Justified (TV series)/Headscratchers

• Ava. Good God, where do I start on how much her character bugs me? But I don't want to be typing this all night so I'll just highlight the two biggest reasons why I feel like she's The Scrappy: in one of the early Season 2 episodes, she yelled at Raylan for "cheating on her" with his ex-wife Winona. Um. Ava? You weren't dating. Raylan came over to ask you questions about the murder and you jumped on his crotch at the first chance you got. That's not dating, that's fucking around, pardon my French. Now, granted, he should not have been sleeping with two women at the same time because that is just disrespectful and hurtful for everyone involved, but Raylan was not dating you. He did not ask you out. You did not go on dates. He did not express at any point the desire to pursue a relationship with you and therefore don't act like you were an item when in reality you were lonely and horny and needed someone to take care of those two problems. Grow up. (2) Has anyone else noticed how every single male in the entire city has to comment on how "beautiful" she is? Granted, at least this isn't her fault--it's the writers' faults. There's a rule called Show, Don't Tell and they really forgot about that rule because every single time she is in the presence of a male character, they have to call her "beautiful" and it's honestly very annoying. There are a wealth of attractive female characters on this show and they don't get the same kind of recognition, namely Winona and Rachel, who are both smart, driven, independent, and equally gorgeous. Though I will admit that if the emphasis on Ava's "beauty" is a case of Fridge Brilliance, i.e. they call her beautiful all the time because she's a Brainless Beauty or Shallow Love Interest who offers nothing else as a character, then I will much less bugged by the constant comments. As it stands, it bugs the hell out of me.
• Arlo is supposed to be a legendary criminal in the area. At one point he and Bo Crowder controlled almost all the criminal activities in the county. Yet he constantly gets himself into situations where he would be killed by other criminals if Raylan did not become involved. Is his reputation overblown or did he lose his edge as he got older?
  • I'm betting on the latter. He may have been smart and powerful in his younger days, but now he's such an asshole that he doesn't think things through completely like he should.
  • It's probably pride. It is implied that when he was younger he was as vicious and ruthless as Bo Crowder. When he got treatment for his PTSD he 'mellowed out' and can't intimidate people as he used to. However, he considers himself a Magnificent Bastard and cannot admit to himself that he was just a thug.
  • Season 3 reveals that he suffers from the onset of old age dementia
• Is this troper the only one who's disappointed that Boyd went back to his criminal ways at the end of Season 2? He was a much more interesting and sympathetic character when he straddled the line between Anti-Hero and Anti-Villain, at least in my eyes.
  • He is still straddling this line. He sees Raylan as a friend and knowing Boyd their uneasy alliance may blossom into something weird. Maybe even the gang turning into some bunch of vigilantes.
  • One of the Season 3 teaser commercials even suggests this: it starts with Raylan and Boyd apparently stalking each other -- and then shows them charging down an alley, side by side, guns blazing at an unseen foe. Hmm...
• Limehouse took a vast sum of money that Mags deposited with him, telling Dickie that Mags spent the money herself before her death. Isn't he concerned that word will get out to the criminal community that he stole from an investor? Wouldn't that ruin his reputation as a criminal banker?
  • Turns out he gave the money to Loretta as per Mags' wishes. He could not tell Dickie about this so he told him the money was spent. He is willing to take a hit to his reputation in order to honor his promise to Mags. Also he figures that people would not trust Dickie's version of events.
• Quarles is clearly a very disturbed man, but why did it take this long for his insanity to come to a head? Didn't the Detroit mob or his family recognize his mental problems before he put the first rentboy in a coma (as mentioned by Sammy)? How could someone earn a college degree AND become a successful mobster if he were that unstable from the start?
  • Theo Tonin seems like the sort of person who could control Quarles. Quarles actually has a lot of self control most of the time so might have been able to keep his impulses in check for a long time.
    • Also, keep in mind, this entire season has been a lengthy downward spiral for Quarles. It's obvious his actions were a liability in Detroit, and since starting operations in Kentucky, he's been outgambitted and seen his plans fall apart repeatedly.