I mean, I have relatives from the country, and I've definitely seen plots on the family's land, but never in the front yard.

Oh yeah. Ours was on the left side of the house as you drove up, and so were a couple others that I recall. Funny, I never really thought about it being odd before, but I guess it is.

That's one of the things I'm enjoying so much about Justified. Every episode I hear myself saying, yep, that's right, or, is that my cousin?!

I imagine it just depends on where you might find some bit of land that is less steep: eastern Kentucky being pretty darned hilly.

Yeah, but it does seem like when she has to choose, she chooses Arlo.

No doubt, which just makes it extra harsh and sad. I wonder who turned whose back first? It would make sense if he ditched Harlan and everyone and everything in it, somewhere in there mom dies (what was the year on her tombstone?), and sometime in Raylan's absence, and therefore (I'm cringing as I type this) Arlo's outlet for his ugly side is gone, and Helen forgets any reason why she ever stood silently against him.

I suspect that he might feel a little odd about the fact that his mother's sister married his father.

what was the year on her tombstone?

2000, which is one reason why he prefers to regard his aunt as "Aunt [so and so]"

Okay, so she died ten years ago.

Now I want to know about Mom. When Raylan left and never looked back (I'm gonna assume shortly after digging coal with Boyd, so when he was 20), did he turn his back on his mother as well? Were there phonecalls? Was she the anti-Ava, who never said "enough, never again"?

The strangest thing to me is that Helen would marry him, knowing as she did what kind of man he was. Maybe she'd just become so emotionally involved with her sister's family, it seemed normal after a while. I wonder if Helen was ever married before Arlo. Maybe she was in love with Arlo herself all along.

(stuffs plot bunny back into tophat)

Or maybe there was the situation like with my grandmother, who I discovered had "known" my Uncle Henry before marrying my grandfather. There was some kind of drama, because I didn't meet Uncle Henry until I was an adult. I didn't ask, though.

Justified (random thoughts)

That's one of the things I'm enjoying so much about Justified. Every episode I hear myself saying, yep, that's right, or, is that my cousin?!

I think we may be related.

One of the things that I liked about the latest episode was someone finally stood up and said, "some of us like it here" in response to outsiders constantly pointing out what a backwards ass hillbilly place in which they are trapped. I also like that whenever Raylan has said it, he has been shown to have enough respect for the residents, that you know the reason he wants to leave, and left previously had nothing to do with the location of his town.

I suspect that he might feel a little odd about the fact that his mother's sister married his father.

In smaller towns I can see this happening. It just does whether out of familiarity or loneliness. There is nothing incestuous or disrespectful to the sister. I can even believe that Helen never even considered Arlo while her sister was alive. But now she's known him most of her life, and the choices are to be alone, or be with the devil you know. She said that since he has been on medication, he has been a different man. Maybe that was enough for her.

I also see Raylan being fine with the situation. While he was there, she wasn't affiliated with Arlo, that we know of, and she was the protector of Raylan. It was only after Raylan left and cut ties that she took up with Arlo. Therefore, because Raylan was safely out of the picture, there was no betrayal. I also think because Raylan wasn't angry with her that also indicates nothing ever was thought of while Raylan's mom was alive.

Now I want to know about Mom. When Raylan left and never looked back (I'm gonna assume shortly after digging coal with Boyd, so when he was 20), did he turn his back on his mother as well?

I'm thinking that if Raylan had to call Aunt Helen, and she pulled up in her car, and Raylan stayed at her place, that meant that Arlo never got kicked out of the house by Raylan's mom. So I can see it playing out either way with contact or with no contact.

I also liked that Raylan never pulled a gun on the woman who was letting him do "yard work." Having seen previous episodes, the viewer knows that Raylan is sincere when he told her to put the gun down because "the only other ways this ends are in tears or tragedy." We've seen him have guns pointed at him before when his gun is holstered and he still gets it out and shoots before the person pointing the gun can do anything. So I liked that he wasn't being macho or even being a dick but was just telling her the truth.

I also liked that he told her "at least your yard looks good" because even while on surveillance, you could tell he wasn't just throwing things around making it look like he was working. He was really helping out there.

I like that I get a sense that while Raylan doesn't like what the people do that he has to arrest, or shoot, he doesn't dislike the people. I don't get a disingenuous vibe from him when he is talking to someone he knows from his past. I think when he told Boyd's cousin that he was glad he ran into him, whether it was due to the baseball bonding or not, he really meant it.