By Jeff Michael Vice
JUSTIFIED – Live-action drama developed by Graham Yost, based on characters created by Elmore Leonard; rated TV-MA; airs Tuesdays on FX; 60 minutes. Episode 5.7: “Raw Deal” (original airdate, Feb. 25, 2014). Directed by Bill Johnson; written by VJ Boyd (8 out of 10)
The story so far: After one high-profile shooting too many (mostly criminal types), trigger-happy Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens has been re-assigned. He’s gone from his home in drug-infested Miami back to his now, more-overrun-by-drugs childhood home in eastern Kentucky (specifically, Harlan County). Once again in semi-familiar territory, loose cannon Raylan butts heads with his new co-workers and his new, no-nonsense boss, Art Mullen. He also has an uneasy reunion with his estranged family members, as well as his childhood friend, Boyd Crowder, who has become a local drug kingpin.
In this episode:Raylan is outsmarted at nearly every turn by TC Fleming, an enterprising hacker who has been siphoning funds from a gambling Website. Meanwhile, Boyd finds himself in Mexico, where he’s meeting with new heroin suppliers and where he hopes to deal with his double-crossing cousin, Johnny, once and for all. As for Boyd’s imprisoned lover, Ava, she’s trying to find her own, unique means of self-protection behind bars.
Back from a brief hiatus, “Justified” returns with an episode that straddles the line between outright comedy and violent thriller action.
The episode’s amusing hijinks not only pit Raylan – who’s now stuck dealing with the Marshals Office’s dreaded “walk-ins” – against a one-legged antagonist armed with online taunts, they also have him dealing with the office’s snarky IT guy, Chris.
Compare those scenes to the almost-deadly-serious ones featuring Boyd and Ava. In the former, he is once again double-crossed by Johnny, who’s hoping to make his own deal with the Mexican drug cartel. And in the latter, Ava makes her own deal with the Devil – an imprisoned religious zealot/preacher who’s supplying drugs to the inmate population.
While the prison story line almost verges on “Orange is the New Black” territory, it’s still in the background. As usual, “Raw Deal” has strong plotting, performances and direction, and it sets up a few intriguing story elements.
For one thing, it appears the show may now be writing Amy Smart’s bland, boring character (social worker Allison Brander) out of the picture, and may be setting up would-be legal eagle Wendy Crowe as a future, possible love interest for Raylan. (Alicia Witt and Olyphant share more chemistry in this episode’s bar flirtation scene than Olyphant and Smart had in several episodes’ worth of scenes.)
Regular series writer VJ Boyd scripted the episode, which was directed by small-screen veteran Bill Johnson (“House M.D.,” “Shark,” “The West Wing”). As always, “Raw Deal” has its share of great quips and exchanges. Among the better ones:
“Never much cared for falafel. They’re like cut-rate hush puppies.” (Raylan)
“I made this U.S. Marshall (sic) my bitch!” (TC, on his blog)
“How many legs did he have, Raylan?” “Just the one.” (Tim, then Raylan)
“Is there a way to post to TC’s blog?” “Lord, no, we’re decades away from being able to reply to posts.” (Raylan, then Chris)
“Guy threw his leg out the window, jumped out, and then slid down a light pole, and then gave me the bird!” (Raylan)
“You know what you could never understand is that some men lead and some men follow. And when you can’t lead and you refuse to follow, you die alone in the desert, just not this desert.” (Boyd)
“Are you going to fly on your own dime this time?” “Nope, I won a radio contest.” (Art, then Raylan)
“Can’t give you your leg, it could be used as a weapon” (Raylan)
Overall rating: 8 out of 10
CAST:
The regular characters: Timothy Olyphant (Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens), Walton Goggins (Boyd Crowder), Nick Searcy (Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Art Mullen), Jacob Pitts (Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Gutterson), Erica Tazel (Deputy U.S. Marshal Rachel Brooks), Jere Burns (Winn Duffy) and Joelle Carter (Ava Crowder)
Guest stars: T.J. Linnard (TC Fleming), Kinsey McLean (Chris), David Meunier (Johnny Crowder), Michael Rapaport (Daryl Crowe, Jr.), Amy Smart (Allison Brander) and Alicia Witt (Wendy Crowe)
Jeff Michael Vice, aka Jerk-bot, can be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast (www.thegeekshowpodcast.com), as well as be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff).