"A Murder of Crowes" is the premiere (first) episode of the fifth season, and the 53rd episode in the series overall. It was written by series creator Graham Yost and Fred Golan and directed by Executive Producer Michael Dinner. It first aired on January 7, 2014.
Plot[]
Summary[]
In the swamplands of Florida, Raylan tangles with a deadly branch of the Crowe Family Tree, while Boyd goes into the dark heart of the collapsing Detroit Mob.
Recap[]
Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is testifying in a civil case brought by Dewey Crowe. He is given a tough examination by plaintiff's attorney Marsha Keyhoe about the circumstances surrounding Dewey being led to believe his kidneys had been harvested. She's scoring points and there's a sidebar confab with Assistant U.S. Attorney David Vasquez, Keyhoe and Presiding Justice Mike Reardon, who clearly wishes to be done with this case. Directing Keyhoe to step back, Vasquez and Reardon have a brief sotto voce exchange in which some numbers are tersely exchanged. Back on the record, the Judge tells Dewey and Keyoe that while there was an offer from the government for $20,000, the government "has now modified that to three hundred. Do you accept that offer?"
The plaintiff is seriously miffed, rises to his feet to express his outrage at how badly he has been treated, and says "You telling me that all I get is $300?" Reardon holds his head in his hands for a moment, then clarifies, "$300,000. You nitwit!" Dewey is stupefied, and as the realization takes hold, he lets out a slow gasp. Judge Reardon takes that as a yes.
Elsewhere, Boyd Crowder and his incarcerated one true love Ava are in conference with defense attorney Billy "The Wildman" Geist, discussing options in her case involving the evidence tampering, obstruction and desecration of a corpse, the late, unlamented Delroy. Boyd assures Ava that he will take care of everything to free her so they can resume their life together. Officer Susan Crane enters and calls time on the embracing couple's visitation.
Boyd and Jimmy Tolan sit on a bridge in the middle of the night, waiting to consummate a deal with his Detroit connection, who when they arrive, attempt to rip the "simple country folk" off, taking his money without delivering any product. Boyd is one step ahead of them and with help of Carl on overwatch with a scoped rifle, kills the three Detroit gun thugs but gets his left ear shot in the process.
Boyd calls Wynn Duffy in bed at home, gives him the highlights of the bridge encounter and tells him, "Pack your bags, we're going to Detroit."
In South Florida, Dewey's cousin Dilly Crowe and his Cuban cohort Elvis Machado visit rogue Coast Guard officer Simon Lee on his boat to pay him for his part in their criminal enterprise, the smuggling of contraband sugar to sell below market value to candy companies. Dilly's a little short (actually half) on the payment which leads to a major disagreement and Lee being shot dead by Dilly and, for good measure, Elvis.
With a known association to Dilly and Elvis, and Lee reported missing, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Art Mullen dispatches Raylan back to South Florida to help with the Federal Task Force's investigation. Art reminds Rayan that while he's there he'll be able to visit new mother Winona and his infant daughter. Still the prospect of the trip is not viewed in a positive light by Raylan.
Raylan thinks it'd be smart to chat with the one Crowe in the area before jumping on any planes, so he heads off to find Dewey. However, he first stumbles into Wade Messer, who is a little too social. When Raylan eventually finds Dewey outback playing "Marco Polo" with Tina and Meena, a pair of naked whores, in his new above-ground pool, he learns that Dewey is the new proprietor of Audrey's brothel and saloon. Ordering the two girls out of the pool, he pats down Dewey's bath robe and retrieves a nickel-plated revolver. "It ain't even loaded and it ain't mine," Dewey insists, in spite of the personalized mother-of-pearl stocks. After some snappy repartee about the other branch of the family... "them Florida Crowes are bad news," he advises... Raylan leaves, firing several rounds into the vinyl pool causing it to rupture all over the yard. "Get a bucket or something!" Dewey desperately tells the whores who've returned to see what the shooting was about.
Arriving in Miami, Raylan is partnered with Gregg Sutter and set out to find Daryl Crowe, a known associate of Elvis. Daryl realizes that his cousin Dilly has created a "federal situation" by murdering the Coast Guardsman, and tells him to get rid of the body.
Enter licensed gator hunter Jean Baptiste, who alerts Daryl after Raylan and Sutter pay him a visit, as Dilly and Elvis look on from a safe distance.
Detroit is hardly a fun city for Boyd and Duffy, who end up in a very questionable apartment building for another meeting with Sammy Tonin, while some poor guy gets hacked up by a chainsaw in the next room. Sammy quickly gets shot right in front of them by Tonin henchman Picker, along with the dude being turned into sushi and the chainsaw guy. A henchman informs them that they really ought to be talking to the Canadians represented by Scott Fenton who listens, then after learning what happened on the bridge back in Harlan, observes, "The idea behind organized crime is that it's supposed to be organized."
Raylan is approached by Wendy Crowe, who tells him that she's Daryl's lawyer as well as his sister, and that he's willing to play ball if he gets something in return. Once the deal is done, Daryl arrives and tells the marshals that they'll have Elvis by tonight; if he fails to produce, Raylan warns, Daryl will be back behind bars tomorrow on a parole violation.
After the marshals depart, on Daryl's signal, Dilly is stabbed to death by his own brother Danny for generally being an idiot. Daryl tells Raylan where Wendy is taking Elvis, but Elvis has a gun, so when Raylan and Sutter arrive at the motel, no one is there. A quick-thinking Wendy escapes from the car after causing a traffic accident, leaving Elvis stranded but armed. The marshals eventually find him at a local marina, intent on escaping back to Cuba on a small boat that won't start. When he pulls on the marshals, they efficiently ventilate the man.
The next morning, Raylan meets Daryl to inform him that he's held up his end of their deal and that Daryl is off parole. He learns that Wendy has fled to Miami, and that Dilly is likely inside of an alligator. After Raylan leaves, Jean Baptiste suggests to Daryl that he head to Kentucky since South Florida is now dead to him.
Meanwhile, Raylan goes back home without stopping to see the baby, although he gets a video-chat update from Winona while sitting in the marshals' office. While he cares about his family, it's obvious that his work will always be the first love in his life.
And Boyd pays an unannounced late-night visit to the mansion of Clover Hiller Lee Paxton, hoping to use him to curry favor with his friend Judge Bishop who's sitting on Ava's case. When the meeting doesn't go well and the funeral director becomes aggressively insulting toward Ava, Boyd, in a fit of rage, clubs Paxton almost to death with his pistol, and after a brief Hobson's Choice negotiation with his younger Latvian trophy wife, Mara, leaves him bloody in a corner for her to attend to.
- Created by Dean Speir for IMDb
Appearances[]
First Appearances[]
- Daryl Crowe Jr. - A drug runner and alligator farmer, cousin of Dewey Crowe, brother of Wendy, Danny and Dilly, and the head of the Crowe family based in Florida.
- Wendy Crowe - The mother of Kendal Crowe and Daryl, Danny and Dilly's sister and a paralegal who poses as a lawyer and represents him in his deal with the Marshals for Elvis Machado.
- Greg Sutter - A US Marshal based in Florida who is Raylan's partner during the Machado investigation.
- Kendal Crowe - The son of Wendy Crowe and the nephew of Daryl, Danny and Dilly.
- Danny Crowe - Daryl, Wendy and Dilly's brother and a member of the Crowe family based in Florida.
- Marsha Keyhoe - Dewey's lawyer who represents him in his case against the US Marshals (particularly Raylan).
- Scott Fenton- A member of the Canadian mafia who Sammy Tonin owed $1 million and made a deal with Picker to kill Sammy and give them the money.
- Al Sura - A member of the Canadian mafia who Sammy Tonin owed $1 million and made a deal with Picker to kill Sammy and give them the money.
- Susan Crane - A guard at the prison where Ava Crowder is incarcerated.
- Mara Paxton - The wife of Lee Paxton who Boyd offers money to after she witness him brutally beating Lee.
- Carl Lennon - A drug dealer and henchman working for Boyd Crowder.
- Billy Geist - Ava's attorney who is typically seen listening to classic music through headphones.
- Jean Baptiste - An alligator farmer and criminal associate of the Crowe family based in Florida.
- Mina and Teena - two prostitutes that Raylan finds in the pool with Dewey Crowe
Deaths[]
- Chandler: Shot by Boyd Crowder
- Ross: Shot by Carl and finished off by Boyd.
- Donny: Shot to death by Carl and Jimmy.
- Simon Lee: A rogue coast guard who helps out with the Crowe family's smuggling of contraband sugar. Shot by Dilly Crowe and finished off by Elvis Machado.
- Sammy Tonin: Shot in the back of the head by Ethan Picker.
- Doug: Shot to death by Picker.
- Chainsaw Guy: Shot to death by Picker.
- Dilly Crowe: Brother of Daryl, Wendy, and Danny and a member of the Crowe family based in Florida. Stabbed to death by Danny Crowe.
- Elvis Machado: A Cuban associate of Daryl's who is under federal investigation for the murder of Simon Lee. Shot to death by Raylan Givens and Greg Sutter.
Production[]
Cast[]
Starring cast
- Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens
- Nick Searcy as Art Mullen
- Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy
- Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder
- Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson (credit only)
- Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks (credit only)
- and Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder
Guest stars
- Michael Rapaport as Daryl Crowe Jr.
- James LeGros as Wade Messer
- Edi Gathegi as Jean Baptiste
- Sam Anderson as Lee Paxton
- A.J. Buckley as Danny Crowe
- Matt Craven as Dan Grant
- Dave Foley as Scott Fenton
- Rick Gomez as David Vasquez
- Jason Gray-Stanford as Dilly Crowe
- Damon Herriman as Dewey Crowe
- John Kapelos as Ethan Picker
- David Koechner as Greg Sutter
- Jacob Lofland as Kendal Crowe
- Jesse Luken as Jimmy Tolan
- Don McManus as Billy Geist
- Amaury Nolasco as Elvis Machado
- Max Perlich as Sammy Tonin
- Stephen Root as Mike Reardon
- Will Sasso as Al Sura
- Alicia Witt as Wendy Crowe
- Karolina Wydra as Mara Paxton
- Ron Yuan as Simon Lee
- Jeannetta Arnette as Marsha Keyhoe
- Justin Welborn as Carl Lennon
- and Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins
Co-starring
- Arriane Alexander as Susan Crane
- Jack Elliott as Chandler
- Kaitlin Ferrell as Teena
- Gichi Gamba as Screw
- Billoah Greene as Wraith
- Jonathan Kowalsky as Mike Cosmatopolis
- Aubrey Wood as Mina
Uncredited
- Unknown as Ross
- Unknown as Donny
- Unknown as Doug
- Unknown as Chainsaw Guy
- Unknown as Willa Givens
Trivia[]
- This episode began with a 90-second tribute to Elmore Leonard, who passed away on August 20, 2013 from complications following a stroke.
- This episode has the most deaths out of any season premiere with 9.
- Beginning with this episode, Wynn Duffy is now upgraded to a main character after having a recurring role in the previous four seasons.