Justified – Recap and Review – Blind Spot

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Justified
Blind Spot

Original Air Date: Apr 27, 2010

Tom R. – Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com

Seeing Raylan Givens go through an episode without a hat is like a contestant on American Idol who suddenly bleaches their hair completely blonde. You wonder if it’s just for the sake of being experimental. Their performance doesn’t suffer, but it upstages anything they do.

The opening scene this week is the best part of the hour. Ava buys supplies in the local hardware store, run by a couple named Mike and Helen.

Johnny Crowder enters and strikes up a conversation with Mike, making sure Ava is within earshot. He talks about buying supplies for his father, Bo, who is about to earn his release from prison. Each item on Johnny’s list puts a threat in Ava’s mind. As she confronts Johnny, Helen pulls a shotgun on him. When he asks her to point it somewhere else, she simply aims for another body part. It’s a good summation of the show’s humor, and it sets up the action to come.

Asleep with Ava in her bedroom, Raylan is attacked by a masked man with a sawed-off shotgun. Raylan puts the man through the window and shoots him as he flees. Raylan gets Ava into protective custody, and he and Sheriff Hunter head off to question Johnny Crowder. Along the way, we learn that Henry Crowder raped Hunter’s niece, and the family helped him go into hiding. Hunter is only to happy to humiliate Johnny, getting him to strip in his bar so they can check him for bullet wounds. They find nothing.

Raylan loses his temper as he questions Boyd Crowder about his father’s activities. At the second meeting between the two men, Boyd finds the blind spot that Raylan has missed. Since the attack took place in Ava’s bedroom (a fact that really irritates Art), the assumption was that Ava was the target. But what if the target was Raylan? This is where that opening scene becomes so important. The answer is obvious, but the misdirection (sleight of hand, red herring, etc.) completely works.

Boyd turns out to hold the truth. The Miami cartel had done what the law could not: They delivered Henry Crowder to Sheriff Hunter. In return, he took over the dealings that Bo Crowder had been involved I before he was arrested. The cartel sent a hit man named Duke, who hired a local thug named Red as a spotter. They were supposed to capture and kill Raylan, sending a video back to the cartel. Red’s recklessness during the attack on Raylan put them at risk. Hunter kills Duke and takes Ava. His plan is to use her to deliver Raylan to the cartel. Red and Ava are in a van, followed by Hunter and Raylan. But since Ava is not tied as securely as thought, she is able to force Red to crash the van. In the chaos, Raylan disarms Hunter.

Behind bars, a prison gang has noticed the meetings between Boyd and Raylan. They jump to conclusions about Boyd being a snitch. He clings to his Bible (literally and figuratively) as they circle him. As a brawl begins, the gang is called off by Bo Crowder, who makes a far better first impression than Arlo Givens.

High shot count, particularly in the scene between Red and Raylan. It turns out to be necessary, showing Red’s reckless attitude. Can’t help but notice that Deadwood alumni are making appearances on Justified. Brent Sexton (Sheriff Hunter) played Harry Manning, oddly enough, Seth Bullock’s rival for Sheriff. This week also features Ray McKinnon (the tragic Reverend Smith), and last week, we saw Peter Jason (Tolliver flunky Con Stapleton, the camp’s first Sheriff), Coincidence, in-joke, or just keeping an eye on talent?

What did you think? Drop in your comments or send me a note at: tom@thetwocents.com .