The Toll - Justified

Justified
Episode 5-11
"The Toll"

Written by Benjamin Cavell of "Good Intentions" earlier this season

Directed by Jon Avnet who directed episodes of Boomtown, a cousin of Justified

Body Count
Picker, done by Boyd in the hotel room with cigarette masked bomb.  And boydid he get blowed up.  There's nothing left but a body cavity with a Picker head.  Sheesh.

Continuing to cull the herd of shitkickers, roughnecks, morons, crimelords and wannabes, something that has been a constant this season

Things

For a hot second it looks like Tim and Raylan are going to embark on an epic rogue manhunt for Darryl Jr, something that would bring to mind the great Get Drew/Decoy Western of last season.  Instead the show goes near bottle episode.  Much of the action takes place in the hotel room or marshal office.

Nothing will unite a team like a grave injury to its leader.  With all the conflict between Raylan and Art, nothing puts Raylan in his place, staying by the side of the acting marshal like his guilt and his sincere affection for Art, however deep it is buried at the time.

Art's been looking at retirement for a long time which in cop drama means he's going to get shot at some point.

Similarly, nothing is going to piss Raylan off more than Daryl making Kendall take the fall for the shooting, if that is indeed the case.  To tell the truth, it doesn't matter what the facts are because this is what Raylan believes, and he's going to take it out on Daryl, for spoiling the version he sees of himself.  Raylan doesn't even know at this point that Daryl took the Caller Number Seven money he gave Kendall.  


Ava's One Thing
For the first time she may be in a better situation than previously, as the former Christian gang pays homage via ice cream cups.  Maybe that is to lull us into a false sense of calm, as Ava has still only smuggled zero heroins into the prison.

• I can't remember what happened to the mail order Bosnian doctor wife.
• "The Toll" brings to mind "The Cost" which is a Season One episode of The Wire with a similar development to this one
• They conspicuously focus on Boyd's cigarettes, when he first gets one, when he's frisked and while he sits there so you know something's up.  With Boyd's background a bomb wasn't a bad guess.  It brought to mind the time bomb in Stalag 17
• Hoping this woman carries on through the remainder of the series