S06.E11: Fugitive Number One

[lulee]

Does anyone else see Loretta as the "female" version of Rayland?

Hmm, maybe ... she might be a female young Raylan, but maybe she thinks she's a female adult Boyd.

[Anela]

I cried when Mikey was dying, and still fighting Katherine - and then with Wynn trying to help him, and holding him. Damn. 

[Anela]

I loved the part with Raylan and the dirty cop.

 

I'm really going to miss this show. 

[Ohwell]

Poor Mikey.  That broke my heart.  I'm glad he knocked the fuck out of Catherine before he died though.  She should have let Avery take care of Wynn, but nooooo....she had to go all badass do it herself.  I loved the "oh shit I'm dead!"  look in her eyes as she lay on the table.  Dead. 

 

I guess there's nothing left for Wynn to do at this point but fire up the RV and drive the hell out of town?

[Inquisitionist]

Showrunner Graham Yost really liked this episode, too.  Here, he explains the "choreography" of the Mikey/Katherine debacle:

I’ll talk a lot about Jon Avnet, who directed the episode. Jon and I’ve worked together since Boomtown, and he’s done a lot of very memorable episodes on Justified [including Season 3’s “Harlan Roulette”]. We think of him sometimes as our secret weapon because he’s got great producing instincts and great visual flair, and he works so well with the actors. So when he first read that scene, it was pretty straightforward: Mikey gets in the middle between Katherine and Duffy. Katherine starts shooting, and the idea was Mikey was just going to grab her around the throat and take her to the floor.

 

Jon wanted to do more, and he initially pitched things like, could he throw her through a window? Could it go outside? We’re like, “No, no, it can’t. We’re running out of time. We don’t have the money. Please just keep it in the motorhome and keep it simple.” And he basically said to me, “I will give you something,” and he didn’t tell me what he was going to do.

 

He knows how to get a lot of bang for the buck, and he knows how to really motivate the crew, and the crew loves him. He’s a very larger than life persona and a lot of fun, and so people got into the spirit of it and they got a lot of work done in that motorhome, which is not an easy place to shoot in, which you can imagine…. So he came up with all this stuff: the whole notion of Mikey lifting her up and slamming her on the table, the fact that as he’s lifting her the gun goes off and there’s a hole in the table, that shot up through him into the ceiling, that shot of Duffy looking and seeing the blood coming through the table, and then I think one of the greatest shots ever is Duffy seeing Katherine’s glassy, dead face as she’s clumped on the chair having slid off the table, and then the final run between Duffy and Mike. “Will you hold me?”

[LCanterbury]

I'm disturbed by how quickly I went from crying over Mikey (sorry, Michael) asking Wynn to hold him to laughing at Wynn telling 911 he didn't know where to start in regard to what his emergency was.

Fantastic episode.

[cassandle]

What surprised me the most, is that Avery actually coughed up ten million--or so it appears. Thought for sure that those two duffle bags were full of newspaper clippings with just a layer or two of money on top.

 

I could have sworn that in the previews after last week's episode for this week's episode they showed Ava opening the bag to find the money wasn't really all there and freaking out.  But now I'm thinking that the promo monkeys cut it so her freaking out about Gruber looked like she was freaking out over the non-money.  In other words, yeah, I totally didn't think all the money was really in the bag either and I still have a hard time believing Avery really handed over 10 million.

[Enigma X]

I agree with all about the Wynn and Mikey death scene. I cried like a baby. 

 

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Walter Goggins's mutant feet yet though.

[dargosmydaddy]

How old is Loretta supposed to be at this point? Wasn't she like fourteen in season two, which in show time is only about a year ago (Winona was pregnant at the end of season two)? So this fifteen-sixteen year year old is running around doing all this?

 

And why is Nelson being left in charge of Boyd? Wasn't he the same marshal who Raylan tricked into giving him Arlo's killer? They had no one more competent?

 

Other than that, this episode was made of awesome.

 

 

Followed closely with, "Please don't kill Tim."

Luckily looks can't kill, or Raylan's glare would've slayed him after Tim asked for a share of the money.

 

I don't know, I'm beginning to think Tim might not die. Which will, of course, mean he's doomed...

[Inquisitionist]

dargosmydaddy, Winona was pregnant at the end of season 4 -- remember the shoot-out in the baby's room before Raylan headed off to the showdown with Nicky Augustine?  Justified is a little loose when it comes to timeline issues, but I think we can assume Loretta is now 18-ish.

 

Enigma X, his feet (or foot) certainly did look odd, but I put that down to the weird positioning caused by the shackle.  Do we have more definitive evidence that they are mutant?  :-)

[dargosmydaddy]

 

dargosmydaddy, Winona was pregnant at the end of season 4 -- remember the shoot-out in the baby's room before Raylan headed off to the showdown with Nicky Augustine?  Justified is a little loose when it comes to timeline issues, but I think we can assume Loretta is now 18-ish.

Winona was pregnant FOREVER. She was super pregnant at the end of season 4, but I believe she just found out she was pregnant at the end of season 2.

[magdalene]

Sigh. After last weeks episode I was thinking Boyd had a chance of getting out alive, now I think he is a dead man.

 

That Mikey/Katherine fight to the death was a fantastic scene. Wynn, Wynn, Wynn cheating death yet again.  Somebody down there really likes him.

Edited April 1, 2015 by magdalene

[soapfaninnc]

Does anyone else see Loretta as the "female" version of Rayland?

 

I think she's much smarter than Raylan when it comes to the opposite sex but that's not setting a high bar there. <g>  She's different in that she had a chance at a different - crime free life and didn't take it. She came back to Harlan. I see her more as Mags Jr. or Boyd.  Maybe she's what Raylan would have become if he'd stayed in Harlan, but I always though Boyd the flip side of Raylan. 

 

Tim and Art ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE! Everyone else is fair game for me. Some I'd like to see dead more than others.  Did anybody else think Avery was going to snap Katherine's neck in the hotel room?

[hope4all]

And why is Nelson being left in charge of Boyd? Wasn't he the same marshal who Raylan tricked into giving him Arlo's killer?

 

 

 

          Yes, dargosmydaddy.  Nelson was the guy that allowed Raylan to take the killer, I just imagine that his gullibility is what allows Boyd to get away (also after Boyd shoots someone to make his escape).  However, he has made progress, when he went outside to the ambulance bay he saw no Raylan he hightailed back inside.

[cassandle]

I don't know, I'm beginning to think Tim might not die. Which will, of course, mean he's doomed...

 

I'm convinced he probably will die and since I've been 100% wrong so far on who's getting killed that means he won't die.  Except now I think he won't die which means he will….  Crap.

[LittleIggy]

Do you think Wynn got Katherine's honking big diamond ring off her finger before the cops came? He sure did eye it on her dead hand.

Moria would have been better than Mordor, actually, since that was the Dwarven underground city and there were mines down there. Hey, but a LOTR reference is always good!

[buttersister]

In my little world, Tim gets a spinoff. Happy world.

 

I wondered if Boon giving Loretta back the gun was a fate-sealer (she'll use it on him soon), which would be fine by me. Serving a Mag's apple pie works, too.

 

I was dry-eyed watching the Mickey/Katherine fight and the aftermath with Wynn, but I think that was as a result of my eyes being opened too wide to generate any moisture. Hats off to Arnet & co.

 

Art going after Raylan just means I'm okay with him keeling over---as long as Raylan walks. More better for Rachel.

[Macbeth]

Well done Jere Burns - Well done.  I always knew that SOB Duffy would leave Harlan with someone else's blood on him.  I just never knew it would Mikey's.

 

Wynn and Mikey's relationship was the most loving and committed on the show.  Mikey's betrayal was huge.  I remember when Mikey was tied up last season and tortured to give up some valuable info.  Wynn had no problems with Mikey giving up the info - he was just so upset that Mikey had been hurt.

 

Wynn Duffy was always good and added so much to this show.

[halgia]

Do you think Wynn got Katherine's honking big diamond ring off her finger before the cops came? He sure did eye it on her dead hand.

Moria would have been better than Mordor, actually, since that was the Dwarven underground city and there were mines down there. Hey, but a LOTR reference is always good!

I think Tim's referred to Afghanistan as Mordor in the past? Or I might be making that up.

[TigerLynx]

I'm disturbed by how quickly I went from crying over Mikey (sorry, Michael) asking Wynn to hold him to laughing at Wynn telling 911 he didn't know where to start in regard to what his emergency was.

 

 

I did the same thing.

 

As far as casting goes, there have been some bad choices, but Wynn, Boyd, Mags, Art, Rachel, Tim were excellent choices.

 

I was surprised that Mikey killed Katherine.  I thought Katherine would kill Wynn and Mikey, and then it would be a toss up as to whether Katherine killed Avery or he killed her.  I guess Avery really did love Katherine.

[fireice13]

I want to see Vasquez's response to finding out Katherine's dead. He so wanted to take her down and now he can't. I'm sure it's going to make him even more of a bastard.

[paramitch]

I think this was a fantastic episode, and almost every scene was riveting and featured gorgeous dialogue in that trademark "Justified" way. I also think that it spotlighted once again what (to me) this season is all about: what each person's one vulnerable point or Achilles' Heel is -- for Raylan, it's his baby girl. For Art, it's the Marshals Office and what it represents. For Rachel, I think it was sitting behind Art's desk. For Vasquez, perhaps it's pride.

 

For Boyd, it's Ava (although I think we've seen the reverse is also not true) -- and I thought it was oddly touching that even after he vowed vengeance toward Ava, he quietly gave Raylan the info he needed to go get her (potentially safely).

 

For Avery, it was Katherine, and that fascinated me, because all season long, even as he's known she was playing him, he loved her anyway and even enjoyed her gamesmanship.

 

For Mikey, it was Wynne -- I just think he didn't know it until it was too late. That final struggle was so horrible, brutal, and even blackly comic, and then it wound up just being incredibly touching as Mikey and Wynne said goodbye.

 

I have to say that Jonathan Tucker is knocking it out of the park as Boon for me, even if he probably won't ever quite approach Garrett Dillahunt levels of awesomeness for me. But he's incredibly creepy, yet genuinely mesmerizing, and has made a huge impression in just a handful of episodes. He just thrums with imbalance and tension. The guy is utterly, blissfully crazypants.

[Melbaby]

I agree about Jonathan Tucker's performance.  That almost-showdown was fantastic.  I loved Raylan's "You stay where I can see you" and Markham's laugh. 

 

I kept yelling "Get her! Get her!" during Mikey's struggle with Katherine.  So intense.  Then so sad.

[dohe]

I hope Tim, Rachel and Art don't die either.  That said, my focus, as it has been since the end of season 1, is with the 3 main characters, Raylan, Ava, and Boyd.  This is, when it comes down to it, the story of 3 people, the same age, raised in Harlan and how so heavily influenced they were by the demons of their childhood.  The boy who fought to escape the cruel father and become the opposite of him, the girl whose father died when she was a child and looked for a male figure who would protect her, and the boy who desired his father's love and respect. 

 

I was never one of those who felt Tim and Rachel were accorded too little time just as I was never one of those fans who saw this as Raylan vs. Boyd.  To me, from the end of the first season on, this has been about the how all those demons from a damaged childhood have stayed with these three Harlan citizens and how the attempt to escape that past can be, for many, the hardest journey of their lives.  This is about Raylan, Ava, and Boyd.  Raylan has the best chance to move on and it is clear that dealing with Ava and Boyd is the closure he so needs.   Ava is the show's most tragic of the three main characters and I worry for her most.  Boyd has been the no turning back character for awhile.

 

I am not shocked for a moment by Boyd killing Carl.  I don't find it out of character at all.  I find it respectful of what has gone before.  Once Carl pointed a gun at Boyd, he was done for.  For a brief time in season 2 I hoped, as Ava did, that Boyd could become someone better.  But when it comes down to it, he is a murderer and a person so stubborn at coming out on top he will resort to almost anything. 

 

As for Boon, someone mentioned all he is is someone with a gun.  Yes.  But he is clearly someone fast and likely very good with that gun.  Gunslingers weren't guys punching out people in bars.  They were people shooting people in bars.  Some such as the sickly Doc Holliday and the sickly Luke Short would have probably been beaten up by a preteen if they started fisticuffs.  Yet they were intimidating beyond belief and that was based on their ability with a gun.  That is why that sequence between Boon and Raylan was so tense.  We know how good Raylan is.  However watching the quick draw of Boon, knowing this Avery's main hired man, and seeing how he calm and ready he was for a showdown - well that is scary.  I am a gigantic Garrett Dillahunt fan back to Deadwood.  But Dillahunt's Walker never scared me in that he could kill Tim or Art or Ava or Rachel and definitely not Raylan.  But Boon is scary.  The way Tucker plays him is scary.  And I think, to a degree, that is why I want him dead - because watching this guy makes me anxietal.

Edited April 2, 2015 by dohe

[spaceytraci1208]

As for Boon, someone mentioned all he is is someone with a gun. Yes. But he is clearly someone fast and likely very good with that gun. Gunslingers weren't guys punching out people in bars. They were people shooting people in bars. Some such as the sickly Doc Holliday and the sickly Luke Short would have probably been beaten up by a preteen if they started fisticuffs. Yet they were intimidating beyond belief and that was based on their ability with a gun. That is why that sequence between Boon and Raylan was so tense. We know how good Raylan is. However watching the quick draw of Boon, knowing this Avery's main hired man, and seeing how he calm and ready he was for a showdown - well that is scary. I am a gigantic Garrett Dillahunt fan back to Deadwood. But Dillahunt's Walker never scared me in that he could kill Tim or Art or Ava or Rachel and definitely not Raylan. But Boon is scary. The way Tucker plays him is scary. And I think, to a degree, that is why I want him dead - because watching this guy makes me anxietal.

I really dug Boon when they introduced him. Very menacing and unnerving. It's all the talking he does all the time that turns me off. It seems like every time he speaks, it's a soliloquy and I find myself just waiting for him to wrap it up.

Edited April 3, 2015 by spaceytraci1208

[paramitch]

I hope Tim, Rachel and Art don't die either.  That said, my focus, as it has been since the end of season 1, is with the 3 main characters, Raylan, Ava, and Boyd.  This is, when it comes down to it, the story of 3 people, the same age, raised in Harlan and how so heavily influenced they were by the demons of their childhood.  The boy who fought to escape the cruel father and become the opposite of him, the girl whose father died when she was a child and looked for a male figure who would protect her, and the boy who desired his father's love and respect. 

 

I was never one of those who felt Tim and Rachel were accorded too little time just as I was never one of those fans who saw this as Raylan vs. Boyd.  To me, from the end of the first season on, this has been about the how all those demons from a damaged childhood have stayed with these three Harlan citizens and how the attempt to escape that past can be, for many, the hardest journey of their lives.  This is about Raylan, Ava, and Boyd.  Raylan has the best chance to move on and it is clear that dealing with Ava and Boyd is the closure he so needs.   Ava is the show's most tragic of the three main characters and I worry for her most.  Boyd has been the no turning back character for awhile.

 

I am not shocked for a moment by Boyd killing Carl.  I don't find it out of character at all.  I find it respectful of what has gone before.  Once Carl pointed a gun at Boyd, he was done for.  For a brief time in season 2 I hoped, as Ava did, that Boyd could become someone better.  But when it comes down to it, he is a murderer and a person so stubborn at coming out on top he will resort to almost anything. 

 

As for Boon, someone mentioned all he is is someone with a gun.  Yes.  But he is clearly someone fast and likely very good with that gun.  Gunslingers weren't guys punching out people in bars.  They were people shooting people in bars.  Some such as the sickly Doc Holliday and the sickly Luke Short would have probably been beaten up by a preteen if they started fisticuffs.  Yet they were intimidating beyond belief and that was based on their ability with a gun.  That is why that sequence between Boon and Raylan was so tense.  We know how good Raylan is.  However watching the quick draw of Boon, knowing this Avery's main hired man, and seeing how he calm and ready he was for a showdown - well that is scary.  I am a gigantic Garrett Dillahunt fan back to Deadwood.  But Dillahunt's Walker never scared me in that he could kill Tim or Art or Ava or Rachel and definitely not Raylan.  But Boon is scary.  The way Tucker plays him is scary.  And I think, to a degree, that is why I want him dead - because watching this guy makes me anxietal.

 

Dillahunt brought this humanity and humor to Walker. He seemed dangerous to me, but not crazy. He did scare me on occasion -- most notably with the college kids after he'd been wounded -- you could see that this guy could only be pushed so far.  But even when he died (and I thought that entire scene was a tour de force), there seemed to be some humanity in him, some desire to communicate -- his last words were certainly mysterious and hinted at a driving force that went beyond money for him, so I'm interested to see if anything comes of that as we watch Avery square off in these final two episodes.

 

But I agree that Boon is scary precisely because he could do or say anything, anything at all. In fact, based on what we've seen, I think he'd be delighted to kill Raylan -- especially if he outdrew him -- and would probably even feel proud and happy at the stupid symbolism of it. He seems to attach great meaning to little, odd things and moments. There's something going on for him with Loretta -- he has attached meaning to her in a perverse way -- and also with Raylan, on whom his mancrush is so evident it's not even subtext but text! And he even made sure to buy himself a BLACK hat. Just to keep the time-honored symbolism obvious.

 

I did wonder -- as the recap did -- why Raylan went to see Avery (and especially that he basically outed/exposed Wynne Duffy in Katherine's death). Was he really hoping Avery would give up? Was he hoping he'd read something or learn something from Avery's reaction? I don't know what he gained there, unless he was simply hoping an unhinged or grief-stricken Avery might just pack up and leave town. But the bigger likelihood is that he'll go scorched-earth and a bunch more people will die.

 

(Hmm -- Ava/Avery. I wonder if Ava's determined fixation on money this season is meant to be reflected in some dark way by Avery, the possessor of all that gold. The naming similarity is curious.)

 

I feel like Boyd is probably doomed -- he's just gone too far over a certain line -- but I'd love it if he redeemed himself in some surprising way in the end befitting all his complexity.  But I really don't want anything to happen to our Marshals -- not Raylan, not Tim, not Art, not Rachel. I love them all and want them to give each other a sly wink and a smile and stride off into their respective happy sunsets dammit. Fingers crossed.

[fireice13]

 

I feel like Boyd is probably doomed -- he's just gone too far over a certain line -- but I'd love it if he redeemed himself in some surprising way in the end befitting all his complexity.

 

Maybe Boyd dies by stepping in front of a bullet meant for Raylan. Instead of those two taking each other out, maybe Boyd saves Raylan's life again like he did in the mine all those years ago. That would definitely be a surprising end, but I think it would redeem him in some ways. 

[Captanne]

I thought Raylan went to Avery specifically to tell him not to touch Ava.  (He implied that he didn't want Avery to go after the money, either, but that's a bit far fetched.  Avery is programmed to do that.  It's in every fibre of his body to chase his money.  It's his raison d'être.  Especially now that he knows Katherine is dead.  Iow, "becoming Kind and Queen of Harlan County" is no longer in the cards since the Queen is an X-Queen.)

 

But Raylan seemed to be visiting Avery specifically to tell him to leave Ava alone.

 

ETA:  I'm not usually a fan of one-dimensional villains (I'm lookin' at you, Floki of Vikings.) but I find Boon interesting.  I did NOT when he first appeared -- he annoyed.  But he's gained some weird complexity over the past few episodes and there's something about him that aplexes me.

 

Aww, Mikey.  RIP.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Captanne

[Voice of Joy]

Maybe Boyd dies by stepping in front of a bullet meant for Raylan.

A poetic end for Boyd would be having him die saving Ava. Redemption of a kind.

[Linderhill]

 

I am not shocked for a moment by Boyd killing Carl.  I don't find it out of character at all.  I find it respectful of what has gone before.  Once Carl pointed a gun at Boyd, he was done for.  For a brief time in season 2 I hoped, as Ava did, that Boyd could become someone better.  But when it comes down to it, he is a murderer and a person so stubborn at coming out on top he will resort to almost anything.

I felt so badly for Boyd in season 1 and 2 when he was trying his best to be "good." I genuinely believed his grief when his father slaughtered Boyd's religious followers in their camp and his anguish at trying to go the straight and narrow being back in the mines.  I recall cousin Johnny's speech about how Boyd was always jumping from one thing to another with what he wanted and it was true. 

 

I've never considered Ava that important to the story arc, she has always annoyed me with her whining and dependance.  I think the only time I really liked her was when she belted Devil with the frying pan.  Granted that is mostly my own preferences but she's just never appealed to me.  It still grates that she's taken up so much screen time this season. 

 

As for Raylan going to see Avery, Yost has stated that Raylan didn't realize that Avery didn't know that Katherine was dead.  So, yes, Raylan was there for other purposes. 

 

I really, really want Raylan to out draw Boon.  He was just soooo creepy the way he hovered outside Lorreta's car.

[ChipBach]

          Yes, dargosmydaddy.  Nelson was the guy that allowed Raylan to take the killer, I just imagine that his gullibility is what allows Boyd to get away (also after Boyd shoots someone to make his escape).  However, he has made progress, when he went outside to the ambulance bay he saw no Raylan he hightailed back inside.

 

I thought this was kind of silly.  Would have rather had the cop taze (tase?) Nelson to get by him.  I feel, at the very least Nelson would have texted Raylan or called him if nothing else but to ask what he wanted and to tell him he was standing guard.  To give up his guard to anyone not a federal marshal especially to a guy he didn't know seemed too incompetent for belief.  I was like, "no way"...

[Melbaby]

I was as disappointed as Boon when Markham called him off.  He was so overconfident and wrapped up in his own shtick that he missed how relaxed and quiet Raylan was.  Learn from yer elders, son!

[Swaig]

I am loathe to use hyperbole but this has been the best season of one of my favorite shows, if not at least tied with Mags.

The stars have really aligned here. Last year when I heard it was gonna be the final RvB showdown, I hoped they were gonna do this, in pretty much exactly this way (tight and tense, with their trademark amazing dialogue) but I just didn't see how they would given that S5 was so damn tortured at times.

But they've done it. Congratulations, show. You have seen the abyss and you have spit in its eye (ok, you got me... I kind of like hyberbole). Anyway, congratulations most of all to a slew of incredibly talented writers who know and adore their characters inside and out. You done good.

[Bannon]

I think some credit must be given to Sam Elliott, for the masterful job in portraying Makham's reaction to the news of the demise of his fiancee. It isn't easy to play a character who is very, very, controlled, who comes to a shocking realization; which is why I've always thought Al Pacino's best work was four decades ago, as Michael Corleone. Having Katherine violently killed with two episodes to go really is smart writing, in that it allows great possibilities, as a Markham who  is quietly enraged by more than the loss of money, goes on a rampage, and Markham is likely to blame everybody for what has happened.

 

I remain convinced that the best way to write Boone's near certain death is to have him get killed because he is too busy trying to be verbally menacing, instead of being effectively violent, when someone with the complete opposite approach to getting the work done simply goes from Point A to Point B by the shortest route. That would very consistent with a lot of Elmore Leonard's writing; "52 Pick-up" comes to mind.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Bannon

[spaceytraci1208]

I remain convinced that the best way to write Boone's near certain death is to have him get killed because he is too busy trying to be verbally menacing, instead of being effectively violent, when someone with the complete opposite approach to getting the work done simply goes from Point A to Point B by the shortest route. That would very consistent with a lot of Elmore Leonard's writing; "52 Pick-up" comes to mind.

I will giggle my ass off if that happens!

[mledawn]

I remain convinced that the best way to write Boone's near certain death is to have him get killed because he is too busy trying to be verbally menacing, instead of being effectively violent, when someone with the complete opposite approach to getting the work done simply goes from Point A to Point B by the shortest route. That would very consistent with a lot of Elmore Leonard's writing; "52 Pick-up" comes to mind.

 

Yes! A little bit of Indiana Jones with the gun instead of the whip in Raiders.

[Bannon]

Yes! A little bit of Indiana Jones with the gun instead of the whip in Raiders.

It might be a good idea to have Loretta thoroughly prepared when Boone show up again, and, as Boone gets about two words into his menacing psycho act, she cuts him in half with a concealed sawed off 12 gauge.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

This eppy should've been called Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.

Poor Wynn, his Bf/sidekick is gone.

RIP Mikey...