Last night’s episode, “Measures,” had a whole heap of things going on. Instead of giving you a brief rundown up top, or a collection of my lunatic theories about the episode, we’re going to get right into the bullet points this week. I can’t even wait until next Tuesday.
- Art and Raylan! Tim and Rachel! This episode had a very high “Crimefighting teams that I would watch a spin-off about even if the whole show is just them hanging out on stakeouts every week” quotient.
- “Art, I already got a daddy.” “Yeah, I’ve met your daddy.” “Fair enough, continue.”
- #TeamBartender, its membership swelling like a bee sting, appears to be a force to be reckoned with.
- A Detroit hitman played by awesomely-named character actor Michael Ironside.
- For real though, Dickie Bennett’s hair, y’all. Jesus. It looks like a blind person took a handheld blender to the head of a 7-year-old who hasn’t bathed in a week and just woke up. I could write about this all day.
- “THAT BEAR POKED ME.”
- Drug dealers brandishing samurai swords.
- Scheming hookers with their eyes on the crown.
- “You can’t have the Duffy without the Wynn.”
- NUTSHOTS!
- “I ain’t some half-wit gun thug.” “I ain’t some half-wit gun thug neither.”
- Weird discussions about keeping ears in pockets and who does and does not look like a husky. (Important image on the next page.)
- A scene between Quarles and Limehouse that I described in my notes as “full of exclamation points.”
- A man with a particular set of skills, eh? BOYD CROWDER = LIAM NEESON.
GIFs by Chet Manley can be found on the next page. Also, writer VJ Boyd will be joining us for a conversation in the comments for a second week in a row. He’ll be in and out throughout the day, so feel free to load up your questions and check back later to see if he got to them. Most of my questions are going to be about the bartender, and whether or not VJ thinks Limehouse slaughters his hogs in the traditional manner, or if he just gives a terrifying speech to them until they all have heart attacks and die.
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VJ, this is actually a question from my dad who is a huge Elmore Leonard fan. Basically he wants to know how you guys get the dialogue down so well? He honestly thought that the dialogue was completely written by Leonard because of how spot on they are to his styling.
Verified
We read a ton of Elmore, and Graham Yost, our boss, insists on keeping everything as Elmore as possible. it isn’t easy.
It shows. No one does dialogue like Elmore Leonard, except the Justified writing staff.
I just realized Neal McDonough played a brunette Lieutenant Hawk in Star Trek: First Contact.
Yes, he got borged. Then Worf killed him.
If memory serves, he was supposed to be the first major gay character in the series.
No, no. I’ll give myself a wedgie, thank you.
i also believe he played bison in street fighter: the legend of chun li.
VJ, the more I watch Justified the more it reminds me of the Music of Kentuckys own Chris Knight (both in tone and in theme). Anybody on the writing staff ever heard of him?
Verified
I have not, but I will file the name away. We’re not in the office right now or I’d ask the others.
The bartender is the woman from Louie that told him she wanted to show him her pussy right? She got tan and thin, looks good
Verified
yes, Jenn Lyon.
uh, same name as the chick from survivor that died of cancer? Ow.
Verified
same name, yeah confused me too when she was first cast, I was like… wait… what?
The question that keeps me up at night…
More delicious: Limehouse Hogs or Wu’s Pigs?
Verified
Limehouse’s hogs ftw.
Damn good question.
I imagine the folks consumed by Wu’s pig’s were ridden with Lord knows how many diseases.
#TeamLimehousehogs
Late to the party but woo-hoo Rachel taking care of business!
[tinyurl.com]
This show makes me hurt from all the awesomeness.
#TeamBartender
That is all.
See you at the party Richter!
The only other guest appearance that would be as bad ass as Michael Ironside would be Ian McShane.
I so want a Snickers Tree.
There was so much awesome that I really can’t come up with any questions.
Fantastic television.
What movie were those hookers referencing, when they said Quarles looked like “That guy from that butterfly movie…the one about the prison island…”?
Pretty sure that’s a Papillon reference.
And hence, Steve McQueen comparison.
Verified
correct.
Maybe it’s because I just got caught up on The Walking Dead, but the beating Quarles gave that drug dealer looked like something out of the TWD, complete with the bloody saliva spray.
I’m quite curious to see how they film the Quarles strapped naked to a bed scenes since I believe Neal McDonough won’t film shirtless scenes. The filming of him stripping and entering the bathroom to spend some time with the boy chained to the toilet was well done, but I’d imagine the logistics of this would be more difficult. Especially since it must be hard to find a body double who is equally as dreamy.
I thought I read his problem was with out and out sex scenes, because of being a staunch Catholic? It’s part of the reason he tends to play bad guys and people without love interests.
Pretty sure he was bare assed two weeks ago going into the bathroom. If I imagined that then it might be time to call a shrink.
I had assumed the bare ass was not actually his. I could be wrong.
Verified
He just doesn’t do love scenes, no problem with nudity when it’s called for. That was not a body double.
Thank you for the clarification. I will go back and study the scene more carefully.
/awaits restraining order
I love cock.
Next week’s episode is sponsored by KFC. No coleslaw.
TIM EATING POLLY-O STRING CHEESE! TIM EATING POLLY-O STRING CHEESE!
Is Limehouse a power broker, a bagman, a crime lord, or just a guy who knows people and keeps things under wraps under the radar with the appearance poverty? What does he do with his money? I think the most confusing thing is his motivation, if any, in the vacuum created by the Bennett’s demise. Will there be clarity in the Holler’s role in Harland’s criminal activites.
Verified
Limehouse just wants to be left alone. He’s a banker, and wants to protect his holler and his people. Errol’s actions, unfortunately for Limehouse, have forced him to extend himself recently.
So, if Boyd had Quarles stripped and tied to the bed, does that mean we might get to see a rail-gun toting Boyd in the future?? I’m giddy with excitement.
There definately needs to be a scene with Boyd discovering that one, and then subsequently using it to kill someone in the ususal bad ass Boyd Crowder way.
Verified
tune in next week!
It seems like Raylan has not seen the rail gun yet. Is that right?
Verified
correct
I love how two Detroit thugs coming to the bar and threatening Raylan didn’t even merit a mention to Art according to Raylan. And he didn’t want to bother arresting Quarles for threatening to kill him. What a badass.
Another great episode. Art still getting the best lines.
#TeamBartender
1. The scene between Quarles and Limehouse is one my favorites of the season. So tense. Two bad mothaf***as right there. With Limehouse holding his signature meat cleaver (not to mention throwing it near Quarles and it sticking in the wall) as Quarles’ railgun hand was twitching was the best part of episode!
2. Quarles getting tasered by Boyd was a close second.
3. #TeamBartender forever!
Could not agree more re: Quarles and Limehouse. I think I held my breath during that entire exchange.
I knew I’d seen him before, so I can’t believe that I forgot the actor who played Rodney also played Chris in the V movies and TV show. Michael Ironside as the Detroit hitman just made my night. Those are great, great casting choices there.
Wynn/Detroit? Wynn/Boyd? Dickie/Limehouse’s dude? Dickie/the hooker? Rachel and Tim WITHOUT Raylan? This episode was all about shifting alliances, and it worked great. Not using Raylan as the conduit through which almost everything passes really added some depth to the other characters. Like, how am I cheering for Duffy now?
Jere Burns survived Bob Fucking Saget. I defy anyone not to love the man.
The photo would help.
First question for Mr. Boyd: Was naming the drug dealers Parker and Longabaugh a reference to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way of the Gun, or both?
Second question: When you piss, do you piss undistilled awesome?
Verified
Most likely the first, Ben Cavell, who wrote the episode, is quite the cinephile.
I don’t piss.
Verified
I have to go for a while, but post more Q’s and I’ll be back late this afternoon…
How long did it take for you guys to perfect the rail gun? I keep thinking that at some point it’s going to get hung in the arm of his jacket.
Also #TeamBartender
Verified
Our props department takes on every challenge we give them with a smile. I don’t know the details of how long it took them, but that sounds like something we should include in the DVD extras…
Don’t forget…..at one point Quarles was asked “does that thing ever jam on you?”…
…could be foreshadowing……or a red-herring….
I kept waiting for the thing to jam, but Quarles is now stripped naked on that trailer bed. I doubt they left the railgun strapped to his arm.
Someone else could take it, and then it could jam on them. Like there’s some trick to it that only Quarles knows, or it takes practice to get it right.
Ah, good point. Shit, I hope it’s not Boyd.
So, you had Ham and Chris in the same episode and no V references was the only thing this episode lacked in awesome.
I think the scene with Art trying to tell Raylan how to be a dad, and to start taking it seriously was one of the tightest so far.
was the rail gun always part of Quarles character? Love the show….excellent
Verified
Yes, was part of his character day one
Not really a question, but I would love to hear an anecdote regarding an actor’s awkward reaction to the directions in the script.
Verified
If I think of one I’ll come back later and post it.
I simply cannot get enough of Wynn Duffy. The delivery of the ‘You can trust me….. to drive to harlan county” line was great, just the right amount of a pause there. Two questions:
1. Wynn’s affiliation with the Dixie mafia- is he completely cut-loose from them?
2. Won’t the Dixie mob eventually take issue with Detroit operating on their turf or this there an agreement there.
Verified
The Dixie Mafia as played in Elmore L’s books is more a loose affiliation of wealthy criminals than a cosanostra type mob. So I’d say Wynn is still a part of it, and we shall see if any of his cohorts take offense to the Detroit connection.
I thought it is implied that the “Dixie Mob” was an outfit backed by Detroit. Quarrels talked about Wynn having a reputation up north.
Verified
Emmet Arnett was borrowing money from the Detroit outfit, thus they had skin in the game down here, and our idea was that criminals in various parts of the country have heard of criminals in other parts… So Detroit doesn’t have a hand in ALL Dixie Mafia goings ons, but a large part, certainly, due to their loans to Arnett.
I agree with you Chazz. Wynn has grown on me. The brief shot of he & his lackey just sitting on the end of the bed without flinching while Raylan & Art did their thing in Quarles’ hotel room made me guffaw.
A show filled with guns, crime, whiskey and violence has inspired men around the world to discuss the hair styles of other men to a point which heretofore had never been reached.
Did someone take that challenge on as a drunken bet or is this just an unintentional byproduct of one of the greatest shows on television?
Verified
if there is a drunken bet, I was unaware of it…
VJ… a Papillon reference by an oxy hooked hooker… what is this Archer? Not that I am complaining but that was good.
But it does seem like a movie that a rural network station would play for a Saturday “Matinee” at like 3pm after reruns of the Andy Griffith Show
Tim and Rachel are way better at their job than Raylan is, aren’t they?
There has been some discussion of the fact that Raylan hasn’t grown or changed as a character. Is there any discussion between the writers of having Raylan learning from his mistakes? I enjoy Raylan being Raylan, I just wonder if this is the type of thing those behind the show ever get into.
Verified
We do discuss that, and we feel he has changed some, but the nature of his character (and of elmore leonard characters) is a certain stoicism. The change will never be of a large degree.
I am actually really enjoying watching everything change around Raylan, while he looks on in resignation. I get the sense of an eye in the storm, or like one of those artsy scenes where a dude is walking in slow motion down the street while there is a blurred whirlwind of activity around him.
How does it feel being part of one of the most BADASS shows on tv?
Verified
Like I have a Snickers Bar tree in my front yard.
It was hard to tell, but was Quarles beating the drug dealer with the scabbard and not the sword itself? That’s even more bad-ass than killing a guy with his own sword, if you ask me.
Verified
I believe it was the scabbard because that’s what’s in the script.
Also, I may be crazy, but does anyone else see a resemblance between Walton Goggins and a young Clint Eastwood? I think it’s the crazy eye.
My Quarles/Husky pic in the recap has completely made my week.
Danger, I think you mean Boyd Crowder > Liam Neeson. VJ, the teasers for this season had Raylan and Boyd running down an alley shooting together, if it’s not too spoilerly is anything like that going to happen or was that just to get people excited about the show again?
Verified
Without getting spoilery, I can say that the pre-season commercials like that one are rarely excerpts from the show, and are often shot before we have made any decisions about what will happen in the season. That doesn’t mean something akin to that event can’t happen, though.
I watched the pre-credit scenes three times.
“I felt a little bad taking advantage of you.” “Not so bad that I won’t do it again.”
“Yes, see, there’s going to be a next time.” “I’ll clean that up.”
Micheal Ironside is awesome.
And, I love Art so much. So. So. Much.
When writing the Limehouse role, was it written with Mykelti Williamson in mind?
Verified
yes
Is there a flow chart that can help me keep track of who was teaming up/scheming with who to get either Dickie’s money or the reward money on Quarles?
Early in the season, the dude on the bed was a big mystery to me. I remember a lot of people assuming that Quarles was performing non-Chris Hansen approved activities and the response was, “Not necessarily, wait and see.” Well, seeing how that plot line has turned out so far, I guess we have to assume that Quarles is a sexual sadist. What were some of the other directions that were discussed regarding just what in the hell Quarles was doing in the bedroom with his gimp?
Verified
We never have specified what he was doing to these guys, other than the fact that it is violent. The only idea we ever discussed was him committing violent acts against these guys.
Other than being chained and gagged to a toilet the second gimp didn’t actually seem to be too tore up considering where it looked like things were going last time we saw him.
Please tell me Boyd’s particular skill set involves explosions. I would accept explosion by dynamite or bazooka
FIRE IN THE HOLE!
Verified
wait and see!
1. Great episode, I think I may have enjoyed it even more than last week.
2. It’s like Jeremy Davies is making Dickie’s hair crazier and crazier until we stop talking about Boyd Crowder’s hair.
3. #TeamBartender
I have no question.
VJB, with so many characters with so many different motives at this point do you guys ever find yourselves in a “F*ck, we forgot all about _______!” position and having to work back over a script? I found myself wondering how the hell you guys juggle it all multiple times last night.
Verified
It helps that there are ten of us, and that we shoot so far ahead of air, so if we do forget something we can shoot a scene later and add it to a previous episode.
Gotcha, thanks. Follow up: is there one person responsible for tracking?
Verified
No there’s not, we just keep track of it on whiteboards.
I see the Hair Talk tag being used for every Justified episode.
When writing for Dickie is there any possible way for you to anticipate Jeremy Davies’ delivery?
He says things in the most off the wall beat poet sort of way that no matter how hard I try I still partially see him as half Manson in “Helter Skelter” half Dickie.
Verified
This season we did a better job of anticipating his delivery, but he always throws in a few surprises.
Who cuts Dickie’s hair?
Also, that ay have been the most realistic tv bitch slap I have ever seen. Was contact actually made?
Verified
I wasn’t on set for that one, so I’m not sure. Probably just shot and performed well.
Verified
Hi. Ask questions.
I’m sorry I just don’t see Boyd and his girls being able to undress Quarles and disarm him. I understand he was tazed but I’m really feeling good on a prediction that he surprises the whores with the rail-gun and the next episode starts almost exactly where this one left off.
Also no one has said anything about the foreshadowing on the mob boss AND duffy saying “don’t say I didn’t warn you” about the prospect of killing/keeping alive Quarles.