Did anyone watch last night's Southland? What was the meaning behind that menu (?) that woman cop handed Ben?

Loving Lucy Liu's character!

And now I'm determined to track down Truck Norris at some point (from the previous week).

It wasn't a menu, it was the McDonalds application the new Captain handed everyone to make a point about whether or not they should be doing the job.

Lucy did manage to not annoy me this week, which is something.

Or perhaps leading off with Sherman all sunlit in swim trunks at the pool party put me in a forgiving mood for the whole episode. It was like having Ryan Atwood back for a bit!

Ah, thank you! I was only partially paying attention at some parts, and I missed that.

I think one of the things that I am missing terribly from season 1 of Justified is feeling empathy for the "bad" guys, the supposed villains.

I mean, there's still Boyd, and I do feel anxious for Dickie, and definitely the good guys that bite it are terribly sympathetic. But I felt not an ounce of sympathy for Terry, and it's been that way for a lot of the eps since season 2.

On the other side, where I once despised Winona, she's finally found her stride, and I adore her.

And, seriously, yeah, the best exchange was, of course, Raylan and Boyd talking about their love lives.

And it seems my last week's conspiracy theory about Raylan changing his tune in order to help Boyd get at Dickie isn't panning out. But I'm not giving up the hope just yet. In my head Raylan is having a conflict between keeping his promise and being a good law abiding Marshal. Give Dickie to Boyd (Boyd taken away due to outside forces). Give Boyd a chance at Dickie while pretending to be a law abiding enforcer. Boyd has a chance at Dickie, panic and try to keep Dickie safe (if Boyd's paranoia is accurate). I think the latter at least is Boyd being paranoid, and not Raylan actually having the spare time to conspire to keep Dickie safe.

Well, Raylan did tell Boyd what time he had left.

True. That could be seen as "kill Dickie before sunup" and not "I'm doing everything in my power to keep you from killing Dickie".

In retrospect, I don't think Raylan is that calculating or forward thinking. He's not politically minded. He's very of the moment. I can see him flipping between the heat of the moment "kill the fucker" and a belated "oh yeah, laws."

But man, I enjoyed the hell out of the idea that he was trying to be true to Boyd by taunting Boyd's ass into jail and into Dickie's orbit.

I miss Mags.

Yes, but that pig butchering scene at the end, that was fantastic. Very Game of Thrones-y, which I mean as a compliment. Harlan County is kind of Westeros-ish. And Mags had to fall so we can see this power struggle play out. Or whatever's coming, but struggle of some sort seems pretty assured.

I miss Mags.

Me, too.

Yes, but that pig butchering scene at the end, that was fantastic.

When they cut to the silent observer putting his hand on the back of the other guy's neck, and the HUGE BURN THERE, wow. Shudder.

I have yet to watch White Collar this week, though. I feel guilty.

When they cut to the silent observer putting his hand on the back of the other guy's neck, and the HUGE BURN THERE, wow. Shudder.

Right? That was beautiful. The storytelling, not the actual image.