Search
Resize text+=

‘Justified: Season 4, Episode 4 (This Bird Has Flown)’ Review

 

Justified S4E4That was kind of a buzzkill.

After roaring out of the gate with three stellar outings of the new Justified season, showrunner Graham Yost and company take their collective foot off the gas this week. It’s not uncommon for this to happen, as past seasons have featured more stand-alone episodes until the more serialized stuff comes in the back half of the season.

SPOILERS BELOW

Oddly, there was hardly any mention of the season’s big mystery involving Drew Thompson at all. That element was introduced in the season opener and was featured as the engine that drove the plots for all of the first three episodes, giving us our introduction to the spectacularly awful family of the late Waldo Truth. Those people made Honey Boo-Boo’s immediate family look like the Crawleys from Downton Abbey.

Raylan was joined this week by Rachel to go after Lindsey, Randall, and Raylan’s stolen money. It does seem like the show is trying to incorporate Rachel and Tim more into its fabric. I hope they crack the code on that one. I very much like Jacob Pitts and Erica Tazel in these roles; I think they have a lot to offer the show if they were properly used.

I did learn two things this week. First of all, I had no idea a grown man could be killed by a single rattlesnake bite. I was kind of stunned to learn the fate of a character who’d been bitten last week. Second, Ellen May turned out to be way, way smarter than she ever appeared to be. Ellen May could very possibly wind up being Justified’s version of the Russian that escaped Christopher and Pauly Walnuts on The Sopranos. Or Ellen May could wind up being a serious thorn in Boyd Crowder’s side.

It’s not uncommon for shows with season-long arcs to have an episode dedicated to rearranging the deck chairs of their long-term plotting. This episode didn’t even have that. Still, it’s Justified and it has one of the very best casts and writing staffs on television. Four seasons in and it’s very much a well-oiled machine.

Even an episode where not much happens goes down as smooth as Mags Bennett’s apple pie.

 

 

Chris Spicer, Fanbase Press Contributor

ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=150&d=mm&r=gforcedefault=1

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top