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"Alive Day"
Season 6, Episode 6
Alive Day
Air date February 24, 2015
Written by Benjamin Cavell and Jennifer Kennedy
Directed by Peter Werner
U.S. Viewers 1.81 million
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"Alive Day" is the sixth episode of the sixth season, and the 71st episode in the series overall. It was written by Benjamin Cavell and Jennifer Kennedy and directed by Peter Werner. It first aired on February 24, 2015.

Plot[]

Summary[]

Raylan investigates a murder that has sown discord in Markham's camp. Boyd's latest heist forces him to revisit his mining days.

Recap[]

Boyd returns home and finds Raylan's car in his yard and the Deputy U.S Marshal in his house while Ava prepares fried chicken. When Raylan starts to question Boyd as to the whereabouts of Dewey Crowe, Boyd is elusive but tries to point Raylan toward Avery Markham. There's considerable veiled conversation until an exasperated Ava asks, "Anyone but me tired of the bullshit burdens of Southern hospitality?" Raylan declines Boyd's invitation to stay for dinner, and leaves, no more wiser than when he decided to "stick around for a bit."

In the late Calhoun's real estate office, his body cooling where it fell on the floor, Ty Walker discusses what happened with Seabass and Choo-Choo and how to proceed from there. Walker learns that Calhoun's whore, Caprice, saw his two "soldiers" enter the offices. There's some terse and testy discussion about who is going to do what and how as far as disposing of the body and eliminating the threat posed by Caprice.

Ava is sitting contemplatively on her porch finishing a cigarette when Zachariah arrives in his battered pick-up. They have a tender reminiscence and embrace warmly. They talk about the death of Ava's father/Zachariah's brother long ago in a mine collapse. They are interrupted by Boyd and Earl who come out onto the porch after the two men have moved the latter into the guest room where he will be not only bodyguarding Ava, but be at her beck and call to help out however she might need him. As they prepare to leave, Ava asks for a moment with Boyd, and expresses some concern about her uncle's penchant for erratic behavior. Boyd reassures her he has everything under control, and the three men leave in their pickup trucks.

In her Lexington hotel suite, Katherine and Avery are in the hotel's roomy white terrycloth robes when he springs a huge diamond engagement ring on the unprepared woman. She doesn't say yes, and they have a heart-to-heart about prior marriages. Avery asks her to come clean about one thing, her snitching out Avery and her late husband, Grady, many years ago. She's shocked and denies that she was the snitch. Avery says it doesn't matter, that he's made his peace with whatever happened back then, and now he just wants to marry her.

Out in the Harlan countryside, Raylan and Tim are taken by Detectives Costanza and Butler to the site where Calhoun's body was dumped. The four men discuss the evidence and the Deputy Marshals deduce from the knuckle marks on the corpse's head, that Choo-Choo probably killed the man. When Costanza wants to know why the deceased had Raylan's card on him, the Deputy Marshal simply deadpans, "He was my realtor."

Tim and Raylan visit the Pizza Portal to question Avery about Calhoun's death. The drug lord assures the Deputy Marshals that this is the first he is hearing about it. Noting the presence of Ty and Seabass, Raylan presses for the whereabouts of Choo-Choo and gets nowhere. Seabass observes that if they want to take the man on, they'd "best call in an air strike." Raylan addresses Avery directly, telling him that the mercs he has hired, "they know killing but they don't know crime." Leaving his card on the bar with the admonishment to give him a call if they see Choo-Choo, Raylan, Tim trailing with a wisecrack, leaves. Avery turns to Ty and Seabass: "Seems like you boys have something to tell me."

Choo-Choo meets up with Caprice by pre-arrangement at a deserted loading dock. As they drive off together, they get into a conversation in which the working girl sincerely compliments the man she doesn't realize has been sent to kill her, on the deliberate and thoughtful way he speaks, and it is apparent that she has touched a spot within him. "Ever wish things weren't the way they were?" he asks, clearly regretting the mission he is on.

Carl, The Pig, and Boyd accompany Zachariah down into the Number 14 Obsidian Mine shaft they'd opened. They are in full mining gear: hard hats with lamps, coveralls, and what-not. Carl is apprehensive about running into rattlesnakes and draws his pistol. As Zachariah explains the dangers of a spark touching off black damp gas, Boyd relieves Carl of his handgun. They get the generator running, and there is light with which to navigate and work!

Rachel returns to Marshal's headquarters to find Art poking through some file drawers. Art's there to get her "take" on something since he knows that she had once worked on "the Hale task force." Art's looking for clues as to the identity of the confidential informant the then U.S. Attorney had on the inside of Hale's operation. Rachel doesn't know but had always assumed the case was closed by wiretaps. Art believes it was Avery Markham. She tells her old boss that she thinks that Ava had tried to run the day before and that Raylan had brought her back in, or that Raylan is sleeping with Ava again, or both scenarios. They discuss how she should proceed, acknowledging that if she follows procedure and pulls Raylan off the investigation, they'd also have to cut Ava loose as a C.I. and start all over building their case against Boyd from scratch. There is a ponderous silence.

Raylan and Tim are on a stakeout discussing Avery's reaction to the news about Calhoun's death, and decide that he'd been unaware of what had occurred. Raylan's cell phone rings. It's Ava reporting in, letting him know she now has a "babysitter" and that Boyd has connected up with her uncle, but she says she had no idea what they're up to. 

Back in Katherine's Lexington hotel suite with Wynn and Mikey, she shows off the rock that Avery has proffered that morning. The men are impressed, then Wynn gets down to business, uncovering the snitch who sent her husband to prison. Katherine assures Wynn that it wasn't her, and the two speculate on whether Avery is playing a psych game by asking her if she had been the snitch. "It doesn't matter either way," Wynn says, "we're still going to have to kill him." "Oh, it matters," Katherine assures Wynn, "because if he's playing me, we're going to have to kill him slow."

Avery and Ty are sitting in a booth at the Pizza Portal having a quiet conversation about what to do about Choo-Choo. While the boss is of the opinion that he has to be disposed of, his very unhappy henchman attests to the man's bona fides, recalling how he'd comported himself bravely and with resolution in Ty's unit in "the sandbox." His cell phone rings as if on cue, and it's Choo-Choo expressing serious misgivings about killing Caprice, who is bound and gagged in the rear of his car. Ty makes a sign of capitulation to Avery, and asks Choo-Choo his location so they can get together and discuss Choo-Choo's inquiry.

Ava enters her kitchen where Earl is listening to thrash metal through his headset. She engages the young man in light-hearted banter about the danger of losing his hearing and their age differences but manages to work in a question about which mine shaft his brother, her fiancé and her uncle are working in. Earl takes a moment before answering "Blanton Cree?" "Oh yes," Ava says, "that's the one."

In the Number 14 Obsidian shaft, Zachariah and Boyd are drilling and making satisfactory progress when after a brief break, Boyd steps on some planking and quickly disappears from sight. Zachariah immediately takes charge of an extremely dangerous situation, and barking orders at The Pig and Boyd, manages to extricate the latter from almost certain death. After catching a breather, Boyd wants to resume drilling, but Zachariah convinces him to knock off for the day. Whew!

In a wooded clearing Choo-Choo and a still bound Caprice wait as Ty and two more of Markham's mercs make their way to them. Ty directs one of the other men to retrieve the prisoner, but Choo-Choo utters a quiet but firm "No!" and interposes himself. "She shouldn't have to die for my mistake." Ty tries reasoning with his man, then ordering him, but Choo-Choo won't have it. "I won't let you kill her!" "Fine!" Ty says, then you kill her like you were ordered to!"

Just then Raylan and Tim, having followed Ty and the others from the Pizza Portal, step from behind trees, pistols drawn. "Nobody move!" Raylan orders. "HANDS!" Tim commands. No one complies. There ensues a conversation in which Raylan explains to Choo-Choo that Ty and the other two are there to kill him as well as Caprice, while Ty argues that the Deputy U.S. Marshals are trying to turn the mercs against one another. Choo-Choo seems to understand what's at play in that situation, but when Raylan speaks out, "You can't still be taking his orders," Choo-Choo says matter-of-factly, "It's all I got." He completes the draw of his pistol toward which his gun hand has been steadily been working, and the gun fight is on! Choo-Choo takes a round from both Raylan and Tim, staggers but doesn't go down. The mercs all draw and fire as the two Deputy Marshals take cover. One of the mercs takes a hit and goes down. As Choo-Choo takes more fire, he sees Ty, having taken minor hits, scramble down the hill and flee in the car he'd arrived it. Choo-Choo's military training has completely taken over at this point, and he fights a covering action as Ty escapes. He's hit several more times but stays in the fight until Ty is out of sight, then climbs into his car and tries to escape as well. Raylan and Tim continue to pour rounds into the vehicle, and Raylan even takes one of the rear tires out. Choo-Choo disappears into the woods.

Back in the Number 14 Obsidian shaft, Zachariah and the Pig are preparing to shut down for the night when The Pig notices something strange about the wooden cover that had earlier given way under Boyd. He calls Zachariah over and points to the wood which has clearly been sawn. "Doesn't look like rot to me," the Pig says. Zachariah leans in closer, and acknowledges, "No it doesn't." There is a pause while both men consider the implications, before Zachariah shoves his co-worker into the opening and to his death, screaming all the way to the deep, deep bottom. Zachariah stands up and bellows into his walkie-talkie for Carl to come quickly.

At the scene of the shootout, Rachel debriefs Tim and Raylan as Caprice is tended to nearby in an ambulance. They had confirmed from the prostitute Choo-Choo's and Seabass' participation in Calhoun's death, and Rachel has put out a bulletin to try and nab Seabass before he hears of the shootout. Rachel has an additional 50 Deputy Marshals coming in from Atlanta and Cincinnati, and says, "every cop in 100 miles has a print-out of Choo-Choo's and Walker's faces. "The only thing law enforcement is going to be for these guys," Raylan notes ruefully, "is target practice." Rachel tells Tim to get his rifle out of the car and informs Raylan that she's canceling his "critical incident leave" until after her reinforcements arrive. Alone, she asks if he has heard from his C.I. that day, and when he replies in the affirmative, she stands there and searches his face. "Was there something else?" he asks, and when she continues to stand there silently and look at him, he frowns, slowly turns and walks away.

The badly wounded Choo-Choo, with police sirens in the distance, pulls his car to a stop onto the railroad tracks in the path of a slowly on-coming train. It sounds its whistle repeatedly, but the doomed man just stares at it as the train brakes to a stop just feet from the passenger side door. The engineer and the fireman climb down from the cab and go to investigate, only to find Choo-Choo, lifeless eyes not seeing the night.

Boyd returns home to find Ava and Earl are in the kitchen listening to the music on the young man's device. Boyd's cell phone rings... it's Ellstin Limehouse offering Boyd information as "a good-faith gesture," surprising since there's been bad blood between the two men for some time now. Reluctantly, Boyd agrees to hear the man out. "Ava tell you anything about what she got up to yesterday?"

There is silence as Boyd stares into the kitchen at Ava preparing his evening meal.

- Created by Dean Speir for IMDb

Appearances[]

First Appearances[]

  1. Detective Butler - A detective and partner of Detective Costanza who investigates Calhoun Schreier's corpse in the woods. 
  2. Detective Costanza - A detective and partner of Detective Butler who investigates Calhoun Schreier's corpse in the woods. 

Deaths[]

  1. Walker Henchman 1 - Shot by Raylan Givens.
  2. Walker Henchman 2 - Shot by Tim Gutterson.
  3. The Pig - Pushed down a mine shaft by Zachariah Randolph.
  4. Choo-Choo - Bleeds to death after being shot by Raylan and Tim during a shootout.

Trivia[]

  • The decision to have Choo-Choo not quite hit by the train was in part made because of the train accident on set of a movie called Midnight Rider.[1]

Production[]

Cast[]

Starring cast

Guest stars

Co-starring

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

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