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 5.3: “Good Intentions” (original airdate, Jan. 21, 2014). Directed by Dean Parisot, written by Benjamin Cavell (8 out of 10)
The story so far: After one high-profile shooting of a criminal too many, trigger-happy Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens has been re-assigned — from his home in drug-infested Miami to his now, more-overrun-by-drugs childhood home in eastern Kentucky (specifically, Harlan County). Back in semi-familiar territory, loose cannon Raylan butts heads with his new co-workers and his new, no-nonsense boss, Art Mullen, and 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 still living in the lap of luxury, in the mansion owned by now-jailed, former Detroit “bag man” Charles Monroe. He’s also trying … still … to woo the lovely social worker, Allison. If only Boyd had it so easy. He’s confronted with crises on several fronts, not the least of which is finding out who intercepted an expected drug shipment from his new Canadian contacts and killed some of his men.
Things go from good to bad … or from entertaining to at least a little bit irritating … in hurry for Raylan in this episode. Not only does he get dressed down by his boss, Art, he also gets an unexpected, unwanted “roommate” at the Monroe compound: his fellow Deputy U.S. Marshal Rachel Brooks, whom Art has assigned to keep tabs on his most wayward employee.
But Art has his reasons for the wrist-slapping. Our hero (well, anti-hero) has gotten into a scrap with Henry Granger, a baseball bat-toting thug who shows up at the mansion late one night, while Raylan is trying to finally bed Allison. He initially attributes the “scare tactics” to Monroe, who’s due to be released soon, but soon discovers his would-be lover has her own dark side.
Speaking of dark sides, Boyd is gradually losing control of his anger and his actions. He initially accuses his new partner, former “Dixie Mafia” leader Winn Duffy, of intercepting the drugs, only to discover that a former colleague may be the culprit.
And while Boyd continues to appease his jailed lover, Ava, he’s getting entangled with Mara, the Russian mail-order bride of Harlan mover-and-shaker Lee Paxton – the man he left comatose after an ill-fated business meeting.
Worse, there appears to be a bigger threat looming. Daryl Crowe Jr., newly arrived from the Sunshine State, has not only set sights on cousin Dewey’s ill-gotten, mini-fortune (a $300,000 court settlement for harassment and abuse, mostly from Raylan), he’s also clearly got designs on moving into Boyd’s territory. And Daryl has a similarly deadly way to deal with his competition.
This is easily the best of the third season episodes so far. To be fair, the others were set-up intensive, but it’s refreshing to see Raylan return to his screwing-and-shooting ways (he takes out some frustrations on poor Henry, who is seeking revenge on Allison). There are more office-bound scenes as well, including the aforementioned, dressing-down sequence, and a classic reaction from an exasperated, disgusted Rachel. (Sadly, sharpshooting Tim Gutterson is still nowhere to be seen.)
Credit filmmaker Dean Parisot (“GalaxyQuest”), who directed the episode, which deftly changes gears from serious to silly throughout. And an interrogation scene features what might be co-star Jere Burns’ best series moment, as well as the best use of a BB gun in television ever (trust me).
And the show’s script editor, Benjamin Cavell, proves he’s got his fair share of writing skills as well. Among the episode’s best one-liners:
“So you’re protecting me from the situation you created?” (Wynn)
“Does this restaurant have blowjobs on the menu? Apples and oranges, man!” (Boyd)
“On second thought, I can see how someone paid 150 grand for those.” (Raylan)
“Please tell me that was a lucky guess.” (Raylan)
“You ain’t got curb appeal up in here.” (Daryl)
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: Xander Berkeley (Charles Monroe), Damon Herriman (Dewey Crowe), Scott Anthony Leet (Henry Granger), Michael Rapaport (Daryl Crowe, Jr.), Amy Smart (Allison) and Karolina Wydra (Mara Paxton)
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).