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.