Raylan Messers Around Harlan County

Wade vs. Dewey

Dewey having been ordered in the last episode to take Wade out for his treachery, Dewey has lured him out into the woods on a phony pretext: he claims he's buried what's left of his government windfall, and he wants to dig it up and blow town. While Wade is getting to work with their only tool — a shitty collapsible shovel from his Webelo days — Dewey clumsily loads his gun and pulls it on Wade, who turns around to see how badly he was duped. As soon as Wade makes a move toward him, Dewey shoots, and gets him in the side, though apparently not in too sensitive a spot because Wade fights back. And look, neither of these gladiators is really well qualified for hand-to-hand combat, so it doesn't look great. Eventually, Dewey knocks out Wade with the shovel, but before he can use it to cave Wade's head all the way in, the blade comes off the handle. Poor, dumb Dewey then grabs the blade with his hands and starts to, I guess, dig Wade's grave? But even he can tell it's futile and goes to the truck to grab a blanket so he can wrap up Wade and transport his corpse elsewhere...but when he comes back WADE IS TOTALLY GONE! He gives chase in the direction he assumes Wade must have gone and falls down a sheer hillside because Dewey = Ziggy.

Winner: Draw...for now!

A Fine Messer

Who called the meeting? Art.

What's it about? He and Vasquez need Raylan to track down Wade. Why? Because he was a confidential informant, and the reason they even know he's missing is that he missed a scheduled call on the phone they'd issued him.

How'd it go? Raylan's mad that (a) they didn't tell him until now; (b) Tim is going with him to search; and (c) Art and Vasquez made a CI arrangement with someone who set Raylan up to be killed not so long ago, but, I mean, to be fair, if they had to avoid people who tried to kill Raylan, the Marshals service and the State's Attorney would have to write off Harlan altogether.

Here's Johnny!

Who called the meeting? Ava and Boyd.

What's it about? Having determined that Johnny's the one who's been ripping off their drug shipments, they need to discuss the matter.

How'd it go? Even though they've all agreed to parlay at Ava's jail so that no one tries any funny stuff (also because they'll have all had to go through metal detectors), it doesn't seem like a particularly productive get-together: Johnny brings up old grievances against Boyd, like how Boyd's Jesusy phase resulted in Johnny's getting shot a bunch; he also makes it personal by complaining about the way Boyd talks, to wit the 50-cent words. Boyd forces himself to speak plainly as he suggests that he and Johnny could put their differences aside for the sake of all making money together. But then Johnny's kind of creepy about Ava, rejects Boyd's offer, and takes off...whereupon Boyd's henchman Carl starts tailing him, which we may all assume was Boyd's endgame, so good job, Boyd.

An Unsentimental Education

The GPS in Wade's government phone having sent them to Audrey's, Raylan and Tim encounter The Littlest Crowe.

Hair Of The Dog

Who called the meeting? Raylan and Tim, technically.

What's it about? After Tim finds Wade's CI phone abandoned at Audrey's, they decide to go to his house and see if, by some chance, he happens to be there.

How'd it go? Bad. As soon as Tim tries the screen door, he's confronted by an extremely aggressive pit bull (I think?), who trees both Tim and Raylan on the cars parked outside.

Then out comes a bottomless Danny, introducing the dog as Chelsea (though Raylan notes that "she" has some pretty big balls, which for some weird reason really pisses Danny off). Anyway, since Danny is evasive about why he's at Wade's — his explanation that they're roommates isn't that convincing — the meeting doesn't really accomplish much.

Bloody Brothers

Alert Type: Tragedy Of Errors Alert.

Issue: After wandering around and praying and following a trail of blood, Dewey finds Wade, and though Wade looks pretty bad, Dewey still needs to finish him off.

Complicating Factors: When Dewey is just about to shoot Wade, a kid in a safety orange vest appears and, seeing Dewey's bleeding forehead (but not Wade, lying in the scrub), asks if he needs help; after a minute, the kid's mom joins him.

She's extremely nice and solicitous about Dewey's injury, even calling him "honey." Aw.

Resolution: In order to keep the family from finding Wade, Dewey agrees to go with them, and Wade is too weak to draw their attention to himself.

Spoiler: Not so sure Wade's going to bounce back from this one.

That His Last Name Is "Strong" Is Just Cruel

Alert Type: Creepy Guard Alert.

Issue: This pint-sized guard named Albert has apparently taken a shine to Ava.

Complicating Factors: She doesn't take him seriously, perhaps because she's a full head taller than he is, whereupon he tries to dominate her physically.

Resolution: Another guard — a woman named Crane — happens to saunter over as Albert has Ava restrained and shoved up against a wall; Ava says she tripped and grabbed Albert's arm, and the situation is defused for the moment.

Spoiler: Everyone but Albert knows that Ava is "protected," but Crane kicks his ass to bring him up to speed. Just to make sure he definitely gets it, she makes her point by threatening him with a lit cigarette to the eye.

Informant Information

Who called the meeting? Raylan and Tim.

What's it about? They're checking in with Boyd at his bar to see if maybe he knows where Wade is?

How'd it go? It starts out kind of awkward, with Tim and Boyd reminding each other about their shared connection to the late Colton Rhodes. Also, at the moment Tim and Raylan walk in, Boyd's just hung up with Carl and is on his way out to catch up with Johnny, so obviously, he has a sawed-off shotgun in his hand, which doesn't look great. As Tim frisks Boyd, Raylan catches him up on the Wade situation, and says he knows Boyd knows Wade was working as a CI and that Boyd was therefore feeding him false information to pass along to the feds. Boyd and Raylan being...how they are, Raylan pretty quickly just asks if Boyd had given Wade a burner phone to which only Boyd had the number, and if so, may Raylan have that number? Boyd did; Raylan may. And while Raylan goes to follow up on that, Tim's going to keep an eye on Boyd. Seems like a good meeting for Marshals, and not good for non-Marshals.

Bed & Breakfast & Bones

This B&B out in the middle of nowhere might just get a few visitors who aren't interested in hunting and/or four-wheeling in the surrounding forest: it's the nearest accommodations to the location where Wade Messer died! Raylan finds him thanks to the GPS in the burner phone he got from Boyd, so by the time Daryl retrieves Dewey and follows Dewey's directions to the place Dewey left him so that they can go make sure he's dead, the numerous police cars and coroner's van parked at the B&B let them know they can just chill out for the rest of the day.

The Wade Of All Flesh

Raylan comes back to the bar, interrupting Tim and Boyd's Scrabble game, to update them on Wade, i.e. that he is dead. Tim talks tough about how isn't it convenient that that CI who was treacherously informing on Boyd just happened to turn up murdered, and Boyd is like, (a) I gave you the phone number that led you to his body, (b) it was the Crowes, and (c) can I go? Since Raylan agrees that the Crowes were behind it, Boyd is free to go do whatever.

Prisoner Of (Crime) War

Post-Wade fuckup, Dewey's been locked up in one of the trailers at Audrey's, but Daryl has his reasons.

Conviction Rates vs. Harlan Street Smarts

While everyone else who's ever passed through the Marshals office has come to terms with the fact that Raylan's instincts about everything Harlan are never, ever wrong, Vasquez has been talking to the various Crowes and since their stories check out, he's pretty sure Boyd, the "crime boss," killed the guy who was informing on him. Raylan is amused that Vasquez considers Boyd to be a crime boss, and Vasquez is annoyed that Raylan doesn't. CAN'T THESE TWO FIND ANY COMMON GROUND AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?!

Beat Him With A Bag Of Milk!

Who called the meeting? Ed, Art's counterpart in Detroit.

What's it about? Ed arrested one of the Canadians (the Will Sasso one) from the season premiere, and he thinks Captain Canada has a story Art will want to hear.

How'd it go? Textbook. Art says he's heard that Canucksie has some information about the night Nicky Augustine died, and his friend from the north says he does: the late Sammy Tonin had told him that he had "a Kentucky lawman in his pocket," and that said lawman was there that night. Of course, Sammy can neither confirm nor deny this, because he totally got killed, but there's this other guy Picker who would know, and as luck would have it, he's been chilling in Kentucky with some dude named Wynn Duffy. Fucking Wynn! Is there any spiderweb map of criminal activities that he isn't at the center of?! Anyway, good meeting for Art because he got some useful intel, and good meeting for Bruno Gerussi Jr. because it's enough to get him sprung from detention and sent back to Canada and its free health care.

Raylan and Allison sex — and, when she's very brusque immediately afterward and then admits that she had to remove a child from an incredibly brutal situation earlier that day, he says he's going to spend the night and realizes he's having FEELINGS, too!

Though Paxton (now back home) is convinced that the random tattooed corpse hand was cut off a dead Boyd, he still intends to testify against Ava!

Raylan returns to Audrey's to say that he thinks one of them killed Wade; that Wade was a CI (which seems to startle Jean-Baptiste); that they all need to leave Kentucky; and to serve papers authorizing him to remove the minor child he saw tending bar in a cathouse the other day. Danny — who's made a case for killing Raylan the other day — sidles off to get a gun (which Raylan totally sees and calls out, obviously). But while Daryl tries to stand his ground, Kendal says he'll leave, but tells Daryl, "You know what to do." What does that mean?!

And as Carl and Boyd continue unravelling Johnny's nefarious plans — they already tailed him to a meeting with HR, the Tennessee drug supplier Raylan got rid of (or thought he did) in the Loretta episode — they find the shed where Johnny's been dumping all the bodies of Boyd's dead henchmen, and if Carl's reaction is anything to go by, they are starting to stink!!!!!