Justified rewatch: 1x12 and 1x13

[gwyn]

1.12 Fathers and Sons
Original Air Date: June 1, 2010
Written by: Dave Andron
Directed by: Mike Katleman



Raylan is ordered to enlist his estranged father's help against the increasing threat of Bo Crowder.


1.13 Bulletville
Original Air Date: June 8, 2010
Written by: Fred Golan
Directed by: Adam Arkin



Bo gets revenge on Boyd for blowing up his ephedrine shipment, asks Arlo to help him kill Raylan at the request of the Miami cartel, and kidnaps Ava for bait and insurance against Raylan.

Please share your thoughts and reactions in comments.

Just a note: Since Justified seasons are 13 episodes each, I'm making the season premieres single-episode posts, with the subsequent ones two each. Next week will be S2x01, The Moonshine War.

Comments

[mackiemesser]

1.12: I was so impressed by Walton Goggins in this episode. He was absolutely mesmerizing when he started preaching about Evil. Also, even tho Arlo is despicable, the actor playing him is great, and this episode really gave him a chance to show off.

1.13: Everything in this episode was turned up way past 11. Just super intense all around. And the shootout at the cabin at the end somehow managed to be both nail-biting and hilarious - the kind of thing that's very hard to pull off but this show manages with ease.

[gwyn]

It really was past 11, wasn't it? My fave bit was definitely Raylan's hypercompetence at shooting Bo's henchman and then kicking that gun out of Bo's hand. ::hearteyes::

Second favorite, gross as it was, was him killing the guy who was poking his head in the window. Raylan's way ahead of you, Pilar and Ernesto, might as well give up now.

[mackiemesser]

When Raylan doesn't have anyone looking over his shoulder he becomes almost like an archetype, or sort of mythic: he shoots true, out-thinks everyone and is just cooler than cool. But when he has to rein himself in when others are watching - that's when things get screwed up.

My favorites parts of the show, and the series, are when Boyd and Raylan interact. They kind of slide into a slightly alternate universe that everyone else is just a little bit puzzled by.

Fathers and Sons

[hafital]

This episode continues setting up the twisted mirror images of the two different sets of father and sons, and brings it front and center.

Ernesto is uncommonly pretty for a mafia thug. What are you doing with your life, Ernesto?

The specter of Tommy Bucks really follows Raylan around through this entire season.

"I can swallow that asshole with a short glass of water." okay Bo.

I actually love the scene between Ava and Winona, although it strikes me that they do not score high on the Bechtel test.

I agree completely with mackiemesser re Walton Goggins. I mean, he's always very good if not outstanding, but i love how he goes from preacher in this episode to genuinely horrified by what his father did to his followers in the next episode. Which really was horrible.

My only real complaint about this episode is the lack of Tim.

Re: Fathers and Sons

[gwyn]

I picked the shot of Tim, Art, and Raylan on surveillance for this rewatch, but yeah, it was sad that this was all we got of them. I'd forgotten how little we saw of Tim and Rachel at this point, because it was Harlan 24/7.

It always felt to me like even though he shot Tommy Bucks, the memory of Nicaragua haunts Raylan so deeply that it colors everything he sees and does. So there's all this blowback in real form as the cartel tries to get him for it, but there's such a deep scar in him now, and actually killing the man who caused it hasn't eased that for Raylan. Then the fact that they keep coming after him... In the end, it makes a lot of what happens in Season 2 even deeper and more terrible.

Bulletville

[hafital]

A bit of foreshadowing over where Boyd and Ava's relationship ends up in later seasons.

"Maybe he's batman." hee

I feel genuinely bad for Boyd in this episode. Most of the time I think he gets what he deserves, but not this.

It's difficult for me to wrap my head around believing Arlo is Raylan's dead. There is just nothing similar between them at all.

"How long have you known?"
"Well, Arlo, in truth I think I've always known."

How does Johnny survive that gut shot? jeez.

I love that Boyd went to Raylan. Great scene between them in the car. I think I like Walton in this scene even more than in the charismatic bigger than life church scene.

Not sorry to see the end of Bo. I'm surprised the sniper missed Raylan, though. Not much of a sniper. Certainly no Tim Gutterson.

I like the western movie ending with our hero in a cabin during a shoot out.

Bye bye Ernesto.

The end of this episode is definitely one of my favorite frenemies moments between Raylan and Boyd, though there are so many to choose from. Generally hero/antihero pairings aren't my thing, but I like Boyd telling Raylan he's his only friend.

Re: Bulletville

[gwyn]

Yeah, everything about Boyd in this was so tragic--I normally think that too, that he gets what he deserves, but his howl when he sees all his followers strung up like that...it's pretty powerful.

I'm surprised the sniper missed Raylan, though. Not much of a sniper. Certainly no Tim Gutterson.

It's weird that I'm defending one of the bad guys, but we've been conditioned for decades to see shooting people selectively as this easy thing, but if you're not trained like Tim, it's really, really hard to shoot a moving target. I mean, not if you've got an automatic rifle where you can spray bullets at everything you see, but with rifles like that, or a handgun, you have to be very good to hit a moving target. Bo was a very large, nonmoving one when he was shot, and then Raylan, who's a much skinnier one, was moving, and that complicates things. Real marksmen train for hours every day to do just that sort of thing, but most people, the best they do is go to a range or something once in a while and shoot at paper targets. Even people who hunt a lot come home empty handed, pretty often. But yeah, nobody's as good as Tim.

They definitely made the right call when they kept Boyd alive in the premiere. Because that's always going to be one of the best frenemies relationships on TV ever.

Re: Bulletville

[hafital]

Very good point! I think along with all that is also the fact that they couldn't shoot to kill, since Gio wanted Raylan alive.