The latest episode of Justified started with Mooney calling Paxton to inform him they received a tip that there were a bunch of dead bodies connected to a crime at his funeral home. Mooney then adds that they received a tip that Paxton had made a deal with local criminals. Paxton immediately realizes Mooney lied about killing Boyd. He turns the light on and starts to get out of bed, only to find Boyd sitting in his bedroom. Boyd tells Paxton that his reputation has been ruined because “a small town never forgets.” As he eerily walks toward Paton, gun in hand, Boyd assures him “…they will take your suicide as the last act of a coward.” Boyd graciously adds, “But death will not be the end of your suffering. For generations, your children and your children’s children will have a mark against their name and that will be your legacy.” Paxton tries to plead with Boyd, but only manages to get out the words “Mr. Crowder” before Boyd shoots him in the head. The respect that Boyd felt he deserved finally came in Paxton’s last words. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for Mr. Paxton. With a title like “Shot All to Hell,” it was pretty obvious that wasn’t going to be the only bullet flying. Just after Paxton is sent off to meet his maker, the associate of Sammy Tonin, who told Art to find Picker to get answers about the tarmac shooting, finds himself riddled with bullets by Theo Tonin’s enforcer, Elias Marcos.
Wendy Crowe shows up in Kentucky to get Kendal out of CPS. She lies and says the boy is going back to Miami with her, but instead she takes him back to Audrey’s. Raylan is none to happy to see Kendal being released back into the hands of the Crowe family, but uses the moment to get under Wendy’s skin. He tells her that he’s going to be sure to get Daryl’s parole conditions reinstated, forcing him out of Harlan County and back to Florida. Wendy plays it cool with Raylan, but when she arrives at Audrey’s she warns Daryl that Raylan is sure to get him shipped back to Florida. Unfortunately, Daryl doesn’t quite take this as a warning. Rather, I think he takes it as a challenge. He’s not about to let anyone ruin his plans in Harlan County. He doesn’t seem scared of too much. He even waits at Boyd’s bar to speak to him. Boyd enters into a friendly conversation with Daryl, who doesn’t know it is Boyd he’s speaking with. He and Jean Baptiste question what the infamous Boyd Crowder would do to them. Boyd replies, “Well, an unpredictable man can be unpredictable.” Eventually, Boyd and Jimmy pull guns on Daryl and Jean Baptiste. Daryl tells Boyd he’s looking to get Dewey’s money back from the sale of Audrey’s. Boyd tells him no. There’s sure to be fireworks in the form of gunfire later this season between Boyd and the Crowe clan.
Meanwhile, Boyd has other problems to deal with. The Crowes aren’t even on his radar. Boyd meets with Dunham to offer a deal. He tells Dunham he’ll forget the drugs Jonny and Dunham stole from him if he gives him Johnny and helps him smuggle heroin from Mexico. Dunham seems a bit reluctant to take on such a risk, but, nevertheless, decides to. However, the plan backfires in Dunham’s face when he discovers that the men loyal to him have actually been paid off by Johnny. Boyd then puts the final nail in his plan to release Ava from jail, which just so happens to be the final nail in Mooney’s coffin. Boyd enlists a man named Hayes, who is dying of black lung, to publicly kill Mooney at a restaurant. The money that Mooney and Mara both thought they were walking away with is actually going to go to Hayes’ family. Boyd tells Mara Paxton to leave. Judging by her past behavior, I’m not quite sure she’s going to head on her way without a fight. Perhaps, I’m wrong. Maybe having Mooney’s blood splattered on her face is enough to send her packing. With Paxton and Mooney both gone, Ava’s case is tossed out by Judge Bishop. She’ll be a free woman. She just has to spend one more night in jail while all of the paperwork is being processed. Unfortunately, the male guard that Ava refused to have sex with isn’t going to let that happen. With the help of her cellmate, he plants a shiv in her cell and then stabs himself. Her cellmate says Ava shanked him and Ava is taken to the state penitentiary. All of Boyd’s successful murdering was all done in vain. In fact, in seems most of Boyd’s actions in this episode were done in vain. Ava’s incarceration and Johnny’s forethought are sure to send Boyd even farther over the edge with plenty of blood and bullets as company.
At Audrey’s, Jean Baptiste is murdered by Danny Crowe with Kendal as a witness. Jean Baptiste came in to stand up for Kendal when Danny was bullying him. When Jean Baptiste calls Danny out and challenges him, Danny takes the cowards way out by shooting him. Danny then forces Kendal not to say anything. Daryl’s off planning the Crowe’s big plans for Harlan County, while Danny’s wreaking havoc. Surely, this will come back to bite Danny and the Crowes. Maybe Kendal will be the voice of reason and innocence, or maybe Dewey Crowe will do what is right. Perhaps he’ll hold true to his plea and promise he made to God while searching for Messer. Only time will tell.
While the episode resulted in multiple failures for Boyd, Art found himself at the top of his game. Determined to figure out what happened on the tarmac, Art continues to investigate. He follows Duffy, who leads him to Mr. Picker and Elias Marcos at a restaurant. Art urges Marcos not to enter the restaurant, knowing full well he’s there to take Picker. Marcos concedes and Art enters the restaurant, politely urging Picker to come with him. Unfortunately, Marcos decides to enter the restaurant as well. An intense standoff ensues. Taking a page out of Raylan’s book, Art warns, “I’m gonna give you 10 seconds to leave and then I’m gonna shoot you.” Duffy hilariously chimes in, “F.Y.I., that’s kind of a thing with these Marshalls.” Marcos still doesn’t back down, asking Art if he really thinks he’s good enough to shoot him.” Art replies, “I don’t know. I’m getting old, but I’m probably good from this range.” Marcos backs off and Art takes Picker in for questioning. Raylan enters, sees Picker, and immediately wonders if Picker has gave him up. Picker doesn’t give Raylan up, but does give them information on where they need to look for answers. Art and Raylan go to a warehouse and start to look through large containers. Marcos meets up with them and, rather than having a nice little chit-chat, starts letting bullets fly. Little does he know, he’s no match for Raylan Givens. Raylan shoots and kills him. It seems like a bust, since by killing Marcos they’ve lost their link to Theo Tonin, but they discover a bleeding Theo in one of the containers. Art’s diligence brought in one of their most wanted criminals. Later that evening, it’s revealed that Picker gave up the Marshall that was in Tonin’s pocket. Picker said it was ex-agent Barkley. Art and Raylan look at one another, both knowing that’s a lie. Raylan starts to walk away, but turns around and says, “It wasn’t Barkley and I can tell you that for a fact.” What will this mean for Raylan? I have a feeling Art isn’t going to do anything drastic to get Raylan in trouble, but I’m quite sure this will hinder their relationship. With Art retiring soon, will this entice him to look over Raylan as his successor or will he view it as a necessary evil in successfully keeping Raylan’s family safe?
Everything was “shot all to hell” in this episode. Boyd’s plans are ruined, Dewey Crowe is losing control of Audrey’s, Raylan’s past may be coming back to haunt him, and some unsuspecting characters were on the wrong end of a gun. The plots continue to twist and the dialogue remains on par. These are sure to get more even more interesting and violent.
image: FX