Justified Season 3 Episode 7 recap

Arlo is once again ranting about women. He is also calling out Limehouse in the middle of the night. He appears to have lost his mind.

The dude who escaped the Oxy clinic/trailer in the previous episode is hiding out in Limehouse’s holler. Limehouse coerces the dude to inform on Quarles. Limehouse goes to confront Arlo, who has definitely lost his marbles. He’s yelling for his dead wife.

Raylan is living above a bar. His life is really working out. A couple of co-eds get sassy with him and Quarles shows up. The vibe is not as good as it is when Raylan and Boyd face off, but it’s still prickly. I do think the show would be wise to limit their face-to-face exchanges, though. They’re more interesting circling one another from a distance. Raylan doesn’t take Quarles’ bribe.

More Deputy Gutterson! We always win when Gutterson sasses Raylan.

Wynn Duffey informs Quarles that the Detroit boss’s son, Sammy, is headed to Lexington. Quarles hates Sammy a lot. Like, really, a lot.

Raylan gets Boyd back for that fistfight at the marshal’s office. After sucker-punching Boyd, he dumps Johnny Crowder out of his wheelchair. Raylan is not messing around. He works out that Boyd is not the one that told Quarles he was dirty. Raylan vs. Boyd vs. Quarles is becoming Raylan and Boyd vs. Quarles.

Quarles bribes the Harlan sheriff, with the money he originally meant for Raylan, to take care of Boyd.

Gutterson: 2, Raylan: 0.

So Quarles got into some trouble up in Detroit and is on his last chance in Kentucky. Great, so when the sh*t hits the fan he’s going to be extra special crazy because he has nothing left.

Raylan leans on Gutterson for more info re: Sammy the boss’s son. This leads to a superb exchange. Gutterson: “I tell you where Sammy is, then you go all Raylan on him and drag him out of some restaurant by his nut sack…” Raylan: “I don’t even know what that means. I’m not going to grab his nut sack or any other part of him.” Never change, Justified. Never change.

Ava riding herd on Arlo is funny. “I think we can both agree, after last night, that you need your meds.” This episode is sporting some excellent dialogue. Quarles’ newly-purchased sheriff shows up to close down the Crowder bar because of unlicensed video poker machines. And not like, you know, the cache of guns in the back or anything.

While attempting to roll up on Sammy the boss’s son in a restaurant, the FBI intercepts Raylan. Back at the marshal’s office, Gutterson is in trouble for giving Raylan FBI info. Raylan can add the FBI to his list of antagonists. Also, he totally owes Gutterson a drink.

Boyd visits Limehouse and threatens him. I would not cross Limehouse. He’s turned out to be the scariest of all the villains this season. Boyd wants access to Limehouse’s information; Limehouse doesn’t think Boyd can take down Quarles. So they’re well on their way to being super best friends.

Raylan catches up with Sammy the boss’s son at a horse track. Sammy is a sh*tty gangster. They talk at cross-purposes—Sammy thinks Raylan is a hitman sent to kill him, Raylan thinks Sammy is actually good at his job. Raylan has some notion of using Sammy to get to Quarles.

Raylan uses a thin excuse to serve Quarles an eviction notice. Man, he is running right at him. Duffey has bad news for Quarles—the money he needed has not come through. It’s Quarles’ turn to take a shot at Sammy at the track. Quarles feeds the “Raylan is on Boyd’s payroll” story to Sammy to pass to his FBI babysitters. Sh*t’s getting real.

Back with Boyd, who is talking a prison buddy into running for sheriff against the guy Quarles bought off. That’s probably the least violent proposition for taking care of Quarles.

Oh man, it’s Gary Hawkins, Winona’s ex. Now he’s a motivational speaker running a pyramid scheme. Quarles has tracked him down in Tulsa and gets him drunk, chatting him up. This is not going to end well for Gary.

We’re getting into the thick of things, with six more episodes to go. Quarles has Boyd boxed in for now, but Boyd has found a potential end-around, and Raylan and Quarles are engaged in a chess game, using Sammy the boss’s son and Gary as their principal pieces. Meanwhile, Limehouse continues to sit back and watch everyone around him implode. What’s the over/under on the final body count here? 5?

Raylan’s body count so far: 1 ½