"The Wars to Come" Game of Thrones 5-01

Oldest Previously:
Thought it was going to be Myrcella to Dorne, but we're going old school  Two administrations ago with Lancel and Robert's wine.

Credits
The Eyrie may or may not have been there last year.  All the old guys, plus Pentos, finally back.  Winterfell is on the mend.  No Dorne.  No Bravos, but I expect we'll see them next week.

Flashback
I am wondering how obvious it was to people that it was a Cersei flashback, if you hadn't read anything about it.  Maggie looks way better than expected

Confess your unpopular opinion
I do not care about R+L=J. 

I find D = E completely fascinating though because it could change the game.  I wonder if the recast of Daario had to do with casting someone who would fit an Iron Islander description better.

The real question is how does he get from Nashville to Mereen and back so quickly?

Chapter 1
Some shows are like reading a book.  Spend two episodes setting the stage and showing us what conflict will propel our characters through the season.  What obstacles they are facing.  What sort of changes they will make, or try to make and fail.  Here are some conflicts that look to play a major part:

• Deeper division between Cersei and Jaime
• Night's Watch election
• Jon Snow's over-sympathy to Wildlings is a divisive issue
• Stannis marching south to the North
• As they said, Stannis is like iron...unbendable.  And he can't bring himself to be lenient with Mance, even if it would help him immensely.  While Stannis is doing the work of the King in Westeros, he can't be so dogmatic.
• Dany can't control her dragons
• Dany's army/police force is facing an insurgency
• Surge!
• Tyrion to Dany?
• Margarey aiming high
• A younger, more beautiful queen
• Getting in with Tommen
• "Perhaps......Perhaps."  probably the best line of dialouge in the episode.  If this show does one thing well, it is economy of words and scene.  They convey so much information so succinctly.
• Sexposition
• Now, with dudes
• Birth mark looks like Dorne

Adaptation
The presence of Varys does several things.

• Much of Tyrion's action and conflict occurs inside of his head at this point in the series.  That doesn't play on television.  So he needs someone to speak to.  That person has to have an investment in his and the kingdom's future.  And he has to be an intellectual equal of Tyrion. 
• It allows Tyrion and Varys to continue their already established rapport.  Always good not not add more characters to a cast of hunrdeds if you can avoid it
• You also save time that would be needed to establish a new character
• They are in the East now.  Varys is Eastern.  They are going to seek an Eastern solution to the problems of Westeros.

Lords and Lordlings

• A POV shot worthy of Breaking Bad, Tyrion looking out from his box
• Uncle Kevan made an appearance
• Dorne dorne dorne dorne.  Let's get to it. 
• Alisair's alive?  Did not expect that.  But again, using an established character at this point is always better than creating a host of new ones. 
• I wonder if Robert got a proper funeral, like Tywin did, with all the hubbub going on when Ned Stark tried a coup.
• The image of tearing down a statue transcends any culture or medium
• Do a storyline where Robin gets bullied
• Small shout out to Oberyn when Oliver refers to his ex.

"Trust" - Justified - 6-10

The mark of a truly well thought out and established character is when the character is able to surprise us in a convincing way.  That's Ava Crowder in "Trust". 

Ava was introduced to us six years ago as the woman who blew her abusive husband away as he sat at the dinner table eating his favorite meal which she prepared for him, calculating that that would give her the best chance to put a whole bunch of shot into his chest.

When Raylan gives away that Vasquez is putting her behind bars regardless of what she does, she knows she can't get anything out of cooperating.  Her backs against a wall, living an inescapable life, much like the one where she lives in a broken down town with an abusive husband.  So she shoots her way out.  It's not what we expected, but it makes sense, especially considering Boyd's short temper with her lately.  She has to recognize those signs, even if there's a good chance Boyd won't become Beaumon, she's going to make sure.

We're so caught up in the Raylan vs Boyd, where Raylan realizes Boyd is not going to fall for their trap at the same time Boyd is realizing Raylan wouldn't allow the money to be moved in the way he expects, that we forget about Ava. 

I've expected Ava to bite it for almost two entire seasons now.  This is the final season and nearly every episode has echoed "never leave Harlan alive" in one form or another.  The suspense builds to where you're constantly worried about these characters while also fully expected them to bite it by the end. 

• Dewey's necklace appears again, but it doesn't have the effect I expected, unless we aren't done with it yet
• Boon is a creep man.  Just as the whole series is able to create tension on a macro level about whether Raylan, Boyd or Ava are going to survive, he's able to do it on a micro level, with two characters we've never seen before.  Just when I thought we were out of ways to make a henchman unique, we have this guy.  Then again, should I have been surprised?  Elmore Leonard wrote about 100 novels.
• Speaking of Mr. Leonard, we get a call back to Raylan enjoying vanilla ice cream.  Originally an item from the books, Justified dropped it in a few early episodes, namely when Raylan stops in a conveinence store in 'Riverbrook" and when he orders it when meeting Pinter in "Fixer".

"Burned" - Justified - 6-09

Things that got burned:

• Ava as an informant
• Wynn Duffy as a long ago rate
• Avery's pizza kitchen
• Zachariah's element of surprise

Other observations

• The number of people getting killed in these hotel rooms is getting out of control.
• Best use of a rock hammer since Shawshank
• Unsure why Zachariah had to throw that other guy down the shaft to get his shot at Boyd

The Party
In television, if a party is being thrown, it has the the benefit of bringing together a bunch of characters who normally wouldn't be in the same place.  In this case we have Markum's pizza party.  RSVP-ing yes to this we have Raylan, Markkum, Katherine, Loretta, Boyd, Ava and Boon.  We've seen smaller groups of this cast but never together.

Boon brings to mind The Gunfighter from early Season Three who fought with an ice pick until Raylann hilariously defeated him.

Anyways, it seemed like there would be a big event at the party as the second act of the season draws to a close.  Something that sets things in motion for the series' final four episodes. 

It may have been as simple as the Boyd-Loretta alliance.  When Loretta got up to speak, ending with approval from her fellow Harlanians (?) one had to think of Mags standing up to the coal company in Season Two.  She made a dramatic speech to Rebecca Creskoff's character, only to take the money herself later on. 

Something tells me Loretta would stay more true to the "Keep Harlan Weird" mantra that she spouted.

Community's back!

Dart: Personally, I don't own a tv.

Abed: You're the first person to say that I didn't immediately delete from my brain.

"The Hunt" - Justified - 6-07

In true Justified fashion, it's all gone pear shaped for the intruders.  Markum is invoking his loyalty scheme, which mainly involves paying big bonuses to his men to sell out the others/not abandon him.  They write off Walker as lost, but with him running loose in an ambulance, he's most assuredly not done yet with our story.  Walker wouldn't have gone to all that trouble stitching himself back together just to die immediately. 

You have to admire the ingenuity of calling 9-1-1.  He needs help and can't go to a hospital.  So he commandeers the ambulance.  Giving his credit cards away was smart.  His '1212 Main Street' address is only surpassed by '123 Fake Street.'

This episode made us doubt a lot of things.  When Boyd reloads the gun, we don't know for sure what he was thinking when questioning Ava, and we really don't know what he's thinking now with a loaded gun.

We don't know if Markum did snitch on his partner.  Or who killed the U.S. Attorney.  It doesn't make sense for either Markum or Hale to have done both, the actions are at odds with each other.  Unless they thought they could snitch, get themselves free so they can mitigate their snitching, having planned it all in advance.

Raylan is walking a weird line with the baby where he does not seem entirely invested, taking the baby to the office and lying about it to Winona (and getting caught immediately) and not helping with the manhut.  He's there but he's not helping.  Rachel's contempt for Raylan is at an all time high, she seems to grit her teeth every time she talks to him.  Her question of if he asked Tim if he wanted to hold the baby made me think back to that season one or two line where Rachel asked Raylan what  he thought would happen if she was the one showing up to work in a cowboy hat.

"Alive Day" - Justified - 6-06

"They know killing, but they don't know crime."

Just as Quarles, Miami thugs, Nicky Augustine, and the Crowes found out before them, the Tigerhawk team discoveres things aren't as easy as they expect.  After all, if it was so easy, wouldn't Harlan have already been taken over by someone else by now?  It is the Afghanistan of America.  No one can get in or out.  It's difficult to take over and impossible to hold.  One may have thought these guys from the sandbox may have learned that lesson.

More callbacks to the pilot with Boyd and Raylan reminiscing about the last time they were all there for Ava's chicken.  They both posit that it would end differently, Raylan no doubt referring to killing, rather than wounding, Boyd.  And Boyd thinking he'll get the drop on Raylan this time.  Between that, Art's warning, and Boyd's callback to knowing that Raylan's on his way to Florida make us sit uneasily. 

The thing is, the Boyd-Raylan high noon showdown is completely expected at this point. And the thing Justified does best is subvert expectations.  Something needs to happen like where Quarles got his arm hacked off.  A good example in "Alive Day" was where, oh of course Choo Choo (chooooo chooooo!) is going to get smushed by the train.  It plays with our expectations when the train stops short.  Then again when Choo Choo does not get arrested but dies of his wounds.

Speaking of his wounds, the mercs are probably the best matchup Tim and Raylan have had when the numbers are close to even.  A lot of missed shots, which was not expected, but the marshals did take down a red shirt and, eventually, Choo Choo.

• Alive Day was the name of James Gandolfini's HBO special where he interviewed troops wou'd been wounded.  It refers to the day they sustained their near death injuries
• Eva and Katniss.  Neither their dads came back fromt he mine
• Raylan's asking about Dewey.  What episode does he see Dewey's necklace at Boyd's?  I'll say nine.
• Caprice, in this scenario, is a prettier, smarter Ellen May
• Carl's in the house.  Not sure how this is going to end.
• According to Rachel, the Hale case was made on the wire.  Are Katherine and Avery chasing each other when in fact it's neither of them?
• I'm reading Riding the Rap and it's clear they based the episode "Fixer" (1-03) on it, so I rewatched it.  Much more in season one was pulled from the source material in the one-off episodes.  It was far from a 1:1 remake though, moreso inspiration that was repurposed into completely new scenarios for the show. 
• Side note.  Raylan is probably the least fleshed out character of the main cast in the books.  It seems most of the time is spent with the criminals.  I mention it because this episode had a huge stretch with no Raylan.  It's an observation, not a criticism.

Today's drink: Black Saddle Bourbon Whiskey

"Sounding" - Justified - 6-05

"I got balls like Death Stars"

In some ways Raylan is a great marshal, and in some ways he is a terrible marshal.  He's an excellent marksman and quick on the draw (Do we need to explain?).  He has natural investigative abilities (Drew Thompson).  And he's able to talk to most anyone, fromt he worst crook (bail jumper) to white collar protectees (Coal Company Lady).  On the flip side, he antagonizes and escalates situations (Tommy Bucks).  He literally lost a prisoner he was transporting.  He inserts himself where he need not be and jeopardizes cases (Ava shooting Boyd).  Raylan walks and crosses a fine line between legal and extralegal, from drinking on duty, smacking around undesirables, working off the clock and under the table (bounty hunting) to straight out setting up a hit (Nicky Augustine).

So while he's not the best marshal in the world, the show has made a point to make Raylan an excellent lawman.  No coincidence that was the original title of the show.  I think the difference is that at the end of the day, Raylan stands clearly on the side of the good and the side of law and order.  He has a palpable disgust for career criminals, both the masterminds and the two bit hustlers which no doubt is born from his hatred toward Arlo.  The deputy marshal sometimes uses questionable means to justify an end.  Tommy Bucks was a bad guy.  Nicky Augustine was a bad guy.  In no scenario is the world worse without them.  On the other hand, Raylan keeps running into these situations and as Justified once said "if you keep running into assholes all day, you're the asshole."

Another important note, besides Raylan clearly picking his side, is that he does not do the things he does for personal gain or advancement.  The closest he comes to that is working side jobs for the specific goal of saving for the baby.  If he were really trying to cash in, he'd probably live somewhere besides a (possible free?) room in a bar.  He tries to set a counterfeit bill back into evidence to cover for Winona, not himself.  His set up of Augustine is in direct response to serious, immediate threats on his family where he has no other practical options.  But it is not unreasonable to say that Raylan is possibly the last person in the world who would take a bribe.

Possibly Raylan's best asset that allows him so much success in the areas he does excel at is his ability to not take things personally, and his empathy for those who did not get to go the path he did.  Criminals commit crimes.  That's what they do.  Lawmen catch criminals.  That's what they do.  If the Flintstone whistle went off in these professions, I think Raylan could have a drink with anyone on either side.  Growing up as Arlo's son, in poverty, and digging coal for a bit gives him a perspective on where these people come from.  He doesn't sympathize (he got out, after all), but he does empathize (understand and can talk to these idiots). 

Raylan somehow manages to understand that each time these crooks break the law, it is not a personal affront to him.  The relationship between him and the criminal can change as he encounters them, gets to know them, runs into them time and again because then a face is put on the law breaking/criminal catching transaction.  Most likely, Raylan states matter of factly to the criminal that they are breaking teh law or that he is going to put them away for breaking the law, and the criminal gets worked up and upset at Raylan.  Raylan stays calm and is able to separate his role as law enforcer/obstacle to the criminal from his life as Raylan Givens. 

The Episode

• Jeff Fahey, another Lost alumn, whose character doesn't strike me as someone who has a bank account
• Lost people, blowing up hatches.  Hmmm.
• Parading out the old gang who are still surviving, we get Limehouse (and Errol for that matter) and Constable Bob, and none of it feels forced
• Mike's hardward has been featured a lot in the past, from Johnny threatening Ava to Raylan trying to catch the kids who took the bag from Arlo's
• Albert Fekus is a perfect name for a little shit.  But as Tim said, he did take his medicine standing up, figuratively
• RIP Buddy Garrity
• Markham does not want your input
• Special circumstances here, but my fear of exploding manhole covers still is agitated here
• As indicated above, Raylan doesn't take things personally.  His investigative mind helps him find Ava quickly and bring the matter to a close, rather than escalate it, land her back in prison and blow their case against Boyd.
• Scrabble on both The Americans and Justified
• Bob's piece of paper is brilliant.  it says "feed hanna" which I assume is a rodent or a reptile and not a cat or dog
• Again, just like in the premiere and other spots this year, we are circling back to the pilot.  Mentions of Beaumon, Ava's cooking and "what you and me started" between Raylan and Ava
• Is there any other ending than a standoff between Boyd and Raylan?  Maybe even back at the dinner table?

This weeks drink: Bacon Bourbon, straight.  It is "homemade" meaning I bought bourbon and added the bacon aspect of it.  Starting with Jim Beam and adding a whole bunch of bacon fat.  The letting it sit in cold and room temperature areas before straining it through cheese cloth a whole bunch of times to make sure there's no solid fat floating around.  It leaves a bacon-y taste.  Stored in this jar and drank out of the mason jar in honor of the Loretta and Mags last week.

Behind that is a just finished copy of Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard