TRAILER: "Hannibal" Season 2

The new trailer for Hannibal's second season, which premieres Friday, February 28th:

RECAP: SNL 1/18 "Drake"

SNL comes back with a bang, as Drake turns out to be a fantastic host, switching characters so quickly and with such a ease he makes you wish he was a cast member himself. He was that good.

COLD OPEN: It's a Piers Morgan sketch, the one they do when they want to recap a bunch of current events that happened when they were off the air, and we see Bobby as the bullying Chris Christie, Drake as an embattled Alex Rodriguez, and best of all, Kate in a priceless imitation of Justin Bieber. Good start.

MONOLOGUE: An energetic Drake comes bounding out to tell us the unknown facts about himself, mainly that he's Canadian, Jewish and used to be on Degrassi- which then leads to a skit of his Bar Mitzvah where his black and Jewish family members had to interact. It's pretty funny, especially his rap where he lists off family traits.

BEFORE THEY WERE STARS: Kenan as Sway hosts a BET look back on classic shows with their original cast members, giving everybody a chance to do their celebrity impressions. My favorite is Jay as 2 Chainz on a Disney Channel show, but this sketch is most significant for introducing us to Sasheer Zameer, who makes her debut on SNL after all the hype in recent weeks. She does a wordless Rihanna as the original Blossom, but we do get to see her and she'll show up in quite a few skits after this one. A good sketch, if a little too long.

NANCY GRACE: Noel Wells takes on Nancy Grace as she targets marijuana legalization in Colorado, but her impression is fairly weak. What's funny in this one is Kate as Colorado's new Walter White, selling pot cookies, and Drake again as Katt Williams in a hilarious impersonation.

RESOLUTION REVOLUTION: Pre-taped rap bit about already broken New Year's resolution with Drake, Jay and Sasheer showing up again. Another good one!

SLUMBER PARTY: The first dud for me, as this primarily features my least favorite SNL cast member, Aidy (sorry guys, but she is just NOT funny to me) as a teen with the hots for her friend's (Sasheer again) dad at a sleepover party. Aidy doesn't do it for me and this one's way too long, but Drake completely transforms once again as the dorky dad and draws attention to himself just by being so chameleon-like. 

WEEKEND UPDATE: Jokes about Christie, the healthcare website, and a great bit making fun of Jacqueline Bisset (Vanessa), who's called to the stage, but of course can't get there in time, spoofing her miles long walk at the Golden Globes. Nasim also shows up as Arianna Huffington for what's probably the last time with Seth.

DISNEY WORLD SHOW: Drake is one of those insanely upbeat Disney World employees trying to make Rahad, the awkward, foreign volunteer (Nasim), participate in the Indiana Jones show, but she doesn't understand anything he's saying. Drake once again steals the sketch- he's so completely in tune with the character that I really believed he worked at Disney World. He's killing it tonight.

POETRY TEACHER: This is Vanessa's return as the weird, hippie poetry teacher (I called that she'd be back) and Drake as a student hitting on her. It's funny and short.

MORNIN' MIAMI: Yay, the grumpy news team! Kate, Bobby and Drake are the morning news team that hates each other, doing the ridiculous promos with crazier and crazier intros every time. Love this one.

I KNOW: Ok, this is the third pre-recorded bit with newbies Beck and Kyle that I can remember and it has utterly failed every single time. Why on earth do they continue to put these on the air? Seriously, what a bummer way to end a good episode.

So, the takeaway from tonight is that Drake is hilarious and frankly, better than a lot of their cast members. I'm sure he'll be back to host again as I'd love to see him return. And the rest was mostly pretty good! Aside from just two sketches that didn't work, I give the episode a B+ and Drake's hosting skills an A+, but all in all, it was a good night back and a good night for Sasheer's debut, as she seemed to be having fun at least. Too early to tell what she'll be like on the show, but they showed her off enough to make us familiar with her presence pretty quick, which was smart. Next weekend Jonah Hill returns with musical guest Bastille- see you then everyone!

Breaking Bad, Modern Family Win at the SAG Awards

Breaking Bad triumphed, as expected, at the SAG awards tonight, as Modern Family also won ensemble for the fourth time. SAG just can't be bothered to watch anything else in comedy, I guess. Surprise wins were Helen Mirren and Ty Burrell, and while Maggie Smith winning an award for Downton Abbey is never exactly a shock, I really thought she was the least likely winner up against some of that competition. I mean, over Claire Danes, Kerry Washington and Anna Gunn, really? I ended up going 5/8 in my predictions- not great, but at least an improvement over the Golden Globes:

• Male Actor in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra 
• Female Actor in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
• Male Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Female Actor in a Drama Series: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
• Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Ty Burrell, Modern Family
• Female Actor in Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series: Breaking Bad
• Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Series: Modern Family

SAG TV Predictions

At the risk of getting them all wrong, like I did at the Globes, I'm still going to give it a try with my TV predictions at SAG. Hopefully, they won't be as quirky here, and I don't think they will because they are such a big, mainstream group.

Male Actor in a TV Movie/Mini

• Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
• Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
• Jeremy Irons, The Hollow Crown
• Rob Lowe, Killing Kennedy
• Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Michael Douglas once again. At least I haven't gone wrong in predicting him.

Female Actor in a TV Movie/Mini

• Angela Bassett, Betty & Coretta
• Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
• Holly Hunter, Top of the Lake
• Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
• Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

I'm going to say Elisabeth Moss. SAG will follow the Globes lead on this one, and good for her, because she deserves it.

Male Actor in a Drama Series

• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
• Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
• Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Bryan Cranston for the last season of Breaking Bad. He's won a couple times before and will get one for the final run.

Female Actor in a Drama Series

• Claire Danes, Homeland
• Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
• Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
• Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
• Kerry Washington, Scandal

Hmmm. I think Kerry Washington could take this category, but Anna Gunn may also win with all the love for Breaking Bad. I'll say Anna Gunn.

Male Actor in a Comedy Series

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
• Ty Burrell, Modern Family
• Don Cheadle, House of Lies
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Ugh. Alec Baldwin has won this category something like seven years in a row for 30 Rock, so I guess he has to get it for the final season. 

Female Actor in a Comedy Series

• Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
• Julie Bowen, Modern Family
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

It's gotta be Julia Louis-Dreyfus, right? Her not winning the Globe was a shock, so I think she's still out front here, but Tina Fey might be a close second for the last season of 30 Rock.

Ensemble in a Drama Series

• Boardwalk Empire
• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• Homeland

This one belongs to the Breaking Bad cast for sure.

Ensemble in a Comedy Series

• 30 Rock
• Arrested Development
• The Big Bang Theory
• Modern Family
• Veep

I think this award could honestly go to any one of those shows. Thinking about what a huge group SAG is (and they've only gotten broader since merging with AFTRA last year, which means this guild now includes TV and radio personalities, believe it or not, so this isn't even all actors anymore), it may go to the most widely watched and respected one, Modern Family. In fact, the more I look at that list the less certain I am for any of them. So, since this is my last chance to pick Arrested Development for anything anyway, I'll go ahead and predict them. They're a great, beloved cast of actors- maybe SAG wants to welcome them back. It's as good a reason to pick that as any of the others.

RECAP: Justified 5x02 "The Kids Aren't All Right"

A really good episode tonight, one that tries to cram in an awful lot of storylines involving separate people, a move that I can only assume is set-up for intersecting plots in the future. But there sure are a lot of them. We open with some new baddies, played by real life brothers Steve and Wood Harris, beating up a kid for screwing up a dope transaction. Then Hot Rod Dunham, a dealer from Memphis, walks in to yell at the kid for losing his stash, and that signals the end of the kid, as the Harris brothers (I'm calling them that) shoot him dead simultaneously.

Now we're in the hospital as it turns out Lee Paxton has not died, but is now in a coma, with his wife Mara wondering if he'll ever wake up. The deputy sheriff in the room figures out it was Boyd who attacked him and couldn't be more delighted (this is Mooney, the guy who arrested Ava), cuddling up to Mara and creepily promising to take care of Boyd for her. As we finally get to Raylan, he and his fellow marshals (hi Tim and Rachel!) are arresting a rich corrupt business guy and checking out his loaded mansion as he whines about losing his stuff and the maid and housekeeper look on bemusedly. Raylan plays around with his Confederate gun and hilariously decides to take off in his car, while Rachel saddles him in handcuffs and takes him away. And that's all of the perpetually underused Tim and Rachel we get in this episode, unfortunately.

After the credits Ava and Boyd are talking at the prison, and Ava's upset that Boyd put Paxton in the hospital since they needed him to recant his testimony to get her out. Boyd tries to reassure her that he's doing everything he can and that he's got things under control, but Ava is still worried and hates being in there. Of course, back at the bar Boyd admits to his little henchmen that he doesn't have things under control, when he's surprised by Mooney and Mara, who come charging in accusing him of assaulting Paxton. Mooney moves to arrest Boyd but Mara changes her tune at the last minute and says it wasn't him. Boyd is smug while Mooney is furious, and they storm out after Mara coolly insists once more it wasn't him as she and Boyd exchange looks. 

Raylan is called down to the county jail when he's told Loretta's been arrested for selling weed to a cop's kid, and told the cops that Raylan would vouch for her. Raylan talks to her through the bars as we see Loretta for the first time in a couple of years and she's definitely gotten older. Raylan scolds her for using his name and refuses to spring her even when she promises never to ask him for help again. On his way out, Loretta's douchey boyfriend Derek yells at him for not being cool, which Raylan brushes off in his typical way, and then he bumps into Amy Smart, playing another new character- she's Alison, Loretta's social worker. Of course, the two immediately start flirting (yeah, she's Raylan's type) as Alison insults the boyfriend but also Raylan for thinking the best way to help Loretta is to leave her in jail. 

At Dewey's new whorehouse that he's running, Boyd's henchman is there trying to get the bartender to sneak into Dewey's room somehow to snatch the $300,000 that Boyd needs for Ava. Dewey walk in on them talking though, and they quickly make up a story about wanting Chrissy the hooker back, who Dewey had fired because she was fat. Dewey falls for it right away of course, being the idiot that he is. Raylan meanwhile decides to pay a visit to Derek to order him to break up with Loretta (although this might be to impress Alison), but finds him being intimidated by the Harris brothers over something they try to cover up when Raylan walks in the room. The guys ditch the place and Raylan tells Derek to dump Loretta before ditching him as well.

At the hospital, Mara is smoking an e-cigarette when she's accosted by Boyd in the hallway, who wants to know why she didn't rat him out. Turns out Mara wants the money he offered Paxton in order to go home to Latvia. When Boyd offers to finish Paxton off so she can just inherit his wealth she tells him her pre-nup states they have to be married for ten years or she gets nothing. Boyd doesn't have the money, but Mara says he'll figure something out as she walks away in a sultry manner. I hope this isn't the case but it seems like they might be setting up a weird sexual tension thing between these two. Is it just me or does anyone else see that?

Back at the bar, Boyd's late, so Wynn Duffy starts the meeting with the local dealers who are all angry that the shipment hasn't come in yet. One local in particular, Cyrus, wants to know the details of when exactly the stuff's coming, but before Duffy can handle him Boyd walks in and takes over in his usual smoothtalking way. He promises everyone the shipment in two days along with free drinks, which seems to satisfy the majority of the guys, but Cyrus looks dubious. At the marshal's office, Art offers Raylan the rich guy's house to live in while he's away and Raylan agrees to it, and also finds out that Sammy Tonin called the office looking for him just hours before he met his end in Detroit last week. Raylan's baffled as to what he'd want and tells Art the last time he saw him he told him to call him if he's looking to make a deal, but if Art goes digging he may find out the last time Raylan really saw Sammy was when he set up the hit on Nicky at the end of last season. Knew that was going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Loretta storms in to tell Raylan that Derek's missing in a teary-eyed fashion, and we cut to the Harris brothers forcing him to dig a hole in the middle of nowhere, looking for the money he and Loretta supposedly stashed there. Derek's bloody and beaten, but the money's gone, and right before they shoot him Raylan shows up to knock one of the brothers out with a shovel and find out this all goes further up, as Loretta and Derek made a deal with Hot Rod. Meanwhile, Mara's driving home when Mooney pulls her over and tosses her out of the car, threatening her with a knife to come in to the station the next morning and insist that Boyd did attack her husband, or he'll make her life miserable, and presumably kill her. 

Raylan's now waiting around in an alley for Hot Rod to show up, along with the Harris brothers, Derek, and Loretta, having called him to finish their "business" dealings. Hot Rod comes along and name drops Arlo as an old crime buddy, but Raylan's not impressed, making fun of the guy for doing business with teenagers and expecting things not to go wrong. Hot Rod threatens to shoot him dead, but Raylan doesn't flinch as usual, threatening back the same in an instant, but with his marshal star, his actions will all be legal. The charade works, as Hot Rod backs off and Raylan drives the kids away, kicking Derek out on the street to take the bus. He wants Loretta to go with him, but Loretta chooses instead to stay with Raylan, who takes her home as she falls asleep in the front seat.

When Raylan drops her off, he realizes she played him by moving the money on purpose so that Derek would go missing and she could get Raylan to come and take care of the Hot Rod issue, a plan he followed to the tee. She says he wasn't played though, as he simply is who he is, and Raylan tells her to take it easy on the rest of them in her next scheme. Cyrus the dealer is now having fun shooting at junkies on the sidewalk with a BB gun, when a female junkie/hooker comes up to him and asks where the stuff is. He tells her it's coming in the next day as they flirt and giggle, and I guess this guy's going to be significant in the future, because otherwise there's no real point to this scene. 

At the whorehouse, Dewey's playing around with his own hookers when he's called  up to the bar because what do you know, his cousin Daryll has just showed up! Daryll hugs a stunned and scared Dewey and tells him it's good to see him as we cut to Arlo calling the Detroit police department (or marshal's office?) to do just what I figured he might, which is to start digging into Sammy Tonin's recent whereabouts/activities. Raylan's now on a date with Alison (that was quick), who is trying hard to resist the Raylan charm as she points out all the red flags surrounding him, one being that he's now living in a criminal's house and using his stuff. She also mentions Winona and the baby but Raylan defers as always, looking very close to winning her over. I'm sure she'll be hooked by the next episode.

Speaking of things that happened fast, at the hospital, the comatose Paxton actually wakes up with Mara by his side, and Boyd is on his way out to the pick-up spot when he and his guys see that everything's been hit. Bodies are everywhere, cars are shot up and of course, the dope is gone. Boyd grimly orders his guys to clean everything up as they wonder who could have done it. And that's the end, folks. LOTS of stuff going on, but it's mostly all set-up at this point, with various baddies and a ton of new characters introduced in these last two episodes. I think the Harris brothers are my favorites of the newbies right now, not sure how much I like Amy Smart (I've never really liked any of Raylan's girlfriends though), and I think the Mara thing with Boyd might be the most intriguing plotline so far. See you next week!

TRAILER: "Game of Thrones" Season 4

A new trailer for Game of Thrones premiered last night! The fourth season starts Sunday, April 6th:

Breaking Bad, Brooklyn Nine-Nine Win the Top Golden Globes for TV

It was a great night for Breaking Bad and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as the Globes followed their usual tradition of honoring the brand spanking new show wherever they can:

DRAMA

• Series: Breaking Bad
• Lead Actor: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Lead Actress: Robin Wright, House of Cards

COMEDY

• Series: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
• Lead Actor: Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
• Lead Actress: Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

MOVIE/MINISERIES

• Movie/Mini: Behind the Candelabra
• Actor: Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
• Actress: Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake
• Supporting Actor in a Series/Movie/Mini: Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
• Supporting Actress in a Series/Movie/Mini: Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge

So, yeah, I completely bombed out in my TV predictions, folks. A horrible 3/11 here- it's enough to vow never to predict the Globes again, at least in the TV categories (at least I did better on the movie side). I have to remember that new shows rule at the Globes- the Hollywood Foreign Press always, always goes for the new show, no matter how under the radar it might be. Still, I couldn't be happier that the Globes finally recognized Breaking Bad, Amy Poehler and Elisabeth Moss. Weirdest moment of the night was Jacqueline Bisset's horribly awkward and embarrassing speech at the beginning while Tina and Amy did a great job hosting the show for the second year in a row. But they've really, really got to figure out a way to not have the TV people be seated in Siberia, so that it takes them years to get up to the stage. I swear, 10% of the broadcast was people hiking to the stage. Other than that, the show itself was fairly uneventful this year- no crazy drunken antics, unless you count Emma Thompson's shoe toss, but that was pretty clearly planned, no nutty acceptance speeches. Everything went off pretty smoothly.

Golden Globe TV Predictions

On the TV side, the Globes can be kinda wacky and weird- the only pattern they ever follow is that they love brand new, first year shows most of the time. Here are my best guesses as to what they'll honor for television:

Best Drama TV Series

• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• The Good Wife
• House of Cards
• Masters of Sex

I originally though Breaking Bad, but I forgot that the Hollywood Foreign Press was the last organization to even acknowledge the show in nominations, let alone wins. They just don't like it, they never have. I'm not sure the final season, as great as it was, is enough for a group that has never warmed to this show to pick it simply because of the hype. So my prediction is House of Cards, which is way more their kind of thing- classy production, movie stars on TV, politics, etc. They'll be the first to honor Netflix with a major television award.

Best Actress- Drama

• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
• Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black
• Kerry Washington, Scandal
• Robin Wright, House of Cards

I'm saying Tatiana Maslany. If they saw even a single episode of Orphan Black they'll pick her. Plus she's new, young and in a brand new show, which fits their typical winner in this category. Spoiler would be Kerry Washington, whose profile has been raised considerably in the last year.

Best Actor- Drama

• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
• Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
• Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
• James Spader, The Blacklist

The movie star for the win. Amazingly, Kevin Spacey has never won a single Globe despite 7 nominations. This will be his first, unless they somehow fall for Michael Sheen in Masters of Sex.

Best Comedy TV Series

• The Big Bang Theory
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine
• Girls
• Modern Family
• Parks and Recreation

This is actually really tough. The new show is Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is well-reviewed but really under the radar as hardly anyone watches it. They already gave it to Girls last year, Modern Family's old news...could it somehow be Parks and Rec? Incredibly, this is its first nomination after all these years, but I have to go with The Big Bang Theory based on popularity alone.

Best Actress- Comedy

• Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
• Lena Dunham, Girls
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Julia Louis-Dreyfus will take this lying down. She lost last year to Lena Dunham, but that grave mistake won't be repeated this time. It's hers.

Best Actor- Comedy

• Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
• Don Cheadle, House of Lies
• Michael J. Fox, The Michael J. Fox Show
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
• Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

A total wild card, as frankly none of these nominees are hyped in any way this year. Could be Jim Parsons, could be Michael J. Fox even though his show has been badly received. I'm gonna have to go out on a limb and say Jason Bateman wlll be the shock winner here as a welcome back for Arrested Development. He won this years ago during the original run.

Best TV Movie/Miniseries

• American Horror Story: Coven
• Behind the Candelabra
• Dancing on the Edge
• Top of the Lake
• White Queen

Behind the Candelabra. Done Deal.

Best Actress Movie/Mini

• Helena Bonham-Carter, Burton and Taylor
• Rebecca Ferguson, The White Queen
• Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
• Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
• Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

I have absolutely no idea here. They may choose Helena Bonham Carter on name recognition, or it could be Lange or Mirren due to respect. Jessica Lange is my pick.

Best Actor Movie/Mini

• Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
• Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
• Idris Elba, Luther
• Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Michael Douglas hands down. Easy one.

Best Supporting Actress in a Series/Movie/Mini

• Jacqueline Bissett, Dancing on the Edge
• Janet McTeer, The White Queen
• Hayden Panattiere, Nashville
• Monica Potter, Parenthood
• Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

It's ridiculous that they lump supporting acting for everything on TV into one category, but since that will never change, this is another total shot in the dark- I'm saying it'll be Monica Potter, who had the most critical acclaim for her role on Parenthood last season.

Best Supporting Actor in a Series/Movie/Mini

• Josh Charles, The Good Wife
• Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra
• Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
• Corey Stoll, House of Cards
• Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Probably Jon Voight. The biggest name, the flashiest role. I'd be surprised if he lost.

That's it everybody! Tune in to the Globes on Sunday to see how badly I do here (hopefully I'll do better on the movie side). I'll post the full winners list Sunday night.

People's Choice Awards- TV Winners

Nothing completely swept tonight, but here were the big winners:

• Network TV Drama: The Good Wife
• Network TV Comedy: The Big Bang Theory
• On-screen Chemistry: Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev, The Vampire Diaries
• Comedy TV Actress: Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory
• Comedy TV Actor: Chris Colfer, Glee
• Drama TV Actor: Josh Charles, The Good Wife
• Drama TV Actress: Stana Katic, Castle
• Cable TV Drama: The Walking Dead
• Cable TV Comedy: Psych
• Actor in a New TV Series: Joseph Morgan, The Originals
• Actress in a New TV Series: Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Crazy Ones
• Late Night Talk Show Host: Stephen Colbert
• Sci-fi/Fantasy Series: Beauty and the Beast
• Sci-fi/Fantasy TV Actor: Ian Somerhalder, The Vampire Diaries
• Sci-fi/Fantasy TV Actress: Kristin Kreuk, Beauty and the Beast
• Cable TV Actress: Lucy Hale, Arrested Development
• Streaming Series: Orange is the New Black
• TV Crime Drama: Castle
• TV Movie/Miniseries: American Horror Story: Coven
• New TV Comedy: Super Fun Night
• New TV Drama: Reign
• Anti-Hero: Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead
• TV Bromance: Sam, Dean & Castiel, Supernatural
• TV Gal Pals: Rachel & Santana, Glee
• Competition TV Show: The Voice
• Premium Cable TV Show: Homeland
• Daytime TV Host: Ellen Degeneres
• New Talk Show Host: Queen Latifah
• Series We Miss Most: Breaking Bad

RECAP: Justified 5x01 "A Murder of Crowes"

Yay, Justified is back! It's long been one of my favorite shows on TV and I couldn't be more excited to be recapping the fifth season, which kicked off tonight with a premiere entitled, "A Murder of Crowes." Although there were several non-Crowes who bit the bullet tonight, as this episode may have even set the record for the sheer number of people who got done away with. We jump right in with a hilarious courtroom scene where it turns out our old skeezy pal Dewey Crowe and his lawyer are stating the multiple physical assaults poor Dewey has been subjected to by Raylan, who as always, sits on the witness stand with a casual smirk on his face, denying he caused Dewey any real harm over the years. Stephen Root resumes his role (there are a lot of recurring guests tonight) as Judge Reardon, who ends up giving Dewey a $300,000 settlement, which he of course mistakes at first for just $300 dollars total and is stunned and thrilled by the correct amount he just received.

We then cut to another legal meeting, where Boyd, Ava and their lawyer are talking about how to get her out of the prison debacle she was landed in at the end of last season. Boyd cuts off the lawyer and tells him to put headphones on while he then proceeds to tell Ava about the shady manuevers he's pulling, including bribing judges, in order to get her out. It's awfully sweet in a Boyd/Ava kind of way, as they hug and kiss before he promises she'll be wearing her engagement ring soon enough, and Ava is then hauled away in her grey prison jumpsuit.

We now come to the first murders of the night, as Boyd and his goons meet up on the bridge with the guys who are supposed to be selling them their dope from Detroit, and things go very wrong when the dudes try to double-cross them because they don't have it. Boyd and his guys shoot them all dead, including one hiding in the van, but not before a bullet grazes Boyd's ear and he has to spend the rest of the episode in a bandage people keep asking him about. He angrily calls his new partner Wynn Duffy (now series regular Jere Burns!) and tells them they're headed to Detroit.

Man, that was a lot of action before the opening credits. When we get back we're meeting up with some new hicks, one Cuban guy and one seemingly Kentucky hillbilly with a stutter, but it turns out we're in Florida, as the two get in an argument with a corrupt Coast Guard they've been working with, who tells them he wants out of their arrangement. He of course, eventually gets blown away by the stutterer after making fun of him too many times, marking the second bloody death scene in about ten minutes. Meanwhile, Art more or less explains to Raylan back in Harlan who's involved in this and they turn out to be members of the extended Crowe clan down in Florida. Raylan doesn't want to go to Florida though, even when Art drops hints about him visiting Winona and his new baby daughter (good- she finally had that kid after one of the world's longest pregnancies) and prefers to question the local Crowe here in Kentucky.

So he heads out to do so, and we find out Dewey is now the new owner of a bar and is keeping company with some naked girls in his backyard pool when Raylan comes over to badger him. After some typically fun Justified banter with Dewey cowering naked in front of Raylan, he eventually tells them he knows nothing about the murder because he stays away from his Florida cousins, who are bad news all around. Raylan believes him but shoots  a couple of holes in his pool before leaving, which deflates immediately as Dewey whines. Raylan now shows up in Florida, partnering with the local marshal Greg Sutter (played by David Koechner), where they're briefed on the operations of the Crowe clan, comprised of Elvis (the Cuban guy) and brothers Dilly (the stutterer) and Daryll Jr., who Raylan has had past dealings with, locking up Daryll before.

Now we get Dilly and Elvis coming to meet up with Darryll to inform him of the murder of the guard, and Daryll is not pleased, yelling at them both to pay to make the body disappear before it turns into a federal situation. Meanwhile Boyd and Duffy are now in Detroit, which is a place so dire it will amusingly be filmed only in a bleak gray saturated palette, like we wandered into a Clint Eastwood movie all of a sudden. Boyd and Duffy are searched at what looks like a condemned building and told to walk up to the 14th floor with a chainsaw and grocery bag.

Raylan and Greg make their way to the Crowe swamplands to interrogate the guy who poaches the alligators, but he claims ignorance even though he's clearly associated with the Crowes. Raylan claims they've met before when he came after Daryll with a search warrant but the guy won't budge, showing off his folksy storytelling instead. Raylan drops the info about Dewey's newfound wealth within earshot of the guy, who immediately calls Daryll to tell him they're looking for him when the marshals leave. Back in the washed out world of Detroit, Boyd and Duffy are searched again by a new set of guys at the top level, including Picker, who needs the chainsaw to interrogate a guy in the back room. Boyd won't give him the money and wants to see Sammy Tonin instead, who's now running the operation. He shows up in his familiar weaselly manner, but as soon as he steps toward Boyd he's blown away by Picker along with the guy in the back room. Bye Sammy. Hardly got to know you again. Boyd and Duffy are showered with blood splatter and are at first stunned, but Boyd quickly gets the upper hand on Picker, forcing him to tell him that he's made a deal with the Canadians who wanted Sammy dead. Boyd demands a meet with the Canooks.

Raylan and Greg are hanging out in a diner exchanging pleasantries, and it turns out Greg's quite a family man, with kids of his own and passive aggressively hints Raylan should pay a visit to his, but Raylan shrugs it off. Suddenly a redheaded woman claiming to be Daryll Crowe's lawyer comes up to them and tries to gain a deal for Daryll's parole ending on the basis of his cooperation. She also reveals she's Daryll's sister before Daryll himself walks in and sits down with the marshals, denying knowledge of the murder, but offering to give up Elvis and Dilly with a plan of his own.

Boyd and Duffy are now suffering through a snack with Canadians Will Sasso and Dave Foley ("shitty donuts" according to Boyd), who say they're finished doing business with them because of the escalating chainsaw violence. Boyd turns over the money and is fairly upset, while Picker offers up a new dope pipeline if they go through Mexico instead. That was one weird appearance by Foley and Sasso- which means they must be back sometime soon, right? In Florida, Daryll and his sister (whose name is Wendy) are now fighting over the mess they're in with the marshals. Dilly and Elvis come up to them and Daryll tells Elvis he's out of the business, but he wants to be paid off with $20,000. Daryll sets up a plan to pay him at a motel later that night (where Raylan will be told to catch him) and Wendy drives him off, while Daryll has Dilly added to tonight's body count as he's killed by his brother's henchman with a knife. Ick.

Rayland and Greg march into the empty motel room while Wendy purposely crashes her car when Elvis pulls out a gun. She then runs off while Elvis wanders out of the crash site and plans to get in a makeshift boat to Cuba. Wendy calls Raylan to rat him out, and the marshals catch up with Elvis trying to take off in a lifeboat. Raylan stops him by shooting a hole in it so it deflates (he likes doing that tonight) but Elvis draws his weapon so the marshals simultaneously shoot him dead. And there goes Elvis. We barely knew ya. Raylan meets up with Daryll on a bridge, where he waxes philosophical about family while keeping the two deaths from Raylan, who calls him on his bullshit before walking off. Greg offers again to take Raylan to see Winona but he once again brushes it off. Greg's last word of advice to Raylan is about how it's harder to say goodbye to his kids when he leaves than it is to not see them for a while. The last scene we get of Daryll is of the alligator guy telling him about his cousin Dewey's new money as Daryll wonders what he'll do now that Florida's over for him. Well, I guess we'll be seeing Daryll again.

Boyd is depressed back at the bar in Harlan, and even more so when he finds out that the one honest judge with no family to threaten is the guy who received Ava's case. Raylan's back at the office later that night, skyping with Winona and the new baby as she wonders if he'll come to Miami to visit them soon. He promises to, but looks a bit ambivalent as they say good night. Finally, Boyd's last move is to drive over to Paxton's place to essentially beg him to be paid to make Ava's charges disappear. He offers exactly $300,000 (gee, wonder where he'll get that?) for it to happen. Paxton's got a new young wife from Latvia whom he shows off as having bought, but he refuses to help Boyd out in any way, unless he himself is willing to sign a statement as being the one who killed Delroy and swap places with Ava in prison. Boyd hesitates as Paxton laughs that he knew he didn't love Ava that much, which sets Boyd off as he beats him to death with the gun handle. The Latvian wife comes running and Boyd offers her the same deal he gave Paxton, but she's non-committal as she tells Boyd to kill her or leave the house. Boyd leaves, dejected, and the woman cradles Paxton, who is apparently dead, but she appears to be planning something as she looks him over.

And that's it for the premiere everyone. Things are definitely being set up, even though we spent a lot of this episode getting to know a bunch of Crowes who didn't make it to the end of the hour, but clearly Daryll will be back, and maybe this mysterious Latvian wife of Paxton as well. Can't wait to see how it all plays out. See you next Tuesday!