“Ain’t too much to call you a hero,” Whigham’s character says, flatteringly comparing Boyd to Billy the Kid as though the bystander himself were the fanboy Robert Ford to Boyd’s Jesse James. By some cosmic coincidence, Boyd may have finally found a person who understands him. Whigham’s character delicately tries to survive meeting a notorious legend by paying him the respect he deserves. In a powerhouse moment from Season 4, Boyd pulled a fast one on some of Harlan’s more entrenched illegitimate businessmen, outmaneuvering them into submission before proudly declaring, “I am the outlaw, and this is my world.”
But immediately after the proclamation, he runs to the back of the bar, giggling with Ava about how all his bluster just made him king of the county (and the future-owner of a Dairy Queen!). “Our grandkids’ll be setup as bona fides,” he told her then, the allure of the straight life still meaning something at one point. But as Ava predicted, Boyd won’t be seeing another generation of Crowder. Now he’s just got himself left, the only man who will ever truly have the full measure of Boyd Crowder. “You think you’re better than me because you play by the rules? Whose rules? My life is my own…I’m an outlaw,” he says, before mercilessly plugging Whigham in the head.
If Boyd is beyond saving, then what’s left to be seen is if he’ll end up dragging Raylan down with him. It’s a prospect even Boyd doesn’t seem too pleased with. “Are you sure you don’t want me to kill you Raylan, keep you a hero?” He offers to Raylan, who’s ready to sacrifice his legacy to his daughter if it means putting Boyd down. With typical Justified foresight, Raylan is then asked to weigh another man’s life against his own desires, Constable Bob having been dropped at death’s door by a combination of Raylan’s carjacking and Boyd’s marksmanship. “Bob can take care of himself,” Raylan says, trying to convince himself more than Boyd. “Well hell, Raylan, then I have already won.”
In the end, “Collateral,” sees fit to squeeze out more tension than finally the trigger, delaying the last(?) note in the Ballad of Boyd Crowder until next week. Maybe it was always a Hobson’s choice, but Raylan saving Bob, even when it means putting himself into custody, is what makes him the hero. Justified may still give Boyd one more chance to play that part, but it’d almost certainly have to be in a sacrificial capacity. But Raylan doesn’t have the luxury of becoming anymore of an outlaw than he already has; there’s no glory or story to be told of the lawman that broke. Boyd is the outlaw, and Raylan Givens is, well, Raylan Givens. That’s who he is. “Don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said no?” Raylan asks at hour’s end. Can’t say we ever would.
- Stray Thoughts
-Tim live-casting Vazquez’s freak-out while Art is out “scouring the countryside for dumbass” was terrific. “Well shit.” “I just heard him say he wants to have Raylan indicted.” “Double shit!”
-Ava marks here trail with Dewey’s gator teeth before getting hauled off by Markham’s cops. How the necklace will figure in I don’t know, but it’s another example of Justified knowing how to use as much of the plot buffalo as it can. Also, who was Ava calling as she scampered down the mountain?
-Raylan signing over Arlo’s place to Cope is actually kind of sweet, as the mountain folk were related to him through his mother. Lookup the Elmore Leonard short story “Tenkiller” for a less heartfelt, more thrilling tale of house-squatting hillbillies.
-Duffy being smart: having the chance to tell Vazquez off-the-record that he killed Simon Poole, but not taking it. Duffy being greedy: potentially heading back to Harlan with a topographical map, two passports (why two?), and a dog-grooming van. That bit with Katherine’s jewels and the toothpaste was clever, Wynn, but don’t go tempting fate.
-Zachariah goes out with a bang, so so-long Jeff Fahey, a fine addition to the cast. And as for Derrick, Loretta’s reaction to her “boyfriend’s” death matches my own. Boon finally showing off his quick draw skills is concerning, as saying Jenny is “full of promise” when she’s loaded seems an ominous nod to the finale’s title of “The Promise.” That empty chamber might end up getting the better of him, though.
-“All killer, no filler,” is an apt description of both Boyd’s greatest hits, and this sensational final season of Justified. See y’all next week for the last roundup.