TV Review: Justified 3.5, "Thick as Mud"
I’m pretty sure no other series besides Justified consistently achieves a better balance between the stand-alone story and those that contribute to the progression of the grander seasonal arcs.
rating: 4
Im pretty sure no other series besides Justified consistently achieves a better balance between the stand-alone story and those that contribute to the progression of the grander seasonal arcs. Thick as Mud is an outstanding example as it told a compelling crime of the week tale, which was a continuation of last weeks, and tied closer together the threads of the rope Harlan looks to hang itself by in Quarles, Boyd, and Limehouse. Plus we got to see the first woman Raylans ever shot down (with a firearm anyway). The primary plot of Dewey Crowe doing his damnedest to find 20,000 dollars with one handgun and presumably zero kidneys in time to buy his life back from Lawrence Nightingale Lance the prison nurse who helped break Dewey and Dickie out of prison last episode, was an excellent example of how simplicity can yield palpable suspense and believable action. My only problem is that I didnt quite understand the twist. When Raylan has finally caught up with Dewey whos now holed up in the liquor store he attempted to rob after the proprietor who takes blaspheming pretty seriously shot him in the leg, he tells Dewey to try taking a leak to see if his kidneys are really missing. Although the entire episode was worth watching just to hear Dewey yell, I got four kidneys? Im still not sure why Lance didnt actually remove Deweys kidneys. And if it was just an elaborate ploy to get Dewey to bring Lance the cash, where did that viscera Lance held up in a plastic bag at the beginning of the episode come from? Or did Raylan trick Dewey into coming out of the liquor store? Maybe its me and I missed something, but if not then unfortunately it looks like this episode had one major misstep as it is the writers and directors responsibility to make sure the audience doesnt have any such questions by the end of the episode. Other than that, I loved the motivation Dewey had to knock off all those small businesses and Raylans detective work getting him to the hospital where Ash, Lances former partner, was staying after Raylan hit him with his car (twice), especially the scenes involving Maggie Lawson whom viewers might recognize as Detective Juliet OHara on USAs Psych, but I wouldnt be surprised if you didnt seeing as how the character Lawson played in Thick as Mud was so different from and infinitely stronger, more devious, silver-tongued and sharp-witted than her Psych counterpart. In addition to the hilarious misadventures of Dewey Crowe, we saw Boyd conduct some clever detective work of his own which caught the attention of carpetbagger Quarles himself and resulted in their first face to face, as well as learned more about where Limehouse stands among the ever shrinking vacuum of power the Bennetts departures has left behind in Harlan. In one of the most somber opening scenes of the entire series, we saw Boyds spirituality and humanity come out as he and Arlo buried then prayed for the recently departed traitor, Devil. When Arlo questioned Boyds sentimentality toward Devil by urging him to remember his fathers words that, Once you set out to kill a man, there aint nothing left to say about it, Boyd ultimately countered Arlos warning of thinking on the deed only makes it harder by saying, Maybe it should be harder. Boyd is so unique because even when hes threatening the mother of the doctor that saved his girlfriends life to extort drug money from Quarles new operation, we are sympathetic toward his plight because of scenes like the one described above in which he demonstrates the full understanding of the toll the consequences of his actions take, a conviction later echoed by Eva in which she tells Boyd, whos drinking at a bar mourning the necessity of his murder of Devil, We pay the price for the lives we lead. Later, when Quarles comes to pay Boyd a visit after he roughed up Tanner, Quarles talent scout, for recruiting Devil, we see the line drawn in the sand between them as Boyd refuses to accept Quarles offer of partnership in the drug scene after proposing that he and Boyd could make more money working together rather than against each other stating, The most successful wars are those that dont have to pay their costs. Despite admitting earlier to Eva that he isnt very confident in his gangs ability to topple Quarles forces, Boyd declines the offer contesting that his people wont do all the work while Quarles organization takes all the profit, like so many carpetbaggers have attempted and failed to do in the past. Meanwhile, weve learned that not only did Limehouse lie about the Bennett money (though theres less than three million dollars, Limehouse does indeed have it), he has an informant feeding him information on the activities among Quarles people. The longer he stays on the edges of all this activity, the more ominous his understated presence becomes. And on top of all that, it looks as though after seven weeks of her pregnancy and at least six episodes of discussing moving away with Raylan, Winona has up and left our hero as evidenced by the empty house, disconcerting note, and sad music that closed Thick as Mud. Of course this would occur after Winona states shes done trying to change Raylan and that shell never feel about anyone the way she does for him and Raylan suggests to Art hes thinking of looking into a new line of work. Personally I dont mind this turn of events one bit as Winonas always been annoying, dumb, and now pretty random as well. Plus it looks like now well get to see angry, post-abandonment Raylan in subsequent episodes. Thick as Mud provided viewers with an intense and satisfying stand-alone story which was equal parts zany sit-com and morbid horror while delivering substantial developments as to how the stage will be set for the inevitable showdown among the various power players of Harlan County.