9) Dark As a Dungeon (Season 6, Episode 8)
The fifth season of Justified proved to be such a huge misfire that many were relieved at the announcement that Season 6 would be the show’s last. It’s hard to recall the good that came out of a year mired in bad Floridian accents, a stagnant Ava-in-prison plot, and some perfunctory trips to Mexico, but Justified’s final round-up benefited enormously from the groundwork laid in the previous season. With Ava and Boyd’s relationship being tested by his ambition and her snitching, and Raylan finally ready to leave Harlan for good, Season 6 had a constant sense of finality that most seasons only achieve in the final stretch of episodes.
The appropriately gloomy “Dark As a Dungeon” is as foreboding an hour of Justified as they come, with Raylan exorcising one demon from his past (Barry’s return as Arlo’s specter being a highlight of the final season’s roll call), while making a deal with a devil to bait Boyd. A rapid-fire exchange of witticisms between Raylan and Boyd ends with the former admitting he’d miss their banter, a sentiment all fans could get behind. For as enjoyable as it was to see Justified not just return to, but go out in top form, the looming end for the series gave each hour an added dash of impending doom.
Best Scene: The back-and-forth between Raylan and Boyd is fun, but it’s the haunting shooting of Ty Walker immediately afterwards that stays with you.
Memorable Line: “Maybe you in for a little surprise, maybe this ain’t what you think it is, maybe it ain’t gonna turn out the way you think it will,” says Ava’s uncle Zachariah to Raylan, leaving no portent of calamity un-portented.
