Raylan does his best to calm an increasingly panicked Ava, as she begins to crack under the weight of her situation.

“DEATH-STAR BALLS”

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

It was really only a matter of time before the pressure got to Ava. She’s been cracking since the very first episode of the season, and her run-in with Hale pushed her too far. The only question was how she would react, and it wasn’t too surprising to see her choose to run. Now of course we knew she wouldn’t make it too far, but her attempt to get out of Harlan led to the return of a couple of familiar faces. I am always appreciative any time Mykelti Williamson’s Limehouse shows up, and Patton Oswalt’s constable Bob brought a few much needed laughs to proceedings.

Ava turning to Limehouse for help was a great way of bringing such a great character back into the loop for the final season. The way this episode went, Limehouse could easily not be involved again. But I have to think that a person as smart as him will realize that there’s a bigger picture that he’s not seeing yet. I wouldn’t be too surprised if he figures out that Ava actually was telling him half of the truth about the money, and I’d love to see the inhabitants of Noble’s Holler get mixed up in the Boyd/Markham/Rayland standoff.

After Boyd’s explosive failure last week, he got right back to his plotting and scheming. The next phase of his plan appears to be quite tricky, and involves some volatile gas. For help with this, he turned to Ava’s uncle Zachariah, a man who isn’t too fond of Crowders. It feels a little bit late in the day to be introducing a previously unknown family member who may be pivotal to the story, but I’m willing to overlook that considering the awesome Jeff Fahey (Lapidus from Lost!) is playing said family member. Boyd’s plan seems rather clear now. Using Zachariah’s expertise, he’s going to flood the pizza parlour with a whole load of gas and just waltz on in there and take the money. It’s a good plan on paper, but there’s no way in hell it’ll work out that easily.

Elsewhere, Duffy and Mike paid a visit to the prison guard Ava got mixed up with last season. It always kind of struck me as a little odd that the marshal’s didn’t come up with a better cover for Ava’s release from prison, as one wrong word from the guard, Albert Ficus, would have blown the whole plan. This side of things did lead to a vintage Wynn Duffy scene, with Duffy taking a cattle prod to Ficus, all while Rachel and Tim stood by in the next room. Ficus held strong in the end and managed to convince Duffy that there was nothing shad behind Ava’s release. It definitely looked like Duffy believed him, but I doubt that Katherine Hale will be so quick to drop her doubts about Ava.

The biggest development of the week was the rekindling of romance between Raylan and Ava. It seems so long ago since they were actually a couple on the series, and we look to be going full circle as the end approaches. This certainly complicates things anyway, and it’ll add even more fuel to the fire between Raylan and Boyd whenever this becomes public knowledge. It’s only a kiss for now, but any kind of relationship is also going to throw the marshal’s case against Boyd out the window, something which has already happened back in Season 1. Raylan is the one person that Ava can be honest with right now, so it makes sense for her to seek his comfort. I am a little suspicious though about whether she may have ulterior motives. Ava is a very smart woman, and it’s not beyond her to manipulate Boyd and Raylan so that she can get herself out of this mess once and for all. The closer we get to the end, the more I start to believe Raylan, Ava and Boyd may find themselves sitting around that table in Ava’s house one more time.

THE BREAKDOWN

“Sounding” was another solid, albeit unspectacular entry into Justified’s final season. There wasn’t a whole lot of forward momentum, but we did get some progression, along with several good laughs. Boyd’s plan seems to be coming along nicely, but he remains blissfully ignorant of the fact that the person he loves most is working against him. As I’ve already mentioned, I’m not completely certain of Ava’s motivations when it comes to that kiss with Raylan, but we’re sure to find out soon enough.

Is Ava playing Raylan, or does she genuinely still have feelings for him? Or do you think it’s both? Tweet me your answers @OldSnake24 or let me know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow us @YouNerded.

81/100 – Great

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