“Something don’t feel right.” – Raylan Givins
This was the first episode of Justified in which the vibe and pace and chemistry of the show didn’t feel… well, magical.
That’s how good the first two episodes of the series were, and particularly the pilot. There was just something, I suppose, about “snitch” Arnold Pinter (played by David Eigenberg, best known for his role as Steve Brady on Sex and the City) that felt a little bit off. Maybe it’s that I’m simply used to Eigenberg playing the well-meaning counterpart to the demanding Miranda Hobbes all those years, or maybe it’s just that he didn’t translate as a smalltime mobster slumming it in the hinterlands all that well.
The pace of the episode was a little slow, too. That can be a good thing if we’re allowed to spend time with the characters in their world, or if it advances the plot in subtle ways or in ways that are not apparent until much later (such as with Mad Men). But this one didn’t feel that way. It was… well, a little slow. And it felt a little “one off” too.
This was the second episode in a row too that dealt with a new slate of small-time criminals who were busy double crossing (and killing) each other whenever Raylan Givins (Timothy Olyphant) wasn’t sniffing around. Even the chemistry and heat between Raylan and Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter) seemed a good stretch tamer this week. They play some billiards, Raylan talks about wanting to leave Kentucky, Ava seems ready to go with him at the drop of a cowboy hat. Ho hum.
Let’s keep in mind that expectations on this show are now super high after an extraordinary beginning. Maybe I’m being picky? So I remain hopeful that things will perk back up in future installments.
One thing I did enjoy was new baddie Travis Travers (Greg Cromer), who does a nice job of accelerating from a pot smoking yuppie into a cold blooded killer.
More thoughts on “Fixer”:
- It’s cute that the informant payment for Pinter goes from $20k to $10k to $5k by the time Pinter’s captors finish telling each other about it.
- Where the heck is Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) this week? I would totally be amped for a full season exploring Crowders’ crazy/weird/disturbing/charming persona, and that goes too for the full Crowder clan/klan.
From Around the Web: Justified, “Fixer”
- Film School Rejects: So far I’d have to say this is the worst episode of the season, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any means. Of what we’ve seen so far, this episode most mirrors the sometimes unconventional writing style of executive producer and character creator Elmore Leonard.
- A.V. Club: The plot resolves itself with a couple of nice little twists, but as usual, it’s the scribbling between the lines that’s most resonant. We’ve seen Raylan get himself into Old West showdowns before, but his breakdown of the mechanics of the draw (getting the gun out of the holster quickly, without releasing the magazine, for example), made it perfectly obvious that he would have the upper hand.
- TV with Alan Sepinwall: One question: this is now two bodies that Raylan’s dropped in three episodes (and he just barely avoided killing Body). Are you okay if the series maintains (or even accelerates) this body count rate? It’s one thing for Raylan to get chewed out for his supervisors about this over the course of three books published many years apart, but as an ongoing part of a weekly series?
Some stats and info about Justified, “Fixer”
TV SHOW – Justified
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 3
AIRED ON – March 30th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FX, FXX, Hulu
GENRE – Drama, Crime Dramas
CREATED BY – Graham Yost
CAST – Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Natalie Zea, Jere Burns, David Meunier
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.