TV Series Lounge

Lets admit it, there’s a carryover excitement on this week’s Justified coming from last week’s episode “Brother’s Keepers.”

But independently, Episode 10 titled “Debts and Accounts” is a desirable episode. So what happened?

TV Fanatic: In looking at the three families of Justified, they all were in different stages of heading down a new path. The Bennetts are basically starting over after the deal and the death of Coover.

The Givens – as in Raylan and Winona – are thinking about heading down a new road of life. And the Crowders – Boyd and Ava – have reached a new way of living, that has been in the works for a while now.

Mags Bennett isn’t handling the death of her son and the loss of Loretta extremely well. Not only did she blow up at the man in the diner and threaten to kill him in front of all those people, but she decided to step down from the top of Bennett family business.

It’s easy to see why she gave everything to Doyle, after all he is the respected lawman with a family, but it’s just as easy to see why Dickie would be so upset about it.

The kid has done everything for his momma, and just like Coover, doesn’t understand why he continues to get looked over. I love that Dickie is now taking things into his own hands, giving workers unwarranted promotions and claiming to be the big man in charge now.

Although I don’t think Dickie stands a chance against Boyd Crowder, their showdown at the bar was fantastic to watch.  Dickie does not lack confidence, you have to give him that.

Which brings us to Mr. Crowder, who finally has come back to his roots. He is fully back in the business that his family has always been in, and he seems to be ready to dominate it.

In one sense it’s almost as if his journey through religion and honest work, was all for not as he’s returned to the life he started out in. On the other hand, maybe it was important for him to explore other avenues so that his heart could really be in it when he returned to a life of crime.

He is who he is, and he does it damn well. That poker game stick up was a thing of beauty, and I only see him getting better as the episodes go on. While I have enjoyed Boyd from the beginning, I think that his journey might have made him even more likable as a villain, and that is something that always works on a show.

Interesting, charismatic, likable villains are fun to watch.  Between Bo and Boyd Crowder, and Mags and Dickie Bennett, there have been a bunch of them on Justified. It’s just another reason why this show is so entertaining.

The Givens have been dancing around the subject of getting out of dodge for a while now. Although I don’t think Raylan will ever leave, he certainly seemed ready to head back to Glencoe after losing Art’s confidence and getting shot at with Winona.

At the end of the day I think he just wants to be with Winona, whether she’s insane or not.

Here’s the thing though, those two guys didn’t come after Raylan during his job as a Marshal. That shootout happened simply because there are a bunch of people that want to kill our cowboy hat wearing hero.

Sure if he quits being a Marshal, the number of killers will not grow any larger, but they will still be out there. Glencoe won’t make Raylan his loved ones immune from murder attempts.

Justified wouldn’t be Justified if Raylan and Winona are hiding out in Glencoe teaching kids how to shoot.

I’m assuming his decision to ultimately stay has something to do with Loretta.  He is so good with her, which was showcased in his speech to her at the car.  With no parents left, Raylan is the only parental figure she has left, and I doubt he’ll want to leave her all by herself in Harlan County.

“Debts and Accounts,” while not as epic as “Brother’s Keeper,” was another fantastic episode in what has been my favorite season of television in 2011.

It is a fact that last week’s episode is so epic, making it harder for this week’s Justified to surpass such. But episode 10 is just fine in its own way.

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

Episode 9 of Justified titled “Brother’s Keeper” is another event-filled episode. While there is already the closure on some dispute, we can say that there are still lots of things going on which really made the current season interesting.

TV Fanatic: That meeting of the minds was indeed fantastic though, as Mags outwit Carol and the fine people of black pike out of a ton more money than anyone could have ever thought.  Because Mags knew all along that she had the upper hand, she continued to be calm, cool, and collected.  As always, Margo Martindale played the scene masterfully.

So that is probably it for our new friend Carol Johnson, as she heads off to the next mountain with her tail between her legs. Luckily, she did get a big smooch out of Raylan Givens, even if that was all the U.S. Marshal would give her.

And how about Boyd?  That was his big plan?  To double-cross Carol so that he could get on Mags’s good side?  Well now apparently he has the freedom to do whatever he wants in the county – well other than getting into the weed game.  Does this complete his turn back to the dark side?  Or does he have something else up his sleeve?

Also a highlight of that meeting was what went down just outside of it.  It wasn’t the showdown between Raylan and Dickie Bennett that we’ve been waiting for, but the stare down these old foes put upon each other did help raise the tension for the rest of the episode.  Unlike Raylan and Boyd, who I feel have some sort of a mutual respect for each other, Raylan just seems to pity Dickie as an enemy.  You had to feel bad for the limping fella when Raylan shot him straight about Mags not wanting Dickie in on the important meeting.

What was so great about “Brother’s Keeper” was how high the Bennetts rose before having everying crash down around them immediately afterward.  The Bennetts, and Mags in particular, were on cloud nine after receiving all that new money and power in the Black Pike deal.  She couldn’t have been more happy or proud of herself in that moment.

And then with the death of Coover, and the strangely more hurtful loss of Loretta, Mags’s whole world kind of fell apart.  We know that she never really felt all that much love towards her baby Coover, but how can she seemingly be more upset that she’s not going to see Loretta again?  She is a pretty sick woman.  It will be interesting to see how and if the Bennetts recover from this, or if they fall into the background for a while.

And it was the final third of “Brother’s Keeper” that really lived up to the episode’s title, as many were attempting to protect those they loved. Whether it was Dickie trying as hard as he could to literally “brother-keeper” his little bro Coover from doing something he’d regret, or Raylan feeling responsible for the livlihood of Loretta McCreedy, the men of Justified were set on saving the day. Unfortunately for Dickie, he failed.  He was no competition for Coover’s paws, as the little brother almost strangled Dickie to death before taking Loretta to see her dead daddy.

Raylan, on the other hand, did save the day.  After dropping off Carol at the nearest gas station like she’s some floozy, he doubled back to get the truth out of Dickie before finding Coover with Loretta out by the mine.  At the last second the deputy got the job done and put an end to the big baffoon that is Coover Bennett.

So what’s your say on this episode?

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

There is no doubt that Justified is really on a good start with its second season. The aired episodes of season two are definitely superb and it really keeps me from wanting more.

Moreover, who would agree with me that Margo Martindale deserves an Emmy for her role as Mags Bennett?

FX has rewarded the drama by already announcing its third season renewal.

But how will season two wrap up? Producer Graham Yost offered the following finale tease to TV Line:

There are a few big questions left up in the air, both in Raylan’s personal life and his professional life. This season was about two things, the first being second chances. Raylan gets a second chance with his wife and Boyd gets a second chance at not being a criminal. But the season was also about this feud. It’s a big part of the culture in Appalachia. So we wanted to play out the feud between the Bennet clan and the Givens clan, and that does resolve itself in the finale.

What do you think of this spoiler?

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

This week’s Justified titled “The Spoil” is another exciting episode! In this episode, Raylan followed along as the battle between Black Pike and the Bennetts came to the forefront.

TV Fanatic: The main attraction was the town hall meeting in which Mags Bennett proved why the people of Bennett love her so much, but getting to that moment was just as entertaining.
After Carol and Raylan bailed Boyd out of jail for his “arrest” by the Bennett police, Boyd’s greeting of Mr. Givens at the car was awesome.  As the newly appointed employee of Black Pike whispered to Raylan that he made a nice speech in the police department, Boyd seemed riddled with joy.  And then as he remarked that they are once again on the same side of things, Boyd seemed truly happy about it.

Although he is far from a saint at this point, it seems the fact that Boyd keeps edging closer and closer to the right side of the law makes him happiest because it means he might be able to actually be friends with his old pal Raylan Givens.  And who wouldn’t want to be friends with Raylan?  I know I would.

It may have been small. It may have been subtle.  But the eye roll and smirk that Dickie gave Raylan while Carol and Mags were talking business in the country store, was just magical.  Similarly fantastic was the moment when Coover put away his lollipop to mimic Raylan putting away his badge, just before the two threw down hard core.  Sometimes it’s the little things that make it great.

Then again, sometimes it’s the big things.  There were a couple of things we’ve been wondering about the Bennetts for a while now…

• What is the beef between the Bennetts and the Givens?  Well we found out that it goes back to the days of prohibition when the Bennetts were running the old moonshine across the state line.  Just like any great feud, the Bennetts got information that the Givens tipped off the Feds and decided to start shooting people.  I’m kind of glad that the history between these families isn’t something specific that happened between the characters we know, but rather their ancestors.  It brings more of a folklore feeling to the story of Justified.
• What happened to Dickie and why does he have that limp?  Sadly, my guess that Mags had done it to her own son was wrong.  Instead it happened during a high school baseball game after Dickie beaned Raylan with a high fastball!  I love that it came from something as stupid and juvenile as a baseball brawl.  So completely different than how the feud began.  

Once we finally get to the town hall meeting, Carol speaks her mind, and does a rather fine job at explaining why Black Pike will help create more jobs in Bennett and Harlan County.  The people seemed to be receiving it well until Mags Bennett got to speak her mind.  And boy did she!  I don’t know about you, but if I were at that meeting, I sure as heck would have been convinced to leave things the way they are.

So what is the whole point to the battle between Black Pike and the Bennetts?  They’re both trying to buy up all of the land around the mountain, but we’ve known for a while now that the Bennetts have had a bigger, evil plan in the makings.

It seems Boyd has known they were up to something as well, and by the end of the episode he figured out what that was.  We still don’t know, but I’m sure some of it will come out when Boyd, Ava, Raylan, and Carol crash the Bennetts party.

I hope this episode will be followed by another interesting and exciting one. Lets just stay tuned next week.

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

Episode 7 “Save My Love” is another remarkable episode. The suspense and struggle is there, and oh boy, I really love this episode.

TV Fanatic: “Save My Love” picked up right where “Blaze of Glory” left off, with Raylan attempting to keep Winona out of trouble for stealing money out of the evidence locker. And what made it so interesting, other than the constant suspense of whether Winona would end up getting caught, was how much Raylan was struggling with the entire situation.

What draws most people in to Justified is the confidence and skill Timothy Olyphant displays as Raylan. It is the fact that we are so used to seeing Raylan succeed at what he does, and with such ease, that made watching him stumble throughout this episode so enjoyable.

Every step of the way, whether it was Gutterson getting to the bills before him, the secret service showing up at the Marshals, or the bomb threat being called in to the building, Raylan seemed about ready to have a nervous breakdown.

While seeing this side of Raylan was intriguing, it raises the question of why? I realize he could somehow be linked to helping Winona in the situation, and therefore get in trouble himself, but I think it is more of a point to show how much he truly cares for his ex-wife. Take the final couple of scenes, for example.

As he stands there watching as she puts the previously stolen money back into an empty locker, and then rides with her silently up the elevator, there are so many emotions pouring out of him in those moments. Raylan obviously cares for Winona deeply, but is also so disappointed in her actions.

Like he told her, Raylan thinks about taking money from those that don’t deserve it. But, unlike Winona, he’s never actually taken the money.  Will this disappointment change their relationship in any way? Will he be less likely to trust her as they move forward? Or will the experience bring them closer together? It will be interesting to see what happens between them in the near future.

As palpable as the tension between Raylan and Winona was, the suspense of whether or not Winona would get caught with the money was even greater.

On numerous occasions I thought she was out of the woods, only to quickly realize something else had gone wrong. First it was when the Secret Service came and left; then it was when they checked out the evidence room only to find an empty locker; and then finally it was the bomb squad that came seconds away from manually checking Winona’s bag o’ cash.

Each time I thought everyone was safe and sound, and then there I was again up on the edge of my seat.  Even now, after Art came in on Raylan and Winona in the evidence room, I’m not sure we have heard the last of this little story.

Amidst all of the Winona drama were some fantastic Boyd Crowder moments. The scene with Boyd, Raylan, and Carolyn Johnson in the court room was fantastic. Carolyn was right when she said that Boyd and Raylan’s relationship sounded like a love story. These guys have had so many problems with each other, but then you get scenes such as this and moments such as Raylan saying: “He has had my back on two occasions. Once was the last day I was in the mine, and the other not so long ago.”

Sure, it was great to see Boyd all spiffied up in a suit, but it was too obvious that Carolyn had bigger plans for the guy. It is just great that it has something to do with the Bennetts, who were painfully absent from yet another episode this week. Apparently, this Carolyn has a beef with Mags and her boys, and it will be up to Boyd to take care of them.

So will it be Boyd versus the Bennetts? That’s exciting!

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

“Blaze of Glory” is another statement episode of Justified! I like the fact that the storyline becomes so cool that the second season is so good as well. So what are the events?

Between Raylan being Raylan, Winona acting crazy, and an old-timers’ battle between the episode’s bad guy and an ever so enjoyable Art Mullen, “Blaze of Glory” was really all you could ask for out of a Bennett and Crowder-less hour of drama.

Let’s start with the Chief Deputy himself.

It is rare to hear someone mention Nick Searcy in his role as Mullen when speaking of how great Justified really is, but they should. Searcy brings such charisma to this role. Art runs his Marshals department with an iron fist, but he’s always prepared to throw a few one-liners out to lighten the mood. That is what always makes many of the scenes at the office much more enjoyable.

This week, Art got to be the hero, as his past with ex-con Frank helped him figure out what the old man’s end game was going to be. Watching the Chief save the day was great, but watching him reluctantly chase down Frank, who was trying to escape via plane, was possibly the funniest moment of the season so far. I mean, two old dudes limping along at a pace of .02 miles per hour? You can’t beat that.

The group of bad guys themselves, Frank and his two cronies, were exactly what we are used to from Justified. They had a plan, they all double-crossed each other, and then they all ended up getting caught by the Marshals.

What helped make it all that much more intriguing was that the bad guys might have held the fate of Winona in their hands. That is, if you think the Secret Service would actually care that there was one $100 bill in their stash that came from evidence lock-up.

Are things that bad for Winona that she has gotten to the point of stealing from the Po-Lice? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a muy loco Natalie Zea as much as the next guy, but I remember the days when Winona Hawkins was one of the normal ones on this show. Now, she’s with her ex-husband while still married to her second husband – and stealing money from the law in order to get out the financial hole that she is in because of her idiot man. She’s messed up, alright, and being with a dude like Raylan can never help that.

The issue of whether or not Winona and Raylan can end up together came up again this week. She, of course, worries that his job makes it impossible for them to have a family. And he, of course, can’t imagine a life without the Marshal service. But as Boyd and Ava continue to get closer and closer, does Raylan have a chance at love any place else? As long as my man with the big white hat doesn’t continue to give her silence, I can see these crazy kids working things out in the end.

So did you love this episode?

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

This week’s episode of Justified, “Cottonmouth,” shows no other new characters. But I think that’s a good move because we were all able to see more of our favorite Kentucky natives. So what happened?

According to TV Fanatic, “Cottonmouth” brought Boyd Crowder and his mining co-workers to the forefront, as Kyle’s plan to rob the mine was finally played out.

It’s been a while since I’ve referenced Walton Goggins’ role in my favorite Western Comedy, Shanghai Noon. I find it a perfect time to mention his presence in that movie because Boyd “winging it” during the entire mine robbery/bomb explosion was exactly what Roy O’Bannon told Goggins’ character not to do when robbing the train in the opening scene.

Boyd was just fantastic in this entire episode, though. Between the cell phone to house phone call, stealing the crew’s cell phones and having Ava call one to give himself time to switch the bomb – and then shooting the bad guys that didn’t get everything but their feet blown up by the bomb, Mr. Crowder definitely got his groove back.

But the question remains: is Boyd for good or for evil? Yeah, he stopped those jerks from blowing up and robbing the mine, but he ended up killing the three of them and taking the money to give to Ava.  When Ava asked him why he agreed to the job in the first place, Boyd responded: “Because it’s what I do. It’s who I am, Ava. As hard as I’ve been trying to pretend otherwise. Everybody else seems to know that but me.”

The man knows that he is a bad egg, he just didn’t want to believe it.

What was great about that entire plot was that it was so similar to a typical Justified/Elmore Leonard bad guy story. We got to watch the criminals do their thing and eventually start fighting with each other until they screw the pooch. That’s when Raylan came in and saved the day.

Because this episode featured Boyd as one of the baddies, we got a new twist. The criminals certainly aren’t getting along, but because Boyd is such a stud, he turns their entire plan on its head, takes out all the bad guys, and gets away scott free. That is, if Ava agrees to help him out with an alabi.

While Boyd was attempting to figure who he is, Raylan was attempting to find what the Bennetts are actually up to these days. It will be exciting to see how everything with Raylan and the Bennetts continues to slowly work itself out.

Luckily for our favorite Deputy Marshal, it seems Mags Bennett is much nicer to her enemies than she is to her own family. Really, Mags? You’re slamming your son’s hand to pieces with a hammer? This woman is tough.

I enjoyed this episode, what about you?

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

Episode 4 of Justified, “For Blood or Money,” wasted no time in providing drama and excellence on its storyline!

Let’s start with that conversation Raylan had with the Bennetts at what looked like an extremely fun family get together. I mean, banjo music, toy gun fights, and good southern cooking? You can’t beat that. Seriously, though, so much went down in that one conversation that it is hard to grasp it all. I’ll give it a try…

Raylan opens things up by explaining that he knows that the Bennetts are up to something. That’s just a straight ballsy move. Then, the idea that Raylan’s family and the Bennetts have a history comes up again, which is why Mags thinks the Marshall is continuing to snoop around her family. What happened between these two families so long ago? And was it Raylan that crippled Dickie 21 years ago?

I’m sure these questions will get dragged out through most of this season, and I’ll be more and more curious every time they come up.

After Raylan leaves, Mags gets Bobby Knight-level mad at her boys because she does not want a Federal Marshall snooping around when they have BIGGER PLANS! Now, we are getting somewhere. I knew that the Bennetts were the big bad of the season, but now we know that they actually have some sort of big plan in motion. What is it? And how will Raylan save the day? Will he first have to escape Dickie and Coover?

These two nut jobs are now most likely going to try to covertly murder Raylan because they misread Mags when she said she didn’t want him snooping around. If it means more Jeremy Davies, then I am all for it. He’s been great so far.

Meanwhile, on the episodic side of things, we had a story as old as time itself. You know, when a deputy marshall’s brother-in-law breaks out of his halfway house to meet his estranged son, beating up his program manager and shooting his drug dealing friend in the process. Of course, it all comes to an end when he tries to meet with his marshall of a sister-in-law and his son at a pizza parlor, and then gets taken back into custody.  Seen this one before…

That was all pretty crazy. The best part about it was that Rachel’s brother-in-law, Clinton, seemed so unassuming at times. Maybe it was the dress shirt, tie, and jeans that did it, but I was not expecting him to pummel his huge program manager with that telephone. And he was being so nice to his friend the magician before going crazy and shooting him in the hand. Rachel’s mom can defend Clinton all she wants, but that dude was crazy, and it made for exciting television.

As we return to the serialized portions of the episode, we were blessed (pun intended) with some more Boyd Crowder. He continued to struggle as his co-worker, Kyle, tried to get him to come back to the dark side. It will be interesting to see where this story goes. Is the point to have Boyd struggle and then turn completely good and help Raylan in some effect? Or is it to have him struggle, have these moments of kindness, only to have him come back as an even bigger villain?

As much as I would love to see Boyd and Raylan get along, I’d much rather see him blowing stuff up as the big bad of season three.

Justified is really getting exciting. The show is on streak, so I hope they’ll continue and maintain their momentum.

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

With this week’s episode of Justified, Team Rayva are surely delighted. But what will happen on “Rayva” for the remainder of the season.

TV Line brings us an interview wherein Joelle Carter dishes extensively on her character. Read below.

“It’s a slow burn, and it’s leading up to something pretty spectacular that I think the fans are really going to like,” Carter says. “They’re going to like Ava’s journey “home,” in a sense of her finding herself and what she’s capable of. She goes back to her true character and embraces it. And I think that I can say that, yes, Ava finds true love.”

So are you a fan of Ava?

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

The momentum is there, and I hope Justified will continue on bringing us quality episodes. The episode this week, “The I of the Storm,” impresses us once again. Why? Read below.

The rest of the cast stepped up their respective games, as this week’s criminals were mostly characters with whom we were already familiar. At the front of that pack was Dewey Crowe and all of his ridiculous behavior. Dewey had me laughing at him, laughing with him – and afraid for his life all in one episode.

Of course, I was laughing at this freak as he finally received his reward for stealing the prescription drugs back. Watching those two ladies make out while he sat and watched in his tighty whiteys?  Hilarious.

I was laughing with him as he pretended to be our good friend Raylan Givens while stealing the aforementioned drugs. I’m Federal Marshall Raylan Givens! Don’t nobody mess with me ’round these parts! And I was afraid for the young man when Boyd put the fear of God in him in telling Dewey: “I know that if you stay here, you’re not long for this earth, son.”

Can Boyd be any more interesting at this point?  Between the previous quote and when he told Raylan “I was wondering if back when we were digging coal together that you had an inkling of the man that I might someday become,” I’m not sure you get more profound than Boyd Crowder.  Has he truly changed, though? It’s a question both the viewer and the man himself are really asking right now.

I think he wants to. He proved that when he made the phone call to his Federal Marshall friend to tell him where to find Dewey Crowe. But when he completely lost it at the end, it made it much more clear that he really doesn’t know what he’s doing. All of this good-natured living is taking its toll on Boyd, and he took it out on Kyle in a fantastic driving headlock! His screaming and yelling after dropping Kyle off of the moving car was exhilarating to watch.

Yes, the Bennetts were around, too.  While I still foresee Dickie as being the most interesting of the three brothers, Doyle’s situation as a law man makes things very intriguing. Like when he accused Raylan of being the one that stole the drugs – was that him feeling Raylan out to see if he was also actually a dirty cop? Was Doyle just deflecting his own dirty cop behaviors onto Raylan? Or is he actually dumb enough to think Raylan was the one who did it?

Whatever the case may be, I like Raylan’s explanation of it being akin to one drug user trying to see if another guy is holding. Always keen to the situation at hand, that Raylan Givens.

I love how Doyle went from that situation straight to the ultimate dirty cop move, when he shot the two pill robbers after finding out it was his own brother that hired them. It was great to see that out of a long-term villain.

Finally, Raylan also had some personal issues going on in Kentucky. We opened with him and Winona enjoying themselves 50 miles from Lexington, as the man with the white hat put it. The ensuing fight, in which Winona explained that she didn’t want people to know about them because she has no faith in the two of them being able to be happy together, gave me much more hope as a member of team Rayva. Even though his two meetings with Ava were all pertaining to the Boyd situation, I still have hope that these two kids can make it.

Having all these things in mind, I hope Justified will be exciting til’ the end of the season. Comment?

You can check Justified Season 2 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.