The Devil You Know (Justified)
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Episode 4
| "The Devil You Know" | |
|---|---|
| Justified episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 4 |
| Directed by | Dean Parisot |
| Written by | Taylor Elmore |
| Featured music | Steve Porcaro |
| Cinematography by | Francis Kenny |
| Editing by | Bill Johnson |
| Original air date | February 7, 2012 |
| Running time | 41 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"The Devil You Know" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American Neo-Western[1] television series Justified. It is the 30th overall episode of the series and was written by producer Taylor Elmore and directed by Dean Parisot. It originally aired on FX on February 7, 2012.
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, Dickie and Dewey are broken out of prison by two corrupt staff members in order to find Mags' money. Despite being credited, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts and Natalie Zea do not appear in the episode.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.21 million household viewers and gained a 0.9 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received very positive reviews from critics, who praised the pace, writing, performances and ending, with many highlighting Walton Goggins' and Kevin Rankin's performances as standouts.
Devil (Kevin Rankin) meets with Quarles (Neal McDonough) at his house, who offers him an opportunity to work for him. At prison, Dickie (Jeremy Davies) and Dewey (Damon Herriman) are brutally attacked by inmates until Ash (Todd Stashwick) takes them to the infirmary. Due to Dewey's knowledge of their plan, Ash and doctor Lance (Clayne Crawford) are forced to take him out of prison as well. Lance later falsely testifies with Raylan (Timothy Olyphant), saying that Dickie escaped on his own and attacked him.
Raylan visits Loretta (Kaitlyn Dever), who now works as a babysitter although she is still involved in the drug business. Raylan asks about Mags' money and Loretta gives him a possible lead. Raylan and Rachel (Erica Tazel) question Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson), who avoids their questions but invites them to a barbecue that same night. This is seen by Dickie and Ash, who return to a hotel with Lance and Dewey. As approaching Limehouse in person is a huge risk, Dickie contacts him through the phone to ask for the money. Ash goes out for food and when he returns, he finds Raylan watching him. When he tries to reach for his weapon, Raylan runs over him with his car twice. He enters the hotel room but finds that everyone already escaped.
Devil starts questioning Boyd's (Walton Goggins) leadership as he believes they are not making any progress in their business, he starts considering Quarles' deal. He shares his frustrations with Johnny (David Meunier), reminding him that he is unable to walk because of Boyd and tells him about the deal with Quarles. Finding about Dickie's deal with Limehouse, Raylan has Rachel check on possible trucks leaving the area. She stops a truck belonging to Limehouse that claims to be pig manure and the truck is forced to return. Both Raylan and Rachel question if the truck had the money. However, Raylan realizes that Dickie will be killed if the money does not arrive.
Dickie leads two crew members, Combs (Ed Corbin) and Junior (Adam Bartley), to Mags' old store to get the money from a cooler. Just then, Limehouse arrives and kills Combs and Junior, saving Dickie's life. However, Dickie is disappointed to see that the money in the cooler is all the money he was left with, and instead of $3 million as he thought, is just $46,000 as Mags spent the rest on buying the properties. Dickie hands the money over to Limehouse, asking just for his shotgun, which he agrees to give to Dickie. After they leave, Raylan appears in the store after hearing gunshots. Dickie claims to have killed Combs and Junior and surrenders himself.
Knowing about Dickie's arrest, Lance sedates Dewey in their hotel room and calls an associate to tell him he may found a new way to make money. At Johnny's bar, Devil and Johnny join Boyd for a talk. Devil confronts Boyd with a gun, telling him about his deal with Quarles. However, Johnny already talked with Boyd and both point their guns at Devil. Boyd shoots Devil in the chest, making him fall to the ground. As Devil bleeds, Boyd expresses disappointment at him for failing to prove his loyalty and executes him by shooting him in the head.
Production
Development
In January 2012, it was reported that the fourth episode of the third season would be titled "The Devil You Know", and was to be directed by Dean Parisot and written by producer Taylor Elmore.[2]
Writing
The writers teased more material that would explore the search for Mags Bennett's money in the episode.[3] Devil's death was written into the episode as actor Kevin Rankin signed as series regulars on a new series, Unforgettable and Rankin agreed to star in 3 or 4 episodes of the season. Despite that, series developer Graham Yost viewed it as an opportunity, "to show Boyd crossing a line, killing an old friend, an old colleague because he betrayed him. He just couldn't tolerate that, couldn't risk it."[4] Rankin commented on his character's death, "everyone involved [with Justified] is so on the same frequency, that I think that we all understood the poetic justice of Boyd taking Devil out."[5]
Originally, Raylan was set to shoot Ash Murphy when he spots him and Ash Murphy fails to draw his gun in time. Timothy Olyphant suggested the idea of running over the character instead of shooting, which the writers accepted. They also decided to repeat the stunt for comedic purposes.[4]
