Justified rewatch: 3x12 and 3x13

[gwyn]

3.12 Coalition
Original Air Date: April 3, 2012
Written by: Taylor Elmore
Directed by: Bill Johnson



Limehouse launches a plan that will get rid of all his enemies, but will anyone take the bait? Meanwhile, Wynn Duffy works on getting Quarles delivered—dead or alive—to the Detroit mob.


3.13 Slaughterhouse
Original Air Date: April 10, 2012
Written by: Fred Golan
Directed by: Dean Parisot



While Quarles winds up on the run from the marshals after killing a state trooper, Limehouse uses an inside source to get Boyd in trouble with the law.

Please share your thoughts and reactions in comments.

Note: Unfortunately, Justified has moved to Hulu in the U.S. on streaming (blame the Disney behemoth for swallowing 20th Century Fox/FX alive.)

Comments

[mackiemesser]

3.12 - So much trouble could have been avoided if Boyd had just killed Quarles instead of trying to keep him captive for the potential reward! The frustration of the smarter people on the show having to deal with the consequences of the actions from the less smart people is always entertaining. And for a guy who supposedly keeps himself separate in the Holler, Limehouse certainly seems to be on top of every little thing that happens.

I do really appreciate them letting Loretta keep the money. And it gives us another scene with her and Raylan, which makes everything better.

Dickie Bennett is such a cockroach: creepy, shows up in places where no one wants him and is apparently very hard to kill.

3.13 - First and most important thing: I really like that picture.

Arlo is just...every time he shows up he is both pitiable and horrifying. It's interesting to me how, despite everything, Boyd still keeps acting as a surrogate son for Arlo. Part of the weird symbiotic relationship he has with Raylan. And that ending. It's heartbreaking for Raylan, and awful to know that Arlo would have shot his own son to protect Boyd. Brutal.

I laughed really hard at Wynn's just being so done with EVERYone after Raylan threatens him and then just walks out.

In this episode when Quarels just goes completely off the rails, I kept thinking back to McDonough's character in Ravenous. Kind of a mirror performance but something that the actor does really well in taking a man who appears rational on the surface and then peeling everything back to show the mess underneath. Quarles taking the kids hostage was really tense; when that kind of thing happens to the regular cast, at least you know they're aware of the game, but to pull innocents into it is really breaking the rules.

I will also admit to laughing when Limehouse cuts off Quarels' arm. It was so darkly funny, like so many other things in this show. Plus, good payoff to all the times Limehouse was shown using the cleaver menacingly.

Coalition

[hafital]

Honestly, Boyd leaving two of the girls from Audrey's in charge of keeping an eye on Quarles was not one of his brighter ideas. But most people underestimate Quarles -- he's a very deadly combination of smarter than most and crazier than everyone!

The drug orgy at Audrey's is sad and hilarious at the same time.

LOL Wynn's way of saying "Robert!" when he answers his phone. hahaha.

I'm rather glad Mags managed to outsmart everyone from the grave. I love the scene between Raylan and Limehouse. It's got some good old timey type dialogue. Could be straight out of a period western.

"Looks like Christmas is coming early to law enforcement."

Giving Loretta the money is the least that Mags could do for her.

Very sorry about Trooper Tom. :( They had to through in the line about his kid's T ball game just to make it that much worse.

Slaughterhouse

[hafital]

~ Two second Tim sighting. <3 My Raylan/Tim heart, loved that he was with Raylan when he speaks with Boyd, when Raylan was so clearly upset about Trooper Tom.

~ The loyalty between Boyd and Arlo is interesting, extending even to still trusting Arlo with criminal activity stuff even though he's clearly not trustworthy. Not a wise decision imo. I get that he's family, which I respect to be honest, but it's not smart to keep Arlo in the mix, business wise. And Johnny exploits that fact to hide his own guilt. Though later, I guess Arlo proved his worth, taking the fall for Boyd.

~ Nice to see Jere Burns do more than make snide comments from the sidelines. Also nice to see Raylan be genuinely scary!

~ There is nothing redemptive about Quarles. Usually I find something to humanize a bad guy, even Arlo, but not this time.

~ Not sure if Boyd was expecting Arlo taking the blame for him. I think not.

~ Gotta say, I am not a fan of the Eva and Ellen May relationship.

~ Not surprisingly Quarles dies in one of the more gruesome ways, and also still laughing! Genuinely disturbing lol. Can't believe he reached out for his arm and then Raylan pulled it away. That is darkly funny.

~ So he goes to Winona afterward, maybe for comfort, though she doesn't give him much of that (but to be fair he also actively says he's okay...). She still manages to take a jab at his job! That's quite a talent of hers! Actually really loved the set up for their final exchange, with her asking why Art would think he's upset, and him saying because Arlo didn't know he was shooting a trooper, just a man in a hat, and then the shot of him putting on his hat. Honestly, I think they had this entire scene with her JUST for that shot of him putting on his hat, and then her realization of what that meant. It's a good ending for the season. *waves sad flag*

~ One last observation -- I love that Art realized what happened with Arlo shooting Trooper Tom thinking it was Raylan, and that he was sensitive to what that meant for Raylan, offering him that drink. Even though Raylan denies being upset about it, which I think is a lie. He's not in tears or in some kind of repressed rage, but that seems more disheartening, more tragic. It's decades of a rancorous father/son relationship being whittled down, then realizing how far gone Arlo's dementia is, only to then realize Arlo is compos mentis enough to take the fall for Boyd. Boyd really is more family to Arlo than Raylan is. The layers there, one on top of the other.