Justified - Season 5 (FX) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

This was my favorite so this season, in that I truly didn't know which way things were going to turn out from moment to moment. It's nice to see a bit of season one Ava back, a survivor in her own right who isn't dependent on male protection. It was a little distracting seeing Danielle Panabaker turn up as the friendly face in the prison yard, because she looks so much like the actress who plays Loretta.

The one thing that has bothered me these last two episodes though is why was Art so gung-ho in implicating Raylan in the Nicky Augustine murder? Why did he even care? Seemed out of character for him, particularly what, 6 months from retirement?

It's definitely not a matter of not caring. I think Art half-knew but wanted to prove himself wrong. When Picker pinned the incident on the tarmac on Agent Barkley, there was a nice tidy solution. But Art still half-knew it was Raylan, and Raylan felt the need to be as honest as he could without forcing Art to open an investigation.Art drew a line in the sand with Raylan after Winona was attacked last season, and Raylan violated the spirit of that ultimatum if not the letter.

And what was the deal with that opening scene? "Yeah, Raylan, I was wondering if you could just come meet me out at this dive bar in the middle of nowhere just so I can punch you in the eye. Okay, see ya soon."

I didn't interpret it as Art inviting Raylan at all. My interpretation is that that Art's a regular at that bar, Raylan knew that and showed up on his own hoping to smooth the waters, and Art wasn't up for smoothing the waters.Pairing Boyd and the Crowes together instantly made them interesting and connected in a way they hadn't been so far this season. Man, this show's really getting it's money's worth out of Michael Rapaport's size. When he pummeled the crap out of that neo-Nazi, you could see why he's the head of the family. Even his psychopath brother wouldn't mess with him.Dewey trying to hold Boyd's muscle for ransom and utterly failing to convey his threat due to the spotty cell phone reception was one of the funniest things I've seen in quite a while.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Wow, talk about a game changer of an ending! My guess is that the crazy Crowe is not long for this world.Looks like things are quickly coming to a head between Raylan and Art.Loved Raylan being impressed with the one-legged hacker's escape. Really loved Raylan rejecting Wendy Crowe's advances.I don't know where I was expecting the story to go with friendly Penny in prison, but it wasn't to that place. Like any good reveal, though, it made perfect sense. And given the number of rednecks on this show, I've been waiting for Dale Dickey to show up for a while now. I'm glad they saved a really good character for her. Anyone who's seen Winter's Bone knows how quietly terrifying she can be.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This season still isn't firing on all cylinders like last year, but I enjoyed tonight's episode. The wheels within wheels with the Mexico shenanigans was fun. More importantly, after all of the shades of gray with Raylan in the aftermath of what went down on the airport tarmac in last season's finale, it was nice to get an episode where he's an outright hero again. Alicia Witt's performance continues to make Wendy the most interesting of the newly introduced Crowes. And while I know the prison storyline has gotten mixed reviews, I'm really liking seeing Ava left to her own devices again. She has an autonomy that she hasn't had since she threw her lot in with Boyd.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Danny's untimely demise reminded me quite a bit of one of the big deaths from the climax of Out of Sight.

 

[Walter C]

I'm still behind and catching up on the episodes, but have to say, I don't normally care for Michael Rapaport, but his role as Darryl has to be the best ever for him, as I find him hilarious, and large part of why this season has been fun to watch. I see an Emmy nomination coming his way, and I never thought I would ever say that.

 

[Quentin]

Danny's untimely demise reminded me quite a bit of one of the big deaths from the climax of Out of Sight.

That was pretty funny. I mostly enjoyed Raylan's attempt to apologize for not warning about the hole since he hadn't noticed it.

 

[ScottH]

Danny's untimely demise reminded me quite a bit of one of the big deaths from the climax of Out of Sight.

I've already added that to my list of "ways I don't want to leave this world."

I'm still behind and catching up on the episodes, but have to say, I don't normally care for Michael Rapaport, but his role as Darryl has to be the best ever for him, as I find him hilarious, and large part of why this season has been fun to watch. I see an Emmy nomination coming his way, and I never thought I would ever say that.

As someone who has liked Michael Rapaport in the past (his roles in True Romance, Higher Learning and Beautiful Girls were great), I completely disagree that he's been Emmy worthy in this. And mostly due to the horrible accent. He sounds like a New Yorker faking a southern accent (which I suppose is exactly what it is). For the first few episodes I found it very distracting, but I've gotten used to it by now. Sorry, but there will be no Emmy in his future, at least not for this.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Part of the uphill battle for him is that his Daryl Crowe Jr. is following in the footsteps of Mags Bennett, Robert Quarles and Nicky Augustine who are in my opinion three of the finest TV villains ever.

 

[ScottH]

Part of the uphill battle for him is that his Daryl Crowe Jr. is following in the footsteps of Mags Bennett, Robert Quarles and Nicky Augustine who are in my opinion three of the finest TV villains ever.

Indeed those are tough acts to follow. I'm not sure this season has really had a primary villain like the ones you mention though. I suppose Daryl is the closest thing to one, but unlike other seasons (other than the first) there has been so much of the other characters that I don't think Daryl qualifies as the one big baddie of the season.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I loved Danny getting his like he did, next up Daryl Jr.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I used to question whether my favorite character was Raylan or Boyd, but lately I've been really enjoying Dewey for all his screw ups and his reaction when he realizes that he's screwed up again..

 

[joshEH]

Part of the uphill battle for him is that his Daryl Crowe Jr. is following in the footsteps of Mags Bennett, Robert Quarles and Nicky Augustine who are in my opinion three of the finest TV villains ever.

I kind of hate Rapaport's character, but it does have the advantage of making me really excited to see him die. That will be sweet, just like it was sweet when his dickhead brother went out this week.

It's weird, because while I certainly wasn't rooting for Quarles, I really liked the character and McDonough's work in the role. With Rapaport, I just want to see him get his comeuppance, but it's actually kind of working because of that, in a sense.

The AV Club's last writeup made a good point about the Crowes, which was that the fact that they're idiot losers is what kind of makes them a different beast for Boyd and Raylan to deal with this year. In a lot ways, they're way more unpredictable than a smart villain, because you never know how they're going to fuck up.

Granted, this is something Justified uses all the time in the week-to-week cases, but stretched over a season, I don't know if it's totally working. As I said, I'm at least eagerly anticipating their various ends.

(Except Kendall -- he's kind of just a Loretta-redux, even if the kid they got is actually quite solid.)

Indeed those are tough acts to follow. I'm not sure this season has really had a primary villain like the ones you mention though. I suppose Daryl is the closest thing to one, but unlike other seasons (other than the first) there has been so much of the other characters that I don't think Daryl qualifies as the one big baddie of the season.

As a quasi-related side-note, probably one of my favorite qualities of this season is the occasional pairing of Raylan with some local lawman that mirrors him and his troubles in some non-specific way. Eric Roberts and David Koechner were both highlights for me.

 

[joshEH]

"... but I do know how to blow shit up."

 

[Duane R]

Mental note: Don't accept a cigarette from Boyd.

 

[joshEH]

Art getting shot, Boyd back to his old explosive tricks, Kendall's (presumably false) confession, and only two new comments? Blerg.

It's a shame they've lost the tether of Wendy's characterization in the last two episodes, because Witt's so appealing in the role that I'd like to see her somehow stick around after her last brother goes into the Harlan dirt. And Raylan is still a strong enough character to carry the series through considerable rough patches.

They just need to realize that they've built Boyd up to a point that there are not going to be any other major outside criminal threats to him that we're likely to take seriously, and no sheer tonnage of plot is going to compensate for that.

(I just hope Wynn Duffy has his own version of a Mr. Wolf to clean up that hotel room.)

 

[ScottH]

I would watch a Wynn Duffy spin-off.

I know you're all with me.

 

[joshEH]

Now that was a goddamn fantastic episode of Justified. Looks like they're going to "save" the season (still better than 97.5% of everything else on TV) in these last two episodes. Love when Raylan uses the law to get the bad guys. A gun is nice, but he mowed through them this episode.

Pretty much every one of Dewey's scenes last night was gold. Siphoning the gas, the "anus is on you!", his confession. Just gold. I'm gonna miss that guy. Forget the Ava-in-prison stuff, just give me a Dewey-and-Dickie series built around the two trying to escape from prison.

(Also, I loved Tim and Rachel's American Hustle-joke.)

The finale looks to be epic. The last three episodes could basically be the series' Empire Strikes Back.

 

[ScottH]

This hasn't been one of the stronger seasons of Justified, but it's been solid.

No way Daryl owns Mike like that.

The Ava stuff has really brought the season down. She was a good character, but they should have killed her off last season.

I also don't like how they forced this conflict between Raylan and Art. But overall it's been an enjoyable season. So many good characters. I don't recall a show that has had so many quality bit part characters throughout the series run.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

A so-so finale for easily the weakest season yet. That being said, the developments in the last fifteen minutes setting up the finale season have me excited as hell. Raylan versus Boyd is the confrontation I've been waiting all season for.
And Mary Steenburgen's line about Boyd being lousy at running heroin but great at robbing banks sure did make me smile.

 

[joshEH]

Great that Tim and Rachel got to have the big shootout, and I was smitten enough with Wendy all year that I liked seeing her drop the curtain on Daryl. And the setup for next year looks interesting enough that it's almost certain that this season will end up being squarely the weakest of all of them.

My big question is why they bothered upgrading Jere Burns to series-regular when Duffy had a bigger, more active role last year? Still, the pieces are now in place for an absolutely epic final season next year.

And Mary Steenburgen's line about Boyd being lousy at running heroin but great at robbing banks sure did make me smile.

Hearing her say horrible things like "smug little Hobbit-looking beaner shitbird" just adds to her awesomeness.