TV Recap: Justified, ‘The Hunt’

The Hunt Plot Summary:

Following the shootout, Marshalls send out a massive man hunt looking for Walker (Garrett Dillahunt), Winona (Natalie Zea) visits Raylan allowing him to finally meet his newborn daughter, and Boyd (Walton Goggins), knowing Ava (Joelle Carter) is hiding something, decides to take her on a hunting trip.

“The Hunt” didn’t offer a whole lot to really advance the overall story. What it did was it took the time to examine the relationships between Raylan and Winona as well as Boyd and Ava. Each pair faces a difficult question. Raylan finally getting the chance to meet his daughter and see Winona face to face instead of on a shaky computer screen was a nice detour for us as well as his character. It gave us a reminder of why we should give a damn on whether or not he goes to Florida after his Boyd business is done. And I’m happy to say that we do. Winona is a fresh reminder to Raylan to wrap up his business in Harlan. Her conveying to him that she doesn’t care where they end up as long as she has him by her side and felt real. She knows Raylan’s work is what drives him but all that’s left to wonder is whether he can leave behind Harlan and be with his family in the end. I’m thinking yes, but there is that little chunk of me feeling we might be in for something else at the end.

On the other hand we have Boyd and Ava, which was the more interesting story this week. They are a complete mess and it wonderful to see Crowder and Goggins hit it out of the park. The dialogue was much sharper this week, which is really what Justified prides itself on. Boyd, who now has trust issues with Ava after Limehouse told him Ava almost left town, decides to take Ava to Bulletville on a hunting trip. Is Boyd planning to go full Soprano on Ava’s ass?

After a few dramatic turns with Boyd’s threats to Ava we come to the moment when Ava confesses and tells Boyd that she is a CI for Raylan. Gulp. At a moment when we figure Boyd is going to go all crazy on Ava he simply……forgives her? Something I wasn’t expecting and frankly didn’t believe at first but the episode concludes with Boyd loading his pistol with a full clip. Maybe we haven’t seen Boyd at his most intense yet.

Overall it was scene very well done.

Besides the relationship visits the rest of the episode belonged to Walker, who is on the run from everyone after last week’s Choo Choo disaster. With Markham (Sam Elliot) now considering him burned and the Marshalls hot on his trailer, Walker is now in lone wolf mode and completely on his own. Another twist that I wasn’t expecting. However it feels as though as his days are numbered. To me honestly, Walker has been my favorite (Outside of Raylan of course

Overall, another good offering from the Justifiers, some good material exchanges between Raylan and Winona and dramatic twists with Boyd and Ava. Im hoping next week really gets back to the story and drives it really forward. We need more information on Markham and his operations and what Zachariah are really up to. So with that said I still have high hopes for the remainder of this show.

And speaking of the remainder of the show, we have five episodes left. The countdown has begun.

Rating 8/10

Justified airs Tuesdays on FX.

http://youtu.be/4zkqAK9DT5o
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