luke kalamar is justified…
Plot: After picking up a felon, Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) receives a call from Constable Bob Sweeny (Patton Oswalt) that someone broke into his father’s house. Raylan investigates the scene and finds a bag hidden inside one of the walls. Before he can question his father about what’s inside the bag, Raylan’s car is stolen by the same people who broke in. Meanwhile, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) is losing his drug clients to an unknown Pastor who promises salvation.
I’m going to be perfectly honest here. This was the first time I’ve watched an episode of Justified. It’s not that the show never interested me. I was simply spending my time focused on other shows. I am well aware of the critical acclaim though and know plenty of people who enjoy watching Timothy Olyphant kick some ass. Now that I have some time to spare, I decided to finally give Justified a shot. Even though using the premiere of Season 4 isn’t the best jumping off point to start watching a show, I still really enjoyed this episode.
As you can see by the plot synopsis, this episode was distinctly divided into two parts. On one hand, you have Raylan trying to stop the people who broke into his father’s house while simultaneously unraveling a great mystery surrounding his family. He even goes to the prison to confront his father Arlo Givens (Raymond J. Barry) about what he found. On the other hand, you have Boyd who is trying to keep his drug empire at the very top. The Pastor stealing his business obviously doesn’t please him, and he’s going to do everything he can to stop him.
Even though the two parts never connected in any form, I did enjoy how both are simultaneously forming different and complex stories. I’m sure sometime during this season Boyd and Raylan’s individual stories will connect, but until that happens the two can easily exist on their own. I couldn’t help but notice that there was a bit more focus on Raylan’s story, however. I know that Raylan is the main character of the show, but if there are going to be these two individual stories existing separately there should be equal attention on both. I forgot that Boyd even existed at times while Raylan was busy doing his thing.
A definite highlight of this episode was Patton Oswalt’s character Constable Bob Sweeny. This was Oswalt’s first episode on the show and he definitely brings a certain element. His character is more or less Raylan’s sidekick who also has some comic relief. I’ve only seen Oswalt doing comedy, and some of his past shows were really terrible, so it was nice seeing him doing something serious for a change. Well, he wasn’t that serious, but more than he usually is.
The ending definitely sets up some huge mystery that will obviously be the focus of the season. Arlo is clearly hiding something from Raylan and will do whatever he can to keep the mystery secret. Who the Pastor is exactly that is stealing Boyd’s business remains to be seen as well, so there’s some mystery there too, along with how these two stories will come together.
“Hole in the Wall” is definitely a strong start for this fourth season. I would’ve liked to see some more action, but the previews show that there is plenty to come ahead. As a complete newcomer to the series, I now have a renewed interest to go back and start from the beginning. If you’re a fan, this one is obviously a must see and gets the ball rolling on what can be a very enjoyable season.
Rating: 7.5/10
