THIS WEEK ON Justified: Coalition
The pieces are in place. The guns are primed. The powder keg is lit. The shit is going down on Justified. Take off your Stetson, throw your boots on a table, sit back and stay a while.
Quarles wakes to two ladies playing with his gun (No double entendre, they are actually playing with his gun.). As he awakes from his groggy state he starts to realize the situation he’s and in true Quarles fashion, he makes the best of it.
Boyd and company discuss the particulars of handing off Quarles when Errol strolls in. He brings not only a message from Dickie, but the man himself. Dickie walks into the lion’s den and is met with a tier three from Boyd. After some words of reason from Errol and Ava, Boyd relents and hears Dickie out. Predictably, Arlo is not pleased
Napier gets a visit from Raylan who asks after Quarles. After a nice little lecture about life in the country, Napier sends Raylan to Audrey’s.
Back in the trailer, Quarles is having a grand ol’ time. He does strike me as the kind of guy that would party to his execution, so I’m glad the consistency is there. Jimmy comes in and breaks things up in the middle of shotgun bong time. Jimmy takes off but is promptly lured back in when Quarles uses his chain to strangle one of the girls. Maybe Quarles’ execution isn’t so close after all.
Errol spills the beans on Limehouse’s shell game with his money. Looks like the folk in the holler went and got all 20th century. The money is set to be transferred tomorrow, so Boyd has to act quickly. Boyd sends Arlo and Ava to scope out the bank while Boyd arms up and sends Quarles off to the Detroit crew.
Raylan shows up at Quarles’ former holding cell to find Jimmy and the whores tied up. That’s weird because Jimmy and the Whores was the name of a progressive rock band in my high school. Quarles has indeed escaped.
Ava scopes out the inside of the bank. The smitten manager apparently has a thing for southern accents and giant foreheads. During this time Raylan and Tom watch Arlo poke around the outside of the bank. Looks like everyone is on to the bank.
Duffy isn’t happy that Quarles has escaped. He pretty much says “neener neener neener, I told you so” to Boyd. Boyd tells Duffy to wait for Quarles’s call as Duffy is one of the few friends Quarles believes he has. Boyd gives Duffy a bomb to attach Quarles’ car to serve as a distraction while Boyd robs a bank.
Quarles instead puts in an appearance at Noble’s to see Limehouse. It’s a bold play seeing as Quarles has nothing to offer. Quarles offers his serves in exchange to for amnesty. Limehouse agrees and sends Quarles off to intercept Boyd after he robs the bank.
Back at Boyd’s bar, the crew gets ready for the bank job. Boyd informs Ava and Arlo that they will not be attending the party. Arlo becomes irate and even calls Boyd Raylan. I can’t see this situation ending well.
Quarles does indeed call Duffy. They plan to meet outside the bank. While they go to meet up, Raylan has a chat with Limehouse. Raylan subtly calls Limehouse a pussy, and then lets him know that he knows there’s some shit going down there later today. Limehouse trumps him and tells him that Quarles will be there as well. Looks like Limehouse’s plan to end the war is nearing fruition. Raylan is willing to go along with part of the plan; however, Raylan knows Limehouse is full of shit. Raylan wants the Bennett money and the people of Noble’s Holler won’t be left alone until its found.
The time to hit the bank is now. Boyd wants Errol to go along for the ride. Dickie pitches a fit while Boyd’s wheels are turning. Boyd figures out that he’s being set up. Boyd worked out that the bank is empty. Errol admits that this was a set up.
Arlo hasn’t been in the best of health lately. He hears voices and apparently sees Helen. While Ava is out of the room Ghost Helen convinces Arlo that his best course of action is to prove to everyone that this old dog can still hunt. He pulls a gun on Ava and takes off. Boyd phones Ava and becomes suspicious when she doesn’t answer. He goes to see what the problem is and leaves Dickie and Errol in the care of Johnny.
While the police set up for a bank job that isn’t happening, Dickie manages to subdue Johnny and kidnap Errol. Dickie figures he can force Errol to talk. The two then promptly set out for an adventure.
Limehouse calls Raylan and tells him the bank job will not be occurring. Limehouse then lets the cat out of the bag where the money is.
Boyd gets to Alro’s place to find Ava locked in a closet. Boyd gets a call from Johnny. Johnny overheard Errol tell Dickie that Mag’s money was with Loretta.
Dickie and Errol arrive at Loretta’s. Dickie “encourages” Errol to climb into the trunk. As he sneaks into the house, Dickie is met by Raylan with a gun already pointed at him. As Raylan counts off time that Dickie is facing, Dickie chooses to draw down on Raylan, not a great idea. Raylan puts Dickie down. As Dickie falls, he lands out on the patio at the feet of one Elliston Limehouse.
Raylan returns to the marshal’s office for a chat with Loretta. Seems she had the money all along. However, she’s been more responsible that most people would be. Instead of buying a bubble gum castle on sugar drop lane, she’s done nothing with it … yet. Raylan decides that instead of seizing the money to let it rot in a locker, that’s its better served to leave it with Loretta. He gives her a caveat, if he gets wind of her blowing the money on something reckless, or calling attention to her ill-gotten fortune in any way, he will bring down the hammer of god upon her. They share a quick moment on how Van Halen sucks before he sends her on her way.
Quarles has spent most of the episode one drug or another. As he’s smoking oxy in Duffy’s trailer, Duffy suggests that Quarles get his shit together. Limehouse calls Quarles and informs him that the bank job is off. Limehouse sics Quarles on Boyd. Limehouse already dealt with Dickie, now he wants either Boyd or Quarles out of the way. What Quarles doesn’t know is that his car is rigged to blow. Duffy however is going to see if Quarles can remove Boyd from the game.
Raylan gets a call from Tom telling him that Quarles just arrived at Boyd’s bar. Seems like ground zero is Boyd’s place and not the bank after all.
Duffy ignores Boyd’s call while Quarles snorts some more oxy. Boyd decides to deal with the problem at hand. Things could not be looking better for Duffy. If Boyd gets close enough, he can blow the car and take out both his problems. The car blows, throwing Boyd into a wall and setting Quarles on fire. Both men are injured, but alive. Tom arrives on the scene and attempts to arrest Quarles. Even in his drug induced state, Quarles manages to put a round into Tom and get away. Raylan is not a happy camper right now.
If this episode was the season finale, I would have said it was excellent. The fact that we get MORE Justified is just awesome. Maybe these guys should pen the new Mass Effect 3 ending. I kid, I kid … kinda.