Justified Wiki
Advertisement

"This Bird Has Flown" is the fourth episode of the fourth season, and the 43rd episode in the series overall. It was written by Taylor Elmore and directed by Bill Johnson. It first aired on January 29, 2013.

Plot[]

Synopsis[]

Raylan's hunt for his stolen money leads to a confrontation with a bareknuckle brawler, while Boyd and Ava face a decision that threatens to destroy them.

Recap[]

Raylan, his apartment tossed and stash of money missing, tries to put his apartment above the bar back together. It looks as if Lindsey might have absconded along with Randall. "You going to report it?" Rachel asks. Raylan declines. Lindsey and Randall, meanwhile, are at Joe's place, where a huge party is being thrown. Randall explains that he and his lovely wife were able to lay their hands on a wad of cash earlier than expected. "Alls you gotta do is deliver what you promised," Randall tells Joe, who agrees to make a call. "See, baby, I told you this thing was meant to be," Randall tells Lindsey.

Ellen May enters Johnny's bar. Now that the preacher has been killed by a poisonous snake, the prostitute wants to come home to Boyd and Ava. Ava is skeptical. Ellen May knows quite a bit — too much. Has she said anything? Boyd asks Colt to track down Cassie and see if Ellen May confessed to anything.

Rachel and Raylan, in the meantime, visit Joe's place the day after the party, and everybody is extremely hungover. Fighter/bartender Gina comes on to Raylan, and offers to wrestle him for information. Raylan is not amused and Gina agrees to take the marshals into the house to meet Joe, who is having sex with two women. Raylan interrupts Joe in the act and asks nicely for the whereabouts of Randall and Lindsey. And then he asks not-so-nicely. Turns out Randall and Lindsey stole Raylan's money as a down payment to begin managing a cock-fighting ring. Rachel is late for work, but she does give Raylan a shotgun before she leaves him to hunt down the pair by himself.

Cassie is soon brought in by Shelby, who warns the woman that Boyd's men are looking for her. "He will kill you quick as look at you twice," the sheriff says. Cassie, still in mourning for her brother, weeps. She says Boyd will get his eventually from the good Lord above. When Cassie leaves, it's revealed that Boyd has been listening in on Shelby's speaker phone. It appears Ellen May hasn't said anything to Cassie, but Ava is still concerned.

Lindsey flirts with the clerk at a gas station while Randall steals beer. Later, the two share a drink and a laugh, but something is bothering Randall. He just can't stand that another man flirted with Lindsey — even if she was deliberately distracting him so a crime could be committed. Randall drives back to the gas station and pummels the clerk. While Randall is inside, Lindsey makes a call on a payphone but must hang up quickly when he reappears.

Turns out she called Raylan, who traces the call back to the gas station, where the battered clerk IDs the couple and says they were heading for a nearby farm. Outside, Rachel tells Raylan that she has to go to work, but gives her colleague a parting gift: a shotgun. Raylan is much obliged. Ava, meanwhile, tells Ellen May that she will be sent to Alabama to work for Boyd's cousin. "You're getting the chance I never got," Ava says. "You get to start over."

Raylan drives to the farm and finds Randall and Lindsey camped out. They banter back and forth for a bit before Raylan fires the shotgun into Randall's gut. It's loaded with beanbag rounds and it knocks Randall down. Raylan then wonders if Lindsey called him because she wanted to see the two men in her life beat the living hell out of each other. And when Randall suddenly leaps to his feet, the much-anticipated, bare-knuckle brawl erupts.

Lindsey picks up the shotgun and shoots Raylan. Then she turns the shotgun on Randall; shooting him once, twice and then a third time, and knocks him out using the butt of the gun for good measure. She tells the groggy Raylan that his money is in the nearby van. "I knew you liked me," he says through gritted teeth, before passing out. When Raylan comes to, Lindsey is gone. He cuffs Randall to the van, then looks inside — and finding only chickens. So both Raylan and Randall are out of luck. Before leaving Randall to be found by state troopers for violating his parole, Raylan shoots him a final time. When Raylan and Rachel talks later, he makes it clear he's not going to try and find Lindsey.

Back at Johnny's bar, Ellen May tells Ava she doesn't want to leave and that she would never tell anybody about "what we've done." Ava tells her that Colt will drive her to Alabama. On the ride there, Colt gets a call. "You sure?" Colt says into the phone. "All right. All right." And just like that, Ellen May's fate is decided. He lies and tell Ellen May that it was Ava calling to say she had changed her mind and Ellen May could come back to work if she wanted. Colt stops at a gas station, enters the bathroom to get high to relax himself to do the deed, and makes sure his gun is loaded. When he emerges from the toilet, however, Ellen May is gone. "Shit," Colt mutters.

Appearances[]

First Appearances[]

  1. Alvin - A gas station clerk who is pummeled by Randall Kusik in a jealous rage when he flirts with Lindsey Salazar.
  2. Gina - A cooperative bartender/fighter who takes Deputy US Marshals Raylan Givens and Rachel Brooks to Joe Hoppus when they visit his home.
  3. Patterson Gaines - A cock-fighting package organizer who is in charge of assembling a starter kit for Randall.

Deaths[]

  • No deaths in this episode.

Production[]

Cast[]

Starring cast

Guest stars

Co-stars

  • JT Alexander as Rufus
  • Jeffrey A. Baker as Reveler
  • Unknown as Ned

Screenshot Gallery[]

Advertisement