The shock of watching Ava blow Boyd away and the lightning clip that “Trust” runs at conspire to hide Ava’s cunning in plain sight. She knows where Boyd is packing his heat from earlier at the bar (director Adam Arkin cleverly recalls this detail when Avery shows his empty backside to Boyd), has the papers Limehouse has prepared to aid their escape, and makes sure to swipe the only set of keys Raylan could use to follow her. The only possible X-factor is Raylan, but his willingness to even let her make this last-ditch effort just goes to show how powerful her wiles still are.
It’s the sort of perfect planning and execution that Boyd himself would be proud of, were he not the scheme’s victim. Instead, the last we hear out of him is an echo of his favourite word for Ava: baby. The difference between how he says the word the first time they’re alone tonight, and in the moment before she shoots him is the difference between a man who’s about to get everything he wants, and a man who doesn’t even realize he’s just lost it all.
The efficiency with which Ava makes her move is the common thread running through “Trust,” which is as spare as an hour of TV this tumultuous can get. There’s room for the odd aside here and there: Mikey, acting on his “code,” prepares to serve up Duffy to Katherine mere seconds after admitting to ratting on Grady, but the assortment of weaponry removed from Duffy’s person makes for a fun gag. Similarly, Markham’s refused proposal to Loretta’s grandaunt ends with Boon quickly taking her out of the picture, but not before the two wax a little on when one can afford to have a conscience (the answer: it’s out of either’s moral tax bracket).
It’s through Boon that “Trust” foreshadows how Ava will end up wearing more than one hat tonight. He too can be a number of different people, whether it’s Markham’s lapdog (“Want me to come with?” he asks his master twice, only to get a response of “stay,” and “good boy”), or his pitbull. But his obedience has nothing to do with an absence of vision. There’s a self-awareness to Boon that’s a big part of what makes him seem dangerous, like he can see things clearer than others. He knows his affectations make him look like a poser, especially to Raylan, so of course he takes great pleasure in threatening a local hipster. “On second thought, I just don’t think it suits me,” he says of the waiter’s lid. Once you’ve seen how a guy like Raylan looks in a Stetson, it’s hard to aspire to anything less.
And like how Boon makes a big fuss over nothing, “Trust” is itself a shaggy dog episode of Justified, carefully guiding you through a mess of backwoods setups and betrayal, only to leave you in a destination you didn’t expect. “I gave you what you always wanted, Raylan: Boyd Crowder, bleeding at your feet,” Ava tells Raylan before leaving the two “heroes” to dwell on their foolishness. This was never their story alone. If I could recommend a little waiting music for the two, as they grapple with having underestimated Ava this whole time, it would be Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh’s “I’ve Got Your Number”:
I’ve got your number
And I’ve got the glow you’ve got
I’ve got your number
And more
So go ahead and pick a number
From 1 to 10
Your losing streak is over
I can’t win again
And here’s the punchline
You’ve got mine
- Stray Thoughts
-Even in the rush, there are a number of funny smaller moments in “Trust,” like how Duffy seems to choke on the word “marshal” in his sarcastic thank you, or both Boyd and Katherine getting googley-eyed at the sight of Markham’s stash in all its glory. Still, line of the night rightly goes to Ava, describing how she’ll get a confession out of Boyd: “What’s the first thing you say?” “Hey Boyd!”
-Poor Carl and Earl: their attempt on Raylan’s bait truck didn’t even warrant a scene. How exactly they, and Zachariah will figure into these last three hours is another question mark in Boyd’s near future, seeing as all three have a bone to pick with him.
-Don’t know if I can rewatch the scene of Boyd celebrating his ransom job anytime soon. His kiss-off reveal to Markham and Katherine is tempting fate, but damn if it doesn’t all feel great at the time, and gutting in retrospect.
-Even after all this, I still want everything to somehow end with a happy ending for all. Maybe Ava and Boyd makeup, get married, and have a kid. It’ll set up a hilarious sitcom spinoff called Three’s a Crowder. Raylan can guest star as the as the no-nonsense au pair who takes little Bo Crowder with him on fugitive hunts.
-Can’t wait to see how Raylan explains this whole mess to Vasquez, who was already not a huge fan of Ava’s.
-“I’m going to come after you.” “I know.”