For starters, we finally found out who Drew Thompson was and, minus some of the heavy-handed clues that got thrown in last week, it was mostly a surprise.  Also, it makes sense.  I hate it when the least likely candidate winds up being the culprit, but the lead-up wasn’t properly written.   My mom used to be a big Murder She Wrote fan.  You could always tell who the killer was going to be in the first 15 minutes.  It was going to be the person who seemed least likely, which gives the element of surprise during the big reveal.   But, it’s totally hollow if the groundwork didn’t make sense.  One of the great murder mystery reveals I’ve ever seen was on the first season of Veronica Mars.  When Lilly Kane’s killer was revealed, my first reaction was genuine surprise followed a few seconds later by, “Oh, yeah, that makes perfect sense.”  While not strong, tonight’s Drew reveal gave me a similar feeling.

Simultaneously, all of the other moving parts involving Ellen May, Colton, Tim, the late Preacher Billy, and his sister clicked into their proper places.  With only three episodes left in the season, it’s going to be a race between Raylan, Boyd, and the Dixie Mafia to find an on-the-lam Drew Thompson. 

Character moments are big with me.  I especially liked the moment where Hunter told Raylan of a time when Arlo had defended Raylan’s mother’s honor.  Arlo may be dead and we know that Raylan is essentially the lawman side of the same coin occupied by his outlaw father, but it was a great moment for Raylan to re-evaluate how he feels about the old son-of-a-b---h. 

The chessboard is set and the pieces are all in place as the series rushes to the finish line.  One thing that can always be said about this show is that they know how to do endings.  These last three should be sweet.