Justified: Devil with the Deal

Previously, I've written (at length) about this show's marvelous ability to be interesting and exciting and scary and hilarious even when it's main/best character is off-screen for significant stretches of time.

In focusing on the prison break of Dickie Bennett (and, sure, you can come too Dewey Crowe), the banking practices of Ellstin Limehouse and a betrayal within Boyd Crowder's crew, Raylan was once again more on the periphery than most prime time dramas would ever dare put their protagonist. And for the first time, it started to annoy me.

And it's not just Raylan I'm missing. Art, Winona and Tim (who has now appeared in just 1 out of 4 episodes this season...yes, I'm continuing to keep track!) also sat out last night's episode. We can argue about the merits of each of those characters (except, for Tim...there's no arguing what he brings to the show), but I'd absolutely rather watch them than corrupt prison guard Ash Murphy or corrupt prison nurse...or the two ill-fated yokels they dragged into their plan. Oh well, at least Raylan got to know more about Rachel last night (while chatting in front of Limehouse) than he did during the previous two seasons. We also learned the connection between Limehouse and the Givens. (After Arlo beat Raylan's mom, who sought refuge in Noble's Holler. A younger Ellstin administered his own beat down when Arlo came looking for her...and a 10-year-old Raylan witnessed it.)

I'm not saying I want "Justified" to wrap up stand-alone cases each week with the same cast ala "Law & Order"...I just miss these characters I've gotten attached to.

The other problem I had with last night's episode is that it was abundantly clear (at least to me) from the very beginning that Devil would be dead by the end of the hour. He would either be killed before the opening credits by Quarles if he rejected his offer (can I get an amen?!) or he would be killed before the end credits by Boyd for betraying him. It was also abundantly clear that Johnny wouldn't turn on Boyd and was just playing him. The reason I'm a bit bummed is because "Justified" doesn't usually tip its hand in such an obvious way. I DO give the show credit for staging Devil's death in a way that evoked Boyd's own shooting in the pilot...and for once again managing to make Boyd seem both brutal and merciful.

Just as Devil's death referenced Boyd's shooting, I liked the way Raylan running over Ash evoked both "Pulp Fiction" (Butch running over Marcellus) and Elmore Leonard's own pulpy fiction (having Raylan run over Ash twice, and comically withhold medical attention to get info was hilariously absurd). Of course, Raylan was able to find Ash after an all-too-brief meeting with Boyd. (Please keep finding reasons for Raylan to go see Boyd, writers.)

Seeing that everyone (Boyd, Ash and his crew) wants Mags Bennett's money, I totally understand why Dickie insisted that Limehouse keep the meager amount that is left of the $3 million: as long as people think this mythical amount of money is out there (and that Dickie is the only one who can get to it) he gets to live. And thank goodness, because Jeremy Davies is awesome (especially when he sarcastically acted like he'd tipped Raylan off to his whereabouts).

So what'd you think of this episode? Do you think Limehouse is telling the truth about the amount of money that's left? Were you as glad to check in on Loretta as I was? (Just a fantastically-played scene: her unhappiness AND gratitude were palpable.) Was I the only one a bit underwhelmed by this episode? Finally, could the show really kill off Dewey Crowe? (It looks like the prison nurse removes some organs, so it's not looking good.)

Glee: Glee Bangs

Since I strongly believe Sue Sylvester is an almost completely useless character (and has been for a while, despite Jane Lynch's brilliance) and that Will Schuester is the worst character on a popular TV show I have ever seen (honestly...who is worse?!), let's just say I don't tend to enjoy the episodes of "Glee" that feature Lynch and Matthew Morrison heavily.

But for some reason, I didn't completely hate "The Spanish Teacher."

Well, not all of it at least: I still thought all the stuff with Sue suddenly wanting to become a mother was absolute garbage. Sure, Sue deciding she wanted to have a baby is no more or less ridiculous than marrying herself, but unless she decides to go the surrogate route down the road (and please don't make me talk about her asking Will and the MALE STUDENTS OF NEW DIRECTIONS to father her baby...ick), this storyline was basically another admission by the writers that they have no idea what to do with Sue.

I mean, other than the funny exchange where she claimed she frozen her eggs before the technology was even invented, Sue didn't even get great lines. Instead, most of the elaborately cutting insults Sue usually gets were handed to returning guest star Nene Leakes, back as McKinley High's Olympic bronze medal-winning synchronized swimming coach. (That's the early front runner for "Most Ridiculous Sentence I'll Write in 2012.) Since the baby crap is a non-starter, my best hope that Sue's storyline wasn't a total waste of time is that she rediscovers her competitive fire...with trusty Becky there to help stoke the flame.

Meanwhile, the reason I didn't totally hate Mr. Schuester last night is because the writers gave Matthew Morrison the rare chance to act like an idiot/jerk ON PURPOSE. Usually, Will's maddening passiveness and oblivious dorkiness/creepiness are an unfortunate by-product of terrible writing/questionable acting, but last night we were all (including the characters on the show) supposed to see that Mr. Schuester is an idiot!

With a new tenured teaching spot open at the school, Mr. Schue realized he should brush up on his Spanish skills if he wanted to beat Sue to the punch. Enter night school teacher David Martinez, who also happened to be musically inclined and volunteered to help Will teach Spanish to the glee club. (Um, how about teaching Spanish to your Spanish students, pal?)

Although, Martin was infinitely more convincing as a former teeth model than as a teacher, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed his performance. Although the obvious comparison point is Gwyneth Paltrow's Holly Holliday, I enjoyed the natural, easy nature of Martin's performance, in contrast to Paltrow's more explosive, eager-to-please work, which was also good.

It turns out that, much the way Becky had filed a complaint about Sue, Santana had lodged a similar complaint about Will and his embarrassing short-comings as a Spanish teacher. (I like that the seed was planted early on with her horrified reaction to "La Cucarracha.") I'm not sure why only Santana realized what Will and no other student had ever seen (he's a horrible Spanish teacher, and only took the job because it was the only one available), but it resulted David earning the Spanish teaching gig and, I'm sure, more Ricky Martin down the line.

One of my favorite little running jokes on "Glee" has been Emma's ridiculous pamphlets, so it was kind of awesome seeing them center stage last night. Not only were they hilarious ("So, you're a two-timing ho"/"So, you're dating a two-timing ho"), but they allowed Emma to come to the rescue when she sold a bunch of them, and gave Will a cute way to apologize for being a jerk. (I liked that he called himself out for acting like Terri.)

With an episode so focused on the adult characters, there wasn't a ton of movement on the storylines involving the students. Sure, Mercedes went back to her boyfriend Shane after not communicating with Sam for a week at Emma's request, but anyone who thinks that's over is kidding themselves, so we're just spinning our wheels here. (Unless Chord Overstreet mysteriously disappears again.)

Meanwhile, Rachel spilled the beans about her engagement to Mercedes and a huffy (is there any other kind?) Kurt, who tried his darndest to convince Finn that he had more going for him than being future Broadway star Rachel Berry's arm candy. (Yawn) I'm sorry, but haven't we been playing this out for AT LEAST a season. I already thought the circumstances surrounding the engagement were fairly hideous, but now it's getting tedious.

On that note, let's get to the (bilingual) musical numbers.

"Sexy and I Know It"...B: The number wasn't a great showcase for Martin's (or anyone else's) musical talent, but it was fun enough that it made me mostly ignore how completely inappropriate it is for a "teacher" to sing this to a group of students.

"Don't Wanna Lose You"...A-: This Gloria Estefan song was a relatively low-key performance (especially for the diva-licious Mercedes), but that's exactly what I liked about it. We know Mercedes can blow it out, so it's nice to hear her softer side.

"Bamboleo/Hero"...B+: Much better than any Gipsy Kings/Enrique Iglesias mash-up has any right to be. (Also a sneaky way to incorporate most of the male glee club members into one number.

"La Isla Bonita"...B-: Yes, he's hot and she's hot, but this Santana/David number didn't really stand out from a singing standpoint, and the dancing (while good) wasn't good enough to make up for it.

"A Little Less Conversation"...D: I realize this insulting performance was supposed to suck, but it just wasn't awesomely bad enough to enjoy. It simply sucked. Mission accomplished! (If he had incorporated the Taco Bell chihuahua, I would've given it a D+)

So what'd you think of this episode? Looking forward to seeing David Martinez again? Finally, which of Emma's pamphlets is your favorite?

Glee: An Eye for an Eye

Though "Glee" remains as nonsensical and uneven as it's always been (Quinn got into Yale despite spending the first part of this season as a class-cutting burnout, and spending the second part of this season trying to get her baby back by destroying Idina Menzel's life? What the what?!?!) I've noticed an encouraging trend the last few episodes: a return to covering/re-imagining/butchering pop music.

As the McKinley High glee club geared up for the school production of "West Side Story", I feel the show became way too reliant on lovingly recreating numbers from Broadway musicals (this from a guy who loves "West Side Story" and has a framed poster from the "Chicago" movie hanging in his living room). I know it may be hard to remember now because it feels like the show has been on for seven years, but a big reason "Glee" became a certified phenomenon when it premiered was because of the way it re-interpreted/mangled pop music...and not because it catered to mostly theater geeks. (Sorry, drama queens and kings...it's true.)

Yes, I realize last week's episode opened with a loving recreation of "Summer Nights" from "Grease", but it also featured current hits like "Moves Like Jagger", "Without You" and "We Found Love." So what better way to keep the pop music momentum going than with a tribute episode to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Now, tribute episodes on "Glee" (like everything else) have so far been a dicey proposition. The "best" ones have been harmless diversions ("The Power of Madonna", "Theatricality"/Lady Gaga), while the worst ones ("Rocky Horror", "Britney/Brittany") make your eyes roll to the back of your head. (Really, writers? The best way you could think to get into musical numbers is to have cast members visit the dentist and hallucinate while under anesthesia?!)

Last night's episode also got off to a shaky start on that front (the Troubletones were bitching about New Directions winning their face off because ND performed MJ...ok, whatever), but mostly incorporated the whopping NINE musical numbers in (relatively) believable ways. (Especially "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "Scream" and "Never Can Say Goodbye.") Blaine inadvertently told Sebastian that New Directions planned on doing Michael Jackson songs for Regionals, so Sebastian stole the idea. Unless he KNOWS, the Warblers are performing before New Directions at Regionals (and ND look like a bunch of also-rans), why would he WANT to cover the same artist as another glee club? (Again, whatever.)

I've previously made the point that "Glee" doesn't need Sue Sylvester (and can do with much less of Will Schuester's creepy love life) and last night's episode proved my point: especially when you have a nasty villain like lead Warbler Sebastian around. I imagine a lot of people hate the him (especially after the Mega Slushie he gave Blaine), but I'd rather direct that hate to Sebastian (someone who is SUPPOSED to be an antagonist) than spend time hating angry Santana, increasingly useless Sue or skeevy Schuester.

I should probably add wretched Rachel to that list.

I thought last week was embarrassing for poor Finn (he went from wanting to join the army to learning a painful family secret to proposing to Rachel), but this week was even worse for Rachel. Not only did she rain on Kurt's NYADA finalist parade by whining about not getting her own letter (maybe it was at home, but her gay dads didn't go above and beyond to deliver it to school like Burt did), but she appears to have only accepted Finn's proposal (despite Quinn's sensible advice to the contrary) when it looked like she wouldn't get into her dream school.

While I ponder why this show seems hell bent on making us hate all of its characters, let's break down the musical performances.

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin"...A-: What does this song title have against "G"s? Anyway, I thought this was a really strong way to, well, start the episode and Darren Criss is at his best when he's in upbeat/ebullient mode. Bonus points for the glee club dressing up in all of MJ's iconic outfits...except for Finn's tragic bedazzled football jersey.

"Bad"...B: Where the hell did they even find a multi-level parking lot in Lima? Anyway, I enjoyed the choreography, the acapella flavor of the arrangement (mostly courtesy of the Warblers) and even the rampant cheesiness, but Blaine diving in front of Kurt at the end like he was a Secret Service agent taking a bullet for the president was a step too far. Sorry.

"Scream"...A: You've probably noticed I make fun of this show a lot, but credit must be given where it's due: "Scream" (an underrated song, in my opinion) was one of the most expensive music videos of its time and this was a great recreation. (On a TV budget, no less!) Solid vocals/great dancing from Kevin McHale and Harry Shum Jr., and impressive effects. Also, androgynous Mike Chang = Janet Jackson...who knew?

"Never Can Say Goodbye"...B+: Let's be honest: the ceiling for any Quinn solo performance (with Dianna Agron's thin, flavorless voice) is a B+. So what I'm saying is that this sweetly ironic number (Quinn coming to terms with herself and waving goodbye to Lima and her various guys) is as good as it gets.

"Human Nature"...A- Can someone explain to me why Chord Overstreet was fired after the end of last season only to be brought back and (apparently) made a full-fledged cast member a few months later? Whatever...he's back and the show is better for it. Anyway, this was a sweet duet that made me truly buy the Sam/Mercedes romance for the first time. (Also, I'm all for anything that keeps Mercedes from bitching about losing solos to Rachel.)

"Ben"...C+: Too sentimental by half. From the way Kurt, Rachel and Finn lovingly serenaded an eye-patched Blaine, you would think the guy was on his deathbed. The + is for heroically resisting the urge to change each "Ben" to "Blaine" in the song.

"Smooth Criminal"...A: Santana and Sebastian may not agree on who won their fantastic, intense face off, but I think we can all agree the real winners were 2Cellos.

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"...D: Maybe it's because I hate everything about what's happening with Finn and Rachel right now, but I thought this blah number was completely disposable. It's almost like the writers realized, "Crap! We gotta get a Rachel/Finn duet in here somewhere."

"Black and White"...B+: This was a fun way to close out the show, but let's get one thing straight: Kurt DEFINITELY should've let Santana go to the cops with the incriminating tape where Sebastian admits to almost blinding someone instead of just singing him a song about unity. What's the best case scenario anyway? Sebastian joins New Directions to do a happy dance on stage while Blaine undergoes a painful procedure? (At least we got to hear Santana say "underboob" a dozen times.) The + is for the face-morphing at the end. I remember that effect blowing my mind when I first saw it.

So what'd you think of this episode? Can someone remind me why Damian McGinty/Rory Flanagan is on this show? Who the hell carries rock salt on their person? (Wouldn't it have been much easier to mix in pebbles or something else from the parking garage?) Finally, my big takeaway from this episode...it's REALLY easy to get into Yale...just make sure you write a kickass essay!

Justified: Wicked Games

What is up with the bad guys on "Justified" this season and the twisted games they play?

(And I'm not even talking about whatever the hell Quarles is doing with the half naked man blindfolded, gagged and tied up to that bed; the fact that he was barely bothered by Wynn Duffy stumbling onto that sight made it 10 times weirder/scarier.)

I apologize for leaving you recap-less so far this season, but I assure you that it's not because I think any less of "Justified." Here's my quick rundown of the first two episodes, in case you care: I thought the season premiere was as good as season premieres can possibly get, but I thought the second episode with "Assistant Director Goodall/Not Karen Sisco (Wink, Wink)" was merely very good. But then again, we got to see Art Mullen be badass and make a legit (non-comical) arrest. Plus, you'll NEVER hear me complain about seeing Carla Gugino.

Last night's episode, "Harlan Roulette," got its title from the even more sadistic version of Russian Roulette pawn shop owner (and Dixie Mafia lackey) Glen Fogle (scary guest star Pruitt Taylor Vince) likes to play with his underlings. While the Harlan Roulette scene was incredibly tense and wonderfully hard to watch, I still have to rank it behind Fletcher "The Ice Pick" Nicks' Final Countdown.

As Trooper Tom Bergen helpfully reminded Raylan (and us) a marshal's primary duty is to catch fugitives. And though I enjoy the one-off episodes that mostly focus on a criminal of the week, I think the show is at its best when it delves into the generations-spanning conflict within Harlan and its inhabitants.

Fortunately, "Harlan Roulette" managed to have it both ways: turns out Raylan's old pal Wade Messer (who you may remember as the guy who set Raylan up to be strung up to a tree and tortured by Dickie in the season 2 finale and who is played by an impressively scumbag-gy James LeGros) and a fellow oxy addict were committing a string of robberies for Fogle, who was feeding their oxy habit. The Dixie Mafia's oxy business has been hovering in the background throughout the show's run (most notably the oxy bus episode with Dewey from last season), and I'm delighted to see the writers finally cash those chips in.

I also think it's a brilliant move to make this year's Big Bad (Quarles) the exact opposite of last year's. That's no slight to Emmy winner Margo Martindale, I just think it would've been tough to top homegrown Mags Bennett, so why not bring in an arrogant, flashy, psychotic outsider who's in Kentucky to show the hicks why it's called "organized crime"? (Plus, I suppose the people who miss Mags have Ellstin Limehouse to keep them warm at night.)

It was hilarious seeing the job of killing Raylan get delegated from Duffy to Fogle to Messer with the idea that if the assassin fails a loose end is tied up, but if he succeeds even better.

In the past, I've pointed out (with admiration) that each episode of "Justified" can afford to go long stretches without showing Raylan (and developing its colorful bad guys) because there isn't that much to him. (At least not from a dramatic standpoint.) That said, Timothy Olyphant's florid monologue about not going into someone's house uninvited was a great call back to the pilot (when he met Dewey at Ava's house) and a funny twist when it turned out he'd gone into Wade's house and removed his gun. (I was probably the only fool who was worried for Raylan as he nonchalantly turned his back to Wade's doorway, while Wade scrambled to find his gun...I should've known better.) Raylan's "We all got lines we gotta cross" is pretty much as on-the-nose explanation of what "Justified" is all about as we're ever going to get.

Raylan was able to use Wade to lure Fogle and the stooge who'd apparently seen him torture one too many victims. The ensuing standoff was classic Elmore Leonard, from Raylan casually mentioning his house hunt to the two bad guys shooting and killing each other. (RIP Glen Fogle and, um, Other Guy.)

Before Fogle died he pointed Raylan in Wynn Duffy's direction and the two got to have the unpleasant conversation Raylan had warned him about. More importantly, Raylan came face-to-face with a smiling Quarles for the first time this season. Their first meeting was genius precisely because Raylan had no idea he was meeting his main adversary...or that said adversary has a nasty "Taxi Driver" surprise up his sleeve.

I wanted to end the recap with Raylan's fantastic "the next one's coming faster" line to Wynn after tossing him a bullet, but I suppose I should talk about Boyd and his efforts to completely take over crime in Harlan.

Though Walton Goggins continues to make Boyd a magnetically articulate and nasty piece of work (pulling that double move on the guys at Johnny's old bar was a neat trick), like Arlo I wasn't fully engaged in his speechifying and promises to make his crew rich...at least not yet. Still, it's plain to see there's a showdown coming with Limehouse/Raylan (and possibly Quarles).

Few more quick thoughts: it's good to see Johnny Crowder back, I'm kind of obsessed with Jeremy Davies' skittery, ignorant, false confident, cagey(?) performance as Dickie and I don't believe Devil is long for this world.

So what'd you think of this episode? Can Wade Messer give Dewey Crowe a run for his money in the "Lovably/Hilariously Incompetent Bad Guy" Sweepstakes? Is the corrupt prison guard blackmailing Dickie one too many story threads? (It feels superfluous right now, but I have a ton of confidence that these writers will make it pay off.) Finally, we've had three episodes of "Justified" so far this season and Marshal Tim Gutterson has only been in one: unacceptable.