Justified: “Dark as a Dungeon” Review

Justified Season 6 Episode 8

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Michael Spring in Drama, Reviews // 1 Comment

Raylan continued to cut ties with Harlan, while Boyd is offered an unexpected proposition.

“KISS MY ASS, MARKHAM.”

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

I had guessed last week that Walker was going to either go after Raylan or Markham, but I hadn’t considered that he would attempt to team up with Boyd in the process. That was a great turn, and the only disappointing thing is we never got to see it fully play out. I’ve enjoyed Garret Dilahunt’s brief time on the show, and his team up with Boyd could have been incredibly entertaining. It makes sense for him to be killed off now, though. His days were numbered the moment that shootout with the marshals occurred, so it wouldn’t have made sense to draw it out for too much longer. His final appearance also ended with a classic Justified moment, with the fatal gunshots followed by a wonderful little back and forth between Raylan and Walker.

“Dark as a Dungeon” was all about giving us those standout Justified moments. Aside from the Walker action, we also got a classic Boyd and Raylan chat. I absolutely loved watching Markham open up that vault in front of both of them. It showed Boyd exactly what the prize is, and Raylan got to show it to him. As we move towards the finale, it looks like we’re in for a cat and mouse game of the highest order. Boyd is desperate to snatch that 10 million and make a break for it, while Raylan wants to snag his ever elusive prey and ride off into the sunset. It’s more than likely that one of these things, if not both, won’t happen.

This episode spent quite a bit of time showing us how Raylan is cutting his final ties to Harlan. He rifled through Arlo’s stuff at the front of the episode and ended up burning it all to ashes. Next, he looked into having his mother and father’s bodies dug up so he could just simply sell the house afterwards. While he ended up letting them lie where they were, he did have his own gravestone removed. Piece by piece he has distanced himself from Harlan, and it only leaves Boyd. The best part of the episode came right at the end, when Raylan ventured into a shed that Arlo used to spend his time in. It was a wonderful moment, with the shed turning out to be empty, followed by Raylan having one last conversation with his dead father. It was an unusual scene for Justified, but it absolutely worked. Raylan’s relationship with his father played a big part in making him the man he is today, so having one last scene to close it all out was a welcome touch.

THE BREAKDOWN

“Dark as a Dungeon” was a real outstanding episode. It may not be remembered as one of the must-sees of the whole series, but everything about it was on point. The dialogue crackled, the pairings were great and it all acted as a great setup for the remaining episodes. I’m pretty convinced now that Katherine Hale is the snitch, and I could see her being the next of our main players to meet their maker. I’m still not sure how any of this is going to play out, which I find incredibly exciting. We’re really set for the Boyd and Raylan confrontation now, and next week could be Boyd’s big snatch for the gold.