Quick Take: Justified, "Fixer"
"Something don't feel right." – Raylen Givins
Review: Justified, "Fixer"
(S0103) This was the first episode in which the vibe and pace and chemistry of the show didn't feel… well, magical. That's how good the first two episodes were, and particularly the pilot. There was just something, I suppose, about "snitch" Arnold Pinter (played by David Eigenberg, best known for his role as Steve Brady on Sex and the City) that felt a little bit off. Maybe it's that I'm simply used to Eigenberg playing the well meaning counterpart to the demanding Miranda Hobbes all those years, or maybe it's just that he didn't translate as a smalltime mobster slumming it in the hinterlands all that well.
The pace of the episode was a little slow, too. That can be a good thing if we're allowed to spend time with the characters in their world, or if it advances the plot in subtle ways or in ways that are not apparent until much later (such as with Mad Men). But this one didn't feel that way. It was… well, a little slow. And it felt a little "one off" too.
This was the second week in a row too that dealt with a new slate of small time criminals who were busy double crossing (and killing) each other whenever Raylen Givins (Timothy Olyphant) wasn't sniffing around. Even the chemistry and heat between Raylen and Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter) seemed a good stretch tamer this week. They play some billiards, Raylen talks about wanting to leave Kentucky, Ava seems ready to go with him at the drop of a cowboy hat. Ho hum.
Let's keep in mind that expectations on this show are now super high after an extraordinary beginning. Maybe I'm being picky? So I remain hopeful that things will perk back up next week.
One thing I did enjoy was new baddie Travis Travers (Greg Cromer), who does a nice job of accelerating from a pot smoking yuppie into a cold blooded killer.
More thoughts on "Fixer":
Video: Justified, "Fixer"
Not so much video, but here's that fantastic Justified theme song, "On The Run," by Tone Z.
Recap: Justified, "Fixer"
In tracking a vanished confidential informant, Raylan goes against a pair of violent ex-cons who are just dying for a showdown with "the Kentucky Cowboy."
From Around the Web: Justified, "Fixer"
