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Couple quick notes to start: In the wake of Ava's deadly confrontation with Judith, Ava and Penny desperately cover up the evidence of Ava's involvement. They succeed in that the prison officials find no evidence to implicate her, but Judith's group looks like they're out for blood, and Penny says their best hope is that some of them also secretly wanted Judith dead – and when they silently give Ava their desserts instead of a good beating, it looks like Ava's the new queen of the hill. Also, Vasquez's eyes go wide when he sees Katherine at the office, and while "Hale" is her and her dead husband's surname, it turns out she and Vasquez are on a first-name basis – a very smilingly adversarial first-name basis, since Vasquez stood up in court years ago and said terrible things about her husband – and that she was even worse. And by worse, he means "best," at least from my point of view.
Art collects Allison to bring her to an unofficial safe house (I'm assuming); since there's been no specific threat made to her, he can't officially involve the Marshal Service, but the folly of him taking this errand solely on himself is revealed when they no sooner get out the door than does someone start shooting at them and Art takes at least one in the gut. Raylan grimly drives Art's wife Leslie to see him, and on the way, she evenly but pointedly asks why he wasn't there with Art. At the hospital, with Art's condition severely critical, Leslie confers with the doctor while Rachel tells Raylan, who's pretty sure Darryl's responsible, that Chief Deputy Marshal Kirkland (the Detroit guy who helped Art in getting to the bottom of the Augustine murder) is coming in to head the investigation, and Raylan's going to have to defer to him, even if Kirkland's first instinct is to guess that Theo Tonin is behind it. Tim, however, has a side conference with Raylan and suggests they go after Darryl before they can be forbidden to do so, and the fact that Audrey's is now closed suggests the idea is worth pursuing. Raylan, however, decides to keep things aboveboard and stops back at the office – whereupon Vasquez comes in with the news that Theo admitted to ordering the hit and has offered to give up the shooter. Can it be this easy?
Boyd, preparing for the possibility that Picker intends their upcoming meeting to be a one-way visit, tells Jimmy and Carl to hide the half of the stash they still have and not tell him where, just in case. Jimmy and Carl, unwaveringly loyal to Boyd, don't want to let him go alone, but Boyd tells them this errand is on him, only making Jimmy promise to take care of Ava, and the fact that he keeps an unlit cigarette with him for the errand seems to suggest he's pretty serious about the idea that he might not return, OR DOES IT. At the meeting, Katherine observes as Boyd defends himself against Picker's verbal attacks – adding the information about his gambit with having had the heroin hidden – and she then asks Boyd to tell her about himself. When she gives her name, he realizes that she's the widow of a notorious, now-dead criminal, and she replies that she's there to advise Wynn on whether he should kill Boyd – but at this moment, the marshals invade, as Theo fingered Picker as Art's shooter. Well!
Raylan thinks Theo is obviously lying, given that he didn't even try to cut a deal, and he goes to see Picker and shakes him down for the real shooter's identity, so Picker blusters about not being a snitch but does eventually say Darryl is who he heard did it. It's at this point my feeling that Kendal is going to be involved somehow comes into sharp focus, since that would be consistent with Darryl wanting him to prove his loyalty AND would be a complete moral mess for everyone, but for now, they prevail upon Picker to set up a meeting with Darryl – except the office then gets a call from Wendy saying Darryl wants to turn himself in to Raylan. Raylan shows up to a motel and finds Wendy, the evidence of the beating she took at Darryl's hands still fresh on her face, but it turns out this was a gambit to get Raylan there – so Darryl could turn himself and Kendal in at the Marshals' Office without Raylan shooting him on sight.
Boyd comes back to the hotel to finish the meeting, at which he tells Wynn he's sorry for his failures, but he's not going to beg for his life – so how about he gives Wynn half of the remaining half of the shipment and they call it square. Picker starts babbling about Yoon's people being furious and how they should put Boyd's head in a box, but Wynn tells him to shut up so he can go confer with Katherine. Boyd then tosses Picker his pack of cigarettes – WHICH THEN DETONATES AND BLOWS PICKER TO BITS RIGHT THERE ON THE SOFA. Boyd then takes the opportunity to relieve Mike of his piece, which he holds on Wynn and Katherine while telling them his offer still stands before exiting. Wynn, after this, maybe you want to take it?
Once Kirkland and Vasquez have had the chance to debrief Darryl, they come out to talk to Kendal – and sure enough, he confesses to having shot Art. As Wendy sobs quietly, he goes on that he used Danny's gun; he'd gone to see Allison but caught sight of a marshal's badge coming out of her place, and his thoughts went to Danny and he shot Art without thinking – but his story doesn't quite match what we saw, and Raylan isn't buying. Kirkland takes off back to Detroit, but not before telling Rachel she's the interim Chief Deputy – she was Art's choice all along. Raylan then confronts Darryl about having shot Art and gotten Kendal to take the fall before telling Darryl he's going to wish Raylan killed him, and Darryl essentially tells him to bring it on, whereupon Raylan returns to the hospital to keep watch over Art. Two episodes to go; how can we stand the wait?
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Ava's rather frantically scrubbing the blood from her hands and arms; as she finishes, Penny appears with a towel for her, and Ava dries off as the two of them wordlessly exit the bathroom. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but it's nice that Penny didn't turn around and betray Ava here; you always kind of expect that as a possibility on this show but Ava's easily had a rough enough season as it is. Trying not to act suspicious even though they know the alarm will be sounded as soon as Judith's hour is up and the guards discover her corpse (not to mention the face that Ava's got a prominent and fresh cut on her face), they walk back into the dorm, and sure enough, just as they reach their bunks, the alarm is sounded; as the lights flash outside, everyone assumes the lockdown position on the floor.
With Ava's arms splayed in front of her, Penny notices a bit of blood she missed and urgently whispers to her; Ava instinctively goes for the towel, but Penny clears her throat and narrows her eyes to remind Ava that it'll be seen. Thinking fast, Ava cleans her arm with the dark blanket on her bunkmate's (don't know where she is) bed right as an team in assault gear rushes through; then, when one of the guards we've seen before appears, Penny brazenly asks if someone's going to tell them what's going on. The guard, however, sharply reminds her that there's no talking during lockdown and adds that the person to chirp will get a week in the hole. I was sure someone was going to test her, but no one does, which is fine with me since I got enough of said holes back when I recapped Oz.
In the bar, Boyd silently counts out some cash for Teri, who offers that her loyalty was always to him. Easy to say, but I suppose at least that if she really cared about Johnny she'd hold more of a grudge here. She asks if "that little fella" gave Boyd what he needed, but Boyd admits that he did not in fact. As a somewhat mournful, contemplative tune plays, Teri talks about how it's a shame Boyd didn't get anything out of their transaction before pointedly wondering if there's something she can do for him? Boyd takes a long breath and then gives Teri a look like he's considering it -- it's the same look he had with Mara earlier this season pretty much on this very spot -- but just then his phone buzzes, so he answers with a "Mr. Duffy." Boyd feigns good cheer as he agrees to a meeting, after which he tells Teri he needs to keep a clear head, so he's going to have to call an end to their evening. Teri doesn't give up quite that easily, putting her hand on his and offering to help him in that regard, suggesting she's more worried about his pipes than his mind. Boyd smiles that he does appreciate the offer, but he'll settle for one of her cigarettes. She obliges him as she notes she never knew him to smoke and he replies that it's been a while, "but I believe the time has come to start makin' some changes." I don't disagree, Boyd, but if this cigarette is supposed to forewarn us that you're going to your death, I hope you'll reconsider before the blindfold comes out.
Art is at Allison's, and as she packs, she expresses confusion at his apparent contention that the Marshal Service doesn't think she's in danger, but he's moving her anyway. She asks him to elaborate on the situation a little, to which he replies, "Well could you pick it up a little?" Heh. She assents, so he tells her that the Service only provides official protection when an actual and credible threat has been made, but he and Raylan thought "an abundance of caution" was appropriate here. She asks him to swear that he's not there because Raylan has come to harm, and Art assures her he's fine -- it's just that things with the Crowe family have heated up, and with them having come at her once already to get to him, the caution seems warranted. She asks if they're worried Danny's going to run her off the road again, and Art chuckles at the idea and says it's something like that. Art, I realize you don't give out information liberally, but don't you think Allison would get a kick out of Danny's particular end?
Allison wonders if they'd leave her alone were they to be informed that she and Raylan broke up, and when she asks Art if Raylan told him, Art admits that he might have mentioned it. She adds that Raylan also let her know that Art's the one responsible for his eye, although he didn't tell her why, and when Art amusedly asks if this is her way of inquiring, she points out that listening is a big part of her job. Art: "If I were to admit to hitting him, could you call it child abuse and take custody of him for me?" That is hilarious, undoubtedly, but it occurs to me that this season has been pretty long on kids who have been separated from their parents one way or another; Allison's been involved with Kendal and Loretta, but there's also Raylan and his own kid; there's even Danny and the orphaned Chelsea if you want to extend the theme. My point, Art, is this: Defining yourself as Raylan's dad so explicitly, even if we all already thought it, may be responsible for the mortal danger that's currently approaching your door.
For, you see, after Art leads the way into the hallway, a shot rings out -- with Art's back turned, just to compare against a certain statement later -- and Art hustles Allison back inside before trading shots with the guy, who seems to be wearing a hat with the same Marshal star as Art's. Not that anyone couldn't have gotten his hands on one of those, but it's an interesting detail even if the shooter turns out to be who we think it is. I first thought maybe whoever it is planned to pose as a marshal to gain Allison's confidence, but then I realized she's already met both the people it comes down to. Hmm. Allison trips and falls on her way back in, knocking a vase into her path in the process, while Art fires a few more times and then closes the door and checks on her. He then pulls her out of the line of fire from the door, turning her over in the process; after a few seconds, he figures the assailant has gone and tells Allison he needs her to call 911. He then sees the blood on her shirt that seemingly came from cutting herself on the broken vase, but she agitatedly tells him it's not her… it's him. We pan down to see that he's been gutshot -- I guess it's possible not to feel that in the heat of the moment -- and as his eyes start to glaze over, she pulls out her phone and calls 911. We see him putting pressure on the wound, trying not to pass out, before we go to the opening credits and when are TV lawmen going to learn not to leave the panic room when they're this close to retirement?
I don't believe we've seen her before, but in Raylan's passenger seat can only be Leslie, Art's wife -- the one who let Art know he was crazy to expect Raylan to change. Apparently Raylan's just told her where Winona and their kid are, as she notes that the beach setting "will help with the cabin fever." Raylan admits that the idea of Winona having such feelings never occurred to him -- I'm sure you could knock Winona over with a feather if she heard -- before somewhat weakly offering that her mother's nearby and the three of them maybe go to the park or something. Leslie, however, points out that he doesn't know because "you're not where you're needed," and when Raylan expresses confusion, she clarifies that she means "where you can do the most good." He mulls that over before asking if they're still talking about Winona, and the answer's no, of course: "Why was he alone, Raylan? Chief Deputy, no backup? And why weren't you there?" Raylan can't very well go into the whole story about Augustine or the hundred lesser ways he's found to drive Art to distraction in the last few years, but on the other hand, Leslie's probably heard almost all of them and is still asking the question.
After the two of them walk down a hallway in the hospital, they reach a doctor, Tim, and Rachel, the last of whom gives Leslie a big hug, suggesting she's been chez Mullen some number of times. Rachel then introduces Leslie to "Dr. Jay Patel," who informs her Art is alive -- we cut to an angle where we see him unconscious and wearing a breathing mask -- but "extremely critical." He then suggests they talk in his office, and after he leads her away, Raylan asks Tim a bunch of questions about Art's condition and Allison and everything, but Tim (although he does mention that they had to put anti-shock compression pants on him) doesn't really have any answers that satisfy Raylan. Rachel then has them move to a spot at which they can talk more freely, after which Tim asks Raylan if he thinks Darryl was the shooter. Raylan's like, who else, but Rachel points out that Theo Tonin might well have had it in for Art; Raylan doesn't completely dismiss that but counters that they have Theo in custody if they want to question him -- can they say the same about Darryl?
Rachel admits that they had people go by Audrey's who found it closed, which Raylan takes as an admission of guilt -- but Rachel and Tim theorize that Darryl could have seen the news of the attack and figured he'd be the prime suspect even if he were innocent. Raylan doesn't verbally label this "bullshit," but only because there's an episode quota on the word. However, Rachel tells him it's not his call to make -- Chief Deputy Kirkland, Art's friend from Detroit, is coming down to head up the investigation. Raylan admits that makes sense, since he and Art go back a ways, but Rachel adds that Kirkland also goes back with the Tonins, so Theo's probably going to be high on his list. She concludes by saying that they'll follow his lead before walking away, but Tim wants to take the time before Kirkland arrives to go after Darryl. Raylan asks Tim if he thinks that's what Art would want, and when Tim breathes that he thinks Art would do it for them, Raylan sighs, "All due respect, Tim; I don't think you know Art as well as I do." Well, I may not either, but I still think he might say this: Boys, don't fight!
Boyd's got something in his hand, and I will defer a description for another time, when he has Jimmy and Carl join him in his office and quietly tells them he's got to meet Picker and Wynn, so he wants them to hide the half of the stash they got back from Mexico. Carl asks where, but Boyd says the whole point is for him not to know -- that was he'll have insurance against them killing him. I guess this actually means he won't have any information to give up under torture as well as threat of death, but given what we saw when Boyd and Wynn went to Detroit, that doesn't mean Picker won't try. Carl sensibly suggests that if Boyd is that worried about walking out of the meeting, he might consider not walking in, and he and Jimmy are also happy to take their chances in a firefight, but while Boyd appreciates their (especially Jimmy's, given his recent dip in morale) loyalty, he feels this is something he needs to deal with himself. He does, however, charge Jimmy with making sure Rowena gets whatever she needs to secure Ava's protection, and after Jimmy promises and the two boys leave, Boyd contemplates the pack of cigarettes in his hand.
So for whatever reason -- I'm going with him deciding to toe the line for once out of respect for Art's current situation -- Raylan did not take Tim up on his offer of an off-book mission. Instead, he's returned to the office, and after taking note of Kirkland and Vasquez in one room, he walks into Art's office -- and sees Allison asleep on the couch. When he starts looking for something on Art's desk, she stirs, so he apologizes for waking her and asks if he can get her something to help her sleep. She tells him the EMTs gave her "enough Lorazepam to kill a rhino," but it didn't even make her eyelids heavy, and Raylan "jokes" that they didn't know to account for her tolerance. After a mirthless chuckle, she asks how long she's going to have to stay, and after he inquires if no one walked her through the procedure and she admits she's not retaining much at the moment, Raylan sits close and earnestly tells her they're short on manpower at the moment, so they can't protect her anywhere but there; however, starting in the morning, deputies will start arriving from other districts, and she'll be assigned a detail that will take her to a hotel, at which she'll stay until they either find the shooter or establish that she wasn't the target. Starting to break, she asks if he saw Art, and when Raylan replies that he's still in surgery, she goes to pieces and says she's sorry. Well, you couldn't expect that much Lorazepam to have no effect. He tells her she has nothing to be sorry for, but she closes her eyes in despair, so he tells her to get some sleep and walks out.
Raylan then comes in to see Kirkland -- Vasquez has left the room -- and after they exchange a couple words about Allison, Raylan expresses his wish to join the manhunt for Darryl, given his intimate knowledge of the family and the areas in which he'd be likely to hole up. Kirkland, however, says he'd prefer Raylan to stay and be his right-hand man; he then goes on that they need to do some work on Theo -- but Raylan wants to go back to the last bit. You see, as he tells Kirkland, Art once had to fly to Macon and cover for the Chief there while he was suspended, and Art later told Raylan that an interim Chief's biggest task is to rein in "the office problem child. Best way he knew to do that was keep the guy where you could see him. Tell him he's your right-hand man." Well Art, Raylan may have been a pain in your ass, but aren't you happy to hear he listened every once in a while? Kirkland's like, you win, I do want to keep an eye on you and I'm worried that your involvement might jeopardize a prosecution, and if he's saying that because he's worried Raylan might kill any number of people before they make it to court, I have to say it's not the craziest point I've ever heard made. Raylan counters that it'll be Kirkland's fault if they lose Darryl because Raylan was benched, and Kirkland is not about to let him have the last word -- but then Vasquez comes in with the news that Theo confessed to being behind Art's shooting, and what's more, he's going to give up the trigger man. Everyone: WHAAAAA?
Boyd has turned up to the hotel and is currently being searched by Mikey, who pronounces him clean, but Picker blusters for him to check Boyd again, and Wynn isn't inclined to disagree. Boyd tries to point out how it seems like Picker is calling the shots, but Wynn offhandedly replies that their "social hierarchy" is the least of Boyd's problems now. Boyd, in that grand voice he uses when he wants to project confidence, starts to talk about his Beretta, but he trails off when he sees a smiling Katherine enter from the other side of the suite. He recovers, though, to go on that the gun came back with him from Iraq, and then Mike fishes the pack of cigarettes out of Boyd's jacket pocket. Wynn also doesn't recall Boyd smoking, but Boyd tells him his "recent anxiety" is to blame before saying hello to the "new face in our crowd." The new face continues to smile but remains silent, so Picker has Boyd sit and invites him to explain how the marshals came to seize half their shipment. Boyd, unbowed, says they might want to ask Darryl, if they can find him after the Art shooting, but Picker heatedly wonders if -- since he's there and Darryl's not -- he might explain on his behalf. Boyd: "Mr. Picker, the only explainin' I've ever done in my life was to my mama when she caught me sneakin' in after my curfew. And you ain't my mama." Don't take this the wrong way, Boyd, but you make her sound more than a little scary.
Boyd is willing to go so far as to say "shit happens," and when Wynn asks about the other half, Boyd tells the room that if he dies in his current location, the heroin might as well not ever have existed. To his right, Katherine, who's still been smiling all this time, puts down her cup of tea or coffee and asks Boyd to tell her about himself, and after Boyd grins big and asks if he might know her name before he gives his life story, she replies that it's "Katherine Hale," a name that impresses Boyd as he asks if that makes her "the wife of 'Big Country' Grady Hale." She corrects him that she's his widow, and Boyd crows to Wynn that he's impressed -- he remembers seeing a photo of Katherine in the paper when her husband was on trial, "and I thought, now that is the kind of woman you get on your arm when you become a real gangster. Of course, that was some time ago and you've changed your hair." I wonder if he's implying she looked better then. I can't tell!
Katherine tells Boyd that Wynn brought her there just to meet him, but when Boyd jokingly asks if that makes them friends, Katherine soberly demurs: "He wants to know if I can come up with a reason why he shouldn't kill you." Boyd tries to laugh that off but then takes out a cigarette and says he's going to try to think of an earnest answer to the question, and I thought he gave them one with the whole so-called insurance policy. Wynn starts to talk about it being a non-smoking room, but this violation is going to be the least of the hotel's worries -- as demonstrated by the marshals kicking in the door and ordering everyone to get down on the ground. Katherine, however, doesn't really move, and her defiance of authority I guess makes her the Penny of this group? Nah, if anything, Penny's the <>Katherine of the prison.
Back at the office, Raylan, tactful as always, expresses the opinion to Vasquez and Kirkland that Theo's confession is "bullshit" -- get used to the word -- but Kirkland says they still have to follow it up before stepping away to take a phone call from Washington. Raylan then asks Vasquez why Theo would help them without a deal on the table, and when Vasquez -- who looks like a headache's coming on -- counters that he knows they'd never deal with him, Raylan's like, exactly? Tim then brings over a list of people who got "caught in the net" when they grabbed Picker -- because that just so happens to be the person Theo fingered -- and when he sees one name in particular Vasquez's eyes go almost wide enough to merit a cartoon "BOING" noise on the soundtrack, but not quite.
He does ask Tim if "Katherine Hale" is meaningless to him, and when Tim admits that it is, we don't stay with Vasquez long enough to see his "these kids today" face, but I think we can all assume it. Raylan tries to say how Theo just wants them "chasin' bullshit" -- he certainly loves that word, not that I blame him -- but Vasquez's attention is on one person alone now as he tells Tim to come with him, leaving Raylan alone to go talk to Picker. Picker's first complaint has to do with "that rat-faced little prick" who tweaked his back putting him into the car, and as much as I normally empathize with people who suffer with back pain, he's talking about Tim, so I must invite him to catch hold of a pack of smokes posthaste. Picker does at least attempt to give some halfway sincere condolences about Art, but Raylan isn't interested in softer feelings at the moment -- he wants the name of the shooter. When Picker hears Theo's accusation, he makes the valid point that the Marshal Service recently, reasonably and rightly, thought Theo was trying to kill him, and now they believe he's back to taking his orders? Raylan, however, doesn't let on how much he believes Picker, at least partially because it's not all that relevant -- they have a signed confession from Theo, which is all the legal proof they'll need.
Yet another "bullshit" is uttered, this time by Picker, but even if he thinks he's got a case, he's risking no less than the death penalty (in the case that Art dies) by taking this charge on, so after some obligatory "I'm not a snitch" declarations, he asks Raylan why he'd help him "other than the fact that you're an asshole." I think he's fishing for some additional considerations, but Raylan rolls with the insult: "There is no other reason." Hee. Picker finally says the name Raylan wants to hear -- Darryl -- although to be honest, I think he's just agreeing with Boyd's speculation rather than giving up any real trustworthy information. Who would actually know, at this point, especially since Darryl himself is spinning a different narrative? Kirkland then enters, and Picker smiles that seeing him in Kentucky is "like running into an old teacher at the movies," which seems like an apt enough comparison.
Raylan asks if Kirkland heard what Picker said, but Kirkland thinks he might need some corroboration given that Picker's "a bent-nose arm-breaker from Greektown." Picker feigns being wounded as Kirkland goes on that they are following up, but they're having some trouble locating Darryl, so does Picker think he can help with that? Picker points out that he only ever met Darryl once, but Kirkland still has faith in his ability to arrange a meeting, and if he does he'll even get "prizes to be named later." Having come this far, Picker seems likely to cooperate, but at this moment Tim enters and calls the marshals outside ("that's the prick," Picker confirms for us) to tell them they've confirmed an alibi for Picker. Kirkland's like, and the good news is, but Dunlop pipes up that Raylan has a call -- from Wendy Crowe, who says Darryl wants to turn himself in but will only do so to him. At the risk of offending Picker, this feels like another Greek gift to beware!
Oh, here's Rachel leading a cuffed Katherine into the conference room to see Vasquez, and the smile she gives him is like the most delicious poisoned sugar as he easily tells Rachel she can remove the restraints. Rachel hesitates -- glad to see she doesn't take Katherine any less seriously just because she's a lady -- but Vasquez reminds Rachel that she's armed, and Katherine mockingly repeats: "Yes. You have your gun." Heh. Katherine then greets Vasquez as "David" and makes herself comfortable, and when Vasquez notes that he didn't ask her to sit, she has no problem joining the power struggle: "Well, you didn't ask me to come down here, either." She goes on that standing while he sits would make her think they're back in court, and when he says she's thinking of the judge, she demurs: "I remember which one you were. Smug little Hobbit-lookin' beaner shitbird who told the jury what a no-account savage my late husband was, and that I was worse!" If the cuffs are off, the gloves are too, and I love Vasquez's amused reaction during the speech, but what really sells it is Katherine's "how could you say such mean things about little ole me" face at the end of a string of such horrible invective.
Vasquez, still smiling, asks Rachel how Katherine explained her presence in the hotel room, and Rachel tells him she claims to have been visiting an old family friend, then getting in on the fun by switching into a mockery of Katherine's lilting Southern accent: "Is that a crime?" Hee. Vasquez is like, not compared to racketeering, conspiracy and murder, it isn't, but Katherine assures him, almost purposely admitting with her face that she's lying through her lovely teeth, that she's now just "a little ole country grandma," and I could literally watch this all day but these are busy people, most of whom, Rachel notes, "are too new to know who you are." Katherine ignores that to ask if Vasquez is disappointed that she's still alive, and revving the fake smile into fifth gear, he replies, "Yeah. A little bit!" I'm glad, even if I don't agree.
Wendy opens the door of some motel (I'm assuming), whereupon Raylan sees the damage Darryl inflicted on her face. I've seen worse, but it's not pretty, and her pale complexion isn't helping. After they establish that Raylan has multiple people backing him up, Raylan asks where Darryl is, but Wendy apologizes that she had no choice but to deceive Raylan in aid of arranging the surrender, since Darryl had Kendal with him and she feared he'd get caught in the crossfire when the marshals inevitably caught up to Darryl. Raylan asks what the missing piece is, then, since he's ready to accept Darryl's surrender but he's nowhere to be seen, so Wendy tells him he was afraid Raylan would shoot him on sight, so he needed to place Raylan away from him. Raylan somewhat contemptuously notes that she's chosen the brother "who's given you nothin' but pain over the lawman you swore you'd betray him to." I don't recall her making that promise explicit, but she doesn't deny it; instead, she tells him a lot's happened since she did. "Death has a way of bringin' a family together. As I trust you're aware, Darryl's the only brother I got left." After somewhat sardonically noting that she's blaming him for Danny's death, he's like you did your job and neutralized any threat from me, so how about you tell me where Darryl is? Ask and ye shall receive!
The elevator door at the Marshals' Office opens (their downstairs security could use a little tightening even if they do encourage walk-ins), and out walks Kendal -- with Darryl, the marks from the fight with Wendy also visible on his face, behind him. I'd wonder about the ethics of Darryl using Kendal as a shield were it not for the fact that Jacob Lofland about comes up to Michael Rapaport's navel; in any case, Darryl isn't looking for trouble as he holds his empty hands out in plain view. Tim's the first to see him, and he draws his gun, but Darryl bellows his name and kneels as he declares his intention to turn himself in. He gives Kendal a pointed look before he's cuffed, and I'm guessing the first word out of Raylan's mouth when he returns to this venue will be "bullshit."
Kendal and Wendy are now in the conference room, and as Raylan watches from an acceptable distance, Tim warns Raylan that Vasquez was freaked about them going anywhere near Kendal and having him disqualified as a witness, so they're going to let Kirkland and Vasquez finish talking to Darryl before they do anything. Tim does add that it's odd Darryl would talk without an attorney present, and as I mentioned in the recaplet, I had a fairly good idea that things might go this way but that little comment makes everything crystal clear, as do the exceedingly bummed looks on Vasquez and Kirkland's faces when they emerge from the interrogation room. They beckon for Tim and Raylan to join them in the conference room, and when Wendy starts to bark about them talking to Darryl without representation, Vasquez is having absolutely none of it before he tells her he's not interested in Darryl now. After getting a quick tutorial in the Crowe family tree, he sits down with Kendal and asks if he has something he wants to tell them, and not that you'd think she would have signed off on this plan, but the panicked way Wendy's eyes go wide suggests this is news to her. Kendal, however, casts his eyes down before looking back up and saying he didn't mean to hurt "that old man, but it just happened so fast." Somewhere, Art's EKG monitor blips out a "Hey!"
In the cafeteria, Penny sits down with Ava, and Ava makes me think there was a scene cut when she tells her she thought she would have gotten the hole for sure. Penny tells her she just had to go to "Montgomery's" office for an hour's lecture, and when Ava asks if she knows what ended the lockdown, Penny tells her the search came up empty and no one's talking, so the prison authorities' best play is to wait to see who Judith's girls target for retaliation. Speaking of whom, we cut to the whole mean-looking bunch of them staring intently in Penny and Ava's direction, and after Penny disabuses Ava of the idea that they might not have figured out who did it, she says their best hope is the possibility that some of them wanted Judith gone as well. Ava, sounding eerily like Boyd when he's in a resigned mood, guesses she should be grateful her last meal is coming on ice cream day, and when Penny asks how Ava scored a second cup, Ava grins that she batter her eyelashes. Seeing Judith's girls coming, Penny's smile fades as she says they'd best eat up -- but instead of bashing Ava with their trays, the women silently each give Ava their own desserts in turn. Ava and Penny can scarcely dare believe it, but it looks like Ava's the new spirit mother. If that means she needs to preach, hopefully she can take another page out of Boyd's book.
There's now a formal procedure convened in the conference room, complete with official record-keepers and an actual Kentucky-bar attorney for Kendal; the lawyer announces that although Kendal's making a statement against his advice, he'd still like the kid's cooperation taken into consideration during charging and sentencing. Vasquez, who's heard all this at least once already, tells him it's noted before getting back to Kendal -- where did he get the gun? Kendal tells him it was Danny's, given to him for protection, but Vasquez notes that it seems odd that he'd think he'd need such protection when going to see Allison. Kendal throws a pointed look Raylan's way before saying that the law's been after his family for years even though they haven't done anything; they put his uncle Danny "down like a dog" (and how!), so he felt like it was only a matter of time before they did the same to him.
Wendy's having trouble holding it together as Kendal then tells them what happened on the day or night in question -- he came to see Allison as stated, but as he was about to ring the bell, the door started to open, and out came a man on whose belt he could see a star -- the same kind "as on the man who killed Danny." He thought he might meet the same fate, so he put his hand on his gun, but he wasn't going to do anything, not until Art saw him and started to draw his own weapon. He concludes by saying he's not sure who fired first and he didn't want to hurt anyone, but "I just didn't want to die, leave my mom all alone." With that, said mom breaks down and pulls him close, but we cut out on Raylan's facial expression, which looks like he smells -- say it with me -- bullshit. (Just for the record, while Kendal is not like TV liars on other shows where you can obviously tell, we know his story doesn't match what we saw -- Art's back was turned when the first shot was fired, he never got a glimpse of his assailant until they were already in a firefight, and the guy shot from a covered position. We'll see if Art ever wakes up and, if so, if he remembers the truth.)
Hey, Boyd's back in the hotel room! Picker starts to say how Boyd's got some real balls coming back, and his tone is menacing but he's not the reason the meeting got interrupted. Wynn essentially tells Picker to shut up, while Boyd smiles that he'd like just to get it over with, so Katherine invites him to pick up where he left off. Boyd recalls that he was about to have that cigarette, and on the surface it does seem natural that he'd continue with that but if you think about it for a moment it's more than a little off. Regardless, he lights up, after which he tells Katherine he doesn't owe her the explanation; instead, he turns to "Mr. Duffy" and apologizes for the failures of their business arrangement, "but that bein' said there ain't no way in hell I'm gonna beg you for my life." Instead, he offers Wynn half of the remaining half of the heroin shipment, whereupon they'll go their separate ways. Picker tells Wynn they don't need "this guy" as said guy takes out his pack of smokes (called "Escalus," and Definition #2 here might interest you) and idly twirls them; Wynn again tells Picker to be quiet but then turns to "Boyd" and says he's "real low. Half a half doesn't make me whole."
Picker then starts babbling about "our friends in Mexico" being upset about the "bullshit" (might as well get one last one in, Picker) that happened in the desert; Wynn tells him he needs him to shut up, but Picker only starts yelling about putting Boyd's head in a box, and were it not for the fact that Katherine already said she didn't want any guns I seriously thought the "assessment" might end with Wynn and/or her plugging him in the head right here. But no, Katherine leads Wynn into the bedroom area so they can confer, whereupon Boyd, putting out his smoke -- I don't know how much he inhaled, but that's a pro job of not coughing after such a long break -- asks Picker if he wants one, since he seems pretty nervous. Picker replies that he's fine, but Boyd -- and in close-up we see him push a button hidden inside the pack -- tosses it to Picker and says nicotine can be a powerful relaxant. Picker somewhat contemptuously says "this shit" will kill you -- BEFORE THE PACK DETONATES, blowing blood and other pieces of Picker everywhere. For a show that doesn't need effects as much as some, Picker's head rolling forward while still barely attached to his charred body is fucking great.
Boyd doesn't take more than a moment to admire his or the show's handiwork before kneeing Mike in the stomach and taking his weapons -- it's an easy job because while he knew to hold his breath, Mike's gagging and retching from the explosion in more ways than one. Also, Boyd managed to cover his ears, which is why he's the only one in the room not suffering from perforated eardrums like they're on Archer, and he yells that they just experienced two ounces of Emulex on a ten-second timer, and while his breadth of knowledge may not be the largest, "I do know how to blow shit up." Wynn and Katherine regard him in disbelief as he says his offer still stands -- "half of my half" -- before sauntering out. Mike, covered with more of Picker's blood thanks to his position than the other two combined, is only just now getting to his feet after Boyd's attack, and his dazed and confused look appears impenetrable until Katherine's voice urgently cuts through: "Lock the door." I'm not sure that's going to be quite enough for hotel security, but it's still a sensible idea. Also: AIEEEEEEEEE THAT WAS AMAZING. (Also, just to wrap up the loose end, the thing in his hand Boyd was contemplating in his office earlier was the top of a cigarette attached to something I'd imagine was the detonator. Impossible to figure out without the context of seeing the whole episode, of course, which is what adds to the greatness.)
Rachel comes into the conference room to see Kirkland and notes he's packing up to leave, and Kirkland confirms it -- now that they have a confession on the shooting, he needs to get back to his own office, but he'd love it if Rachel would keep him in the loop on Art's condition. Rachel tells him she will, of course, before asking if he has any idea who they're sending to replace him, but he's like, you hadn't heard? She shakes her head, so Kirkland reminds her that it's SOP for Directors to record their recommendations for their replacements in case they ever become incapacitated, and in this case the National Director agrees with Art. Rachel's like, great, who is it, and Kirkland draaags it out a bit longer but shows her the official communication -- Rachel is confirmed as the new Interim Chief Deputy. Her face is a mass of conflicting emotion, but I think even the biggest Raylan-lover would admit that any other choice would defy credibility; Art may have a soft spot for Raylan the extent of which even he's unaware, but there's no way he's putting his office in the hands of anyone but the most responsible person he's got, which is easily Rachel. Just always take Tim with you in the field and things will work out great for everyone.
Raylan is uncuffing Darryl and telling him he got what he wanted, and when Darryl asks what he means, Raylan clarifies that he wanted it to come down to the two of them, and that's how it's going to be. Darryl thinks Raylan should have a little more respect than to talk to him that way, as he's got a brother in the ground and another going to juvie -- Raylan corrects that latter bit to "nephew," and Darryl deliciously pauses before continuing without acknowledgment -- and a sister he has to "keep from losin' her damn mind." Well, smacking the shit out of her didn't help; what else you got? Raylan grabs Darryl by the arm and leads him out of the room and through the office as he tells him a story he thinks is true: He's the one who went to Allison's with the idea of drawing Raylan over there to "show it down," but seeing Art there startled him, and he started blasting without thinking "'cause you're a chickenshit who ain't used to doin' his dirty work. That's sad, as in pathetic."
Darryl does seem to chew the inside of his cheek at that one, but he stays silent as Raylan goes on that the part that's tragic -- he grabs Darryl's wrist as he tries to summon the elevator -- is where Darryl saw who he shot "and panicked, grabbed Kendal and somehow convinced him to throw away his life to save yours." Darryl points out that the lawyer just told them Kendal won't do more than a few years in juvie, and when Raylan tries to tell him Kendal won't come out of there the same boy as he went in, Darryl has the nerve to say that Kendal could use some toughening up. "Sorry to say I let him go pussy." Well, how can you avoid it in a place like Audrey's? No, no -- save your applause until the end. Raylan says he just wanted to let Darryl know how this is going to go, so Darryl asks if he's going to kill him, but Raylan says he won't, even though he'll admit he wants to. Darryl smirks that it's a complicated situation, but Raylan doesn't think so: "You shot the one man that makes a difference to me."
Darryl asks if Raylan thinks Danny didn't mean anything to him, and the camera makes a point of going to Raylan's holster just so we know he wasn't lying about wanting to kill him before Darryl steps past Raylan into the open elevator. Before he goes, though, he asks if Raylan really isn't going to kill him, as he was worried about that, but Raylan informs him he should be worried, "because that web of bullshit" (one more for the road) "you spun around yourself to protect yourself? I'm gonna use it to strangle the life outta you. Take away everythin' you got. Then you're gonna wish I'd-a blacked you out with a bullet to the head." It's Darryl, however, who gets the last word as he notes that this is "one of those 'time will tell' deals," and as a free man, he's got some time on his hands. "Question is, how much time you got?" He keeps Raylan's gaze until the doors close, and I don't think it's ever exactly been off with these two but now it's as on as it gets.
Raylan is continuing to look on as he drives at night, and then he's entering the hospital and taking a look at Art, who's in the same position he was earlier. With a wordless but fraternal handshake, he then relieves Dunlop -- who's been on watch -- and settles down in a chair for a vigil over the man who makes a difference to him. And speaking of watching over people, I can only imagine this is going to throw Raylan and Allison back into each other's lives, as "the shooter" may officially be custody, but I can't imagine Raylan will leave her unprotected with Darryl on the loose. Two episodes to go!
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. His new film, a documentary on online privacy and the exploitation of personal data called Terms And Conditions May Apply, a New York Times Critics' Pick, is now on iTunes here. You can get news on it from the film's Twitter accountor website, or check out trackoff.us to learn how to protect your privacy. Also, you can email John at couchbaron@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/couchbaron, or check out his blog, "Pull Up A Chair," which he'd just love for you to stop by.
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