Justified – “Collateral” Review. The Legend of Boyd Crowder Begins.

Season 6, Episode 12

Air date: Tuesday, April 7, 2015, 10PM E/P on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

“Well, I don’t give a shit about the Ballad of Boyd Crowder; I’ll be dead and gone that song get sung.” – Boyd

As penultimate episodes go, especially in a final season, “Collateral” leaves much to be desired. While there are some tense moments, what transpires in “Collateral” sets things up for what should be an explosive series finale. As Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) continues his search for Ava (Joelle Carter), sans his badge, Boyd (Walton Goggins) also pursues his former fiancé. The convergence of two enemies – Raylan and Boyd – happens on a hillside in the dead of night and much is left to chance as each tries to outwit the other. Meanwhile, Avery Markham (Sam Elliott) pays his respects to his dearly departed Katherine (Mary Steenburgen), promising to avenge her death.

You gotta give it to Bob, he’s got heart that’s for sure but what he really needs is a bullet proof vest.

Last week’s “Fugitive Number One” significantly raised the death toll in Harlan. Both Katherine and Mike (Jonathan Kowalsky) are gone, as well as Boyd’s trusted hired gun Carl (Justin Welborn). “Collateral” adds two more to the body count while others are left perilously wounded. Episodic writers Chris Provenzano and VJ Boyd make interesting choices, such as bringing Constable Bob Sweeney (guest star Patton Oswalt) back into the fray. With Raylan unofficially borrowing Bob’s “Crown Vic,” the writers are seemingly using Bob to showcase Raylan’s humanity. When a friend needs help, you go to their aid. Of course, Raylan doesn’t immediately come to Bob’s rescue because he’s in the middle of a night-time shoot out with Boyd.

I’ll let you in on a secret – I’ve never warmed to ADA Vasquez (Rick Gomez). Gomez does a great job, perhaps too well, of making me loathe Vasquez. Is he just blind or stupid, or both? Vasquez seems unable to grasp the reality of things going on around him even though he’s smack dab in the middle of it. He thinks Raylan is on the take for the $10M and is throwing accusations left and right, not just at Art (Nick Searcy) but at the entire Lexington U.S. Marshal’s office. Thank goodness for Tim (Jacob Pitts). His sarcasm amuses me to no end. And while Vasquez issues a “BOLO” on Raylan with the FBI, Tim repeats the information over the phone to a very irritated Art. So to recap – Raylan is looking for Ava; Boyd is looking for Ava; and now the FBI is looking for Raylan. It’s anybody’s guess who’s going to catch up with whom first.

Observations

When Raylan has doubts about his own mortality, it frightens me.

Raylan does and says something that troubles me. After running into a possible distant relative up on the mountain, he makes an offer, writing it on the man’s (Tom E. Proctor) notepad. “I give my home and property to this man. Raylan Givens, USMS.” The man obviously is taken aback. Raylan explains his reasoning, “A note – bequeathing the property to you … in case I don’t make it down.” Wait! What? Raylan has doubts about coming down the mountain alive? I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react to this.

Uncle Zacariah (guest Jeff Fahey) may have a heart when it comes to giving an old friend a proper burial but he’s a fool to think he can outsmart Boyd. Fahey does an excellent job of portraying Zachariah with an air of dignity despite his unkempt outward appearance. Zacariah may not be “right in the head,” as Ava puts it, but he loves his family and is willing to do whatever it takes to protect them.

Boon (Jonathan Tucker) needs to find someone else to dote on besides Loretta (Kaitlyn Dever), who doesn’t have the slightest bit of interest in him whatsoever. She’d rather be shot than spend another minute with Boon. She almost gets her wish when Markham pays her visit. Her wanna-be bodyguard doesn’t fare too well but Loretta has a knack for keeping a cool head in heated situations. I thought I wanted Raylan to be the one to put Boon down; Now I want Loretta to be the one to end Boon. Tucker is just too damn good at playing creepy.

I have to mention guest star Shea Whigham, who’s unnamed character in “Collateral” is the unlucky victim of a carjacking, of sorts. While Whigham’s character’s story arc is pretty cut and dry, his presence in “Collateral” provides a credible protagonist to Boyd’s antagonist behavior. Whigham delivers some memorable lines with conviction. The conversation between his character and Boyd lead me to what I’m taking as the beginnings of the legend of Boyd Crowder. As an aside, you may recognize Whigham from his recent role on ABC’s Agent Carter as Chief Dooley and his previous work on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

Overall

“Collateral” isn’t a filler episode, per se, but it does have the qualities of one. Everything that transpires in this episode, from Ava taking off with a backpack full of cash to Raylan getting accosted outside the emergency room entrance, leads us to what will hopefully be an epic series finale. I don’t know who will be left standing but the one person I didn’t think would make it this far is sitting comfortably in U.S. Marshal custody. Do you think Earl (Ryan Dorsey) will make it to the end? Do you think Boyd and Raylan will kill each other? Will Ava survive Markham’s wrath?

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

Tune in to the season finale of Justified, Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 10:00 PM ET/PT, only on FX.

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

Follow on Twitter @JustifiedFX #JustifiedFX and follow cast member Joelle Carter @Joelle_Carter. 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.