Poor Ava. She is a desperate woman, unable to keep her usual calm. And not without reason.
The dilemma of Ava, fiancee (again) of and informant on Boyd Crowder, is the centerpiece of the episode. Other events swirl around it, as Boyd’s partners in crime – Katherine and Wynn – do not trust her and her convenient release from prison. So they go after the crazy guard who got her into the fix in the first place, only to decide that he doesn’t have anything to tell – as the marshals wait in the next room. Ava isn’t implicated, not yet. And her panicky moves after leaving Boyd to meet Raylan, and then decide not to meet him, send her back to Limehouse with an offer he can refuse. But he doesn’t, at least if the money’s good enough, sending his assistant Erroll with her. Ava doesn’t seem to have a real plan, which is pointed out to her, and it’s either unsettling or annoying to see her so rattled that she can’t think straight. (I go back and forth on that one.) But it’s not as if she is not in real danger, and it’s not as if Raylan and the marshals aren’t keeping her in this untenable position. So I’m cutting her some slack this episode.
By the end, Ava is back in her own house, ready to resume the lie and make the dinner she promised for Boyd, but not before planting a kiss on Raylan. Oh, yeah. They were an item once, and Ava – to the extent she is thinking straight at all – is at least trying to play on his sympathies and their shared history. These frequent references to past events on the show, and by extension past events in Harlan County history, has contributed to the richness of this season thus far. Even when we meet a new character, Ava’s uncle, he greets Boyd with a shotgun because her kin always hated the way Boyd’s brother treated Ava, with that “the past isn’t even past” spirit in mind.
The death of real estate agent Calhoun is darkly comic (Choo Choo is stupid in both harmless and lethal ways), but it raises more questions about Avery. He’s supposed to be the criminal mastermind, but he has Choo Choo out there getting information. (I realize there is a layer in between, and he didn’t send Choo Choo personally, but this does not appear to be a large operation.) Avery didn’t get the information he wanted, and now there’s a dead real estate agent, which presumably will cause problems for him. Boyd, meanwhile, has decided to block Avery’s real estate purchases (for marijuana cultivation) until he can steal the man’s money. This is what led to Calhoun’s death, as Avery wanted to know how – and to whom – the targeted properties were leaked.
As usual, the show thrives on its dialogue, its little scenes that may loom larger or may just be a one-off. It’s hard to tell sometimes, which is part of the fun.
Ava is my least favorite character on Justified. I’m not sure what purpose she’s served after season one. The prison scenes last year with her were easily the worst scenes Justified has ever done. I didn’t buy that Raylan would be interested in her again at the end of the episode at all. I’m going to be a little disappointed if the climax of the show is this forced love triangle. Love the show but this was a weak episode in my mind.
Agreed on the prison scenes. The contrast between them and better shows like Orange is the new Black were so jarring that it really did a disservice to Justified.
Also, the whole “you could trick a damfool husband for 30 seconds so you can long-con Boyd” thing makes zero sense.
They’re making Boyd look dumb and Boyd is many things but dumb ain’t one of them…(yes, I stole that line in spirit from something Boyd said last season.) Also, I want Raylan to end up with Winona. I’ve always been Team Winona.
I’m waiting to see how this plot plays out to render too harsh a judgment. Boyd loves Ava. Loves her. At times, they have seemed like the most stable couple in Harlan. But it’s been made clear that he does not trust her right now.
There is little debate that the Ava-in-prison scenes were the worst thing about last season, about which I don’t have much good to say anyway.
I will concede that Ava, by herself, is a problematic character. We are not meant to know which way she will turn, and she’s acting like a chicken with her head cut off at the moment, so that doesn’t help.
I haven’t read any of the Better Call Saul stuff because I haven’t watched it yet. Just curious…is it good?
It’s ok (and growing on me). The first few were not good, perhaps even affirmatively boring (and that’s coming from a Mad Men fan)
I plan to catch up fairly soon on it…Breaking Bad ended so well I still wonder what the point of this show is though.
I disagree, I have found the show to be deliciously deliberate. I wouldn’t want this pace to last forever, and I don’t expect it will, but I found it a perfect way to break down and reconstruct our expectations.
I think they’ve gotten there, and I’m hoping they a Justified-season-one quality arc.
It is my impression that Raylen returned the planting.