Justified

[domino harvey]

Spoilering all of this so those who haven't watched the season finale yet don't get it ruined

Spoiler

So, as expected, a great finale. I actually watched it live for the first time ever and I think I woke up the house with my vocal response to the surreal insanity of the Quarles rail-gun runner meeting Limehouse's cleaver. Fucking genius. Raylan pulling the arm away from Quarles is maybe the most badass thing he's done yet. And our man Wynn Duffy lived to see another season! It's nice to see Ava going down the rabbit hole, and with fewer and fewer characters left, it looks like she'll play an even bigger role in Season Four. And as suspected, Limehouse is around to stay as the primary adversary for Boyd. And I thought for sure Arlo was going to bite it, but his storyline was even more devastating. Curious about whether they'll bring in yet another new villain for next season or just work with what we've got-- I'd hate for the show to devolve into Villain of the Season each time!

EDIT: Nope, Yost's apparently going after the fat guy from Modern Family to be the next villain!

[essrog]

I'll follow suit and spoiler everything, too.

Spoiler

As several recaps have noted, the finale did a fantastic job of restoring some of the thematic heft that had been missing from season 3, which even Yost admitted to in this postmortem with Alan Sepinwall. There were just a ton of characters and storylines revolving around fathers and sons and coming home -- Arlo and Raylan, of course, but also Arlo and Boyd, Quarles wanting to go home to Detroit to his adopted dad, and even Errol being banished from his home by Limehouse, his father figure, only to come back and essentially sacrifice himself to save Limehouse. And then the final scene, with Raylan wanting to come home to Winona and his unborn child, only to realize yet again he doesn't belong there, either, exiting with the line about Arlo saying he was just shooting at someone wearing a hat. Great stuff.

Throw in Quarles being disarmed and Wynn Duffy yelling "JESUS CHRIST!" right before the credits, and you've got one of the show's best episodes.

And domino, I think you can rest easy about Stonestreet from Modern Family. According to this, it looks like Yost just wants him as a bad guy, not the bad guy. In other words, probably a max of like three episodes. I kind of like the idea that Yost talked about in the Sepinwall interview about maybe doing three shorter arcs instead of one big one in season 4 -- that could help avoid the whole "Big Bad" thing getting done to death.

[Mr Sausage]

Spoiler

Can't add much to everything that's been said except, after spending all season watching Limehouse menace people with cleavers and other chopping instruments, it was nice to finally see him deliver!

Plus I liked how subtly they handled Raylan planting back on Quarles the gun Quarles had tried to frame him with. I didn't even realize that had happened until hours later when I was mulling over the episode.

[flyonthewall2983]

Listening to Graham Yost's latest appearance on Elvis Mitchell's show. Getting a little kick out of finding out he used to write for Hey Dude!.

[domino harvey]

In a pleasant surprise, the show's sole Emmy nomination resulted in a win last night, as Jeremy Davies won for Outstanding Guest Actor (Drama). I think half of the award was for his haircut, but regardless, it was well-earned

[flyonthewall2983]

Was Neal McDonough even nominated? Jeremy was good last season and all, but I'm tempted to say that almost could be the wrong category for him since...

Spoiler

he was in a lot of season two and hasn't been killed off yet.

[swo17]

That last part's kind of a spoiler!

[domino harvey]

Davies' nomination was literally the only Emmy nomination the show received this season, so no, McDonough wasn't. Davies was nominated for the Guest Actor category for Season Two as well but lost. How the Emmys decides who is what is I think dictated on how they choose to submit themselves-- Margot Martindale correctly thought she had a good chance in the main Supporting Category last season, even though she too was technically a guest star, but Davies probably figured his best shot was in the Guest category, and it was a gambit that paid off.

[domino harvey]

Patton Oswalt has joined the fourth season

[flyonthewall2983]

First episode is this Tuesday, BTW.

[domino harvey]

Wait, what, really?! I have heard/seen zero promotion for it. Wow, thanks for the heads up

[knives]

They show commercials all the time on their channel, but that seems about it.

[mfunk9786]

Good rule of thumb for AMC series is that a month (or sometimes a little less) after the DVD/Blu for the prior season comes out, the new season begins.

[The Narrator Returns]

It's FX, not AMC.

[mfunk9786]

Fuck, I really need to start watching this show so I can figure out what network it's on

[flyonthewall2983]

They have been showing commercials for it during American Horror Story and I presume other programming on FX, but otherwise I haven't seen much outside the network. A little different from last season, where I remember seeing an EPK for it before seeing a movie.

[domino harvey]

So last nite's premiere ran five minutes longer than normal, but I guess Comcast didn't see fit to record the episode for the entire length. Can someone help me out with the ending?

Spoiler

Last part I saw was the Reverend talking and the pull-in to Ellie May in the audience. Then cut to the guy sweeping up at the jail, the one who gave Raylan a dirty look earlier in the episode. Recording ended here, what happened next?

[swo17]

Pretty big spoiler:

Spoiler

Sweeping guy takes his library cart to Arlo, asks about the bag and the driver's license and says it could be worth a lot of money. Arlo asks the guy to get him a book so he'll turn around and then slashes his throat with a toothbrush that had been fashioned into a shiv. The implication of course being that Arlo hates library carts.

[domino harvey]

Thanks, I will definitely try to catch a reair so I can see it with my own eyes, but that will do for now. It's really strange that the show isn't up On Demand or Hulu or FX's website.

So, what did everyone think of the premiere? I guess what really struck me was all the familiar faces who weren't present:

Spoiler

Duffy, Limehouse, Dickie, &c

That said, Patton Oswalt was suitably amusing for what was basically a comedic premiere episode. Not sure about the revival preacher storyline or Ron Eldard (who is looking dangerously close to Gerard Depardieu here!) yet, but I am confident they'll lead into some nice avenues. Plus Ava and Boyd espoused their love for Dr Pepper, which only endears them deeper to my heart.

[swo17]

Yeah, who knows where they'll go with all the new plot threads but I thought it was a solid ep. I've always liked Ron Eldard (though I can't remember why :-k ) so it was good to see him getting work.

[Mr Sausage]

That was Ron Eldard? Christ.

He gave a great, low-key performance, tho'. I thought the episode was pretty good (the "take care of him" ambiguity gave me a horrified chuckle). I like that Justified is easing into things rather than exploding right out of the gate. It's nice; allows for those great character beats, which might otherwise get lost if a lot of plot has be gotten through. Plus a mysterious bag makes for a great Macguffin.

[flyonthewall2983]

I liked the fugitive (same guy was Tom Walker on Homeland), a deeper character than expected but that's par for the course. I like Mazzello as the preacher, and am interested in seeing where this part of the plot goes. I liked everything, so I'm strapped in and ready to go for season 4.

[domino harvey]

It apparently got great ratings (second best ever for the series), so we can no doubt already look forward to enjoying Season Five next year!

[domino harvey]

The season premiere felt a little off but, man, this week's episode was classic Justified. Plus, a freshly botoxed Wynn Duffy cracking wise and packing heat as the cherry on top!

[flyonthewall2983]

Thoughts on this season so far? I'm digging it, but I'm not feeling it like I did season 2 or 3 for some reason.

Edit: oops.