boyd?

big, big trust. and Raylan let Boyd lead Raylan to the target, punched him tf out while he's STILL SHOT FROM THE LAST EPISODE. HUGE TRUST, and Raylan repays it by being the most annoying man in the Deep South.

i am no longer certain if fucking Boyd would fix Raylan. if I were Boyd, I'd wanna punch that cowboy in the neck. what a prick. /dreamy sigh

[callmearcturus]

S02E02 - The Life Inside (aka Raylan I am BEGGING you to have some self-respect)

okay i am gonna try to not navel-gaze or talk about historical precedents so this doesn't take me hours, we cannot do that every time

"For a second I thought I was 19 again."

Cannot be overstated how Raylan was waiting at exactly where the crew transport stops, Boyd didn't have to take a single step.

The last time Raylan was working the mine was when the cave-in happened. So Raylan apparently quit immediately out of fear of ever going in again. And Boyd was the one to pull him out alive.

nbd just lil soulmate things

Boyd: "Not a lot of legal employment opportunities in Harlan county.

And what does Boyd consider his skill set? Does he put "I'm literally the smartest person in this entire county, that's not exaggeration or boasting, it is a stone cold fact I am imparting unto you; if you do not keep me occupied, I will find a way to occupy myself, and no one here wants that," on his cover letter? how about "the longer you let me talk, the more the world bends around me"? Maybe "Raylan Givens has such a boner for me, if you want coverage for any illicit wrongdoing, just station me in a nearby location, it'll draw him off"?

I could go on but I will not.

oh we GOTTA talk about Raylan inviting Boyd out for a drink

Boyd drops the knowledge that Harlan is a dry county. The fuck it is, I could understand Harlan the town being dry, but the county itself and all hollers and townships within it? There is no fucking way.

Would explain the continued prevalence of moonshine though.

(An interesting note is the Bennetts seem to dispose of bodies down a mineshaft. How interesting we are told this right before the reveal that Boyd's working the mines again. Hmmmm.)

I can't go line by line bc this is such a beautiful cohesive moment.

One: This begins what seems like from episode two and three to be the Boyd Crowder Microaggression Conga Line. Boyd was jovial if cautious of Raylan asking him out (fair) but the moment this turns into talk about fallout from the Gio cartel thing, Boyd is so pissy about it. Like, there were plenty of reasons Raylan could have asked Boyd for a drink and this is just the most disappointing option.

And it does feel like disappointment. Like when Raylan attacked Boyd during the prison visit, the almost cool stoniness that takes over Boyd's countenance is the same. And when Bo Crowder refused to take him seriously.

I'm waiting to see how this plotline goes but I have percolating thoughts on Boyd Crowder and the rules of play, how much of his respect for people is rooted in whether they participate or not. And how Boyd gets dangerous when the play stops.

(Note for clarity: in this instance, "play" is not playing games or a stage play, but the construct itself, of there being structure that's defined by the interaction. Boyd is never (so far) just himself, he's always performing something. A person is never all of themself, all of their possible selves, at once.)

Two: Wanting to be left alone, and Raylan not believing it for a second.

Raylan is a cock in cowboy boots sometimes (most of the time) and has no concept of the emotional inertia that Boyd's dealing with.

He nearly died, did a stint in prison, got released, started a faith-based addiction rehab group (that also moonlighted as an anti-drug strike group), found out his attempted good work was still serving his father and the drug trade in Harlan, got raided several times by the police, got the everloving shit beat out of him as everyone he cared about watched, then was forced to abandon his group, then had to bury their bodies because no one else could or would or gave a shit, then had a mental breakdown at his oldest friend/rival, then helped said rival survive his father trying to hand him over to be tortured to death, then missed out on avenging his men, then got shot, then saved his rival, then spent at least a day WHILE STILL SHOT tracking the person who killed his father, then didn't even get that vindication bc his rival punched him out after using him.

And then instead of turning back to crime (the easier and MAYBE SAFER choice), he got a job in the mines that have nearly killed him before.

I think Boyd would be right to just glass Raylan for being such an unwavering jackass.

But also I think if Raylan allows himself to think about Boyd having interiority (which the show knows he does, see: this entire arc), he just straight up could not handle it.

Three: "Art says hi" and the fact Raylan is handling two conversations at once gives the moment incredible energy. Like, ART SAID HI TO BOYD that's adorable.

Four: Taking the call right there and vocally alluding to shit feels like Raylan trying to get Boyd to engage, to ask what's going on, to be in on this with Raylan. He's being playful, even flirty, and there's no bite at all. "Heh, you remember?"

He's even avoiding turning away from Boyd, keeping his body language cheated to remain open to Boyd, including him. He glances at Boyd thrice during the call, once overtly and twice subtly. He's not happy with what he's seeing.

So, "We're gonna continue this conversation another time." He wants another shot, because this was not what he was aiming for. And Boyd rebuffs him, saying there's no point in continuing.

Fucking ouch.

Raylan heads down to the Givens house because Arlo is on an ankle monitor because they never got the 20K back from him.

He's outside his house arrest tether range because Helen kicked him out of the house for betraying Raylan.

She's so fucking pissed at him, she answers the door holding a baseball bat and has parted a camper in the yard for Arlo to live inside instead of the house.

i'm wheezing. raylan man cmon.

When Helen yells at Arlo, Raylan's whole face lights up. He haaaaaates Arlo so much but still loves Helen even after her moderate betrayal in 1.05, so he's watching this go on like he's got front row seats at the state fair rodeo.

So happy for him tbh.

Both Helen and Arlo tell Raylan off for even talking to Mags Bennett. There is Big History there, something that makes the Givens family want to give the Bennetts wide berth.

I still think something went down with Dickie and Raylan, since he was the one who could not keep civil with Raylan even when under Marshal service investigation.

The Givens family sure like that baseball bat. I still swoon over how it functions as a motif of control and brutality.

Was Dickie going to be a big shot baseballer once but Raylan outshone him on the field and cost him a get-outta-Harlan scholarship? Or did Dickie get injured and Raylan could've stopped it or prevented it? Fits the recurring idea of "who knew, who had the power to act, who didn't do anything."

The fact that Arlo likes Mags is the most damning thing one could say about her.

SPEAKING OF

oh we are just coming out and saying it huh. Mags wishes she'd had a girl. Lucky there was one nearby who was convenient, huh?

I really am not sure that "growing a small crop of pot and making one bad phone call" is worthy of dying. I really believe Mags decided it had to be.

Mags also explicitly apologizes to Loretta for not handling the guy who kidnapped her. She gives Loretta homemade cider and lets her know she'll be taken care of while her father is "away." And keeps nervously touching her.

I love the duality of thisssss. Like yes this is Mags wanting to spark a connection with this girl, to be maternal where she's not earned the right, and she can feel how it's too much too fast.

At the same time: they are talking about how a child molester took Loretta, nearly got away with her, whilst an adult keeps touching her arm, her necklace, her hair despite Loretta not initiating any contact or indicating she's okay with the invasion.

The scene is so uncomfortable because I feel we are conditioned not to see women as this kind of aggressor, so it's hammering home HEY THIS LOOK FAMILIAR? IT SHOULD.

btw wild choice to tell Loretta her father was sent down south to run errands for the Bennetts to help out with the money situation. But as soon as I say that, fuck, of course. Mags will get Loretta used to being with her first, then break the news that Walt McCready is dead, so its a forgone conclusion that she'll keep taking care of Loretta. Of course. Fuck.

Meanwhile, back in the den of Accidental Heterosexuality.

raylan givens i am on my fucking knees begging you to respect yourself enough to not do this.

Reminder: Winona and Raylan were married. Gary was the realtor helping them with their house. Winona cheated on Raylan with Gary, then married Gary. Now, she's cheating on Gary with Raylan whilst still married.

Raylan: "I know the name of a very good realtor." Winona: "You're an asshole." Me: "bitch, who??????? whomst?" Raylan: "I'm sorry." Me: "WHY?"

Raylan: "Other times." Winona: "There are no other times, just that. (beat) Other times, I want to run away with you to Costa Rica."

TO BE CLEAR: I SUPPORT WOMEN'S WRONGS. However, Winona may just not be cut out for dedicated relationships. Her desires re: Raylan are never seeing him again or a fantasy of running away from their lives and careers and responsibilities.

And this scene ends with Raylan touching her. Winona turns down sex, saying they can't be late to work, AND THEN SMASH CUT TO

You cannot convince me that Winona is interested in Raylan as a human person so much as a cipher for control of her life.

She settled for the 'safe' option with marrying the realtor and divorcing the US marshal who gets in 5 shootouts every week. Gary was supposed to be safe. Then a terrifying murderer was just in her house, knew her schedule, and used her to send a message to Gary.

Thus, the illusion of safety is totally busted. So she gets Raylan to save Gary from his bullshit. Raylan is useful, he can fix dangerous situations. Winona has control of her life again.

Honestly, it's not meaningfully different than Ava treating Raylan as her safety net, her man on a white horse. At least with Ava, Raylan showed up at her door and said she may be reason to stay in Kentucky. He did lead Ava on, even if Ava maybe should've caught on sooner that he wasn't serious.

Winona is fucked up but at least its in an interesting way. And Raylan going along with this, being useful and at her command says a lot about him.

Back to the core question: What does Raylan Givens want? How does he even figure that out?

GARY WANTS TO BOND WITH RAYLAN OVER BEING DUMPED BY WINONA, THIS IS SO AWKWARD.

sdkljfalsdjfl Winona was complaining about smelling like Raylan and then Gary tells her she smells nice, what. What. What is it about Harlan boys, to command the repressed homosexuality in the fellas around them so easily.

Now I have to think about what cologne Raylan would wear. I'll figure out an answer. Does it have to be contemporary to the 2010s? Or can I pick what he'd wear today?

anyway, please raylan respect yourself.

I'm skipping over the Case Of The Week but rest assured: holy shit its good. It was emotional and made me shriek, it's just that I only have a few images left and we're back to Boyd.

Boyd is staying with Ava. In a half-way home sort of situation, not a "lets both rebound from Raylan being an idiot" situation. But Boyd got beat up, drunk enough not to remember the details.

So he's at the self-harm stage of the trauma recovery, fantastic, good to know.

He has a key to the house, came in silently as possible, tried to avoid waking Ava. She's there anyway and as we've literally seen how Ava looks mussed from sleep, it feels like she was waiting for him, worried.

There is a fucking gorgeous shot between them.

(points)

A shot made of delineations. The camera doesn't move, just Ava and Boyd. Separated by the almost-centered line of the bathroom wall, by height as Boyd sits, and by distance between the bedroom seat and the foreground bathroom.

Ava tells Boyd what to do, and he does it. He moves slowly, gingerly, both because he's recovering from drinking/fighting but also because this is about the delineations, the boundaries. He never reaches for her, she reaches for him, and there's a moment when this action is obviously staged to be set-up for her to clean him up.

Then, she slams the boundary back into place and hands off the supplies.

This doesn't make sense except that she felt the need to help him then remembered she wanted to keep her distance. Otherwise it would have been "well, the first aid is here, get yourself cleaned up." Moving him was a misstep on her part.

Especially since the B plot of this episode is a pregnant inmate trying to sell her baby to another family who can't conceive (and the whole thing goes fucking pear-shaped horrifically) and how much that plot emphasizes how we care for people who are hurt, how we protect them: this moment is so delicate and patient and lingers in its confused mix of intimacy and discomfort.

Ava vs Winona is so fucking interesting too.

Ava gets to set the tone and pace of her relationship with Boyd. He is a boarder, she will kick his ass out if she catches him getting in trouble, she directs him and he goes.

Winona decides when she and Raylan are going to bang, when she gets to demand things from him, and gets upset when he tries to maintain his own sense of control. (There's an AGONIZINGLY PAINFUL moment in the next episode of him trying to set his own tone and comfort, and Winona just does not allow it.) She cheated on him and now is cheating with him. It Sucks Supremely.

Ava and Boyd feel like they are recovering from the shared trauma of everything that happened, from Bowman to Bo. They are the last Crowders outside I think Johnny, who has reappeared since Bo filled his gut with buckshot. Raylan fucked off back to Lexington; when Boyd tells Raylan all he wants is to do his job and be left alone, it feels like he's inadvertently speaking for Ava too. It won't last, but for now, they're both mourning. Better together than alone.

... anyway i told y'all that raylan was gonna fumble both these hotties and lose the love triangle. I knew it!

[callmearcturus]

Justified Watch Log: S01E09 - E10

S01E09 - Hatless

l m a o

This is the first episode I was solidly "meh" on. I think I didn't buy the former NFL player being buddies with his realtor, so I couldn't get in with the relationships at play. Winona verbally handing Raylan his ass was good.

Also the specific thing she points out, that Raylan didn't want things, didn't dream like Gary does. That's a great shout tbh. What does he want? I feel like his lack of direction is a huge part of what's led him to be kind of a fuck-up.

S01E10 - The Hammer

"Now what if I was to say..."

now i know this methodology for addiction counseling seems a mite bit extreme but he's new at it so let's at least hear him out

Putting aside the hilarity of "Could you be any more vague?": boy fucking howdy I am shoulder-to-shoulder with Boyd on this even though I fully believe this preacher mask is just the latest in a long line of convenient masks.

all that aside: Raylan, you are a terrible fucking cop. there are some truly batshit things he's saying. he, thus far, has only suspicions that Boyd's congregation is a front for crime but states he preferred the old church, i.e. the neo nazi fucks Boyd was running with. TRULY UNHINGED STATEMENT. Raylan specifically is the one who got Boyd's case thrown out (and frankly Boyd has grounds to sue the state for misconduct and wrongful imprisonment imo), and yet he is stating all the thrown-out charges like they're facts in the eyes of the law.

and Boyd just smiling coldly and letting this go unanswered feels like such a specific move, like seeing your King is endangered in chess and instead of getting a piece in the line of fire, you put the opponent's King in check as well. Raylan has his moments of restraint but with Boyd? motherfucker launched himself across a table to attack Boyd during visitation in fucking prison. Raylan will destroy himself if you just let him; Boyd standing free and clear is concrete proof of that.

I love how Boyd uses words as a weapon. His voice is like a river going to rapids, ready and eager to sweep any fool away, and he will continue talking until he is forcibly stopped and interrupted, because if word 7 is not the one to infect you, maybe work 39 will, he will keep trying and he is tireless.

(Punct was right, he really is an Abraxas archetype and I am so fucked.)

I am fair certain if someone came out to Boyd's camp with the intent of discussing the mythology and history of Rome's founding, he'd be fully erect in .5 seconds. The education system has failed this man, by which I mean there should be a local university for him to teach the classics at, it'd fix all his problems. (jfc imagine him set loose on academia. imagine.)

Meanwhile, Boyd is using his groupies to try and break up local meth labs and incurring the wrath of his daddy in the process, and no one can figure out if his latest persona is real or not. (MADE FOR ME SPECIFICALLY.)

/gnawing at my knuckles. oh a guy like you should come with a warning.

um excuse me. fuck i'm so mad i can't add multiple clips to one post but Raylan questions a suspect in a men's restroom. the suspect calls him a homo ofc. Raylan responds by blocking the guy from leaving and going, "No, no, I go first, then you. Count to 100." (which, if that's unclear, is a stereotype of what you would perhaps do after hooking up in the men's room, to ensure you don't walk out together.) /stares baffled at Raylan

jfc Raylan is so fucking fixated on Boyd, he shows up in a weed shop and starts knocking glass bongs off the shelf like a fucking cat to intimidate the clerk into helping him. BAD COP. HILARIOUS TO LEARN HE IS A CAT. BUT BAD COP. i mean, he then finds the guy who didn't identify Boyd and tries to intimidate him into redoing his testimony to fix Raylan's mistake, and calls Raylan out directly for it. i am enthalled that the show is not fucking around with this, they're overtly reversing the roles for this episode to cast Boyd as the misunderstood anti-hero and Raylan as the well-intentioned but clearly out-of-pocket corrupt anti-villain.

As someone who grew up in Missouri and heard a fair share of distant meth lab explosions, I am enjoying this way too much.

jfc it is a fucking love triangle. Raylan's insistence that Boyd is worse than Bowman (aka the dude Ava killed for beating her for years and years) is gonna be so funny when she and Boyd hook up and Raylan doesn't get to fuck either of them L M A O this show is a comedy

[callmearcturus]

Justified Watch Log: S01E06 - S01E08

S01E06 - The Collector

why the fuck does this show have standard television cinematography (above-average but still following the usual expectations) right up until Boyd and Raylan are having a conversation

and then suddenly the camera and focus is shoved so far in, it feels like its trying to elicit the feeling of being a voyeur on something intimate. jfc even the sex scene with Ava and Raylan didn't include this focus on the emotional connection.

honestly the next scene after this is Ava and Raylan talking about the impending fury of Bo Crowder and the merits of leaving Kentucky--

(which, I don't know if this will continue to bear out over the series, but I do love the implication that these crime families won't chase you if you have the good sense to exit their protectorate, just get the fuck out and you'll be spared. when the rule is that simple, it feels like refusing to do so is an act of defiance.)

anyway, point is that there is clear intimacy between Ava and Raylan, with her bringing in coffee and crawling across him to lay on the bed. but the camera never makes the audience a voyeur in the same way. Ava's interiority and how closed off she is with her true thoughts is equally as dangerous as Boyd flinging his out at Raylan like throwing darts.

anyway, the big Reveal of this episode of why the collector has over 40 Hitler paintings was so good i had to pause the episode for a moment and just revel in it. holy shit every side character is so fucking good.

S01E07 - Blind Spot

okay look. LOOK.

look at the camera. look how it'll be focused on Raylan's eyes or Boyd's eyes, and then just slip downward to their mouths. it is imitating the way a person's gaze slides to assess another person they are speaking to.

by positioning the camera basically on top of each character, the inference is meant to be "this is what each of them are looking at". this camerawork is brutally voyeuristic, intimate, sensual, and so far it has only happened with Boyd and Raylan.

there's an interview with Olyphant and Goggins when they immediately bring up and acknowledge to homoeroticism of the very first scene they did together, that it wasn't on the page, was something they brought. (POINTS) THIS CAMERA OPERATOR BROUGHT IT TOO, GDDAMN!

hilariously, after this confrontation, Raylan is basically put in time out by the prison staff before he's let to see Boyd again, and Boyd is like "so AS I WAS ABOUT TO SAY, you're an idiot, you were the target, not Ava, dipshit." except with 400 more words and 200% more gentility

I just love how people talk in this show. One of the other Crowders finding Ava and telling her: "The deer that Bo's huntin', it's open season wherever the bluegrass grows, but he might not pursue it past the state line." Because yes, he is delivering a direct threat. But it's also a warning. It's been established that Boyd and Johnny both think Ava was right to kill Bowman. He's doing the machismo posturing bullshit because it's the only way he's let to say, "Excuse me, ma'am, but my father is very serious about his intentions to murder you, would you consider getting out of the state of Kentucky, because I've no interest in seeing you hurt but also I have no power here."

(which, the show comes out and says directly like ten minutes later lmao. I GOT THE SUBTEXT, SHOW, GIMME SOME CREDIT.)

anyway raylan is lucky he's pretty, he is not the brains of this show

S01E08 - Blowback

Ten out of fucking ten episode.

I love:

one: the A plot of the hostage situation and Raylan, Mister "I was justified shooting two people in ten days, wait why am I under internal investigation" being the negotiator. The fact the inmate calls him "Shooter." Raylan has so far been so quick to violence that seeing him slow down and work tirelessly to defuse a situation is truly great character work.

two: I love the inmate, Cal Wallace. This is a man who has multiple life sentences, but he is entirely sympathetic here. Going to a super-max prison, he knows he's not just going to be imprisoned, he is going to be physically and psychologically tortured by the people running the prison. He's fucking right. His position makes perfect sense.

I don't remotely think this show is anti-prison system but I do love when media that isn't rehabilitationist ends up touching significantly on one of the major points of the philosophy.

three: the scene of Tim officially requisitioning the fried chicken is brilliant.

four: Raylan succeeds with Wallace because he treats him like a person with dignity. That's huge. So far, this show has put tremendous effort into ensuring every character, particularly the one-off bit characters, feel like people and not just bodies to be shot. If this was the only episode with that modus operandi, it would feel trite here, but since almost everyone gets the same care and interiority, it works.

five: raylan you are a fucking idiot. holy shit the reveal that the AUSDA guy isn't here about Raylan's Miami shooting, he is here because by not keeping it in his pants, Raylan has secured Boyd's freedom is immaculate. Everything comes back, there are consequences for his actions, and it is plainly and materially his fault there isn't a case against Boyd.

six: the fact there is less than five seconds between this

and this

this show fucks severely

Well, Boyd, I've not know Raylan as long as you have, but I think you may need to invest in a chastity device to make that happen, because Raylan all you had to do was not fuck Ava until the trial was over. That was it!

fuck me i love the way Boyd uses words. I think to think about it for a bit but I got Thoughts.