Slaughterhouse

[chani]

What a finale!

I loved all the call-backs (the Harlan roulette, Devil's murder, Ellen-Mae being beaten again by her pimp) and I adored the scene between Raylan and Wynn Duffy. I'm THIS close to 'ship Raylan/Wynn people!

Hear me Justified writers: Jere Burns and Olyphant should have at least one scene together per episode!

I loved the salt shaker shot when Raylan was facing off Limeshouse in Noble's Holler and all the guns went out !!!!

I liked to see Ava becoming what she protected Ellen-Mae against, a violent pimp. In terms of crossing lines, Ava has gone farther than anyone else. She's fine with cold blood murder, fine with retribution, fine with prostitution, fine with beating whores. It's interesting but disturbing.

I loved that, although everybody has bet on Chekhov's sleeve-gun (well it played a part but the surprise was out since Raylan had already seen it "that's cute" and was ready to counter-move) and it mostly ended with Chekhov's pig (so many viewers had compalined about the pigs scenes but we got the pay-off and "Piggy bank" was a hell of a line!!!)and Chekhov's meat cleaver(that one, Caprica did it first!)!

I know it's easy to say it so now, but I had pictured Quarles' arm being severed (it was either that or it would jam but that would have been too predictable and the show loves to confound expectations), except that, for some reason, I hadn't imagined Limehouse using his cleaver to cut that meat! I thought that Raylan would do it actually, while he just kept the chopped off arm (but the guys in the office say that he dis-armed Quarles!)

I loved the way Raylan held the arm and pulled it away as Quarles was reaching for it. It was funny and creepy at once. It was as if Raylan was already behaving as a father, preventing his kid from taking a tool, and it fitted in Quarles' childish behaviour earlier on the phone with Theo. I loved it when an entertaining piece also serves character study and foreshadows stuff. Perfect.

In termes of puns, "Disarmed" is right there with Brealing Bad 's "Face Off"!

I told you it was all about the father/son thing. Theo Tonin rejected Bobby Quarles choosing his biological son over the one he groomed into being his criminal heir, saying that Quarles was a failure and was disgusting; Limehouse rejected Errol picking his people over the screwed up boy who put Noble's Holler at risk (and it echoed Shelby cutting ties with Boyd!)and you could tell how devastating it was for Errol so he decided to make up for his failure and played a key role eventually...and of course the bittersweet rejection came from Arlo.

When lijability and I discussed the possibility of Arlo shooting Trooper Tom last week, I couldn't see the motives. But what a blow. Arlo just saw a man in a hat.

The way I read it is that Arlo hated what Raylan had become, that is a law man, a bit like Theo hated what Bobby had become, so his being off medication let his subconscious act upon his need to do what has to be done. The previous "Raylan" line from Arlo in "Coalition" was a big clue that Arlo was confused and tended to mixed up Boyd and Raylan. I think that on his mind, he has one son...and Raylan represented "the bad side" of said son, so that side had to disappear. Boyd is what Arlo thinks his son should be, but I don't think that Arlo loves Boyd as a son. Is Arlo even capable of love, Perhaps he loved Helen.

But Raylan doens't really know that.

“He didn’t know it was a state trooper. He just saw a man in a hat pointing a gun at Boyd.” HEARTBREAKING !!!!

Raylan just thinks that Arlo tried to kill him, or was willing to kill him when he thought Raylan was pointing a gun at Boyd – an explanation that Raylan provided but that doesn't quite work given that Boyd was on the floor unconscious and Trooper Tom was pointing a gun at Quarles!– and took the fall for the murder of Devil, to protect Boyd.

But yeah there was the scene in which the old man apologized for the way he treated young Raylan, because Helen made him too...and it was before Boyd gave his his meds, so maybe Arlo is just an old piece of shit who did want his son dead, who knew what he was doing.

I guess that the line “I heard a cop in a hat got shot. Guess it wasn’t you.”  could be interpreted in two different ways: the killer coming back to the crime scene but seeing he didn't get the right target and even being cynical about the real target being still alive, or a confused Arlo coming to check on Raylan because Raylan is his son still. Or a mix of both, depending on how lucid Arlo was.

According to Raylan's interpretation of what happened the line and the scene seem to picture Arlo in a very bad way, especially if he's rather lucid about the shooting, but it might be more ambiguous than that given scenes showing off-meds Arlo in previous episodes. Arlo was still off meds when it happened, so he wasn't necessarily being cynical when saying that line. He might have even completely forgotten that he did shoot the trooper and have kinda worried about Raylan. His apology could have been totally genuine too.


Anyway, Raylan came to the conclusion that deep down, his father wanted him dead or was willing to kill him to save Boyd, the surrogate son, the favorite one. Upsetting indeed. It's one step ahead if we think at the end of season 1 when Arlo betrayed his son to save his own ass. It's one thing to have a bad father who is selfish and would hand you over to save himself and another to have him protect someone else at your expense.


Olyphant was terrific in that episode. He is so expressive and his acting is really subtle. The way he had his head down when Art and the troopers were arresting Boyd. You could tell that Raylan went along with it and thought it was the right thing to do (in his mind bad guys must be put away, and Boyd is one of the bad guys), but he was quite melancholy and not enjoying the moment at all, a bit shy and embarrassed even. I also loved the way he thanked his father after the apology. Or his "yes I can" when Limehouse told Quarles that Raylan could say that Quarles would be surrounded by Limehouse's people if he shot him. BTW that " I can" reminded me that Limehouse had a poster of Obama on the wall behind the bar!

In the end I was crushed. Poor Raylan. I would have wanted Boyd to comfort his bro – because Boyd totally sees him as his brother whom he loves and respects even though they are on opposite sides, while Raylan rather has a love/hate attitude when it comes to Boyd that recalls stereotypical romantic pairings(if I dared I'd say that Raylan sees Boyd a bit like Buffy saw Spike...hell he even used a dance metaphor for their relationship!) –, but I know it would have been corny.

Boyd almost lost everything but got everything eventually (except that he doesn't know about cousin Johnny's betrayal). Raylan is going to be a father and got to talk to Winona about what happened, but she's still gone, and he is more fatherless than he has ever been, even though Art offered him a drink.

My poor Raylan. I know he's strong, but he was really crushed this time. Actually I want to comfort him!

I can't wait for season 4. Johnny is in dire straits. The minute he defended himself, and the way he did it, I knew he was the one who ratted on Boyd killing Devil. It isn't surprising, Johnny is venal and I noticed that he was kinda upset when Boyd killed Devil...and he obviously wants Ava. So yes Johnny wanted Boyd out and Limehouse knows his secret!

Next season will be about Raylan vs King Boyd & Queen Ava and I wouldn't be surprised if Johnny and Raylan bonded over it, with Limehouse trying to avoid the crossing fires ...and I expect some juicy Wynn Duffy vs Boyd too.

And we all know that the series has to end with a showdown between Raylan and Boyd...a la Lew (Gregory Peck) vs Pearl (Jennifer Jones) in Duel In The Sun

ETA: Here is an extract from Alan Sepinwall's review:

"The show set up Raylan's final exchange with Winona with the early scene where Arlo returns to Boyd's bar saying he heard that "a cop in a hat got shot," and even with the early shot of Tom's hat resting on the parking lot asphalt. It's not exactly Raylan's Stetson, but it's close enough that you could imagine Arlo's addled brain mistaking the two and taking advantage of a chance to both protect the adoptive son he likes a lot while bumping off the flesh-and-blood son he's never much liked. It was bad enough when a lucid Arlo was willing to serve Raylan up to Bo Crowder (and then to the boss in Florida) in the first season finale, but this feels even worse, because it was Arlo pulling the trigger on what he thought was Raylan, and though he attempts an apology later, the fact remains that he did it.

Raylan Givens isn't a particularly happy, or possibly healthy, man, and every glimpse we get of the relationship with the man who raised him reminds us of why he is who and what he's made himself into. This has been a busy season with lots of villains and lots of twists and turns, but ultimately what should matter most to the show and to us is that guy with the big hat and the quick draw. And it felt right that after the show had dispensed with Quarles, Limehouse, Dickie, Boyd, Arlo, Wynn, etc. in one way or another, that it go back to focusing on Raylan Givens and the latest cruel joke played on him by life."

So true!

Also he interviewed Graham Yost here. And it's interesting to see the way Yost understands Arlo's actions: "And then the additional information that Arlo was ready and willing to shoot the cop in the hat, even if it was Raylan."

It isn't quite the same as what Raylan seemed to think (or what I understood he thinks) or what I pondered above. Arlo the criminal shot a cop in the hat, not at Raylan, precisely and on purpose. Hummm...


ETA 2: I forgot to mention that Raylan who is more cunning than people give him credit for, tricked Quarles into getting the gun that killed Winona's husband, the famous gun Raylan had kept in his room for a while! Hence Raylan's smile when he told Quarles "you can keep that one!". Well done Raylan
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ETA3: Oh I soooooooooo agree with what Yost said:  "And specifically, in that final episode, the scene with Wynn Duffy, and the scene with Raylan and Limehouse, it's one of my favorite scenes. The way Dean Parisot directed that, he and Tim came up with the idea of the salt shaker, which is just a fun little bit. And then that final scene with Winona, the look on his face when he says, "Yeah, he saw a man in a hat, and shot him," and then he puts on his hat and walks out — what Tim does there, you say, "There you go. That's why this show is still on the air." .
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