As evidenced by last week’s comments, my readers may have been able to call Loretta’s vengeful streak but me, I didn’t think she was the type. That said, my being wrong made for some great fucking television, no two ways about it. As opposed to last season’s wrap up, “Bloody Harlan” really, you know, fucking wrapped shit up. As the writers handled all the loose threads from last season’s finale in the first few minutes of this season’s premiere, I think leaving it only slightly clifferhanger-esque is the way to go with this series. And that’s not to say we’re not left with some questions nor given some hints as to what next season will be about it in “Bloody Harlan” – not by a damn sight, dear reader. But before the Nerd blindly speculates, lets’ count us up some fucking bodies first, how about it?
So we have Boyd asking for a parlay at the beginning of the episode with Doyle and Mags, the three of them plus Arlo meeting at the church. But though Boyd is perfectly reasonable, even offering up to Mags the money he took off Dickie, she’s got some Godfather-baptism-climax shit up her sleeve. Fortunately, Boyd has seen that movie too and his tiny gang of outlaws manage to take out all of Mags’ henchmen sans Dickie with only Ava hurt on his end.
When word gets out that Loretta’s on her way to Harlan, Raylan ditches Winona, possibly proving to her that he will always be tied to both Harlan and his job, no matter if they get remarried, have their child and move to Glencoe. Then Raylan gets captured by Dickie and there’s a surprisingly intense torture sequence (featuring a great Leonardian monologue from Dickie about how Raylan owes him twenty years worth of steps) before Boyd breaks that party up with vengeance for Ava on his mind. Unlike last week, where Raylan showed mercy on the mewling Dickie, Raylan seems content to let Boyd have his way, but then Dickie again sells out his family at the drop of a hat, assuring Raylan that he won’t be able to get into Mama’s house and save Loretta without him alive.
Then we have the standoff at the Bennett compound (which is on a piss-poor lockdown, as Doyle hilariously points out to his lazy men) where all hell breaks loose after Loretta pops Mags in the leg. Then Doyle has the drop on Raylan (with Raylan taking one in the side) before Tim Gutterson puts one through his brain and Art and the cavalry come to the rescue, proving that things with Art and Raylan will be alright after all. Then Raylan gets Loretta not to finish the job, goodbye Loretta, Raylan tells Mags Doyle’s dead, then Mags kills herself the same way she killed Walt in the first episode of the season, cut to black. Yeah, there were a few too many “I’m coming home, Jesus!” lines before she passed but all in all a fine way to put this badger back in the bag and a hell of death for one of the great screen bad guys of television.
But satisfying as that shit may have been, there are still a few questions that will no doubt bleed over into the third season. (Which has been confirmed, thank christ, as FX has been fucking up lately by calling it quits on shows like Terriers and Lights Out) First there’s the simple matter of whether Ava will live or die from her gunshot wound. Then we’ve got the question of whether Dickie, the only surviving member of the Bennett family, will have anything to do in upcoming seasons, be it in jail or out. There’s also the storyline they’ve set up about Raylan and Ava leaving Harlan in the next few months to raise a family in Glencoe, something that will most likely, you know, not happen, but make for some (hopefully) interesting family drama shit. Then lastly and most excitingly, there’s the deal Boyd struck with the guy trying to take over Doyle’s Sheriff spot, a position that needs filling sooner rather than later as, you know, Doyle’s head is a bit light these days. Will we be back to just the Crowders as the local gangland power next season or is the new Sheriff gonna get power crazy on Boyd and fuck up their arrangement? Or hell, is there just gonna be some new group of crazies for Raylan and Boyd to deal with entirely?
Before I call it quits till 2012, let me just say that this season really worked for me. The disposability of episodes this season went out the window after just a few weeks, making it all count real quick as opposed to last season where over half the episodes featured brand new characters that we watched die in just forty-five minutes. I’m thinking (well, hoping) that there’ll be even fewer throwaway stories next season as the writers have a pretty fleshed out world to work with now and a deep well of characters to draw from, to make it all feel serialized and of a piece. But before we find out if any of these hopes and predictions are true we’ve all got to settle in for another three seasons worth of Justified withdrawal, and the Nerd can already feel the jones creeping under his skin.
