Okay, maybe I was missing something obvious when Danny and Raylan were talking, but I don’t get what the slip-up was in Danny Crowe’s story about how he got Chelsea. I have no doubt that Raylan knew Danny was full of crap from the jump, but Raylan seized on the age of the dog as some sort of proof that Danny’s sob story was a lie, and Danny accepted that he’d been caught.
Here’s a paraphrase of what Raylan said: Chelsea was 6 years old when she (he?) died, about 40 in human years, and Danny is about 30. How is that a “gotcha”?
There was no slip-up or gotcha in the sense you are looking for. Raylan was simply stating: the dog had already lived a full life (so it’s not that tragic) and it’s just a dog (your shorter life should be more important). Whereas, if Danny insisted on making it a fight to the death over his feelings for the dog, his life would be cut short (shorter than the dog’s life in relative terms) and he’d potentially bring the whole family into it as well. Over a dog that lived into middle-age. Raylan wasn’t doubting the authenticity of the story (as far as I noticed) nor did he need to have a gotcha (he was carrying 6 figures worth of brown Mexican heroine in his hand).
Personally, I like this season: Boyd and Raylan are both increasingly isolated and desperate. Danny and Kendell were/are great actors. Michael Rappoport is weak (or at least weaker than the Crowders, Mags, Quarles) as a main villain and not very believable in his role, but I like trying to establish a “villain” that can last and take roots in Harlan like Boyd and form a triangle of complications for all. Last season seemed weaker. I haven’t really ever seen Raylan as someone who is developing or growing (except maybe for the worse, but then the work brings him back again). The show really lost its primary dynamic when Raylan was no longer torn between Ava and Winona, but it’s continued to carry on. The biggest decline is not the loss of Arlo – it’s the silliness of Ava’s character arc.
No gotcha. Raylan was merely pointing out that Danny would be die younger than his dog was.
Got it. That makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking. Thanks, Molloy714 and bathosfear.
Are we sure Danny is dead? That looked painful but not necessarily fatal, and he was still rolling around making ouch noises last we saw him. Art says “So you didn’t shoot him,” but we never heard Raylan’s report that that was in response to.
Yes, we are sure Danny is dead.
I was waiting for Wendy, then Kendall to pull out a gun and shoot Darrell. It may happen yet.
It’s quite worrying that the series seems to have gone so far off the rails in its first year following Elmore Leonard’s death. While the producers have made a point in interviews of saying that they are always asking themselves “What would Elmore do?” that doesn’t mean they’re coming up with the right answers.
For me, the biggest “sin” is the stand off between Raylan and Art. Their interplays were always extremely enjoyable and having them essentially not speaking to each other for an entire season just hurts the show.
I keep watching, because I loved the first four seasons so much but I’m starting to doubt that they can dig themselves out of the hole they’ve created with just three more episodes to the season.
Michael Rapaport is a good actor, but his fake Southern accent makes me cringe. I can’t understand why a show that enjoys language so much (how often do you hear the word “eschew” used anywhere else?) can allow this travesty to escape their attention.
For me, the enjoyment is watching Raylan joust with the various characters and generally stay one step ahead. The tricky balancing act of including characters who are all at the same time, stupid and cunning and ruthless, keeps me watching. The dialogue can’t be beat.
This really sums-up the season so-far. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been entertaining. But it’s pretty much been a season without Raylan, and everything has had the feel of being vignettes without any common tie. We’re ten episodes in and, despite the body count, not a single bullet has left Raylan’s gun (which, y’know, is highly unusual)
The fall-out between Art and Raylan is sad, and I hope it can be mended. Judging by the previews for next week’s episode, though, things between them only look to get worse.
Just how this season will set things up for the next (and final) season is still unclear. Although, we all know next season will have to be the showdown between Raylan and Boyd. How that comes together though, is anyone’s guess.
Strange, I’m loving where Art and Raylan are at. We started with Raylan being a loose cannon, someone who may or may not be “Justified” in his deadly force. That Art basically treated him as a useful problem child needed to change — I love that he’s still willing to bear with him (he’s still effective, you need to support your men) but he’s utterly against his direct involvement in the Tonin murder. Had Art continued with an “aww, shucks, he’s in gray territory but I mostly trust him” attitude it could get very boring.
(I have questions about Raylan gaming the radio shows for money; while strictly not illegal, it seems to go beyond his values of transgressing the rules for what is morally “Just.”)
I thought the interplay really started to turn in this episode, the standstill started to break: with Art being utterly resigned to Raylan’s behavior (would it really matter if he shot Danny down or if it was an accidental non-gun death not at Raylan’s hands). And then… as Raylan is leaving his office, you get the sense of: “Good, this is what I want, complete indifference from my boss as to what I do.” But you now there is an undercurrent of both of them wanting reconciliation and something needing to break. This is what Raylan always seems to want (indifference) from his family, women, and job; but when he gets it, he realizes he actually needs more.
Also, really enjoy that Raylan hasn’t played the gunslinger. I remember in the first season, after several one-off episodes, I was worried that every episode would end in a draw-off at high noon… They played with the convention well enough to produce a number of entertaining variations that stayed fresh and self-aware but it could easily wear thin. I thought the 21 ft rule myth was a great way to play with the convention and keep things fresh.
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