Justified Review: “Weight” (Season 5, Episode 10)

The Crowe’s came into this season of Justified with a bang, and it looks like that’s exactly the way that they’re unintentionally going to go out. Danny (AJ Buckley) was introduced to fans early on as a loose cannon. He’s all brawn and no finesse. We saw how quickly his temper flared up when the Crowe’s first arrived in Kentucky – first with Jean-Baptiste (Edi Gathegi), and later with Kendal’s social worker, Allison (Amy Smart). Even when posed with situations involving law enforcement, Danny falls into his familiar pattern of action over strategy each time. Which is exactly what landed him in his current predicament, despite (or maybe because of) the jolt of confidence after retrieving Dewey (Damon Herriman) and the other half of the Mexican drug haul.

The sad part about Dewey, or at least the most recent addition to that list, is that he actually thought that he was somehow going to get away with pulling one over on not only his kin, but Boyd (Walton Goggins). Neither side of that equation have proven themselves to be ones that take kindly to being played for a fool. Although Dewey temporarily found himself with the upper hand, if you can call it that, he lacks the intellectual wherewithal for it to have been premeditated. Dewey simple took advantage of a situation that was going south, and fast. If anything, Danny owes him a debt of gratitude for acting so quickly before the situation resulted with him being scraped off the pavement. Unfortunately, Danny didn’t see it that way and used his remaining day to go out in the same fashion as he lived his life – stupidly and unnecessarily.

Not to make light of Danny’s “accident,” but since no one is a stranger to his 21-foot rule, let’s just leave it at he probably got what was coming to him.

Moving on. A more interesting element in this episode of Justified is the choice that Kendal (Jacob Lofland) makes, and the sequence of events that followed. The idea of facing Danny after the death of his dog, fault not withstanding, would make most grown men nervous. Kendal taking off only served as further proof of his unstable home life – not that it takes even a modicum of intelligence to realize that fact. Instead of driving until he ran out of gas and hoping for the best from there on, Kendal shows up at Allison’s apartment (breaks in, if you want to be technical).

Given the circumstances, it’s not surprising that Kendal would reach out to a stable adult. Besides that qualification, Allison and Raylan have both shown themselves to be people that he might even consider to be worth trusting. Allison being the more maternal of the pair. What was more unexpected though was what Allison did. She could have easily turned it into a social services case and hauled Kendal back into child protective custody. He may have even gone willingly if it meant not having to face Danny. Instead, she called Wendy (Alicia Witt) – Kendal’s sister/biological mother.

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