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"Bloody Harlan"
Season 2, Episode 13
JUS-ep213 20110310 PG-0489 jpg 627x325 crop upscale q85
Air date May 4, 2011
Written by Fred Golan
Directed by Michael Dinner
U.S. Viewers 2.68 million
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"Bloody Harlan" is the 13th and final episode of the second season, and the 26th episode in the series overall. It was written by executive producer Fred Golan and directed by executive producer Michael Dinner. It first aired on May 4, 2011.

Plot[]

Synopsis[]

The bad blood between the Bennetts and the Crowders reaches its boiling point and results in bloodshed, and Loretta returns from Lexington to avenge her father's death.

Recap[]

Chief Deputy Marshal Art Mullen calls Raylan Givens into his office. "I'm truly sorry about your aunt," the boss says. Raylan requests a week-long leave — and then asks if he can be promoted out of the field and into weapons instruction at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. Art doesn't think it's a bad idea, but he has to think about whether to reward Raylan with a promotion.

Sheriff Doyle Bennett enters his mama's almost empty store with news: Boyd Crowder wants to talk. Naturally, Dickie Bennett is infuriated by the thought of negotiation with a Crowder, but Mother Mags agrees to it. Her mistake with Boyd: "Thinking I had the measure of him."

Boyd, meanwhile, has a clandestine meeting with cop Nick, who explains that the Bennetts screwed the entire town with the Black Pike deal — and that they need to be taken out. Boyd laughs. "You're doing this to get Doyle out of the way, so you can be chief of police," he says. Nick doesn't argue.

Raylan, meanwhile, gets big news from Winona: she's pregnant. Raylan is overjoyed. The two kiss — and the marshal swears that he will quit if Art doesn't grant his request for a transfer to Glynco. Later, Doyle and Mags meet Arlo and Boyd at the church. "I think we can both agree that bloodletting is bad for business," Boyd says. Mags insists that she had a deal with Boyd to stay out of the pot business — and he broke it. Boyd then hands over a briefcase filled with the money he took from Dickie. "Every single dollar," Boyd says. Mags appears pleased.

Of course, Mags isn't about to let Boyd off the hook so easy. Sure enough, she has sent her goons out to assassinate those closest to Boyd. First is Johnny, who gets the better of his would-be killers by hiding in a nearby barn and blowing up his own house with the assassins inside. Then, it's Ava, who's guarded by Devil and two more guns Boyd has hiding in a shed. While gun thugs draw the attention of her guards, Dickie himself suddenly enters Ava's kitchen and shoots her in the chest, then heads out. Devil shoots at Dickie's pick-up truck as it races away from the house, but while his thugs are all killed, Dickie himself escape.

Back inside the church, Doyle gets a call. He shakes his head. The assassinations weren't entirely successful. Boyd immediately picks up on the signal. "I take it that's bad news," Boyd says to Mags, adding, "I think we understand each other." Boyd and Arlo leave.

Raylan, meanwhile, gets a call: Loretta has gone missing. Turns out she has taken her foster father's gun along with $300. (Loretta previously had faked a head cold in order to stay home from church in order to get the things she needed to have to go back to Harlan).

Loretta, who is at a gas station with Wade, a friend of her father's friends, who agreed to take her back to Harlan. The two soon part ways — and Wade warns Loretta to stay away from the Bennetts. "I've come this far, I will see this through," Loretta says. "I owe daddy that much."

Later, Winona asks Raylan to "leave it alone" and let the authorities find Loretta. Raylan is incredulous. "Go to Harlan," she says. "I can't promise you I'll be here when you get back." Boyd, in the meantime, races home to find Ava bleeding on the couch. Devil tells a distraught Boyd that Dickie did it. Boyd makes a call: a high price is now on Dickie's head.

At marshals' HQ, Winona pleads with Art to intercede in Raylan's situation because she is convinced, with justification, that it's more than he can handle by himself. Art tells her that whatever Raylan is doing is personal and not marshal business. She begs him for help. "Sometimes you just can't help," he tells her.

Raylan pays a visit to Wade, who admits to giving Loretta a ride. Raylan is about to cuff Wade when he is bashed on the head from behind by Dickie. "No one's gonna tell me that wasn't no base hit!" a fired-up Dickie exclaims.

Sometime later, Raylan finds himself hanging upside down from a tree ... with Dickie laughing and holding a baseball bat. Dickie tells him that the average human being takes 7,000 steps a day, and that he figures Raylan owes him 20 years of steps for wrecking his knee when they were kids. Dickie swings and makes contact with Raylan' torso. Another swing catches Raylan in the shoulder. "This ain't no three-strike game," Dickie tells his old nemesis. "I get as many swings as I want."

Just then, Boyd emerges, pointing a gun at Dickie. The Bennett boy drops his weapons and cuts Raylan down on Boyd's order. Boyd explains that Dickie shot Ava as Dickie, realizing that he's in a non-survivable situation with Boyd, blabbers for his life. Raylan understands Boyd's need for revenge, but insists that he needs Dickie to find Loretta.

"You asking me or you telling me?" Boyd asks. Says a stone-faced Raylan: "If it makes you feel better, you can tell people I asked."

Loretta walking along the side of the highway. She soon shows up at the Bennett homestead. "I've come to see Mags," she tells the gun thugs at the gate who block her passage onto the porch.

But Mags happily welcomes Loretta, the daughter she never had, back into her home. "You came at a difficult time, but I'm glad you came," Mags tells the teenager, who refuses a drink of water. "I didn't come for refreshments," says a crying Loretta, who pulls out her gun and points it unsteadily at the old woman. Mags then tries to blame Coover for killing Loretta's father, claiming her only crime was protecting her son.

Outside, Raylan arrives, holding a gun to Dickie's head and demanding to see Loretta. Doyle refuses to accommodate the marshal. Inside, Loretta panics as Mags closes in on her, trying to talk the young girl down. At the last moment, she shoots Mags in the leg.

The sound of the gunshot spooks the armed goons who open fire. Raylan is shot in the side and falls to the ground as a panicked Dickie flings himself onto the front seat and starts screaming in terror.

Raylan rolls over and finds Doyle hovering above him with gun in hand. "This bullet's been on its way for 20 years," growls Doyle as his finger tightens on the trigger.

A suppressed shot is heard and a dark hole appears in Doyle's forehead as blood and brain matter spurt from the rear of his skull. He falls forward and government agents burst from the nearby brush as law enforcement vehicles flood onto the Bennett property. Turns out Art along with Deputy Marshals Tim Gutterson and Rachel Brooks and others, has decided to lend his employee a hand, after all.

Raylan thanks his boss and then heads inside the house to find Loretta still holding a gun on Mags. "I'm tired of people telling me as much truth as they see fit," she mutters determinedly.

A pained Mags confesses, "It wasn't Coover who did it. It was me." Raylan warns that if Loretta pulls the trigger, her life will change — and "not for the better." Loretta reluctantly lowers the gun. She is escorted out of the house by the agents. Raylan then tells Mags that Doyle is dead and Dickie is under arrest. Mags then offers Raylan a drink of her apple pie moonshine.

They both drink. "Good as I ever remember," Raylan says. Mags then offers Raylan her hand as a peace offering — and clutches it hard. "Mags, what did you do?" Raylan asks, alarmed.

But Mags didn't poison Raylan. She poisoned her own glass. "This is the hard part," the old woman says while shaking violently. "I get to see my boys again," she whispers before closing her eyes. Mags convulses and dies where she sits — across the table from Raylan, who simply watches her die.

Appearances[]

First Appearances[]

  1. Wade Messer - Drug addict and associate of Dickie Bennett who helps to lead Raylan Givens into a trap.
  2. Doc Stern - A doctor called in to check on Ava Crowder after Dickie shoots her.
  3. Officer Keith Riley - Kentucky Police Officer called in after Loretta McCready escapes from her foster home.

Deaths[]

  1. Two of Dickie's men - Killed with explosives by Johnny while entering his home.
  2. Three of Dickie's men - Sent to kill Ava, shot by Devil and his two friends.
  3. Doyle Bennett - Shot by US Marshal sniper.
  4. Mags Bennett - Suicide by poisoned moonshine.

Cast[]

Starring cast

Guest stars

Co-starring

Screenshot Gallery[]

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