Justified: He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother(-in-Law)

Never try to keep a man from his estranged son’s birthday party.

That’s the lesson we learned on the latest episode of “Justified”, and it’s especially true if that man is a desperate killer trying to put his life back together in a halfway house.

When we first met Clinton, he was trying to get himself (if not the bathroom) clean and spiffy so that he’d be granted his day-pass to see visit his son on his 12th birthday. Unfortunately, the director of the halfway house was a hardass stickler who took Clinton’s day pass away, leading an irate Clinton to beat him savagely and escape.

Now I liked Clinton, and I felt bad for him. At first it was because he was played by Larenz Tate (an incredibly likable actor most recently seen on “Rescue Me”). On top of that, the halfway house director WAS being pretty harsh. Even though it became increasingly difficult to sympathize with Clinton as he left more gunshot victims in his wake — including drug dealer/aspiring magician Flex — I still didn’t get the sense that this was a sick, criminal mastermind. (Or an “eight heads in a dufflebag” kind of guy, as Raylan might put it.)

This was confirmed when we found out that he was Rachel’s brother-in-law and responsible for the death of Rachel’s sister. That revelation accomplished two things: 1.) It allowed us to get to know, arguably, the most underused member of this ensemble a little better. (Even Art called Rachel, pictured, right, his best marshal.) 2.) By letting us know that Clinton had gotten into a car accident while he was high, killing Rachel’s sister, it confirmed that he wasn’t necessarily evil…he’s just one of those unfortunate souls who seem to live under a gray cloud their entire lives. I mean, even Rachel’s mom felt bad for the guy…after he’d tied her up in her own house!

The climactic scene at the pizza place where all of Clinton’s victims converged veered a bit too far into the ridiculous for my taste. (The only thing missing was Rachel’s mom showing up.) I thought the dark comedy in a later scene with all the suddenly gun-happy marshals was much more effective. (Tim was jealous that Raylan got to shoot his own dad, and the humor was designed to help Rachel cope with shooting Flex.)

“For Blood or Money” was both jam-packed and a breezy hour.

The temptation of Boyd Crowder seems to be complete, since he now appears to have been roped into an armored car job. It’s terrible timing for him because it seemed like lonely Ava was beginning to warm up to him in more ways than one, but I can’t really blame Boyd. He desperately wanted to stay clean, but the pitch for the armored car job — capped off with him looking like a hero — really did seem like it was too good to be true…which it probably is.

We also got some idea as to how Gary plans to win back Winona: he’s going the martyr route. He summoned her to his office and asked for a divorce. That meant he’d take the house and all the debt that comes along with it. Winona, who is already confused about which of her husbands she wants to be with, was especially susceptible to Gary’s mind games. Raylan saw right through them. Unfortunately, Raylan appears to be getting so wrapped up in his competition with Gary (and vice versa), that he’s pushing Winona’s interests in the back burner.

Finally, I suspected that we hadn’t heard the last of the oxy bus after last week. This show has a penchant for keeping certain plot threads unresolved and read to wreak havoc for Raylan and Co. In fact, Raylan used one of those plot threads — the guys who were threatening Gary last season — to send a message to the oxy bus hijacking victims (aka the Dixie Mafia): don’t look for revenge and stay out of Harlan.

Of course, we all know there’s a zero percent chance that’ll happen, and I’m guessing the Dixie Mafia will clash with the Bennetts toward the end of this season. (Maybe the Miami cartel will also put in an appearance for old times sake.)

The episode opened with a terrific scene that once again brought Raylan face to face with Mags Bennett and her boys. Timothy Olyphant’s effortless cool and authority was on full display, and Margo Martindale matched him every step of the way as Mags’ gentility believably melted away to defensiveness and rage (the rage coming when Raylan was gone).

More importantly, I’m officially paranoid every time she offers anyone something to drink or eat.

So what’d you think of this episode? Do you think Dickie and Coover will try to take Raylan out anyway? (They are in dire need of reading comprehension skills.) Which guy do you think Winona will choose? Finally, will Boyd go through with the armored car job or will he drop out/have a change of heart?