Season 1, Episode 4: “Long in the Tooth”
So Raylan “Ray-Ray” Givens, the man with the hat and the swagger, he once upon a time took the word of a cartel accountant, all right, he took it right on down next door to 31 flavors and had himself an ice cream cone while he waited for that cartel accountant to be ready for cuffs first and a life in witness protection second. Would be a nice story except then this cartel accountant, name of Rollie Pike, he went and skipped out, reformed himself, became a dentist for the uninsured of Southern California. So I suppose it’s still a nice story. At least until Mr. Pike finds himself wronged by a snitty bastard and takes it upon himself to extract justice (figurative) and fillings (literal), without first administering anesthesia. Also in a parking lot.
Rollie Pike does not have a gun, which is important. He is a man of some moral fiber, which is also important. Compare and contrast, if you will, between the fates delivered unto Rollie and the two cartel thugs pursuing him. Rollie is a man on the run, pulling along with him a digestively-impaired girlfriend-receptionist (Mindy! Who is excellent!), seeking only a beach and a beer and Belize. When Raylan tracks him down, that offer of witness protection is still on the table, despite that embarrassing 31 flavors slip of six years prior. Rollie Pike is all right by Raylan, who tells him on the phone, “I thought I had you measured,” in a way that means “I still think I have you measured.” Our marshal judges folks fast, then sticks to those judgements. Which is why you do not see our marshal fumble with a draw, which is why he is so dead-eyed when he is telling a man of his intention to kill him. There is no hemming and hawing with a gun, is there, there is only “Use it, or throw it away.” You can wing a man, if you like, but that’s just a sign you don’t really know why you have your weapon out at all.
The thugs, meanwhile, are hired, and not very bright, and armed. They’re doing a job. They are “bad men.” They are also borderline about to break into “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” all the time. Also they’re fun, and I like them. “You see the one in the hat?” “The tall one?” … “The one in the hat.” Raylan kind of likes them too, somehow, likes them enough to crawl into the back seat of their car and grin at them like hello, Christmas presents I found early. He even gives them choices, though he knows they won’t take them. He’s read ‘em before they even open their mouths.
So: Raylan takes down the thugs in a pretty little quick-draw high-sun highway showdown. Then he walks through the desert—a good long walk, so long he’s got to unbutton his shirt and sweat just so—and shoots not to hurt but to protect the cartel accountant. Except by then, of course, Rollie cannot be saved. He’s got blood pouring out of his stomach and that’s not even the worst part, the worst part is that as his seams have started to stretch he has noticed, in himself, a lack of good. An ability to harm. Alan Ruck does a beautiful job with Rollie, flashing between earnest hope and furious frustration in a way that only Alan Ruck can. When he throws himself in front of the sniper he says it’s because he doesn’t want that witness protection job at Wal-Mart, but I think it’s because Wal-Mart wouldn’t even be the worst part of living on, for him. It would be knowing what he’s capable of. It would be knowing that he never did separate himself from the bad things he assisted, not really.
“Long in the Tooth” is full of relative justice, and not just Raylan’s. Everyone seems to be operating under their own commandments. There’s Mrs. Pena, who is grateful to Rollie for caring for her daughter’s teeth but not so grateful that she’s not willing to dial 911 and call him in. There’s Mrs. Pena’s father, who is grateful to Rollie enough to mislead the marshals, but still willing to give up the truth when presented with Raylan’s soft-talked argument about the kind of danger Rollie is in. There’s Mindy, who will stick to Rollie’s side so long as he stops lying to her. And, best of all, there’s our grumpy old Vietnam veteran who lost his leg to diabetes, not the war, but he thanks you for thanking him for your service. He seems like trouble at first, calling out our cartel dentist as he tries to steal a car, but is easily placated by car-shaped payoff of his own. Placated enough that when he is pulled over by a couple of cops who do not know what the Mekong Delta is, he stubbornly, truculently covers for Rollie. He does it because he liked Rollie, or he liked the car, or he hates the fresh-faced cops, or all of those things, but it doesn’t matter exactly. He’s operating on his own code, like the rest.
Rachel is also dealt a hit by our crabby veteran, who accuses her of dropping her Rs to get in good with him. It’s one of many swipes she takes in the episode, unfairly so, I’m going to say. She’s assigned lead on the case, much to Raylan’s displeasure, and it doesn’t take him long to dismantle her authority. He starts by apologizing, backhandedly, about how he hopes he hasn’t upset her by being so awesome ever since he got to Kentucky. When she has the gall to admit that yes, she is a little annoyed with the way he’s been dipped in gold, he bites back that she’s stupid, he’s good at his job, and furthermore, if she wanted, she could also wear a big hat. To which she is like, whatever. I had high hopes for Rachel in this episode, but soon enough she’s held to the background, watching Raylan get the right information at the right time and then do the right thing in the—well, his way. On the ride home, Raylan asleep, she slips his hat off, tries it on. Looks pleased, momentarily. Until he opens his big stupid swagger mouth and asks if the hat fits. Her face hardens. She says no. He holds out his hand, and she gives it back.
I cannot tell if we’re meant to be on Raylan’s side in this little conflict, because I’m not, in particular. I would rather have seen Rachel succeed, I am never really interested in the Hero is Right All The Time Show. Watching her watch him talk to Mr. Pena, I suppose, we’re meant to see Rachel understanding that Raylan is more than a holster and a nice set of teeth. And he is, but we know that. We know he’s good at his job. But he’s also a loner, going off on that desert trot with nothing but a gun and a badge and a Blackberry, that’s ridiculous. I mean absolutely I love watching it, but it is ridiculous. So let’s not judge Rachel so harshly, Raylan, I think you could use her, I think you could use each other. And furthermore it’s not like you’ve been so hot at judging women, it’s not like you’ve all the time figured them out quite as fast as you’ve figured out those hired thugs.
