Lobster Box? And Harlan Gets a Dairy Queen? Retrospective: Justified - "Outlaw"

Season 4, Episode 8

Air date: Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 10PM E/P on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

“Turns out, fear is a powerful motivator; even more powerful than greed.” – Boyd

Raylan offers the same deal he did to Arlo to former Sheriff Hunter Mosely – a man who tried to kill Raylan.

“Outlaw” turns in a superb episode giving us blood, mayhem, a bit of gloating, and some more blood for good measure. If you are a tad squeamish, you may want to cover your eyes during a few scenes. Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) is on the hunt to find the infamous Drew Thompson (no actor shown) and he’s willing to bargain with a man who tried to kill him. No; not Raylan’s daddy Arlo (Raymond Barry); that wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans. No, Raylan is talking with former Sheriff Hunter Mosely (guest star Brent Sexton) and offering up kosher meals and whatnot to get dirt on just who this Drew Thompson fellow really is. Is it me, or are there too many former Harlan County Sheriffs?

I was so excited to see Raylan draw his gun. When Raylan comes face to face with a stranger who’s come to town, dropping bodies in his wake, Raylan knows something isn’t right. I didn’t have a doubt Raylan would show us he’s still the quickest draw. Olyphant gives Raylan a swagger even the writers can’t describe. While Raylan wheels and deals with inmates, Boyd (Walton Goggins) is contending with some nasty characters of his own. The “Clover Hill swells” better known as Lee Paxton (guest star Sam Anderson) and Gerald Johns (guest star Ned Bellamy) are men who think they have Boyd trapped in a corner.

“20 seconds” is all he gives Boyd on the phone…until Boyd piques his interests.

What they fail to realize is no one puts Boyd in the corner. It thrilled me to no end how Boyd finds a light at the end of his ‘Browning’ tunnel. He figures out a way to get none other than Theo Tonin’s (Adam Arkin) hired gun to kill Browning for him. It’s genius really until Johnny (David Meunier) opens his big mouth to Wynn (Jere Burns). I want this thing between Wynn and Johnny to either gain traction or stop altogether. Now with Boyd talking to Tonin’s right hand Nicky Augustine (guest star Mike O’Malley), and schooling the Clover Hill boys like nobody’s business, I think Johnny is going to be in a world of hurt. Especially when Boyd finds out what he’s been up to. Do you really think this vendetta against Boyd won’t come back to bite Johnny on the ass? Boyd is bound to find out sooner or later. And with the pace of the show right now, my bet is it will happen soon enough.

Goggins is fantastic! He’s such a gifted actor and he completely embodies Boyd Crowder – the outlaw. The delivery of his lines is spot on and spoken with conviction. And damn it, I want Boyd and Ava (Joelle Carter) to get that Dairy Queen franchise. You can’t help wanting to root for Boyd. Despite his outlaw ways, at the core, he wants to get all the criminal stuff out of the way so that his grandchildren won’t have to do what he’s done. It’s a messed up way of thinking, but I get it.

Abby plays dress up but it can’t mask the sins of her past.

Colton (Ron Eldard) is getting played by someone who knows that Ellen May (Abby Miller) isn’t dead. Eldard makes Colton so unlikable but also gives him a certain quality that makes you empathize with him. It’s a double-edged sword liking this military veteran who’s a corrupt addict with a penchant for killing without remorse. The only time he flinched was when he was going to kill Ellen May and that’s where the empathy stems from. I don’t like Colton but I know there is good in him, buried deep—really deep—beneath his heroin-addled mind. Colton also has balls. Asking his new dealer for a $20K loan; wow; so I guess he won’t be stripping down then, right? Got to love that ‘strip down’ rule the drug dealer tries unsuccessfully to enforce with his customers.

“Outlaw” gives us many schoolhouse references like “passing notes to cheerleaders during math class” and being in the “principal’s office.” While I don’t gather many of the fine folks of Harlan cared much for traditional schools or book learning, Boyd schools those Clover Hill boys with such a flare, it makes you want to clap and hoot ‘n holler. But there is one lesson we learn about family, particularly the relationship between a son and his sorry excuse for a father. No matter how badly your parent(s) treats you, deep down you desperately want some sign of approval or some form of acknowledgement that they are proud of you. Raylan won’t get that from Arlo. The last thing Arlo says to Raylan before he succumbs to his wounds is, “Kiss. My. Ass.” I think we have the Asshole of the Year Award grand prize winner right there. And as much as Raylan loathed his father, somewhere inside of himself, some place he wishes didn’t exist, he also cares about Arlo more than he wants to.

Funny/memorable lines:

Hunter: “My God, Raylan; you wanna screw your daddy’s deal so bad, that you’d give it to me?”

Raylan: “I like you better’n him.”

Hunter: “I tried to kill you.”

Raylan: “I still like you better.”

***

Arlo, as he beats the prison guard: “GET SOME!” (When Arlo strikes and says this, it sent chills down my spine. Barry invokes such ferocity the action almost seems innate, which in itself is scary.)

***

Gerald Johns to Boyd: “No, Boyd, we don’t look at you as a problem; not at all. Now, I got a boy mows my lawn; I got a boy does my shoes at lunch time; and you, now you gonna be the boy that takes out my trash, right?”

***

Wynn to Boyd: “Theo’s got a guy on his way down who’s apparently killed more people than malaria.”

***

Drug Dealer (actor uncredited) to Colton regarding the loan: “20, mmm? Well, how you want it – hundreds, or uh, tens, fives? I mean, I can give you singles if the plan is to make it rain at the Lobster Box.”

***

Ellen May is playing dress up at Shelby’s (Jim Beavers) and beginning to feel safer, which makes her open up a little more; exactly what Shelby was hoping for. Will Ellen May be the unsuspecting hammer that knocks Boyd off his pedestal? And now that Arlo is gone, will Hunter lead Raylan directly to Drew Thompson? Things are really getting wild in Harlan!

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Tune in to Justified, Tuesdays at 10PM E/P, only on FX.

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Follow cast members Joelle Carter @Joelle_Carter and Jim Beavers @jumblejim on Twitter.

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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.