Justified Season 4 Episode 2 recap.
We got a lot set up in the season premiere, including a new holy roller in town, that shady bag from Raylan’s childhood home, Arlo shanking a dude in prison, and Boyd has a new co-conspirator in the form of Rhodes, his old Army frenemy. Oh, and we met Constable Bob, who is rapidly becoming the single greatest non-Raylan/Boyd character on the show yet.
I like any episode that opens with Raylan shirtless in bed.
While taking the bar delivery for Lindsey the Hot Bartender (he is banging her), some dude wanders in and hassles Raylan. Seriously, how does everyone within a fifty-mile radius not know to not hassle Raylan by now? He’s killed FIFTEEN PEOPLE in less than a year (according to my shoddy show-to-real-world math). How is that not like, the first thing everyone says about Raylan? “Have you heard about Raylan Givens? He’s killed FIFTEEN PEOPLE IN LESS THAN A YEAR.”
Ava is also taking bar delivery over at the Crowder bar when Ella May announces that she’s found God and wants to quit being a hooker. Ava reminds Ella May about the time they killed a man and threw his body down a mine shaft. Good times.
Art! And he’s doing an exposition dump for us on Gutterson and Brooks. Let’s see, Gutterson is an ex-Army Ranger sniper nutjob itching to kill people and Brooks has left her husband (she was married?!). And don’t forget Raylan, who’s “been investigated so many times internal affairs has him on speed dial”. THAT is a great line. That says everything you need to know about Raylan in one sentence. Art has no patience for the lackadaisical chief deputy from Bowling Green. He’s like, “I’ve got 99 problems and your sh*t ain’t one”.
Raylan recognizes the man Arlo killed in prison from his visit with the bag. He gets Arlo involved in the mystery of the bag.
Boyd is blowing off Johnny’s concern that it’s the new church affecting drug sales, but Johnny’s probably right. Man, being a crime boss is really stressing Boyd out.
Gutterson! Am developing a little Gutterson-crush. He puts the “dead” in “deadpan”.
Raylan, Gutterson and Art are going to talk to Waldo Truth, the guy whose identity card was with the mystery bag. The Truth family sounds like they’d give the Bennetts a run for their money. If, you know, there were any Bennetts left, besides Dickie.
Poor Ella May. She’s so upset. I wish Pastor Billy wasn’t such an obvious scuzzbucket just so that Ella May could get some real peace, but Billy is clearly playing her.
Joe Mazzello is KILLING IT as Pastor Billy. He’s hitting just the right note of sincere piety while still suggesting a mind working a lot faster than he lets on.
Oh, here’s that dude from the bar, engaging in some backyard ultimate fighting. He must be part of the Truth clan.
Excellent cut to Rhodes during the fight—he’s beating up some dude for Boyd. Rhodes has discovered a heroin trade, and at the same time, the church has sicced poppets with pamphlets on the bar. Poor Boyd. Being a crime boss is SO HARD.
Boyd pays a visit to that sheriff he bought to find out about the church. They move into a town, “save” the locals until they make a dent in the local drug trafficking, then the crime element pays them to go away to get business back on track. The church = total racket.
Back with the bruiser from the bar. He makes mincemeat out of a couple of guys. Who is this dude?
OMG this little kid calling Raylan et al “perverts” for following him back to the Truth homestead—Justified can pull laughs out of the strangest places.
The Truth family is, um…methy.
A guy shows up claiming to be Waldo, he of the famed identity card in the mystery bag, but he’s a fake. He pretends to be Waldo so the family can keep drawing disability checks. Also, they’re openly smoking pot in front of US Marshals. It’s a classy bunch.
So, Waldo took a job with a pilot 30 years ago and hasn’t been seen since. 10 to 1 he’s the dude who splattered the pavement with the mystery bag in 1983.
Something about the story Mama Truth tells clicks with Art. Somehow he figures out the pilot was Drew Thompson, and promptly drops the threats to arrest the whole family for their many infractions. Is this bag some kind of DB Cooper thing?
Boyd vs. Billy, round 1.
Boyd in preacher mode is chilling, but Billy doesn’t fold. He calls Boyd’s bluff, saying he won’t take any more collections from the townspeople to show he isn’t exploiting them. I would say Billy won that round, but Boyd seemed a little too satisfied when he left. Boyd’s satisfaction never ends well for other people, so let’s call it a draw.
So the official report says that Drew Thompson died in the skydiving/mystery bag/driveway incident in 1983, but the body had a scar matching Waldo Truth’s. They were smuggling cocaine, something happened, and Drew Thompson ended up switching IDs with Waldo Truth and pushing Truth out of a plane. I’m with Raylan—what happened to Drew Thompson?
Ava’s so paranoid about Ella May getting saved because she’s afraid Ella May will confess about how they killed that guy that time. Ella May is writing her death warrant—Ava’s getting crazy eyes. Boyd, however, looks relaxed for the first time, since he’s figured out that Billy’s sister is the one running their operation.
Winn Duffey! He’s the one that’s been selling heroin in Boyd’s territory. He’s running the Dixie Mafia these days. Yikes.
DOUBLE YIKES. Duffey kills his own man to avoid making a deal with Boyd.
Boyd is hilariously discombobulated by this turn of events. He’s also shocked to learn that Arlo killed someone in prison. Poor Boyd. Just when he thought he was getting a handle on things.
The bruiser from the bar is Hot Lindsey’s husband. OH SNAP.
Raylan’s body count so far: 0 (going to be 1 if Hot Lindsey’s husband isn’t careful)/15
(Lainey: attached - Timothy Olyphant looking SUPER HOT at TCA last week.)
