Justified: the next time we have this conversation, it won't be a conversation

[wishfulclicking]

This show.

-Helen's death surprised me in the way that I felt blood was going to be spilled, and I feared what rash thing Dickie would do, and that conversation between Helen and Ava really had extra depth on the rewatch now that I knew what was going to happen. That scene made me think of the second season finale of Sons of Anarchy when the baby is kidnapped and the other guy was stabbed.

-Raylan continues to be a good lawman but a lousy marshal and his coworkers are not impressed. Tim was spectacular tonight: so dry and witty and outwardly laconic yet ready for action. I am a sucker for anyone who refers to The Bodyguard.

-Gary. I actually don't think this is the last of him but I can hope.

-Boyd and Ava are hot together but I don't think Boyd is good for Ava.

-Preview for next week has me so excited for the next episodes. I can't believe there's only two left!

Comments

[wishfulclicking]

Oh Aunt Helen. I'm still accepting it and I'm still, not shocked, but numb that it actually happened. Helen was one of my favorites in the sense that she really felt like one of the characters who was actually aware of where she was at and what she could or couldn't, or more like what she would or wouldn't do, to change things. Maybe that awareness is a feature of the older generation (well except for Arlo--sidetrack but I wanted him dead in Season One) but Art definitely has it and Mags too, I think.

Part of the recent parts of this season seems to be having a slight changing of the guard: Boyd is trying to rebuild the empire (and I think he's going to encounter losses that will even surprise him) and Dickie, fueled by rage and grief at his brother's loss and the realization that the lifestyle that his mother has always sold to him is not as solid as it seemed, is lashing out and trying to build something he's unable to sustain. When he executed those guys for wanting to leave, I already knew what he's trying to do won't last and that feeling just got stronger after what he did to Helen.

The conversation Helen had with Ava made me really appreciate it and then also made me think of Winona and how Raylan isn't really protecting her the way he thinks by not letting her be fully aware of Gary. I think Ava's attracted to the danger Boyd and his lifestyle represents, with Raylan maybe it seemed like a better path but they didn't work out then. But I also think she's aware of what she's getting into and is still out for her survival so I'm not fully worried about her (yet).

Tim and Rachel are under utilized, and I'm glad Rachel got an episode focused on her first, so I think at some point more about Tim will come out. From this episode he seems like a midpoint between Rachel and Raylan: he's more into the rules than Raylan is but he did say he wouldn't tell Art, and I think Rachel would have told Art; but I'm also not sure if Raylan would have been as flippant about losing her, but I'm not so sure. I think Raylan still would have tried to shake her but I think Rachel would have been firmer the second time.

Two more episodes! I think Mags will be around next season so I'm excited. She's catching it on all fronts--Boyd, her family, the town--and I don't really think Black Pike is completely out of it all yet.