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Justified S04E05: "Kin"

Those of us waiting for Justified's Season 4 bad guy to show his or her face (with or without teeth) have been disappointed so far. Billy the snake hugger is dead. Randall is halfway to a Florida prison right now. Limehouse has been minding his own BBQ business back at the holler. And unless Herbert West is living in Harlan County, it doesn't look like Mags Bennett or Robert Quarles will be back anytime soon.

A friend of mine is totally bummed about this, and I suspect he's the voice of a growing segment of Justified fans. He says Raylan is at his best when he has a formidable nemesis to toss wisecracks at while he strains against his personal version of the Marshal code, especially when the baddie is full of enough twisted personality to fill a whole season of Criminal Minds. It's a trusted formula that Justififed has moseyed away from this season, opting instead to focus on a cold case that Raylan's dad Arlo is somehow mixed up with. But is it working?

I say yes. But then again, I'm probably in a minority of those who think Justified would actually work as a by-the-numbers procedural, provided the show's setting and personalities all remained intact. NCIS: Harlan County? I'd watch the shit out of that. But "Kin" did give us at least some sort of nemesis, though maybe not in the fashion we're used to on Justified. Hello again, Boyd Crowder.

Boyd and Raylan have an interesting relationship, to say the least. In a real-world situation, Raylan would be a pretty terrible Marshal to let Boyd continue to operate whore-housing and drug-selling operations in his backyard. And in the television world, Boyd and Raylan have to happily coexist, with neither of them being the last hand on the baseball bat, since they're both integral to the show. It's a difficult task to keep their relationship believable, and I suspect a lot of us gloss over any problems that might arise because we prefer to see Boyd ruffling stuff up. Remember when he was in prison? We don't want that again. The solution for Justified since Season 1 has been to intertwine Boyd and Raylan's stories here and there, with the biggest connection being Boyd's employ of Arlo, Raylan's dad.

But "Kin" may turn that intertwining into knotting and tangling, what with the twist that both Raylan and Boyd are now looking for Drew Thompson, the mystery man at the center of the cold case. Boyd wants Drew because he'll get half of the heroin trade in Harlan County from Wynn Duffy if he can bring Drew in (except when Wynn says LOL JK). Raylan wants Drew a teensy bit because he's a Marshal and that's his job and mostly, I suspect, because Raylan is six-feet-some-inches of daddy issues who wants Arlo to stay caged. (Interestingly enough, both Raylan and Boyd, arguably Arlo's biological and adopted sons, respectively, want Arlo to stay in prison, probably reasoning that he can't screw their lives up if he's safe behind bars.)

Hot darn I'm looking forward to this, because any scene featuring both Raylan and Boyd is gold. Maybe it will be a match of wits and country connections, as we saw when they both ended up in the same hill-people pen after talking to Josiah (guest-star Gerald McRaney). Maybe it will be like a mini version of Cannonball Run as the two race each other from station to station in pursuit of Drew's fresh tracks. Justified certainly can do both. And though Boyd and Raylan's opposition isn't direct (it isn't a "him or me" situation), the consequences of either of them failing is substantial enough to give this scenario plenty of weight.

Drew isn't the only subject of a manhunt now. Ellen May is still out on the wild somewhere, as far as Colton is concerned, and holed up in Sheriff Shelby's place eating pizza and taters like they're having a children's sleepover party, as far as we're concerned. Justified creator Graham Yost promises that Ellen May is an integral part of the story this season, and now that Shelby is getting involved, her importance has quadrupled. We still don't know how much she's told Shelby, but we do know that Shelby is aware that Boyd wants her dead. Given that Shelby clearly is not happy with his own relationship with Boyd, I'd expect him to hook up with Raylan somehow and use Ellen May and her knowledge of Delroy the Pimp's murder to his advantage. That'll teach Ava to throw a druggie hooker out in the cold.

After last week's enjoyable and largely conclusive episode, "Kin" pulled back the slingshot to load a set-up episode that swept another layer of dust from the case. But we're five episodes into the season and only have guesses as to where things are headed. Some viewers might have trouble with the lack of a big bad, but that allows Justified to tell more of the smaller stories it's so good at.

– Guest-star city! It was like a super-reunion tonight, with a whole buncha recurring characters and guest-stars showing up. Sheriff Shelby (Jim Beaver), Constable Bob (Patton Oswalt), Daniel the Hill Boy (Sons of Anarchy's Christopher Reed), Nick Augustine (Mike O'Malley), Agent Barkley (Stephen Toblowsky), Josiah (Gerald McRaney), that teen troublemaker from the season premiere, AND the big return of Winona (Natalie Zea).

– Regarding the return of Winona, I'm not sure why she came back other than to remind us that Raylan's baby problem is very real and that he's not ignoring it.

– There is the possibility that Theo Tonin could end up being the big bad guy this season, but we haven't even seen his face, so I'd consider him more of an unseen threat. I think we just have to accept that this is the big mystery season.

– The Hill People thing only sorta worked for me. I loved the idea, but the threat never seemed palpable, even when they were walking Boyd and Raylan to the mineshaft. Justified has definitely done more with characters who didn't come pre-packaged with cannibalistic backstories. And all I could think of was "Lothar of the Hill People," which isn't a bad thing.

– So far, one person's been stabbed, an FBI agent committed suicide, another FBI agent was murdered, a woman was kidnapped, teens stole, and a guy cut off his own foot over this mystery bag. This is one important bag.

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Parenthood S04E03: "Everything Is Not Okay"

"The bad thing is already happening."

So we're all in agreement that Mae Whitman just played another character who convinced a kid without a chance in hell of winning to run for student body president, right? Way to go, Egg!

Do you feel like Max is starting to become a caricature? As this season progresses, it's been getting harder to tell if his tantrums are the results of his autistic perspective or if he's just a big baby. Obviously, I don't need every week to be a very special episode where Max is the center of attention, but freaking out about the vending machine (and, specifically, Skittles) sounds more like a diva who didn't get everything on her rider. I love Max to pieces, but with the focus shifted away from him to Kristina in that household, Parenthood is quick to turn to the fits for either comic relief or just plain relief.

I say relief because the current A-story is so terribly painful (in a good way) and Monica Potter is killing it right now. Last week I wasn't sure if this storyline was a good idea. This show exhibits what my buddy Noel calls "grief porn"—that is, Parenthood is a perfect blend of serious obstacles mixed with melodrama and characters that earn our empathy. So that's why you feel like you have dust in your eye every week. Or that you're cutting onions. Whatever you tell yourself.

The point is, I was a little afraid this would be too much. The family has brushed so often with emotional disasters in three years and cancer is almost like one of those topics people throw out there when they can't think of anything else. "We've done autism and homelessness and alcoholism. We've done engagements and splitting up and the Braverman Apocalypse. What's next?" "Well, there's always cancer." And everyone throws garbage at that writer.

That's what I felt. What I feel now is that Kristina, who has really ramped up in the last half-season or so, has been given a chance to take center stage, and she has done so beautifully. The scene where she pulled down her robe and looked at herself in the mirror, eyes welling up? I must have had an inflammation in my tear gland right then. Powerful stuff.

Plus, we can trust Parenthood with all the facets of the issue. It's not just going to be Kristina scared for an episode or two and then, pop, the cancer comes out and we move onto the next thing. Bravermans can't deal with things that way; everything they do has to be infected. I bash Adam a lot because I think he's the worst Braverman, but this week really identified the nuance of Adam's desire to simultaneously fix everything and do the right thing. It's a common issue of television marriages, "I don't want a solution, I just want you to listen," but it fits with Adam, who is Mr. Protector McFix-It, to only want to quickly find a solution and whisk his wife through the process rather than actually seeing that, in the time it takes to get into the process, she's understandably flooded with emotions and thoughts of mortality. Adam has to learn that not everyone takes solace in knowing they're doing something the right way and that everything else is out of their control. This is scary.

Which is what made the rest of the episode so interesting. Much in the same way that last week's episode was a little jokey, a little superficial, this week's episode was rife with sitcom fodder, too. From Max's vending-machine tirades to Zeek getting his old man license to Sarah constantly mentioning her annoying boss to Amber trying to clean up the burned coffee smell. They all had their Braverman twist (Max's obsession pushed his only friend away; Zeek's run-in with the law made him face his own age and mortality; Hank is clearly always on Sarah's mind, to Mark's chagrin; and Amber trying to please Adam came with a side of insecurity and feelings of inadequacy) but they are not nearly as heavy as what Adam and Kristina are going through. Or maybe that's just the Cancer Effect.

Of the four other stories, Sarah's was the most intruiging to me. The writers are slow-playing that hand despite the fact that everyone watching knows what's going on. Mark insisting on being in the picture was nothing but doom for him. We've already seen that Hank is at least attracted to Sarah (from his awesome conversation with Max) and she can't do anything but talk about him, so how long are we going to wait for Hank to make a move and for Sarah to have to make a decision? Granted, it's only been three episodes but he's also already been vulnerable in front of her (a little, about his failed marriage). It's only a matter of time before Sarah worms her way in and converts him to a Braverman. Like a virus.

So while Sarah wandered toward inevitable philandering, Max decided to run for student body president (find a blank tape to record your campaign video on, Max), and Zeek crushed the driving exam, they also all faced distractions they'll have to shrug off in order to move on. Sarah needs to put the Hank thoughts away for suspicious Mark. Max needs to cool it on the vending machines in order to keep his friend. And Zeek has to take solace in his good test score to distract him from feeling old.

Zeek dealing with his mortality provided one of the best shots in the episode that wasn't on Monica Potter or Mae Whitman. When Adam called him out on his heart flutter, Zeek turned to Adam and said, "I'm gonna be all right." Then, turning to look out into the night, he continued, "Then again you never know what's going to happen, do you?" Peter Krause has never looked more like a frightened child than he did standing next to a stone-faced Craig T. Nelson staring into the dark and considering the rest of his life. Adam is the kind of character who would bury himself in the minutiae of the cancer-curing process rather than actually face the real possibility of losing his wife. And possibly having to become Max's sole Skittles dealer.

– Max needs a reality check on what's fair. He really had to jump through some logistical hoops to find injustice regarding a hypothetical vending machine that no one in his present had access to.

– Also: who knew Max Braverman and Marshawn Lynch had so much in common?

– Gypsy (from Gilmore Girls) and Woody (from Psych) in the same episode? Two of my favorite side characters coming by for a visit. Now we just need Kirk.

– Micah is in a wheelchair AND he's Max's best friend? What'd this kid do to deserve such a crappy hand dealt to him?

– It makes perfect sense that Amber is the first family member to know about Kristina. She's the most trustworthy, emotionally stable, understanding person in the Braverman bunch. It's a wonder that she's not adopted (Season 5 storyline: switched at birth?). Also: Mae Whitman put in another amazing performance. This kid consistently makes my eyes sweaty every week.

– Yes, every way of explaining away crying I've used is from "I'm Not Crying" by Flight of the Conchords. Ha. Ha. Ha-ha. Haaaaaaaaa.

– If Kristina did stay with Dr Hariana, how long do you think it would take before Crosby created Braverman Apocalypse II: Oncologist Boogaloo?

– What's the over/under on the number of episodes before Sarah has to make that "important decision?"

– Will Emmy voters remember Monica Potter next summer? They seem to forget all about Mae Whitman.

– How involved in Max's campaign will Kristina be after being restricted by Haddie for hers?

– Do you think the Braverman siblings were blowing the Zeek situation out of proportion?

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