Justified 2x08, "The Spoil"

After a filler ep last week, this week's ep wasted no time in getting the avalanche rolling downhill: Art knows Raylan and Winona were up to something (you can tell by his snarkiness combined with his Disappointed Dad face); the Bennetts and Black Pike Coal are not-so-quietly struggling for control of the land surrounding the mountain; and Aunt Helen, knowledgeable of what the meaning is behind the land struggle, gives Raylan the rest of the stolen front money to get him the heck out of the county.

If I didn't know this was based on an Elmore Leonard story, I'd guess Robert B Parker had a hand in it by the way Carol, the Black Pike exec, and Raylan interacted: she's an eloquent, tough, unsubtle single gal, and he's the muscle hired to protect her, though he spends most of his time resisting her verbal advances when he's not drinking with her at the end of a long day. Raylan, like Spenser, is a one-gal guy, but if we were comparing the gals, I think Susan is overall a more together, mature individual. Don't know if she's hotter--Susan is a goddess based on Spenser's descriptions--but Carol's pretty damn hot with her long flame-colored hair and her pretty intense bazooms. I'm not a fan of the way she went about displaying the bazooms--people who feel free to strut about displaying their underthings may be "very comfortable" with their bodies, but mostly I think they are "very comfortable" trying to get people to notice their round, voluptuous "comforts" (ladies) or [eeh-nnnnnnnngh-pointing-at-that-area] (menfolk).

Mags Bennett moments of note: tapping Coover with a shovel to get him to stop pounding on Raylan, of course, and most definitely her friendly neighbor proselytizing at the town hall meeting. What a tremendous performance, and I loved the touch of her singling out the gentleman who sold to Black Pike earlier in the ep. It was a chilling reminder that the show has been very, very good at insulating Mags from the dirty work: you never see her giving the orders to sic Charlie (my guess: some kind of sharp-toothed rodent, like in The Big Lebowski--"Hey, nice marmot") on folks, but knowing her relationship of command-and-control with her boys, you have to infer she's behind it.

I'm afraid for Loretta. Her bravado and resourcefulness seem to almost shrink in comparison to scenes like Coover's violent attack or Mags's grand scheme. She looked like a prop in that town hall meeting, which, you know, basically everyone is between the machinations of the coal company and the Bennetts. But her most of all, since she's smack in the middle of the Bennetts' web.

And finally, Boyd and Ava: who would have thought, back in season 1, that having the opinion "You know, Ava's sexy and feisty, but I think she may be a little too crazy for Raylan" would work itself out this way, with Boyd and Ava moving from antagonists who routinely threatened the other's life to pseudo-domestic partners and partners-in-crime. Frankly, I find Ava exactly the kind of partner that Boyd needs. She talks; he listens. When he needs care or support, she gives it; in return, he has begun speaking of the things "we" need, as though he and Ava are a unit.

And she's still wicked fast with that shotgun. I knew she'd be there to chase off the Bennetts.

I loved the callback to Boyd's sermon from the pulpit in season 1 with his bravura performance at the town hall meeting. And I love that once again, he's the smartest guy in the room. Raylan's no dummy, but I think with his discombobulation over Winona's dumb decisions and Art's obvious awareness of the dumbness, he's not exactly on his game (thus the ass-beating he received from Coover) (well, that and the hangover).

It's going to be interesting to see where all this leads, but it's obvious bodies will fall in the last four episodes.