Justified 03/05 "The Hatchet Tour"

SPOILERS
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No body count this week, but some interesting turn of events. Tim’s on to Colt killing his buddy, and I get the idea that’s not going away until one of 'em’s dead. Always thought Tim had more than a little Raylan in him. Shelby is Drew, as expected, and former Sheriff Mosley sits in the back seat assuring him, without Raylan knowing, how he won’t give him up. Shelby goes on the run and DOESN’T kill Mosley trying to escape, as I fully expected. A nice moment or 2 with Mosley and Raylan talking about the family. Constable Bob gets some play, and whips the big gun out of his go-bag. Johnny tells Boyd about Colt, and it’s open season on Ellen May now. I still don’t know how Johnny’s betrayal plans are going to play out, or if he’s going to go through with it.

Always love Wynn playing opposite another strong character, whether it be Raylan, Boyd, or Quarles from last season.

Hunter took it upon himself to shut Arlo up. I liked the episode.

I liked it too but there was no surprise in who Drew Thompson was.

Speaking of which, I’ve kind of lost the point of why Drew is such a big damn deal. Everyone wants him. Raylen seems to have dropped everything in his life to find him. Can someone remind me of the importance of finding Drew?

I thought for sure Colt was dead meat after Boyd found out. I wonder why Boyd spared him?

The scene where Boyd and Ava were house hunting was hilarious and sweet in an odd way.

Raylen is in sooo much trouble when he gets back to the office. Expect a lot of cantankerousness from the boss.

Something I love about this show is that they’re all so relaxed and affable, even when they’re swearing/shooting at each other.

I was disappointed that Tim didn’t take Colt out when he had the 45 drawn. He would have been perfectly justified legally, as he’s an LEO giving a lawful command to disarm to a man he just saw assault and batter a woman.

The reveal on Drew was about as close to falling flat as anything in recent memory. If the writers don’t scour the comments on the internet (including ours) and then react by going in some opposite direction, then they’re among the most inspired people in TV show development working today. It’s like, “Sure you figured it out from the 763 clues we’ve been dropping since Episode One. Now what do you think of this one, Burt?”

In spite of the minor disappointment that it wasn’t somebody else (I really enjoy Jim Beaver’s work) I can live with where the show is headed, even though I have no major clue at this point. Something is still funny about why Ellen May and Colton are still with us. And I’m pleased with the little arc that Gutterson is getting in recent episodes.

But I swear that I haven’t laughed as hard or as long as I did when Bob pulled out that assault weapon and cut loose on those guys on the porch. I had to pause the show I was laughing so hard.

Man, I love this show! Haven’t been able to say that since Terriers!

That’s a damn good question. I think Raylan was interested because of the connection with Arlo.

Maybe because they think the drug ring might still be operating?

He can finger Theo Tonin for a murder and I believe also stole from him. Tonin wants him dead so he doesn’t go to jail for life, the government wants him alive so they can send Tonin to jail for life.

Well, he said he wanted to take him down when he wasn’t strung-out (which may prove difficult!), and he probably wants to prove that it was him who killed his friend.

Speaking of which, Boyd now has that murder weapon, and I’m sure that’ll come into play. Will Colt frame Boyd? Will Boyd turn in Colt? Tune in next week!

(Someone remind me what Colt said about the possible ballistics-matching of that gun.)

Something about slurry, that he’d dumped Ellen May’s body in slurry. Maybe the slurry is corrosive.

Gotta hand it to Boyd, more or less inviting Colt to kill him.

What I’m not clear about is all that stuff Constable Bob said, how Shelby helping him was what clued Raylan in.

Agree, loved Terriers.

I doubt that the show’s shooting schedule allows for adjustments to mid-season message board reactions. And, as folks have said in other Justified threads, the show’s more about characters, situations and tension and release than it is about gotcha moments.

Though I think that there is a big gotcha coming - I think that the reveal is going to be that Shelby is (or at least cannot be ruled out as) Raylen’s father. Raylen’s mom liked her fellas, it explains the Arlo/Raylen relationship, it explains why Arlo held onto the Peterson bag for so long.

I’d be disappointed if the writers did this. This episode did have a gotcha featuring Arlo and Raylan: Raylan heard something good about Arlo, that Arlo defended his wife’s honor.

I’m worried that Ava won’t stay away and that she’ll get caught in the crossfire.

Bob said something about Shelby taking the fall for something Mosley did, since Shelby owed Mosley. So the obvious thing to wonder about is why did Shelby owe Mosley? I don’t think it confirmed 100% to Raylan that Shelby is Drew Thompson, but it was enough to make him go check on Mosley, which then confirmed it for him.

How’s that? The gun wasn’t loaded.

I like Boyd. Apart from drug dealer thing, what did I miss in the first three seasons to make me it so I should hate him?

Yeah, I should have said “attempt” to kill him.

[quoteI like Boyd. Apart from drug dealer thing, what did I miss in the first three seasons to make me it so I should hate him?[/QUOTE]

I like him too. All I remember is that he liked to blow things up.

Sam, that makes sense. I’m gonna watch that scene again.

Boyd is the Anti-Raylan. He had his own fake church of druggies, he is a murderer and a manipulator. I loathe Boyd, even more than I hated his father. He does have a code of conduct, but just barely.

His church wasn’t fake. At least Boyd wasn’t fake. He believed, at the time. Then some other stuff happened. He tried to walk the straight and narrow but veered a bit. He’s still better than he started out.

He was an avowed racist at first…although he reformed from that.

Thank you for bringing that up. I’ve been wondering that for the last few episodes. I believe Raylan thinks that if he can bring in Drew Thompson, he will get a promotion to Art’s job.

Didn’t Raylan have a chance for a supervisory position when he was trying to get back with Winona? And he turned it down? Raylan at a desk would be almost as bad as Vic Mackey at a desk.

Tamerlane nailed it in post #8. They’re looking for Drew in order to bring down Theo Tonin.