Chickens And Crowes Come Home To Roost

Lee Paxton, 1950ish-2014

Here lies a man who got greedy. Gifted by his Creator with information that could put the fiancée of someone he regarded as a shitkicking dirtbag in prison for life, Lee Paxton was so spiteful that neither financial incentive nor a near-fatal beating could dissuade him from testifying to what he knew. Back home after a hospital stint, Lee was awakened from his sick bed to news that a whole pile of thugs had turned up at one of his funeral homes and that he sure looked like he had to have been implicated in their murders. And in his last moments, Lee knew not just that Boyd Crowder had bested him strategically, covering him with shame their small town would never forget...

...but that Boyd was also going to end his life and make it look like a guilty suicide, and that not even Lee's own wife would mourn him. HARSH.

200 Pennies For Your Thoughts

Al the beefy Canadian might have thought he'd gotten off scot-free (or, should I say, butterscotch-free) after spilling what he knew to Art last week. But apparently someone else has already found out what he shared and isn't too happy about it, by which I mean this new guy is about to kill Al before he can give any more information to the wrong people.

Wendy And The Lost Boy

Who called the meeting? Allison, technically.

What's it about? She wants to hand Kendal off to the custody of Wendy, his most (only?) responsible family member, so that he can go back to Miami and live with her. But then Raylan crashes it with his own agenda.

How'd it go? Raylan's effective in that Wendy does seem to feel pressured by him and the power of the Marshal service, particularly when he tells her to let Daryl know he intends to reinstate Daryl's parole if he doesn't leave Kentucky. But after she and Kendal have left, Allison lets him know that she knows he used Kendal — and, by extension, Allison herself — to fuck with Daryl, and that Kendal doesn't deserve it (nor does Allison). So Raylan comes out looking like kind of a dick overall.

Don't Underestimate Art

Quietly working off Al's tip, Art's surveilling a diner where Wynn and his thug Mike are waiting, so he's in prime position to see when (a) Picker shows up, and (b) Markos also spots Picker and also gets out of his car. Art is no dummy, so he intercepts Markos to suggest, in his avuncular yet authoritative way, that Markos consider dining elsewhere. Then he goes in to park it at Wynn's booth and let Picker know he'd like to have a conversation, but he's barely gotten through his pitch when he sees Markos coming in after all. Markos tries to get Picker to go with him, but Picker calculates and decides he's better off with Art, and Markos calculates (based on a pretty credible threat from Art) and decides that they don't need to settle the matter right this second, in a crowded diner. And then Picker's like, psych, I'm not going with you after all, and Art's like, yeah, that's not how it works.

What A Bunch Of Dixie

Who called the meeting? Daryl.

What's it about? He wants to confront Boyd about the way he cheated Dewey.

How'd it go? Fun! For the viewer. Daryl and Jean-Baptiste are drinking at Boyd's bar, and Daryl starts talking a bunch of shit about this "Boyd" he's there to meet...to Boyd, not knowing it is he. At first, I actually thought Daryl did know who Boyd was and was just amusing himself, but then Boyd draws on Daryl and Daryl loves it: "Goddamn, man, that was cool as ice!" I don't know, I guess it could still be one or the other. It's not like Daryl could look up Boyd on Facebook.

Anyway, Daryl expects Boyd to refund the purchase price of Audrey's, plus interest. Boyd declines. Stalemate!

Putting The "H" In "HR"

Who called the meeting? Boyd.

What's it about? Johnny. Also drugs.

How'd it go? HR figures that Boyd called him because of his deal with Johnny. Boyd says that Johnny acted without authorization (OOH LA LA FANCY MUCH), and HR says he knows, and wants to make reparations: 50 cents on the dollar to Boyd. But Boyd has a counter: he won't take any of HR's money, but HR will turn Johnny over to Boyd, and then go into business with Boyd smuggling heroin from Mexico. HR is loath to go from the easy breezy weed business to the high-risk, high-mortality heroin trade, but his hard pass gets a little softer when Boyd says he'll cut HR in for half. Good meeting for Boyd!

John Q II

Alert Type: Kamikaze Alert.

Issue: Boyd's plan to spring Ava is nearly complete.

Complicating Factors: Mooney and Mina are still alive, and Boyd doesn't really feel like paying them off to keep them quiet about their parts in l'affaire Paxton.

Resolution: Boyd's old friend Hayes, from the mines, is about to die of black lung, and would like to leave his family with something. Boyd has a solution that will disgrace him in the short term, but give his family some peace of mind in the long run.

Spoiler: Hayes storms into the crowded family restaurant Boyd has invited Mooney and Mina to (when Boyd has gone to the bathroom) and shoots Hayes point blank. Mina is sufficiently freaked out to leave town; Hayes will get the money she had been promised, and will definitely die before he can get to a trial. Everything's coming up Boyd!

Something's Wrong With This Picker

Who called the meeting? Raylan.

What's it about? Theo Tonin. Sort of.

How'd it go? Now that Picker's in the custody of the authorities, everyone wants him to help them find Theo Tonin, but Picker's anxious to leave, which Raylan figures means he knows where Markos is and wants to take Markos out himself. Picker suggests that Raylan probably shouldn't threaten a guy who could blackmail him. Raylan counters that the reason Picker could blackmail Raylan is because of things Raylan's done: "Things you've seen me do." Picker's like, got it. Raylan proffers a pen and it seems like Picker's going to take it, which I would call a pretty successful meeting.

Sacrificial Lamb, Shanked

Alert Type: Vengeance Alert.

Issue: The prime witness against her having "killed himself," the case against Ava has basically died with him, so she's going to be out the next day.

Complicating Factors: That guard Albert is still smarting from his Ava-related contact — both her rejecting his advances, and the beatdown from his co-worker because Ava's being protected while she's inside.

Resolution: Albert tosses Ava's cell on her last night, finds a shank under her mattress (planted by her bribed cellie), and stabs himself with it.

Spoiler: Ava's not getting out right now like Boyd and her lawyer thought.

You All Need Family Counselling

Wendy returns Kendal to Audrey's, which doesn't exactly burnish her credentials as the most respectable of the Florida Crowes, and while Danny teases Kendal about the perfectly nice shirt his foster family gave him (I guess Kendal's putting on airs because this shirt's never been used to wipe up beer or jizz?), Wendy and Daryl settle some matters. She figures out that he lured her to Kentucky to organize her siblings, but tells him she's going right back to Florida, and also that he probably is too, if Raylan gets Daryl's parole reinstated. Daryl says the family needs to stay together, and she says the most important thing at the moment is for Daryl to find Kendal a less hookery place to live. Daryl says he doesn't have any money yet, and maybe Wendy, as the smart one, has some ideas?

Markos vs. Marshals

Art and Raylan wander around the warehouse Picker sent them to (Raylan trying as casually as he can to find out what Art was doing in Detroit, which he only heard about from Rachel and Tim when Picker was brought into the office in the first place) when it occurs to them that maybe Markos has been there the whole time, and then out he comes with a gigantic gun. Art and Raylan split up, and Markos starts shooting toward them (mostly putting giant holes in the containers), but, Raylan being Raylan, it doesn't take long for him to get the jump on Markos and shoot him in the back.

Bye, Markos. Later, when all the law-enforcement officials in Kentucky show up to process the scene, someone notices a weird puddle leaking out of one of the containers.

Looks like Theo Tonin's plan's gone [puts on sunglasses] to ship.

Winner: Marshals!

Danny's a dick about not having gotten the groceries on Wendy's list, and when Jean-Baptiste sticks up for Kendal and basically calls Danny an all-talk pussy, Danny grabs the gun from behind the bar and kills him super-dead! Then he threatens Kendal not to narc on him!

HR wanders in on a card game Johnny's playing with Jay and Roscoe (HR's henchmen from the second episode of the season) to tell him about the shipment Boyd has coming in from Mexico that he thinks they should hit. Johnny asks how HR knows, and HR says Boyd told him, and then all the henchmen draw on Johnny! But then Johnny asks how HR spent his cut of their first hit. HR says he invested it, because he believes in letting your money work for you...

...and Johnny agrees! He split his cut three ways and bought off HR's henchmen!!!

Ava's lawyer comes to Boyd's bar to give him bad news!

Supposedly Ava shanked a guard! She's gone to the state pen!!!!!

Art, Vasquez, and Raylan celebrate Art's Tonin takedown and the best day of his career, I mean he got to talk to Eric Holder, for God's sake! On his way out, Vasquez says that Picker claimed he'd heard a marshal was present and saw the Nicky Augustine hit...but he fingered FBI Agent Barkley, still "missing"!

Raylan makes to leave, knowing that Art knows something but that he's also not that interested in pulling at the thread...

But then he comes back! And Raylan tells Art, "It wasn't Barkley. And I can tell you that for a fact"!!!!!