Justified: the only thing we're on the same side of is, like, this car

[wishfulclicking]

-This episode definitely felt like it was setting the stage for the next episode and I'm okay with that. The Whoop-de-doo is looming and that made every other action feel smaller.

-Whenever Arlo shows up I know things will get interesting. Raylan taking the money with just a light 'I lied' was hilarious.

-Do not mess with Ava.

-Whoever cut the preview for this week's episode did a great job presenting the idea that Mags was going to brutishly disrupt the townhall meeting; when she seized control in a much more subtle manner, one that showed how she's been able to control this region for so long.

-The fireworks going off were opportune for both sides.

-Carol (the red head coal woman) is arrestingly attractive. Like, damn, I know Raylan and her hooking up is a very bad idea but then again, I won't lie and say I wouldn't mind seeing it on screen.

-This point is solely for Timothy Olyphant's measured hotness.

-Raylan was hung over and took a beating. I don't feel like looking up last season to get the episode names, but I remember Raylan taking a beating just before administering a healthy measure of ass kicking last season. So, this proof of his fallibility keeps him in mortal realm just before he does something ridiculous. Much pleasure from getting some backstory on Raylan and the Bennets.

-Boyd and Raylan banter appreciation for life.

-Art knowing doesn't surprise me; and the tension of him knowing but not saying because once he says it, well things might have to change is nice to watch. Raylan leaving is not an actual threat, but that's proof how much this show thrills me that the tension of Raylan thinking about leaving is still something I enjoy seeing.

Comments

[saekhwa]

-Do not mess with Ava.

WORD. And I find it funny how everyone seems to forget that she shot her husband. She does not mess around.

Also, I am so fond of this season for all of the really awesome ladies, especially Mags.

But!

-This point is solely for Timothy Olyphant's measured hotness.

OMG FOR SERIOUS. I am all about some Timothy Olyphant lately.

[wishfulclicking]

Ava is smart too, because there would have been much more trouble if she had shot one of the Bennets, but she had to show those two that she would shoot them if they forced her hand.

This season seems to have built on the previous season and allowed characters to be fleshed out and they have presented a range of women now so no single one holds all the weight of representation. Last season, Ava felt more in focus and then Winona showed up and Rachel was in the backgroud (and I still enjoyed that episode where she wore Raylan's hat), and at times it felt like discussion was about Ava v Winona and who Raylan should end up with; but now with the introduction of Mags and Carol and showing Ava with Boyd and devoting an episode to Rachel's background, and having Aunt Helen still pop up, the women feel like they stand more on their own. Part of this has to do with Justified building from its first season and not having to establish the scenery and Raylan (and Boyd) and I am so glad they decided to put the writing behind the women.

Mags get her own line because she's such a terrifying presence and, to me, more of a threat than last season's Big Bad; maybe its because she presents this initial nonthreatening, nurturing image and then they show her administering punishment via hammer, or calmly poisoning a man and then raising his daughter.

Timothy Olyphant is so hot; he's definitely one who got better with age. I saw him in an episode of Sex and The City recently and I had to turn away and pretend it was someone else. Just that scene of him in the black shirt without the hat, just sitting down was enough to make me wish I could pause my television for a moment and take it all in. Oh, there's a shot in the church during the town hall where Raylan and Boyd stand on opposite sides of Carol and I became very interested.

[saekhwa]

I think that's part of what keeps me hooked on Justified. At first, it was just this fun little show, but now in the second season (as you said), they're building, and we're getting so much of the history of the setting and characters.

OMG MAGS. I have so many thoughts about her, and yes, it's a lot of what you mention. Especially in this most recent ep when she gets a shovel. She doesn't bang the guy over the head with it or do anything overt like shoot at that redhead lady (whose name escapes me). She knows when violence is necessary, but more often than not, she just doesn't need it. I really am enjoying Mags more than the Crowders from last season.

And oh goodness, I will never not love Aunt Helen every time she appears on my screen. :D

He was in Sex and the City, wasn't he? I remember seeing him in some film. Catch and Release? I wasn't nearly so enraptured with his earlier films, but wow. Yeah. He's aged well. I keep looking at screenshots of that one ep where he's only wearing some low-slung jeans and Art comments on his nipples. *laughs*

[wishfulclicking]

She knows when violence is necessary, but more often than not, she just doesn't need it.

Exactly. I have so many thoughts on her too, many more than I had for Papa Crowder. I heard there were five more episodes left, and with the whoop-de-doo happening next episode, I do wonder how things will close. I could easily see the threat of Mags drift over to next season, even if they get the girl, Loreen?, out of immediate danger.

Justified is really making me want to check out Deadwood now because people keep on comparing Raylan to Olyphant's character.

[saekhwa]

Olyphant is a very different character in Deadwood, to me, but he brings a lot of that same swagger to his character as Raylan. I was a big fan of Deadwood when it first aired, but yeah, it's been a long time since I've watched it through again. And ha, I'd totally forgotten Olyphant was even in it. *facepalms*

Oh! Oh! I hope Mags carries over to the next season. I don't see her up and vanishing, per se, but I guess one never knows about these things.