Justified – “Dark As a Dungeon” Recap. Old Ghosts and New Temptations.

Season 6, Episode 8

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

Rating: ★★★★★ ⭐⭐⭐

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead

“Well, don’t eulogize the past ‘til the future gets its turn.” – Boyd

If saying I’m flummoxed would cover it, I would, but I’m beyond that now. I know I’ve said I’m intrigued by the capricious nature of the final season of Justified; however, some of the story lines are becoming a bit too convoluted. While I appreciate chasing down clues in “Dark As a Dungeon,” I’m not quite sure what is a clue and what isn’t. Needless to say, if you want unpredictability, you definitely get it in this episode.

Not Such a Worthy Adversary After All

To say I had high hopes for Ty Walker (Garrett Dillahunt) as a worthy adversary for Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) or Boyd (Walton Goggins), or both, would be an understatement. I desperately wanted Ty to be this cunning, cutthroat, ruthless villain but things really went south after he was shot in “Alive Day.” Am I the only one who thinks Dillahunt got the shaft with this half-assed part? There was so much hype about his character and his backstory had so much potential to give Raylan a run for his money. Ty’s intelligence and gift of gab rivals that of Boyd’s eloquent repartees; yet sadly, Ty doesn’t cut the mustard, making him a casualty of bad follow through by the writers. Dillahunt gets an ‘A’ for effort, though I won’t miss that awful beard.

If you thought there was only 3 million in Markham’s vault, you would be wrong.

Let’s Make a Deal

Most of the time, Raylan doesn’t behave like a U.S. Marshal much and presents a surprising proposal to Markham (Sam Elliott) on their mutual “problem.” I understand Raylan’s ultimate goal is to get Boyd on the RICO case but the manhunt for Ty is interfering with his chance to close the books on Boyd and the past. Raylan needs to move on with his life, maybe even get the hell out of Kentucky. Enlisting Markham’s help is actually a pretty smart plan. The reward Markham offers for Ty’s capture could have brought out all manner of folks from the hollars of Harlan, making it only a matter of time before Ty is caught. Nothing prompts civic duties like a monetary incentive. My only query is how does Raylan know to go to Ava’s (Joelle Carter) house? Perhaps he hopes the $100K reward will entice Boyd to hunt down Ty himself. Suffice it to say, Raylan’s plan works like a charm and Boyd collects the reward. The full extent of Raylan and Markham’s plan is revealed when Markham walks Raylan and Boyd downstairs to the vault. Boyd’s been itching to get inside the vault to see what’s in there. He gets a full, unobstructed view of piles and piles of cold hard cash.

Cleaning House

After Arlo (Raymond J. Barry), Raylan’s father, passed away in season four, episode eight, “Outlaw,” Raylan never got around to cleaning out his father’s house. Lots of garbage bags and a mini bonfire later, Raylan slowly puts the ghosts of his past behind him…well, almost everything. He finds the key to an old shed Arlo wore around his neck and uses it to unlock the padlock on the shed’s door. Raylan ventures in with trepidation, flashlight in hand as if he’s going to find “horrors.” What he finds, thankfully, is closure.

Unexpected Call

Art (Nick Searcy) gets an unexpected call from none other than Katherine Hale (Mary Steenburgen). After she gets a potential lead from Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns) about the rat who sold out her late husband Grady (not seen), Katherine calls Art to see if he can make heads or tails of the information. Art is a shrewd man. He may seem like the old, nosy kind of detective, but it’s all a ruse to mask his true brilliance. I’ve always been fond of Art and I’m hoping the writers don’t prematurely end his story line before his time is up.

Raylan: “…I’ve been lying to ya, Boyd.”
Boyd: “Well, now we gettin’ somewhere.”

Raylan and Boyd – A Bro-mance

The banter between Raylan and Boyd makes me smile. Raylan doesn’t beat around the bush. “I’m asking where your balls are at? Are you gonna pull off the job, Boyd, or am I gonna die of anticipation?” Boyd retorts, “Is that why you came, help me find my balls?” The rest of their conversation is quite entertaining, leading me to wonder will Raylan be the “hero” who gets his “man” and rides off “into the sunset,” or will it go the other way where Raylan “chases a whale…only to drown for his troubles?” Perhaps the most revealing part is Raylan telling Boyd, “I gotta admit, a small part of me is going to miss this when it’s over.” Will Raylan be able to give up the excitement of being a U.S. Marshal to be a family man?

Overall

Did Boyd slip up on purpose? Either way, Raylan knows Ava’s cover is blown.

“Dark As a Dungeon” is a conundrum unto itself. It furthers story lines but also pushes them into a corner with what seems like no way out. Why this happens is beyond me. For instance, Raylan realizes Ava is “burned,” but isn’t sure what to do about it just yet. We all know Ava told Boyd about being Raylan’s C.I. in “The Hunt;” however, it’s Boyd who accidentally reveals Ava’s secret when he tells Raylan he should be on his way building his case against him. Or does Boyd slip up on purpose?

Ava is ready to take the $100k reward money and run but Boyd is too tempted by the massive amounts of money inside Markham’s vault to budge. Will Ava stay, knowing this attempt to go after the money could go bad very quickly, or will she continue to help Raylan build his RICO case against Boyd? She still doesn’t realize Raylan knows she’s blown as a C.I.

There are moments throughout “Dark As a Dungeon” that compel me; for example, the banter between Raylan and Boyd, while other moments, like Raylan visiting Ava’s Uncle Zachariah (guest star Jeff Fahey), confound me. I know Zachariah has a plan of his own to get rid of Boyd; I’m just not seeing the full picture yet. I know Carl (Justin Welborn) is suspicious and none too happy with how Boyd reacts to Mr. Handsome’s (Shawn Parsons), aka ‘The Pig, unfortunate fall down the mine shaft. In spite of all the muddled chaos going on in this final season of Justified, I’m in it until the very end. Who do you think will be standing at the end – Raylan or Boyd? Or, will they both wind up dead?

Let me know what you thought of “Dark As a Dungeon.” 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 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.