S06.E10: Trust

[ElectricBoogaloo]

As Raylan puts more pressure on his CIs, Boyd makes a move on Markham’s money, and Ava finds herself caught in the crossfire again.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgOySaJjTKc

[AimingforYoko]

This was you're stereotypical chess-piece setting episode, right up until Ava shot Boyd.

In other news, Mikey gettin' ambitions. Who knew?

[Primetimer]

And some detours are REALLY unexpected.

Read the story

[SmrtGrl86]

Well played writers, well played.

[spaceytraci1208]

Welp...Boon went from being interesting to obnoxious real quick. I hope Loretta kills him good

[Bayliss]

It's heeled (not heels). It's used a lot in westerns, to denote someone being armed.

[GinevradiBenci]

Hah, I'm fairly sure Boyd and Ava's new names were not "au fait" but rather "ofay.

[soapfaninnc]

I was surprised but not shocked that Ava shot Boyd. She is desperate not to go back to prison.  How ironic that history repeated itself - outdoors this time. I guess Boyd now has the answer to his question. 

 

Boon is approaching Daryl Crowe levels of annoying to me. I'll trade him for Choo Choo or even Sea Bass. 

Edited March 25, 2015 by soapfaninnc

[AimingforYoko]

Hah, I'm fairly sure Boyd and Ava's new names were not "au fait" but rather "ofay.

You have to be of a certain time and place to be familiar with that insult. I'm sure most of the older folks got it.

[Christina]

I have been irritated and aplexed all season when Ava was on the screen. I've thought it was too much, and Joelle Carter just can't hold up with the other actors for long periods of time. She was on screen with Mykelti Williamson for 5 seconds and I was rolling my eyes. When she is with Earl, for example, she's fine. Back to Ava the character, shooting Boyd was a surprise to me, but Raylan not immediately shooting her irritated me again.

 

I expected Wynn's boyfriend to roll, not surprised Zackariah's still in play, and Kathryn and Avery are still adding plot instead of just space, so I'll watch again and try not to be so irritated.

[GinevradiBenci]

Yeah, the only place I know it from is a skit from In Living Color. I don't think it's out much in the world anymore.

[Lizzing]

As there was talk that Gareth from The Walking Dead was a hipster barista before the ZA, it totally took me out of the show to see Andrew J. West as a hipster coffee jockey at a diner.

 

I wanted Raylan to shoot Ava so, so much.  How is he going to explain her getting away?

[Eln5]

I thought for sure Markham had put explosives in those bags since they seemed so heavy. I was waiting for an explosion while Boyd was celebrating, and again when Ava was driving off. So I guess he just really handed over his money, just like that? Then Boyd should have just asked for it all along LOL

[Tara Ariano]

Hah, I'm fairly sure Boyd and Ava's new names were not "au fait" but rather "ofay.

 

That's what I get for being Canadian! Fixing.

[dohe]

I was surprised but not shocked that Ava shot Boyd. She is desperate not to go back to prison.  How ironic that history repeated itself - outdoors this time. I guess Boyd now has the answer to his question. 

 

Boon is approaching Daryl Crowe levels of annoying to me. I'll trade him for Choo Choo or even Sea Bass. 

I wouldn't trade Boon for them.  I liked Choo Choo and Walker but Boon is something far more fascinating to me. This is something on a far higher level of intensity.  The intent of the writers are not about making us care about the character or be mesmerized by their charisma.  Nor is the character designed as some lazy attempt at tough guy machismo such as Daryl Crowe or some halfassed depiction of a sociopath. 

 

Instead Boon reminds me of a sort of John Wesley Hardin mindset.  Reading Leon Metz's book on him which includes Hardin's own fanciful descriptions, what comes through is a desire to impose on other person's personal space that is part bullying but even more so an attempt to find an avenue for his delusions to be rationalized.  To control the atmosphere by seeking out confrontation is one thing.  However Boon, as with Hardin, seems to form an impression out of little and than strives to have that impression become real.  There is a disturbed methodology there and yet it is common to the wild west gunslinger (Hardin, Ben Longley, Clay Allison, etc.) 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the writers are using works on Hardin and Billy the Kid and the character of Boon seems to be a sort composite - the laughable if it wasn't so dangerous rationalizations of Hardin combined with the intense loyalty, if a bit overly dramatized in films, of Billy the Kid to his bosses John Tunstall and Alexander McSween.  That Boon has no interest in tv/movie cowboys and is bothered by something such as a person he sees as undeserving of wearing the hat indicates a belief in a sort of code that isn't connected all that much to reality even as Boon believes it is real - notice how he tells the guy at the diner that him and the others were talking about the hat - yet only Boon was.  Instead, as with Mikey's rash act, it reflects a belief in a misguided sense integrity.  In Mikey's case it is based in naivete.  In Boon's case it is something different and disturbing.  It is as if Boon appeared out of the 1870's and dropped into this world.  It is possibly Justified's most blatant nod to the gunslingers of the 1870's and it conveys the sort of mentality that can rationalize the horrific.  And as so, Boon should be seen as obnoxious, as irritating, as nervewracking.  He is the dangerous guy you just do not want to engage with.  Raylan, often interested in conversations with the villain, just wants this guy to get away from him.  Loretta can't wait for him to leave of course.  The people at the diner are repulsed by his manner.  This is the Western gunslinger demythologized and depicted as the creep they were.  And instead of a glamorized characterization we could possibly be attracted to on some level, we just want this guy, who has upended the universe by his very being, dead at all costs.   

Edited March 25, 2015 by dohe

[thuganomics85]

Jesus!  I really need to quit taking Ava for granted.  She just totally flipped the script.  Shot Boyd and drove off with the money (banking that she was one of the few that Raylan wouldn't shoot on sight.)  I wonder if she planned on turning on Boyd all this time, or was this just last minute survival mode for her.  Vasquez really should have not told Raylan he was going to find a way not to go through with her deal.  Raylan is crazy enough that he would tell her that info.

 

Then again, part of me think something is up with that money.  Avery wouldn't just give it all away like that, would he?  He already had his suspicions over Katherine thanks to Raylan/Tim: there has to be another angle, right?  Interesting that it looks like he won't kill Katherine though. Another angle or is he just going to forgive and forget with her?

 

No surprised, Boon's insane.  Totally scared the crap out of the hipster waiter and his girlfriend (and, yes: I totally recognized him as Gareth from The Walking Dead, which I found highly amusing.)  Jonathan Tucker still has the crazy-eyes thing going for him, but he's not grabbing me as much as Ty did.  Kind of wish Garrett Dillahunt's availability had been more open, if that was the reason they had to kill him like they did. 

 

Oh, Duffy.  I knew Mikey was going to turn on him.  Being a snitch totally unsettled that big goof.  I can only hope Katherine is too tied up with her current predicament to pay his voice-mail any mind, and Duffy will find some way to wiggle out of this.

 

Three episodes left.  Yeah, I can't see there not being a bloodbath at this rate.

[benteen]

As there was talk that Gareth from The Walking Dead was a hipster barista before the ZA, it totally took me out of the show to see Andrew J. West as a hipster coffee jockey at a diner.

 

I wanted Raylan to shoot Ava so, so much.  How is he going to explain her getting away?

 

Raylan often causes more harm than good and is allowed to get away with it.  He only seems to arrest people when he feels like it at times.

 

Really good episode.  Definitely didn't expect Ava to shoot Boyd.  Should make things interesting as it goes on.

 

Boon is seriously messed up but I agree, he's a fascinating and interesting character.

 

I'm sure Mike's plan with Duffy will backfire on him dramatically in the way it does for Justified villains.

 

Poor Loretta's great-aunt.  She was pretty cool in her short time.

[catrox14]

WAIT...wait...wait!!! Is Boyd really most sincerely dead?? Did  Raylan just let Ava walk? Did Raylan let Boyd die? WTFingF?

 

Honestly, if turns out that Raylan isn't the one that killed Boyd....I'm pretty disappointed. 

Edited March 25, 2015 by catrox14

[90 Day Pinochet]

WAIT...wait...wait!!! Is Boyd really most sincerely dead?? Did  Raylan just let Ava walk? Did Raylan let Boyd die? WTFingF?

 

Honestly, if turns out that Raylan isn't the one that killed Boyd....I'm pretty disappointed. 

 

I think that there is only a very slim chance that Boyd will die as a result (the only thing that gives me pause is the symmetry with the first episode). There is a strange moral order to the Justified universe and there is no way they would let Boyd die in a Walking Dead shock-death type of way. I am not sure Boyd is going to die by the end of the season; however, if he does it will likely involve a heapin' helpin' of hillbilly eloquence and one of Raylan's bullets (coming at him the fast way).

[minamurray78]

Although in last ep's thread I theorized Ava could shoot Boyd, I thought it would be more like the way she almost shot him in the pilot ep, but I don't even think Boyd's gonna die from this one.

I'm ready for Boon to die. Really, you just knew he was gonna go weird at the dinner. Actually, if the barista had gone full cannibal on him, that would have made that scene into something we haven't already seen a million times on screen.

And what's Markham up to? You just know he wouldn't handle all his money to Boyd, and certainly not after finding out about Katherine. He did something to that money and it's gonna screw up Ava's runaway plans.

[ruby24]

It still bothers me that they're pretending they could really send Ava back to prison for something she didn't do. Make up new charges if you want, but she can't live out her original sentence, which was for stabbing a prison guard- something that did NOT happen and was recanted by the actual guy.

[Swaig]

Wow. An act of total desperation. All I can think is that Ava must have watched the "Ava in prison" storyline, too.

[Bannon]

No, Boyd appears in a hospital bed in the preview for next week. It really stretches things that he isn't dead or entirely incapacitated, but that's what they wrote It would have made more sense to have Markham blow up Boyd with about a hald million dollars

 

 

[ruby24]

Did she purposely shoot him in the shoulder so as not to kill him?

[Inquisitionist]

Please keep the spoilers in the Spoilers thread.   There is plenty of room to speculate over there.  Thanks!

 

Like most everyone, I was caught totally off-guard by Ava's decision to shoot Boyd, but as she said, she had done the calculation:  he wasn't going to confess and she can't go back to prison.  She was running out of options. 

 

I was kind of expecting Mikey to turn on Wynn at some point -- the code and all -- but the way he did it was surprising.  That was quite an arsenal he pulled off Wynn and laid out on the counter. 

 

I was hoping Loretta's great-aunt had a similar arsenal ready for Boon, but to no avail...

[Puffaroo]

And what's Markham up to? You just know he wouldn't handle all his money to Boyd, and certainly not after finding out about Katherine. He did something to that money and it's gonna screw up Ava's runaway plans.

 

Since it didn't explode as I expected, now I'm guessing that the hundreds we saw in the duffels are just the top few layers.

[biakbiak]

Ava didn't go to prison originally for stabbing a prison guard. She went to prison because she was found on the side of the road trying to hide the dead body of someone that Boyd killed (I don't even remember who at this point) and so she was an accessory. She did commit that crime.

She wasn't convicted of the crime and the only "reliable" witness connecting her to it is dead.

Edited March 25, 2015 by biakbiak

[soapfaninnc]

Ava didn't go to prison originally for stabbing a prison guard.  She went to prison because she was found on the side of the road trying to hide the dead body of someone that Boyd killed (I don't even remember who at this point) and so she was an accessory.  She did commit that crime.

 

Ava never went to trial. She has been convicted of nothing. I find it amusing that Vasquez's whiny ass forgot that very important point. And for all his whining about what a lousy witness Ava would make? Ellen Mae is even worse. She's a known drug abuser who was running from Delray - who was trying to kill her because she'd been involved with an armed robbery where one of the girls got shot and died. Ellen Mae helped dispose of the girl's body. The crooked deputy and the coroner who saw Ava with the body are both dead. There was no one outside of that crooked department that caught Ava with the body. They may have Delray's rotting ass, but they have no weapon and no proof Ava killed him. 

 

Vasquez just reminded me why I have hated him since he showed up. I'm betting he hasn't given up on his quest to bury Raylan too. I hope Katherine succeeds in offing him at any rate.

Edited March 25, 2015 by soapfaninnc

[minamurray78]

Didn't Ava go to prison for Delroy's death (whom she had actually killed)? Although I don't remember the particulars.

But it's true, there was no trial for that, case went up in smoke, and she was about to get her release when that little troll of a prison guard made up the stabbing story. She was innocent of that, but was sentenced anyway.

Then she got transfered to another prison (the one with the inmates related to old enemies of Boyd, and the old lady that was smuggling drugs inside by pimping her girls to the guards), and that is when it really got dangerous for Ava. She ended up killing that old lady but wasn't caught, right?

So yeah, it doesn't sit well with me either that she be sent back for that stabbing bullshit.

Also wrt Wynn Duffy, what is Mikey thinking? Wynn could break free with that plastic fork/spoon that was right there on the table and gut Mikey in a minute. Or there was a time when he could, way back in the first seasons. I hope he still has it in him.

Edited March 25, 2015 by minamurray78

[attica]

You have to be of a certain time and place to be familiar with that insult.

 

I didn't get it, so: thanks, strangers on the internet for teaching me som'm new!

 

I really want Sam Elliott to hold his head up straight. Like, if I could reach into the screen, take his face in my hands and yoink!, I totally would. Otherwise, he is awesome.

[biakbiak]

I know that she was about to get released, but she didn't get released yet and then the guard stabbed himself and lied about it. The changed story was to get her out as a CI as far we know right? (I could be misremembering that.) So isn't the prison sentence for that still hanging over her? And Vasquez is an asshole and Ava has hung out with career criminals most of her adult life so they'd hang her out to dry. My point though was that that is what the original prison sentence Vasquez was talking about, not the prison guard one. He clearly doesn't care whether Ava was supposed to be released on that one or not.

He did actually recant and Vazquez, Raylan, Rachel, and Tim all know he lied. Tim seemed especially pissed off about it when they had to protect him and even if they think she is a criminal I can't imagine Rachel and Tim at least going along with supporting purgery just to put her back in jail.

Edited March 25, 2015 by biakbiak

[Shannon Sheh]

Best episode of the series.

[Febgirl]

Even though I don't like Ava( maybe I would were another actress playing her), I loved how she gave Raylan the spiel about using feminine wiles to get what you need, and then played him by doing just that. P**** is a powerful thing, indeed.

Boon is so friggin' creepy.  I really need him to be put out of his misery.

Things just got a whole lot murkier.  Now Boyd's entangled with Limehouse-- never a good idea.  Also, Raylan's in trouble for letting Ava go.

Is it Tuesday, yet??

[soapfaninnc]

I know that she was about to get released, but she didn't get released yet and then the guard stabbed himself and lied about it.  The changed story was to get her out as a CI as far we know right?  (I could be misremembering that.) So isn't the prison sentence for that still hanging over her?  And Vasquez is an asshole and Ava has hung out with career criminals most of her adult life so they'd hang her out to dry.  My point though was that that is what the original prison sentence Vasquez was talking about, not the prison guard one.  He clearly doesn't care whether Ava was supposed to be released on that one or not.

 

It doesn't matter. She never went to trial on anything. She was never CONVICTED of anything and even that idiot Vasquez should remember that. You can't throw someone into prison to serve out a sentence when they haven't even been tried and convicted yet. (And unless I missed it there was no trial on any of the charges) And since Rachael and Tim know the guard made the whole thing up, I can't see them letting Vasquez throw Ava back in jail on THAT trumped up charge.  The original charge is going to be pretty impossible to prove. Vasquez has nothing - or at least not until now - with Ava shooting Boyd in front of Raylan. I think Raylan was a bit disappointed HE didn't get to shoot Boyd. 

[Bcharmer]

What, Raylan couldn't simply shoot at the truck's tires to stop it? He really just let Ava go? That was the only part of the episode that felt off to me. The rest? Awesome.

[gesundheit]

I feel like it would be pretty easy to put Ava back in prison on legitimate charges. I think the staged stabbing came before the judge made any decision about the original charges anyway, and lord knows she committed about 45 crimes inside, for which charges could certainly be pursued. I guess what I'm saying is there's about 30 legit ways to get Ava back in prison that have nothing to do with the guard and the staged stabbing. She was looking at a lot of time.

 

(I think!)

[TigerLynx]

Excellent - Everyone got played.

[attica]

What, Raylan couldn't simply shoot at the truck's tires to stop it?

 

Yost addresses this very thing in the post-mortem.

[Bcharmer]

Yost addresses this very thing in the post-mortem.

 

Thanks!  But what a silly explanation. :)

[Voice of Joy]

Wow, I really enjoyed this one. The twists just keep on coming. In retrospect, I should have forseen Ava's desperate move, but like Raylan and Boyd, I surely did not.

Wow. An act of total desperation. All I can think is that Ava must have watched the "Ava in prison" storyline, too.

Best post ever, BTW. I couldn't agree more.

I loved Loretta's great aunt standing up to Avery like good kin, and was very sorry he put Boon on her. I am originally from KY and "no 'count peckerwood" is a genuine insult.

Boon is fascinating to watch because he's truly an insane sociopath. He scares me, and I hope Loretta ends up taking care of his business. I find his character much more interesting to watch than Dillahunt's. He was a big ole "meh" to me. Not as bad as the head Crowe last season, but he didn't hold the screen for me. ChooChoo was the fun in that bunch of dimwits. (I still miss Dewey, and I'm kinda glad his necklace was the catalyst for all this mayhem - a fitting tribute)

We knew Duffy was in trouble because of "the code" but I laughed out loud at the arsenal he kept on him. Guess you have plenty of room down there when you wear a G string.

West, the actor who played the server with the hat, made a genuine effort to pronounce Louisville correctly. So close, dude, so close.

If I could choose only one person to shoot amongst these remaining characters, it would be Vasquez. Art, can't you come back and take care of this asshole somehow?

[Captanne]

Observation only:  Boyd has been shot squarely in the chest and survived before.

 

Spoiler tagged out of an overabundance of courtesy.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Captanne

[minamurray78]

 My point though was that that is what the original prison sentence Vasquez was talking about, not the prison guard one.  He clearly doesn't care whether Ava was supposed to be released on that one or not.

Honestly, at this point I'm confused. I thought the only sentence she had was for the fake stabbing, I should go back and rewatch that.

 

you guys think Raylan kinda suspected Ava was going to pull something? Not shooting Boyd obviously, but that she was being sneaky and maybe he just let her do it?

Despite the pressure he put on Ava, he didn't seem to agree about throwing her back in jail. He even protected her the first time she tried to escape and kept quiet about it. It's like he's reluctant but up to a certain point; he knows there are things he can't lie about, like when he figured out she was burnt as a CI and told Rachel about it. He will come after her, but maybe let her had a head start.

[soapfaninnc]

If I could choose only one person to shoot amongst these remaining characters, it would be Vasquez. Art, can't you come back and take care of this asshole somehow?

 

Ditto.  I want him to go down as being a dirty prosecutor. Maybe Avery will take him out on Katherine's behalf. Though she's really in it now, isn't she? I get the feeling Avery loves her so much he doesn't care if she was trying to steal his money. (Which doesn't make much sense cause if she married him - she'd have all that money)

 

There seems to be some unwritten rule in series television that the prosecutor must be a completely unlikeable shit.  It's one of the best things about Justified though - how everyone is all these shades of gray and how they justify their actions to themselves and everyone else.

[Yemayah]

Ava was neither tried nor convicted of anything.  The original charge that landed her in jail was for moving a body.  She was being released on bail for that charge.  That charge still stands, but with almost zero chance of bail being revoked for that.  She has not been tried for the charge of assaulting/stabbing a prison guard (and that charge would  have folded like a cheap suit if investigated, although Ava would have felt her life was in such imminent danger that she could not wait even for that judicial process to be completed).  Ava has not been charged with anything that occurred within the prison, including the death of that inmate.  The writers probably forgot their own convoluted Ava prison story, and that is why Raylan misspoke that Ava was sentenced. They also forgot, or did not know, that none of her charges are federal, therefore Vazquez can't send her anywhere.   He can only cancel the CI agreement,  His only role was approving a CI agreement and hoping the state prosecutor was in agreement to having her released.  It is up to the state prosecutor to determine if she goes back to prison to await trial for what in essence is a very, very weak case.  If Fekus recanted, she would have been bailed and the feds, state and corrections are all screwed. If Fekus did not recant (ie, the feds made that up), then the feds are still screwed.  Sloppy, sloppy, lazy writing.

[fireice13]

Do previews for the next episode from the network count as a spoiler?

 

I think Mikey is dead and I have a feeling Wynn is too. Avery loves Katherine and might forgive her for going after his money since she thought he was the snitch. He and Katherine will probably figure out it was Wynn and Avery will blame him for everything. I see those two going after Wynn and Boyd.

 

I was shocked by Ava's choice to shoot Boyd and take off. I don't think she'll get very far though. Even if Vasquez couldn't have put her back in prison, she didn't seem to realize that because she apparently never spoke to an attorney of her own about the CI deal. However, now she's gone and done something they can put her in prison for so I have a feeling things won't turn out well for her. 

 

I'm wondering what is going to happen with Boon. They're playing up a showdown between him and Raylan which makes me think there will be some big twist and Boon will end up killing someone else like Tim. Which I really hope doesn't happen. I don't know if Avery warned Boon to check the glass or not, I'm hoping not so that Loretta can take him out with some apple pie.

Edited March 25, 2015 by fireice13

[Bannon]

Ava was neither tried nor convicted of anything.  The original charge that landed her in jail was for moving a body.  She was being released on bail for that charge.  That charge still stands, but with almost zero chance of bail being revoked for that.  She has not been tried for the charge of assaulting/stabbing a prison guard (and that charge would  have folded like a cheap suit if investigated, although Ava would have felt her life was in such imminent danger that she could not wait even for that judicial process to be completed).  Ava has not been charged with anything that occurred within the prison, including the death of that inmate.  The writers probably forgot their own convoluted Ava prison story, and that is why Raylan misspoke that Ava was sentenced. They also forgot, or did not know, that none of her charges are federal, therefore Vazquez can't send her anywhere.   He can only cancel the CI agreement,  His only role was approving a CI agreement and hoping the state prosecutor was in agreement to having her released.  It is up to the state prosecutor to determine if she goes back to prison to await trial for what in essence is a very, very weak case.  If Fekus recanted, she would have been bailed and the feds, state and corrections are all screwed. If Fekus did not recant (ie, the feds made that up), then the feds are still screwed.  Sloppy, sloppy, lazy writing.

I agree, and it really is Yost's responsibility, as showrunner, to prevent this sort of thing from happening. 

Also, having Boyd survive now two gunshot wounds to the chest is very unlike Elmore Leonard.

I've mostly enjoyed Yost's work through the years, especially in this show, but there are times when he lets things get mailed in, and it is unfortunate.

[Bannon]

It's been a lot of years since I read Leonard's books featuring Raylan, but my impression of the Givens of Leonard's books is that he would eventually get really tired of Boon's long winded threatening rhetoric, and would simply shoot Boon dead mid-sentence, and then make some remark to the effect about being really glad to be rid of the boring jackass.

[ChipBach]

I'm also pretty sure that Ava would not be sent to "prison" if she had not yet been found guilty of a crime.  I would imagine she would have been remanded to a county jail until such a time she could be tried.

 

She was not tried in either case, and the fact that the prison guard ran out along with the fact that the cameras were turned off would make it a tough case for Ava to be found guilty of an assault with no apparent motive.  I also think the guard made enough comments about his fraud that the marshals could actually act as witnesses on Ava's behalf...

 

Now - the body she was found with did not prove her guilt in the murder of dipshit.  It proved she stole his remains.  Big difference and she would have probably gotten off with a few months in county lock-up, not state prison.

 

 

[mjc570]

 

from the postmortem:  "To a degree, we wanted to distract people with the Raylan versus Boyd and not have them realize that the story was really about Ava, and that she was going to do something that was going to confound them both. The story would then be about getting Ava and who’s going to get her first."

 

This is exactly why I have been so dissatisfied with this season - I don't care about Ava, and (to me, at least) she just sucks up way too much screen time that could better be utilized by other characters.  Raylan versus Boyd shouldn't be the distraction - that should be the main story.