Raylan’s Aunt Helen, the woman who raised him like he was her own son, has been murdered in her kitchen, and everyone knows that Dickie Bennett is to blame. Although I’m disappointed in the show’s decision to get rid of a great supporting character, I can’t deny that is a juicy setup for an episode. It sets the stage for a rampage of Jack Bauer-like proportions. We know that Raylan has a reputation for a temper and a spot-on trigger finger. Just last week, the show was poking fun at how often he gets involved in shootings. But despite having all the cause in the world, there’s little physical retribution. No one dies. No one gets shot. Someone does get punched a few times.
Does that feel strange to anyone else?
I’m all for nonviolent resolution, and I’m not going to say that Raylan slacked off in the “avenging” category. I’m just not used to this new approach. In the last two weeks, we’ve seen him cross paths with two bad guys who really deserve a bullet — Wynn Duffy and Dickie Bennett — and he leaves both of them alive. At least Dickie he scared the daylights out of. Duffy didn’t even have a scratch on him. Not typical for a hero whose reputation is built on being unafraid to dispense physical punishment.
Why the change? Is Raylan’s reunion with Winona mellowing him out? Is he saving bullets for the season finale? Have we run out of people to shoot? Or did the writers just decide to try something completely different? Who knows. But it just feels weird.
Even so, I’m pretty sure we just saw Timothy Olyphant‘s Emmy submission. Possibly Jeremy Davies‘ and Margo Martindale‘s, too. There’s some very fine acting in this episode by all of them, particularly Olyphant. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I haven’t seen a union of character and actor this perfect since … well, since Kiefer Sutherland played Jack Bauer on 24. There’s nobody else who could be Raylan Givens but Olyphant. From the first frame to the last, he’s magnificent this week. I don’t think Davies has had a better scene all season than the one in which Dickie believes he’s about to die. And Martindale’s been doing the kind of work all season that should lead to a Supporting Actress nomination, if there’s any sanity left in the awards-show machine.
Things are a lot quieter around Harlan County than they were at this point last season, and Justified also has a high bar to meet if it wants to compare to the outstanding first-season finale, “Bulletville.” This wasn’t quite the bang-up episode I was hoping for going into the end of season two, but I’m pretty sure next week will make up for it. After all, this is still Raylan Givens we’re talking about. I don’t think he could ever go quietly.
Clacked by Brittany Frederick 
on Apr 27, 2011 @ 23:00 EST5EDT
