Harlan County Spy Games

Mexican Meet-Cute

There are probably lots of reasons it's annoying to be a police officer in Mexico. If pop culture (or...um, the news) is to be believed, corruption is so rampant that there's practically no point trying to act above-board. But even if you were, somehow, the last honest cop in the country, you'd still have to deal with some behatted gringo rolling up when you're just trying to enjoy a cocktail, and trying to talk business in a more-than-slightly-condescending tone. If he'd dealt with his own share of colleagues muscling in on his territory, he might even be empathetic when your knee-jerk response to his queries about some Americans who walked away from their truck full of drugs not so long ago is hostile, to wit: "You walk through that door putting your hat on like you mean business, like God gave you a big set of swinging cojones. Look around you. This is Mexico, cabron. And that star you wear don't mean shit....And you don't even have a gun, which is a good thing -- or else, I'd stick your Yankee ass in a Mexican prison where you can eat shit for all I care. Take that worthless star and get out of my city."

But if you do dismiss a guy who's cool enough not to challenge you in front of your buddies, you should maybe be on your guard against the possibility that he'll still retaliate: he'll just do it later.

"Are We Still Engaged, Or...?"

Even if we don't assume this is the same week Ava got out of prison, we do know that very little time has passed, and maybe Boyd should be a bit more considerate of her finally having the opportunity to sleep a whole night without some other broad wailing or trying to shiv her or something and decide NOT to come over first thing in the morning to do a little light construction on her house? But he does, and the noise he makes wakes her up (though apparently doesn't sound so alarming that she needs to grab the adorable little handgun out of her nightstand)...

...and she comes out and is basically like, I'm paying a guy to do this so I don't have to owe you anything. Boyd says he fired her guy because he wants to do it himself. Ava's like, "Then what?" and Boyd's like, "You tell me." Dodging the question, Ava says she has to wake up, and offers Boyd coffee or a Coke. Boyd mischievously asks if she has a cold beer, and when she says she does, he even more mischievously asks, "Do you have two?" Ava's like, it's early, and Boyd, chastened, says he's just trying to make her smile. He adds that he knows better than anyone how hard prison is and what she must be going through, but when he goes on to offer to talk to her about that, or anything else, she stops him by saying she's going to go get his beer, and inside we see her check her phone with its multiple texts from the DWP warning her that she's behind on her bills, so she might as well go ahead and start her day with some vodka in a coffee mug. And like, we all know why Ava is actually super-awkward around Boyd, but if she's trying to keep up a pretense for the sake of her parole, shouldn't she be trying harder to fake it? Now that you're out, things should be all better with you guys, dummy. I don't care about your inner turmoil and feelings of disloyalty: unless you want to go back inside, you better start selling it.

Dewey Have An Understanding?

Who called the meeting? Rachel and Vasquez.

What's it about? They want a status update on Raylan's visit to Mexico.

How'd it go? Mixed bag. Raylan is proud as hell that he got to lock up the federale AND got the name of a witness who saw Johnny Crowder and everyone else get shot: and it's Dewey Crowe! Rachel and Vasquez are like, uh oh. Because: Dewey is about to get released from prison! He's claimed that he was only kidding about having killed Wade Messer, and that he took the heroin to get it off the street. And because of the prior judgment in his favour that established a precedent for Dewey's being a victim of Raylan's harassment, Dewey's lawyer has ALSO filed a restraining order against Raylan. Justly pissed off, Raylan reminds them that if they get Dewey, they'll get Boyd, which is the whole reason he's there and not in Florida with his child, and now he's supposed to stay away from Dewey entirely? Vasquez: "Officially, my boss is not going to let me let you violate Dewey Crowe's civil rights. So: what are you gonna do?" Fortunately for Vasquez, Raylan might be violent, but he is not dumb.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race, Unless You're Dewey

The Scene: As soon as Dewey's been released from prison (and shaken Raylan), he goes straight to the trailer brothel, only to find it abandoned and seized.

The Symbol: The turtle dog he had given to Mina and Teena and failed to get back from them last season -- which he finds just before he staggers into some diner and runs right into Mina -- now known once again by her real name, Abigail, and working as a waitress.

The Meaning: "Don't you get it? Don't you see? You lost it, I found it, and then I found you! It's my sign!"

The Wrong Shoe For A Hairstylist

Boyd's moved on to painting porch rails ("Put a dropcloth down" - Dave) when Ava comes out on her way to work. She's going back to her job as a hairstylist, she says, which makes me wonder why she's wearing pumps? I know she wants to look cute and everything, but she's not going to miss out on tips from her female (probably mostly straight) clients if she shows up at the salon in some cute ballet flats. No one can do an eight-hour standing shift in heels. Someone tell Graham Yost if he doesn't believe me, he should try it.

"And Then I Want You To Tell Me All The Gossip You Hear From Your Clients. What's Up With Sharon?"

Who called the meeting? Raylan.

What's it about? Whatever intel she's collected or gleaned about Boyd.

How'd it go? Exactly average, neither well nor poorly? Ava, nervously smoking, tells Raylan she's scared that if she says or does anything to betray her true motives, Boyd's going to put a hole in her head. And apparently she's not kidding, because when Raylan straight-up asks her whether Boyd's been saying anything to indicate that he has some kind of big plan he's working on, she offers only that he bought a $300 tow truck, and can't imagine that's going to lead to anything, adding nothing about the conversation they JUST had about flying out of Harlan on a magic carpet made of money. Anyway, Raylan warns her about Dewey being back on the loose, and exposits that he's "setting up a command post at Arlo's" so that he'll be close by if she needs him, and goes on his typically non-merry way. See, Ava? You're better at hiding shit thank you thought.

"Hieeeeeeeee"

Situation: Dewey is out of prison and ready to work for Boyd again.

What makes it awkward? Everything Dewey did in the back half of Season 5 -- especially the things that were recorded by law enforcement -- makes Boyd reasonably suspicious about how Dewey came to be released from prison. Specifically, he suspects that Dewey is a rat and cut a deal to get himself out in exchange for informing on Boyd.

How is order restored? Boyd thinks of a way to put Dewey to use.

Ty A Green Ribbon

Literally Nothing To Crowe About

So what happens is that Raylan and Tim, watching through binoculars from a safe distance, see that Boyd and some henchmen are hooking up a car to this tow truck Raylan's already heard about; Dewey (stepping in for the shovel-disabled Cyrus) takes off in the truck in one direction, and Boyd et al in the other, and since they can't be in two places at once, Raylan and Tim have a brief discussion and decide to go with the idiot who's more likely to fuck up and lead them to what will be a better score in the long run: Dewey (duh). And this seems to be a decent bet at first: Dewey is only momentarily detained by a local PD roadblock, blowing through with threats about his magical $300,000 lawsuit against the government over "harassment, nelgigence, and general mal-fee-essence." But when he drives on, Raylan kind of has no choice but to start shooting out Dewey's windows and tires and causing him to roll off the road and down a grade. When Dewey sees that it's Raylan who's run him off the road, he gets defiant again: "You can't touch me! I'm Teflon!" Raylan kindly offers to help him out, but when Dewey resists his help, Raylan kind of has no choice but to shut him up by breaking his jaw. (Okay, he has a choice. But he takes the option he likes, as any of us would.) After some banter between Raylan and Tim about the sentence Dewey's likely to get for whatever it is he's transporting on Boyd's behalf, they open up the incriminating duffel bag and find it full of...

...clothes. That's when Dewey realizes he's been nothing but Boyd's decoy, and when Raylan and Tim realize that Boyd won this round...

...because Boyd's gone back to the bank from the beginning of the episode to rob the shit out of it.

Ava and Raylan meet on The Only Bridge In Harlan and he is PISSED! He wants to know if it was Boyd's idea to go after the safe deposit boxes, or Ava's! He threatens to charge her with conspiracy and send her back to prison! Ava denies having lied to Raylan, which is itself a lie! Raylan lays out the situation: either she really didn't know, in which case she's no use as an informant, in which case she'll go back to prison! But if she did know and he finds out, she's...also going back to prison! "You understand your dilemma?!" Ava starts freaking out, but Raylan reminds her, "You don't have that luxury!" Ava wants to know if she's just supposed to start asking Boyd probing questions, and Raylan, more gently, assures her that she's going to be able to do this! He retells the story from the series premiere, and how Ava calmly invited him in for a drink and to show him the bloodstain that was left when she blew her then-husband Bowman Crowder's head off for him! He reminds her that she was able to do that because she was able to keep Bowman from knowing what was going on in her mind! "See? I know you, Ava. I know you can do this, so you damn well better!" Off Raylan walks, to leave Ava to think on The Only Bridge In Harlan!

Boyd & Co. pry open the safe deposit box they jacked and find it full of papers, including a ledger! One of Boyd's henchmen complains that they got the wrong box, but Boyd promises, "No, this is the right box"! Carl is pissed that it isn't full of money! Boyd seems not to have expected any such thing, but not sharing his expectations with his crew doesn't speak well of him as a manager!

Raylan visits Art, still recuperating from having been shot! They talk about Raylan's daughter WILLOW (?!) and how Winona's had her baptized as a Catholic, which I guess is a big deal for Kentuckicans! Art also knows all about Raylan's informant, Ava, and gruffly says he never would have approved her as a CI or Raylan as her handler, but he also knows that Raylan is having conflicting feelings about all of it or he wouldn't be there! Raylan's also "idly" wondering why he's going to "be patient" about Boyd rather than, as Art puts it, "back him into a corner and force him to draw"! Raylan's like, basically! Art: "Yeah, you could kill Boyd. Then you'd be headed down to Florida without a star and a gun, and you might be seeing your daughter through the glass on visitation days at the penitentiary. Or, Raylan, there's another way it goes, where you try and you fail, and the bullet finds you." "Unlikely," says Raylan, along with everyone in the audience. "I know you think so," says Art, "but if you'll allow me, you get to be my age, do the job as long as you do, sometimes it just doesn't go your way." Something to think about, even if we all agree that the only way Boyd outdraws Raylan is if Raylan's asleep!

Boyd is looking at the ledger when Dewey comes in screaming about Boyd's having set him up! Boyd doesn't care that Dewey is mad, and cares even less that Raylan broke his jaw! After some more bellowing, Dewey says he wants things to go back to the way they were back in Season 1, when Dewey was one of Crowder's Commandos! Making war plans! Drinking 'shine! Can't they get those glory days back again?! Boyd decides to treat Dewey like a man for a change, sits down across from him with a drink, and tells him those days are gone forever! When Dewey protests even more, Boyd takes him over to a framed photo of Boyd's grandfather and his other union buddies outside the mine! Harlan was a boom town then, and though they knew hard times, they saw a bright future ahead! If Dewey looks closely, he'll be able to see it in their eyes: "Go on, take a look!"

Carl comes running in to make sure things didn't go the opposite way, at which Boyd airily says he doesn't know if Dewey was a rat for the Feds: "I think I couldn't trust him anymore." Bye, Dewey! Rolled up in a rug and dumped in a spent mine (or wherever Carl chooses) sounds about right for you!

And speaking of not trusting people anymore...while Ava sleeps peacefully, BOYD WATCHES HER LIKE A CREEP!!!!!