Burned (Justified)
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Episode 9
| "Burned" | |
|---|---|
| Justified episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Don Kurt |
| Written by | Dave Andron & Leonard Chang & Jenny DeArmitt |
| Featured music | Steve Porcaro |
| Cinematography by | Stefan von Bjorn |
| Editing by | Keith Henderson |
| Original air date | March 17, 2015 |
| Running time | 41 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Burned" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the American Neo-Western[1] television series Justified. It is the 74th overall episode of the series and was written by executive producer Dave Andron, co-producer Leonard Chang and Jenny DeArmitt and directed by executive producer Don Kurt. It originally aired on FX on March 17, 2015.
The series is based on Elmore Leonard's stories about the character Raylan Givens, particularly "Fire in the Hole", which serves as the basis for the episode. The series follows Raylan Givens, a tough deputy U.S. Marshal enforcing his own brand of justice. The series revolves around the inhabitants and culture in the Appalachian Mountains area of eastern Kentucky, specifically Harlan County where many of the main characters grew up. In the episode, Boyd proceeds to go with the robbery although certain actions impact its outcome. Meanwhile, worried that Ava might have been "burned", the Marshals get a new informant to report on Boyd's activities.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.81 million household viewers and gained a 0.5 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received very positive reviews from critics, who praised the writing, the heist scenes and the performances, with many highlighting Kaitlyn Dever.
Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) shares his concerns to Rachel (Erica Tazel), Art (Nick Searcy) and Vasquez (Rick Gomez) that Ava (Joelle Carter) may have blown her cover. They consider having another informant close to Boyd (Walton Goggins). So Raylan and Art visit Duffy (Jere Burns), with Art revealing that Simon Poole's documents revealed that Duffy was the snitch that led to Grady Hale's arrest. Fearing he will be killed if he is "burned", Duffy accepts to cooperate with them against Boyd.
Seabass (Scott Grimes) confronts Avery (Sam Elliott) and Katherine (Mary Steenburgen) at their room, demanding a larger sum of money for having betrayed Walker. Katherine offers to give him a diamond bracelet from her pursue but she actually uses the opportunity to use a gun from the purse, killing Seabass. Ava and Boyd discuss what she told to Raylan the previous night when Duffy enters, telling them that Avery is moving the money during a party at the Pizza Portal that evening, provoking him to move up his timetable and suspecting Raylan is involved.
Loretta (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives at her house and finds a headless rattlesnake. Suddenly, a man named Boon (Jonathan Tucker) shows up unannounced and threatens her but leaves without hurting her. Loretta later visits Boyd, suggesting a partnership with her land and know-how matched with his muscle and distribution. Having his sights on Avery's money, Boyd gives his blessing to Loretta's purchase of the farms he's threatened against selling, and for men to protect her for fair wages.
At the Pizza Portal's party, Raylan talks with Loretta, offering her ownership of Arlo's property, which she accepts. Boon joins them in their talk, revealing that he works for Avery and Raylan is disgusted by his personality. Boyd and Ava also show up at the party, despite Avery's previous threat that he would kill them if he ever saw them there. Avery reveals his plan to generously purchase lands and lift up the economy. Boyd questions his motivations and how much money will stay in Harlan, and Loretta names those who have died after refusing Avery's offers. Loretta puts forward her offer to the landowners: to buy them out for cash but keep them in their homes, hire locals for security and farm hands and keep the profits in the county, and names Boyd as her partner. Raylan confronts Loretta about associating herself with Boyd and pulls out his offer as he can't be associated with him.
While Boyd and Duffy head to the shaft, Raylan talks with Ava, who deduces that Raylan knows she has been "burned" and explains she's supposed to tell him the heist is next week but it's actually that night, that she's to start a fire to clear the place out. To her surprise, Raylan tells her to go as planned. At the shaft, Boyd checks the fuse with Zachariah (Jeff Fahey) and immediately tells his crew to start the heist. Ava causes a fire in the kitchen, prompting everyone to leave but Raylan approaches Avery and Katherine to inform them that they are being robbed.
After Boyd lights the fuse, Zachariah attacks him and chains him to a support post, expressing that he won't let Ava be related to a Crowder and leaves the scene. Boyd fails in stopping the fuse and desperately calls Carl (Justin Welborn) for help. Carl returns and helps Boyd pick up a rock hammer to cut loose from the chains. They manage to escape just before the mine explodes. Unknown to them, they are watched by Rachel and Tim (Jacob Pitts), who report to Raylan that they came out without the money and no sign of Zachariah. At the Pizza Portal, Raylan and Avery talk about the failed robbery, with Avery remarking that Raylan used him to get to Boyd.
Boyd confronts Ava, accusing her of conspiring with Zachariah to kill him but she reaffirms she wasn't involved and reminds Boyd she's warned her uncle wasn't right in the head. Despite their failure at the heist, Boyd says he will still go after the money despite knowing it will be more dangerous and more difficult now that Avery moved it. Although the Marshals fail to catch Boyd red-handed, Raylan reminds Rachel that they've got two informants and Boyd is going to go after that money with desperate stupidity when Avery tries to move it, which will give them an opportunity to get him.
Production
Development
In February 2015, it was reported that the ninth episode of the sixth season would be titled "Burned", and was to be directed by executive producer Don Kurt and written by executive producer Dave Andron, co-producer Leonard Chang and Jenny DeArmitt.[2]
Writing
Throughout the season, the writers were still working on uncovering who would be the snitch who caused Grady Hale's arrest before settling on Wynn Duffy. Series developer Graham Yost said, "in retrospect, it's hard to imagine any other possibility. He was just the right guy, and it fits with his character."[3]
The episode originally included Zachariah's death after he tried to kill Boyd in the mine but the writers decided to keep him alive for possible story purposes.[4] Yost said, "first of all, Jeff Fahey was fantastic, and was really fun to work with. He came into the whole story wanting to get Boyd for the Crowder sins against Ava, and it felt good he would be the one to at least help Ava try to get away."[5]
Casting
In January 2015, it was reported that Jonathan Tucker was joining the series in a recurring role for the final five episodes as Boon, "a hired gun of Katherine Hale's ex, Avery Markham."[6] Due to Garret Dillahunt only available for a certain amount of episodes, the writers decided to create Boon to accommodate. They contacted Tucker to try for the role, which was possible after a scheduling change in another project.[3] Yost described him, "we knew we wanted to create a character who really modeled himself after Raylan to one degree or another."[5]
