Justified – Harlan Roulette
Here’s a fun fact. The world record for extreme breath holding belongs to a Swiss freediver who didn’t breathe for nearly 20 minutes (19 minutes and 21 seconds to be exact). Although I came nowhere close to that number, I’m pretty sure I held my breath for a good two minutes when Raylan Givens finally came face-to-face with Robert Quarles. I mentioned in my review last week that Justified is at its best when the show revisits its roots. Not only did “Harlan Roulette” exemplify the absolute brilliance of the writers (Dave Andron, Graham Yost & Elmore Leonard), but it sent us a clear message – this show means business. Justified is cutting through Tuesday nights like a hot knife on butter. Other shows, BEWARE!
I’m a little embarrassed to admit I’ve never read a single Elmore Leonard novel. But if his books are half as good as the storylines Justified is hurling in our direction, I’ll be picking one of them up pretty soon. “Harlan Roulette” was one of those episodes that had the perfect balance between its procedural and serialized elements. But even the procedural portion of this episode had ties to season two. Remember the dude who set up Raylan to be ambushed by Dickie Bennett last year? Old wounds don’t heal easily in Harlan County, especially if those wounds were inflicted on an already battle-wounded US Marshal. Raylan found himself on the trail of Wade Messer, the same dude I was just talking about. Messer and his partner J.T. were responsible for a string of armed robberies, with ties to the Dixie Mafia. What made this episode stand out from the rest was the utter audacity with which the writers introduced us to a truly formidable character like Glen Fogel (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince) and then took him away. Fogel ran a pawnshop that was a front for moving stolen goods to fund the Mafia’s interests in Harlan County. He also answered to Wynn Duffy, Quarles’ new second-in-command (and one of my favorite characters). The ‘Harlan Roulette’ scene was a stroke of genius in itself, but it also painted an instant picture of how sinister Fogel really was. You would expect a prominent baddie like him to be a recurring character on the show, at the very least. But Justified has made it a habit of introducing us to some truly memorable characters and then taking them away. It is, however, a comfort that the show seems to have a never-ending supply of them!
