Justified “The Toll” 

Of course it takes Art getting seriously wounded for Raylan to become more like the kind of Deputy  US Marshal Art’s always wanted. Deemed “the problem child” Shashawnee Hall‘s Detroit boss Ed Kirkland keeps Raylan close. Surprisingly enough, they have an excess of confessors, although the real one never steps forward. First Theo Tonin admits to putting a hit out on Art and fingers Picker as the trigger man. The problem? Picker has an alibi. Then Kendal Crowe confesses, claiming he only went to Allison’s that night to talk and shot Art by mistake. But we all know who the real shooter is. Darryl Jr.

What I find really interesting about the Crowes is their revisionist history on things. Not only do they claim that Raylan killed Danny – which is a blatant lie. Hello? Danny stabbed himself in the face. It was an awful way to die and still too good for him – but Wendy also seems to think Danny was the glue that held her family together. Since when? Darryl Jr. is the head of this family and whatever scheme he had going in Florida seemed to serve them well for quite some time. It was Dilly who messed that up for them. And even though things weren’t necessarily going well in Harlan county, I’d say Darryl Jr. was again the ringleader. Sure, he talked to Danny about his schemes, but I always assumed (and I think for pretty good reason) that Darryl was the brains of this operations. Well, no. Wendy is clearly the smartest Crowe (at least in terms of cunning and intelligence). And this family takes loyalty to  a whole other level. I’m sad about Kendal. I thought he had a chance to make it out.

So when Raylan seems determined to do things by the book during this investigation, I was surprised and pleased. I also love that Tim was ready to go rogue with Raylan and it was Raylan who pulled Tim back. It was Raylan who thought about Art and how Art would want this situation handled. It was Raylan who was somehow able to react rationally and appropriately (at least by Art’s standards) during this tough situation. Even after Darryl Jr. was released from custody, Raylan still held it together very well. He admitted to Darryl Jr. how much Art means to him. And he promised him that when he was done with him Darryl Jr. would’ve wished Raylan shot and killed him.

Other developments

I don’t think I will ever get tired of hearing Boyd talk or watching him get himself out of very bad situations. I was so excited during “Weight” to be introduced to Mary Steenburgen‘s Katherine Hale. I don’t think we’ve ever seen her quite like this and it looks good on her. As she’s trying to decide if Boyd lives or dies, Boyd makes the only kind of statement he knows how – a loud one. Boyd’s desperation has made him do some really interesting things this season, but mostly it’s made him kill. And this is no exception. With Picker now out of the equation permanently, there really is only one choice for Duffy to make.

Ava manages to stay alive for one more day. Taking Judith out was a risky move. She had to make sure not to get caught by the prison authorities, but she also had to see how Judith’s girls would take it. For now, Ava’s safe – or, at least as safe as she can be in prison with a bit of a price on her head. Now she really has to deliver on the drugs. If she can, she should be safe, relatively speaking.

I’m really looking forward to next week’s “Starvation.” I won’t spoil anything if you didn’t watch the preview, but I will say things are coming together in a very interesting (and mostly likely explosive and deadly) way. But it wouldn’t be Justified if that wasn’t the case.

Justified airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on FX.