A Hard-Target Search Of Every Gas Station, Residence, Warehouse, Farmhouse, Henhouse, Outhouse, Doghouse, And Mine Rescue Station

Art comes into the office in Lexington looking very serious and very smooth! "How bad is it?" Rachel asks him. "Well, I shaved," he points out. Rachel figures out that Art tried to take all the blame for Ava's having gotten away with the higher-ups, to protect Rachel, but what he didn't know is that Rachel had already called the director and taken the blame herself, because what else would Rachel do? Is she suspended, she asks? "Hell, no," grumbles Art. "I'm not going to sideline one of my best manhunters in the middle of a manhunt." He asks about Boyd, and Rachel says someone named Nelson is sitting on him at the hospital in Harlan, so we can all exhale: despite having been shot in the chest, somehow Boyd is alive! Art gruffly points out that even though things didn't go exactly as they had planned or wanted, Rachel accomplished something Art himself has never done: "You got Boyd Crowder."

SPEAKING OF WHOM: he really is still alive for real! Phew. I mean, it would have been crazy for the show to have let him go out like that, but on the other hand, IT WAS ALSO CRAZY THAT HIS FIANCÉE SHOT HIM IN THE CHEST IN THE FIRST PLACE! As we catch back up with him, Boyd is cuffed to a hospital bed, getting examined by a very rueful doctor who seems entirely unimpressed by Boyd's gunshot wound, other than how lucky it actually was: "The slug splintered on your collarbone," and if it hadn't, Boyd's lungs would have been torn to shreds. Soooooo...was it lucky, or did Ava know exactly what she was doing and her whole story about being a bad shot was bullshit? WE ONLY HAVE TWO MORE EPISODES TO FIND OUT!

And then in comes Raylan, minus any flowers or cookie bouquets! "You're not the one who shot him, are you?" asks the doctor, not seeming terribly concerned either way. "No, I'm the one that got him here," Raylan grunts. When the doctor takes off, Boyd exposits what actually happened between the end of the last episode and the start of this one: Raylan cuffed Boyd to a bumper, called his location in to 911, and took off after Ava. KIND OF BELATEDLY, SOME MIGHT SAY. Boyd asks for an update on how that went, and Raylan reports that he found Boyd's truck abandoned up the road: "Gotta suck, be that close to the prize, have it shot out of your hand. I kinda know how you feel." "No, you don't," snaps Boyd, before needling Raylan by asking if he's bothered that he didn't get to be the one to shoot Boyd, but Raylan ignores the question and asks where Ava's going! "You wheel me out of here, I'll take you straight to 'em," offers Boyd. YES PLEASE, I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE WE ALL HOPED THIS SEASON WAS GOING, DAMN! But Raylan laughs off the suggestion, but Boyd says it doesn't have to be funny: "Me and you, Raylan, one more ride together! See if we can't find a reasonable solution to our problem." Raylan wonders what Boyd thinks their problem is: "The money or Ava?" "Well, ain't they the same problem, Raylan?" Boyd asks. "Are they to you?" Raylan replies. Boyd says that he's going to get out of this hospital soon, and when he does, he's going after the money! Raylan asks what happens then -- and what happens to Ava if Avery or his goons get to her first! Boyd: "Well, maybe she has whatever that is coming to her." Oh SHIT! "Ohhh, I see," says Raylan, adding, "and you're cool with that? Them dishing out retribution however they see fit?" "Are you?" Instead of answering that one, Raylan makes to leave, but first, Boyd stops him with an actually helpful hint: "Zachariah Randolph." Raylan acts like he doesn't recognize the name even though we know he does, and Boyd reminds the audience that Zachariah is Ava's uncle! "You think he's helping her?" asks Raylan with a sharp look. "Well, if he ain't died in one of those shafts, Raylan, and I don't believe he has, that'd be my first stop." "See you at the arraignment," says Raylan, which is pretty rude given that Boyd was actually helpful!

Raylan reports this tip to Tim and Dunlop, the kind of dopey marshal who's always on the fringes and who I assume is played by one of the writers' cousins or something! Raylan tells Dunlop to hold down the fort at the hospital and asks Tim, "You ever been down a mine?" "I've been to Mordor but not through a mine," drawls Tim. Raylan: "Is that a yes or no?" "No." hee! PLEASE someone cast Jacob Pitts in something when this is over. (It doesn't have to be a David Miscavige biopic...though that would be cool!)

Next to a mine entrance, Ava and Zachariah haul the cash up a hill -- and it does NOT look easy! Zachariah explains that he's taking her to an old mine supply station that's been closed for eight or nine years! Zachariah complains that mining regulations were so lax that it wasn't built until after a mine collapse in 1983. Ava tries to play on our sympathy by reminding us that's the one that killed her father: "You think having closer supplies would have saved my daddy?" "God Himself couldn't save your daddy on that day," says Zachariah curtly. "It's why I stopped praying." But look at you now! $10 million? God's probably jealous of YOU!

And then they're inside the cabin, dragging in the cash and lighting the fireplace! Zachariah's got a radio so that if anyone's coming, they'll hear the chatter! He's going to go check on the status of the ATVs so that they're ready if they need to make a quick getaway! They're eventually making their way to that dude Grubes that Ava and Boyd were going to hook Ty Walker up with before he tried to flee from Raylan and got shot to death instead, because Grubes knows the trails blindfolded! Ava warily says that Boyd also knows about Grubes, and that if he survived her shooting him, he might have already told the marshals. But Zachariah DGAF: "If he's alive, the marshals got him, and if he ain't...? The more the better." I hate that they both tried to kill Boyd, but I love their can-do spirit!

I Love You To Death

Katherine is on the phone with Mikey working out the specifics on what she's going to do now that he's tipped her about Wynn when she glances up and is startled to see Avery sitting on her bed waiting for her. "I can usually smell a rotten bud before it blooms," Avery remarks. "And your scent, my dear, has always been presidential kush." That's...lovely? Katherine at first tries to play off the phone call like it's a law-enforcement agent, and when she tosses the phone away, Avery notes, "Got yourself a new purse." Katherine then tells drops the "agent" business and announces that she just heard Wynn was the rat. Avery seems surprised that Wynn is still alive, and when Katherine starts to reach for her bag, Avery takes it out of her reach, asking how she knows about Wynn. She tells him the truth -- that his bodyguard called her.

Avery starts putting the pieces together and says, "You know, I knew you'd never leave your home state. It's why I came back. Nothing else mattered. You were the prize. But now I wonder if I wasn't just a mark." "At first, yes," Katherine admits. "But seeing you, being with you, everything came flooding back....Was it not the same for you?" "Oh, I've always loved you, Katherine," says Avery sadly. "I just don't trust you." Katherine wheedles that she accepted his proposal: "Would it be so bad for the two of us to live together, not trusting each other, just like everybody else in the whole wide world?" Avery responds in a way that some might find disconcerting but that Katherine doesn't seem to mind.

"You know, I understand your drive to avenge Grady's death, even when you thought it was me," says Avery, "and I hope when I'm your husband, you do the same for me." Katherine grins. Avery withdraws his hand from her throat, and Katherine invites him to come take a shower with her. He can't: "There's work to be done." "Going after your ten million?" she asks. "Our ten million," he corrects her. Aw. Avery's also going to make sure Boyd doesn't see another day; Katherine's going to do the same to Wynn, she says, but Avery tells her he'll take care of Wynn too.

Call me crazy, but I think this marriage really might work despite the kind of big problems they're just sweeping under the rug. If I know Katherine, it's a very elegant rug. (And she stole it.)

Jailhouse Stalk

Who called the meeting? Avery.

What's it about? Avery knows Carl and Earl tried to rob him; now they need to discuss next steps.

How'd it go? It starts out so great: Carl is having a whale of a time regaling his cellie with tales of daring as a member of Boyd Crowder's crew. When the guy asks where it all went wrong, Carl says he guesses Katherine and Wynn set them up: "It's like that old saying--" "'Crime doesn't pay'?" supplies Earl morosely. GOOD ONE. But no, Carl meant the one about there being no honour among thieves. Speaking of which: that's when the cell doors open, and the jailer announces that the two guys whose names don't end in "-arl" are being moved to a new cell, and Avery and Boon are coming in. Carl and Earl start freaking out about their safety because they're too dumb to realize Avery's obviously bought off the guard. And then things get pretty efficient: Avery explains that, for Boyd, Carl and Earl were pawns, not "soldiers," and that what's going to happen now is that Avery's going to get Carl out, and Carl's going to go to the hospital and get Boyd to tell him where the money is: "If he knows, put a bullet between his eyes. If he doesn't know, put a bullet between his eyes anyway." When Carl starts posturing like he's not going to co-operate, Avery tells him that if he refuses, or fails, or tries to run off once he's sprung, he's going to kill Earl. Aw, not Earl! He's soft and already thinking about going straight!

Vasquez vs. Marshals

Raylan's just led Tim and local Detective Willits up to the cabin and proved that Zachariah and Ava were, in all likelihood, there recently (it's warm inside, and, as Tim notes, drag marks on the floor), but none of that is going to help Art and Rachel, who are at the same time getting their asses handed to them: Vasquez has stopped by the marshals' office to scream at them over the fact that Ava got away. When he demands, "Where is he?," Rachel's all, "Where's who?" Art decides not to be cute: "He's working the fugitive. As the closest deputy to the case, he is the most likely to find her." "What, did he promise you a cut?" sneers Vasquez. "I'm going to do you the goddamn common courtesy of pretending I didn't hear that shit come out of your mouth," says Art, barely maintaining his composure. Basically, Vasquez thinks Ava's theft occurred because she and Raylan conspired together: "He was banging her in the past; he's almost certainly banging her now! His banging her in the past wrecked the criminal case back then! And then here we are again now! History repeating itself! And then he lets her shoot his, uh, whatever the hell you want to call Boyd. That's convenient! And this marshal, whom we've defended on countless questionable shootings -- well, he decides this time he's gonna holster his piece, and he's just gonna wave goodbye as she drives away!" I mean...like, it does look fishy? I obviously love Raylan, but I kind of see where Vasquez is coming from. Vasquez winds up for his parting shot: "Eventually the both of you are going to have to come to grips with the reality....Your marshal and his girlfriend have stolen ten million dollars right out from under our noses." Yeah, that stings.

Winner: Vasquez at least has reason on his side.

"No Honour Among Thieves," Remember?

A uniformed cop comes into the hospital and tells poor old Dunlop that a marshal named Givens or something is outside in the ambulance bay waiting for him, so he'll take over watching Boyd. Dunlop has no reason to disbelieve this other than good sense and no way to verify this other than calling or even texting Raylan, so he just takes off, whereupon the (crooked) cop brings Carl in from the stairwell and leads him to Boyd's room. While Boyd watches in confusion, the cop tells Carl to make his injuries look good -- a direction Carl takes with a bit too much gusto as he punches the shit out of the guy's face before drawing on Boyd and demanding to know where the money is.

Carl, naturally, is no match for Boyd's sweet talk, and caves easily as Boyd tells him he made a mistake and wouldn't do it again. He saved Carl's life down in that mine! Boyd says that if Carl will help him get out of the hospital, they'll find the money together, and split it! He cares deeply about the -arls! Moved, Carl puts down his gun, and Boyd tells him to get the key off the cop.

Outside, Dunlop sees that Raylan is nowhere around and he fucked up mucho.

Upstairs, Boyd has just finished putting on the cop's uniform and exhorts Carl, "Let's go kill that skinny son of a bitch." Carl asks how they're supposed to get Boyd past the nurses' station without anyone noticing, and Boyd shrugs, "It shouldn't be too hard with all the chaos." "What chaos?" wonders Carl.

Get The Look: Try-Hard Cowboy

Remember when all Boon had was a dumb haircut and crazy eyes? Well, he's been refining his signature look/doofus costume.

Spaghetti Western Hat: This was a coolish look on Clint Eastwood in the '60s, but that was a long time ago and have you heard the shit he's said and done lately? Pick a new style icon.

Duster: I'm going to say this to you and to all the guys at my high school who were similarly misinformed about how boss this coat style is: no.

Enormous Holster: I feel like your sidearm gets bigger every time we see you and I feel like you're giving me no choice but to assume you're compensating for a micropenis.

Crooked Cop vs. Raylan

When Boon reports to Avery that Boyd not only escaped but shot Carl while doing so, Avery is matter-of-fact: "I told Carl what would happen if he failed in his job. A deal's a deal." He tells Boon to call the jail and get Earl out for murdering...but of course, Raylan's already one step ahead, arguing with the dude at the desk about whether he has the authority to take Earl into his custody. That guy's mumbling something about having to make a call when this other guard, Crosley, brings Earl out, and a pissing match ensues: Crosley asks what makes Raylan think he can "just walk on out of here" with Earl, and Raylan's like

The guard snits that he's going to have to make a call, and Raylan smirks, "See? There it is." "There what is," snaps Crosley. "You know, it don't bother me much, running into a cop in this town that's bent to shit. I grew up around here, I kind of expect it now and then. What irritates me is when you call 'em on it, and they give you this look like, 'How dare you insinuate I'm a piece of shit tarnishing my badge.' I see you doing the math, whether you're going to tolerate the insult. But you should know, one of your co-workers is in the hospital with brain bleed, and this boy's brother's dead, so you might want to factor them items into the equation before you decide what you're going to do next." Crosley says he doesn't care for Raylan's tone, that Raylan's badge "don't mean shit," and that Earl's been legitimately bonded out. Raylan: "The Marshal Service have spent a lot of time and effort apprehending a fugitive that's now out on the run, and lives are in danger because of it, so every time you open your mealy mouth to lie, I think of that, and I start picturing how you'd look without any of your goddamn teeth." In response, Crosley stares, and hopes Raylan can't hear him shitting his pants.

Winner: Raylan, at his Raylaniest.

Wynn vs. Katherine

Katherine shows up to the RV, where quiet classical music is playing, Mikey is very gracious and attentive, and Wynn is still cuffed to the table. The first thing she asks is for Mikey -- or "Michael," as she calls him -- to give her a gun until "this unfortunate mess" is over, which he does, and which she sets on the table. Katherine turns her attention to Wynn and purrs, "Avery wanted to give me your murderous rat head as a present, but I thought, no, I should do something nice for him, get our marriage started out on the right foot." Wynn pleasantly asks whether she plans to put it in a "great big Tiffany box" like her ring, and Katherine observes, "You're being awfully flip for someone who's about to die." Without reservation, Wynn confesses to everything: "Yes, I ratted out Grady to Simon Poole, and yes, I killed Simon Poole because Simon Poole was going to rat me out to Grady. Life we chose, huh?" "Why kill Grady?" Katherine asks. "What do you care?" snaps Wynn. "You were schtupping Markham! You think about it, I did you a favour!" "Yeah -- yeah, maybe you did," she muses. "But Wynn? Grady was my husband. He was my partner. And here's how it works: you protect your partner. And you avenge them against people who do them wrong -- that is something I strongly believe." Pulling her own gun out of her purse really punctuates this point.

However, when Katherine offers Wynn the choice of being shot in the front of the head or the back, this is where Mikey feels he has to object, and gets between Katherine and Wynn: "Just put the word out he's a rat. Let him fend for himself out there....I don't like what Duffy did, but he's my boss, and I'd have to avenge him, anybody did him wrong! That's what you just said, right?" Katherine's not trying to hear this one bit...and then it's an all-new fight!

Katherine starts shooting and gets Mikey a couple of good times in the chest, but it is a beefy chest and he keeps coming at her, grabbing her by the neck and chucking her around. Considering he has at least a hundred pounds on her, she holds up remarkably well, but the turning point comes when he has her on her back on the table that Wynn's still cuffed to -- having apparently avoided being struck by even one stray bullet.

Katherine shoots up through Mikey's side...

...but he has strength enough to rear back his arm and bring his hand down HARD, and I guess he crushes her windpipe and severs her spinal cord all at once because that's when she dies. She slides off the table and onto a chair, where her dead eyes stare straight into Wynn's.

With his last conscious movements, Mikey fishes out the handcuff key and passes it to Wynn to release himself, but then he's failing fast too. He asks Wynn to hold him, which Wynn does as he slips away. Farewell, Mikey. Your musical preferences were a little pretentious.

Once everyone but him is dead, Wynn gets his phone out. "What's your emergency?" asks the 911 operator. Wynn: "I'm not sure where to start." I mean, honestly!

Winner: Wynn. God love that cockroach.

Real Bad News

Who called the meeting? Raylan.

What's it about? Trying to head off future violence at the pass.

How'd it go? Once he's dispensed with Boon and his theatrics, Raylan tells Avery about the kid he's got outside, scared shitless to be across the street from the Pizza Portal. (That would be Earl.) When Avery plays dumb, Raylan says they can both tell it to the judge. He goes on to order Avery not to go after the money, and to give up the idea of doing harm to Ava. Avery claims, "I got no cause to engage in that kind of behaviour," explaining that he's starting to feel like he's home at last: he's ready to put down roots with his lady friend. "You don't know," says Raylan. "Don't know what," grumbles Avery. "Mr. Markham, your lady friend is dead, as of a half-hour ago."

Raylan: "Went pretty badly as I understand it, in the confines of a motor coach belonging to Wynn Duffy. All this? Is on you. As you undertake your grieving, may that guide you, as you contemplate your next move." Raylan, after everything why are you trying to get Avery to kill Wynn? He's your snitch! And he's so amusing! I don't know why else Raylan would come here: if you lost $10 million, is there anything ANYONE could say that would stop you trying to get it back, by any means necessary?

R.I.P. Grubes

The only useful bit of intel the freaked-out, vengeance-fantasizing Earl coughs up for Raylan after Raylan's meeting with Avery is to remember the name Grubes (see above), but it might not be the greatest tip Raylan ever got...as Zachariah and Ava are in the process of finding out. Maybe they should have called ahead because this guy hasn't been in a position to help anyone with anything for a while.

The fast-moving events of the manhunt have kept Raylan from following Art's orders and returning to Lexington to face Vasquez's wrath...and since things haven't really slowed down at all, the marshals' final call of the night goes pretty much the only way it can. After Raylan catches Art up about Earl (whom Raylan's promised protective custody), things get testy.