Justified – “Cash Game” Review. All Aboard the Choo-Choo Train.

Season 6, Episode 2

Air date: Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 10PM E/P on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

“Since I was a kid, folks called me Choo-Choo…’cause when I hit you, it comes hard; it comes fast, like a choo-choo train. Wanna try me?” – Choo-Choo

Raylan has put the fear into Ava making her think Boyd might of set her up in finding the documents.

Colorful characters and good intentions abound in “Cash Game.” After Boyd (Walton Goggins) robs the bank in “Fate’s Right Hand,” he’s not sure if what he finds in Calhoun’s (Brad Leland) safe deposit box is worth the “three million” he was told by Katherine Hale (Mary Steenburgen) and Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns). But, there’s more than one way to skin a cat; Boyd hiding the ledger and documents in Ava’s (Joelle Carter) shed may backfire for both of them. Meanwhile, Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) runs into a hulking young man by the name of Choo-Choo (Duke Davis Roberts) who doesn’t seem the slightest bit wary about killing a U.S. Marshal or anyone else for that matter. Maybe it’s a southern thing, I don’t know, but I still call trains ‘choo-choo trains’ because that’s what we called them growing up in Georgia.

What if Boyd’s intentions were to set up Ava by leaving those items in her barn? He’s lucky she didn’t shoot first and ask questions later considering it was close to the butt crack of dawn. Ava needs to ease off the booze in her morning coffee and figure out how she’s actually going to give Raylan the tips he needs to keep herself out of prison. I can see the wheels spinning in Ava’s head about possibly telling Boyd what’s going on; however, I don’t know if she can handle the pressure. She’s on the verge of a major meltdown. Carter does an excellent job of conveying emotions through her facial expressions and voice inflection. Ava’s confrontation with Boyd is palpable.

The interesting aspect on this season of Justified is the introduction of the new players in town. We met Ty Walker (Garrett Dillahunt) in last week’s “Fate’s Right Hand” as he tried to buy Arlo’s (Raymond J. Barry) house, to no avail. Ty continues to “peacock” around with his attempts to purchase more land in Harlan, but to what point and purpose is unclear. His companions, Seabass (Scott Grimes) and Choo-Choo are part of a private security firm called “Tigerhawk Securities.” These guys are interesting because you don’t have to wonder what their particular jobs are. While Ty and Seabass seem to be the brains of the operation, Choo-Choo is the brawn. He may not have it all together upstairs, but you wouldn’t want to find yourself on the wrong end of his fist. He’s a towering hulk of a man, even taller than Raylan, and that’s saying something. The scenes Choo-Choo has with Raylan and Tim (Jacob Pitts) are both entertaining and enlightening. The details of each respective conversation yield something that will shed light in future episodes. Pitts has been vastly underutilized throughout the past five seasons of Justified. I can only hope we’ll continue to see more of Pitts since he’s got a common background with Ty and his crew. His comment to Calhoun still makes me laugh: “Alright, look, as big a boner all this real estate talk is giving me, this is not actually why we’re here.”

What is Katherine playing at by hooking up with Avery Markham?

The events surrounding the bank robbery perplexes me but I am beginning to see an angle being played by the cunning Katherine, especially regarding the truth behind the contents of the safe deposit box. Her new love interest, Avery Markham (Sam Elliott), isn’t the kind of man you double cross and live to tell about it. She needs to watch herself. The game she’s playing with Boyd and Avery may not end well for her. Katherine does pose an interesting question, one I think Boyd’s probably considers more than he cares to admit. Ava’s release from prison seems like a fortunate turn of events but I’m sure Boyd is being cautious in his own way. He should have been more thorough about disposing of evidence in the case of Dewey (Damon Herriman). The discovery of Dewey’s alligator tooth necklace will come back to bite him in the ass sooner rather than later.

Overall

Boyd’s attempt at blackmail gets derailed quickly but when Ava turns up at his bar with some information regarding the documents he stashed at her place, Boyd’s enthusiasm cannot be contained. I’m very eager to find out where this story line is going. “Cash Game” deepens the plot behind Boyd’s return to bank robbing but it also gives us more details into the reasons why Ty and his crew are in town.

Let me know what you thought of “Cash Game.” Leave a comment below and/or tweet me @judybopp.

Tune in to the final episodes of Justified, Tuesdays at 10:00 PM ET/PT, only on FX.

For more on the show, go to http://www.fxnetworks.com/justified.

Follow Justified on Twitter https://twitter.com/JustifiedFX #JustifiedFX.

Follow cast member Joelle Carter @Joelle_Carter on Twitter.

For fans of Walton Goggins, follow @WaltonGFan.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.