There are many things that I love about this season but how they are bringing back so many characters from past seasons is really standing out.
This episode is very Ava centric but she does an amazing job portraying a full range of emotions. She cooks Boyd breakfast, promises to make him dinner but we can tell she is getting ready to break. She gets in the car and calls Raylan and says she wants out, but is shocked to find out that there is not an out that doesn’t involve leaving Harlan and changing her identity. She freaks out, throws the phone out the window and drives to Limehouse. Now Limehouse is a big deal in Harlan, he is the big bad guy who lives out of town and has had some very violent experiences in the past. Ava asks Limehouse to help her get a car and leave town. She offers him some cash but Limehouse needs more so she tells him if he gives her a car, she will show him the money that Boyd stole from the bank (of course we know this is a lie; Boyd robbed a bank but only got land deeds). Limehouse calls her bluff and he has his right hand man Errol take Ava to the hidden money.
But no fear, Raylan has been tracking Ava….well not Raylan, CONSTABLE BOB! This is another great character from the past played by Patton Oswalt. He is a dufus but lovable for sure. So when Errol and Ava stop at a hardware store to get a shovel to dig up the money, Raylan tells Bob to go in and bring Errol out so he can talk to Ava. In one of the funnier parts, Bob asks Raylan “Errol is a big guy, what if he don’t listen to me?
“Well, you got a badge and a set of balls don’t you? There you go, use those.”
Bob answers “Yeah I got a badge. And balls like death stars” Made me laugh.
So Bob goes in, ends up tasing Errol and Raylan takes Ava back home.
Meanwhile, Choo-Choo mistakenly kills the attorney who has been involved in all the land transactions. Walker meets with Markham and there is no mistaking who is the boss, No Upper Lip Markham.
Boyd is still looking for something so contacts an old mining buddy and they break into an old mine shaft. I don’t know exactly what he is looking for but looks like if this week was all about Ava, then next week might be all about Boyd.
Wynn and Katherine decide to look for the prison guard who suddenly recanted his story that set Ava free. Duffy does meet up with the guard and after attacking him with a cow prod, the guard doesn’t say anything that indicates that Ava is an FBI informant. Luckily Tim and Rachel had gotten to the guard first so he knew to not break no matter how badly he was beaten.
I get why Ava ran, she is freaking out and knows that Katherine is on to her. She doesn’t quite fit anywhere 100% any more, doesn’t feel safe at all and is playing all sorts of angles. So I am not surprised when she kisses Raylan at the very end of the episode. She’s been increasingly flirting with him and I think he represents a safe haven of sorts too. It will be interesting to see if Raylan takes the bait.
This was a slower paced episode for sure, but so good to see Bob and Limehouse. And Mikey and Duffy playing Scrabble was pretty priceless. “I don’t think Aplex is a word Mikey.” “Of course it is.I don’t like that guy. He aplexes me.” I sure will be aplexed when his show is over.