I was actually quite disappointed with that episode, in a season I've quite enjoyed. -- The introduction of an entirely new character this late in the story with a significant connection to key characters -- and he comes with his own personal nemesis? That was just weird. -- Plus, this nemesis is better at finding Jack and Kindle -- seemingly by just driving down the highway -- than Raylan? Who has cell phone tracking assistance? A fact so utterly confusing that as my wife and I were complaining about it, the show returned from commercial break with the Alicia Witt character saying the exact same thing. When even the screenwriters have to acknowledge a plot hole, you know something's wrong. -- And why exactly did Witt's character never own up to being Kindle's mom? Out of embarrassment? That seems so implausible, especially for this person who is supposed to be the smart, moral center of the family. A low bar, sure, but that seemed more than a stretch for that character. -- And what the hell is up with this Crowe ploy? They planned to kill cousin johnny's men, so that they would need this boat dude? So they knew they would be able to get past the problem of violating the Mexican drug lord's explicit order of no American bodies? -- And why the f/ck did Boyd call Mr. Yuen about the dead bodies if he's going to take care of it anyway? There's no way he would have known. It only shows he's a gigantic screw up. Just an odd, odd episode.
To clarify, what was better--from my persective--was the return of Raylan's character to something like who he's been for the rest of the season. In particular, his interaction with Kendal at the end mollified me a little bit. It pissed me off that the same guy who took the heat for Winona's theft of the money from the evidence locker is engaging in petty theft via the caller #7 gimmick (which he got from somebody he thinks is a weasel). It pissed me off that his motivations around Danny Crowe seem to be based on personal antipathy only (yeah, that's always been part of his makeup but it's never been this dominant before). Lately, it has gotten pretty hard to tell the difference between Raylan the gun slinging unwed, uninterested father and the other dirtbags on the show. If his moment of empathy for Kendal and getting dumped by Alison cause him to reboot, a little bit, I'll be happier. But I agree: Boyd and the Crowes is a kind of a garbled mess at this point.
Not sure how I feel about this season. It sure feels more like season 3 than season 4, and that's not a good thing...
So after Eric Roberts recent guest stint, I decided to check his IMDB and find out what else he has been working on. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000616/ Check out the amount of projects he has in the pipe-line! Even if most of those are bit parts, that's a crazy amount of work!
Okay, I'm feeling much better now. Edit: I liked the encounter between Raylan and Art's wife, particularly and loved Rachel being made interim super (there has been too little of her and Tim this season). Generally, I like the fact that CyC has been right: what we've been watching has been a downward spiral fueled by the (logical) consequences of Raylan's decisions rather than an abrupt/arbitrary change in the writing of the character (as I feared). Randomly: I grabbed one of my wife's Christmas presents to read on a flight last week. It was Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist, and Erica Tazel/Rachel would make a wonderful Lila Mae Watson.
Yep. Even though you could see it coming from a mile away. The writers love them some Boyd Crowder (for good reason).
I have to say that Daryl framing his nephew for taking a shot at Art sorta came out of nowhere. The ending of last weeks episode seemed to suggest that he now regarded Kendall as his one remaining true relative. Letting the kid take the fall sort of leaves him in the same situation he appeared afraid of: as the one remaining Crowe.
I kinda thought that it was part of his set up. He's always used his siblings. I won't be surprised if it's his sister that snuffs him.
Yeah, I thought that was right in line -- make a blood pact, now you have to take the fall for the family. I didn't pick up on the 'ol exploding cigar trick until kaboom -- but I knew the cigarettes were some sort of ruse. Such a cheap thrill, but I loved, loved, loved it. Boyd blowin' shit up -- that's where this show started and I love to see it respect its roots. Plus it was great to see some fire back in Wynn Duffy. Also: I wonder if Rachel is going to be the one to shut Raylan down somehow. It seems like he stood on her last nerve ages ago.
So what is Raylan's angle with sending Kendall down for the long haul? I think it's foolish to expect Daryl to take the blame to save his nephew, so I'm guessing it's a ploy to draw him out? But how would that help the kid?
Best I can figure is he's apply pressure (on Wendy or Kendall or somebody), trying to make them crack and stop covering for Daryl. We know he's not interested in harming Kendall, but the conversation (between him and the DA and judge; aside: shouldn't Rachel have been there?) suggested that this was the best of a bunch of bad options.
Yeah but the judge also said that once he went that route, there was no going back. Meaning if it doesn't pan out the way he hopes, the kid is going away for life (or at least a very long time). I have to say that Raylan acted uncharacteristically cold in general in this episode, e.g. also his threats to Ava.
I had been convinced that Raylan was right about Kendall not being the shooter and taking the fall for Daryl because he's a minor -- but now I'm not so sure. Raylan screwed this whole thing up -- by using Kendall as a pawn in the first place, calling in child services, and then complicating things unnecessarily by sleeping with the social worker. Which of course basically resulted in Art getting shot. So now Kendall is paying the price -- and Raylan is more happy to basically risk Kendall's life/future with this gamble to clean up his mess. And, as noted, he's also happy to dangle Ava's life in the balance as a threat (not knowing how little leverage he had in that arena). But what if Kendall was the shooter? Seems somewhat unlikely -- but the audience certainly does not know. And if he was, he's done. Also: Now Rachel and Tim know about Raylan's complicity in the airport gangland murder. Despite their unified front presented to Boyd, their faces seemed to be saying 'Raylan, You Lying Sack of Shit.' It's all going South for Raylan in a hurry. (all puns intended all the time)
AlsoAlso: Very nervous that Wynn Duffy may be gone. The Mexican's eyeballing a very much not-dead Boyd would seem to make Duffy target numero uno. He's been a bit subdued this season, but I'd be very sad to see him go.