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Mr Sausage wrote:Solid episode; mostly puts all the pieces into position for the showdown. Still allowed itself some time for some great dialogue, especially between Boyd and his captive and Boyd and Raylan at the end.

Budokan!

Spoiler

I'm wondering if the guy the captive named before his head was blown off will play a part in next week's finale.

Mr Sausage wrote:Still allowed itself some time for some great dialogue, especially between Boyd and his captive and Boyd and Raylan at the end.

I dug the Miller's Crossing reference.

domino harvey wrote:

Mr Sausage wrote:When did Vasquez become such a dick? I always thought he was pretty chill.

I for one never trusted Endless Mike

Ha, that's funny in light of how petulant Vasquez has been acting in these last few episodes. I think it comes from him being hellbent on finding out who killed his boss, and his frustration with Ava boiling over when she shot Boyd.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:

domino harvey wrote:

Mr Sausage wrote:When did Vasquez become such a dick? I always thought he was pretty chill.

I for one never trusted Endless Mike

Ha, that's funny in light of how petulant Vasquez has been acting in these last few episodes. I think it comes from him being hellbent on finding out who killed his boss, and his frustration with Ava boiling over when she shot Boyd.

The less charitable side of me says it's because the show wanted some extra drama, so they altered his character to get it. Somewhat inconsistently, I think. The scene with Duffy seemed more in line with his character from the first five seasons.

With mere hours to go to the finale, anyone want to speculate on who doesn't leave Harlan alive? As a reminder, here's all the major characters still alive:

Spoiler

Raylan
Art
Tim
Rachel
That other useless marshal
Vasquez
Limehouse
Markham
Boon
Loretta
Earl
Constable Bob
Wynn Duffy (literally the only death that would upset me)
Ava
Boyd
(Kind of doubt these two are in any narrative danger but Winona and Dickie Bennett as well)

Interesting how a character like Duffy who by all rights I should consider pond scum is the character I have the most affection for.

Missed one

Spoiler

RIP Raylan's hat

Honestly, I loved that ending. It wasn't even close to what I would have guessed, but it was...well...justified. \:D/

This was all really perfect, down to the last line.

domino harvey wrote:Missed one

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RIP Raylan's hat

That was probably one of the more devastating moments.

Spoiler

Especially since the replacement didn't do much for him.

It found the precise right tone to end on. There's no other cops and robbers show out there whose big show down between its hero and villain would just be two guys talking quietly to each other, or which would be so disappointing if it had been anything else.

I'll miss it, but I'm so pleased it went out on its own terms, at the height of its powers.

I can't think of many shows that ended this strong. All the more sad to see it gone now.

swo17 wrote:

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2. "I prefer to go for the head. You never know if they'll be wearing Kevlar."

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I actually wondered if he intentionally missed that one kid's head just to fuck around but after the miss (though it was a near miss) on Raylan I'm just assuming he wasn't as good as he thought he was. Loved the somewhat surprised look on his face that Raylan was able to get him, because Raylan is that awesome.

Oh, and since we're on the internet, the seasons, best to least-best: 5, 3, 2, 4, 6, 1

That's about right, though 6 really picked up near the end. I'd probably put 2 higher as well.

domino harvey wrote:

Spoiler

Don't forget that it somehow took him TWO shots to take out Loretta's elderly next-of-kin. Never read him winging Loretta's bodyguard as anything but evidence of him having better quick-draw skills than aim, which paid off as many things do on the show!

That's right, I actually forgot about that. And you're right about how things pay off in that show. That 21-foot rule thing in the last season may have been the best.

Oh, and since we're on the internet, the seasons, best to least-best: 5, 3, 2, 4, 6, 1

My wife and I would be in agreement I think, except swap 4 and 6 around.

I was shocked to see that a lot of people hated the 5th season, as I found it far more gripping than the 4th, which I felt was fairly aimless and didn't get really good until the last few episodes.

I adore the show and think it's one of the best written, most undervalued series on TV maybe ever. Having said that, I don't get cable and so I generally watch the season sets months later and therefore can't rate the new one yet. But otherwise I would place the rest firmly like this:

Best: 2-4
Next best: 5
Least best: 1

And for me that first season is weakest only comparatively and only in the sense that, given the way each season of the show is structured, it always takes awhile to "get going" and usually thus relies on spill over from narratives from previous seasons to propel it along. The first one obviously didn't have that and feels pretty wayward to start. After the third or fourth episode though it takes off and never really slows down again. I like the fifth season a lot but not as much as 2-4 which for me just seem virtually perfect (especially 3).

2, 3, 4, 6, 5, 1.

domino harvey wrote:Oh, and since we're on the internet, the seasons, best to least-best: 5, 3, 2, 4, 6, 1

As with everything Justified, I'm in complete agreement with you. I feel a little bad putting 6 so low, just because while a lot of it was wayward, it more than delivered at the most crucial moments, including the most crucial, the final scene. It feels more satisfying at the moment than it probably would if I considered it in toto.

Season 5, still the best season, had what is I think Justified's best ever single episode: episode 5, Shot all to Hell. Just the arc it took Boyd through, from chilling and expertly manipulating all the circumstances in his favour, to screaming wildly over having lost it all. Unbelievable.

I'll go with 2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 1. However, the distance between 2 and 6 < the distance between 6 and 1.

Spoiler

Anybody else get the feeling that Boyd has only taken up preaching again in order to keep himself entertained? He seems to be enjoying it quite a bit more than when he was doing it earlier in the series, perhaps because there's nothing at stake anymore.