"Foot Chase" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American
Neo-Western
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...
television series '' Justified''. It is the 45th overall episode of the series and was written by co-executive producer Dave Andron and executive story editor Ingrid Escajeda and directed by
Peter Werner
Peter H. Werner (born January 17, 1947, in New York City, New York (state), New York) is an American film director, film and television director.
Biography
Werner was born to a American Jews, Jewish family, in New York City, New York, one of t ...
. It originally aired on FX on February 12, 2013.
The series is based on Elmore Leonard's stories about the character
Raylan Givens
Raylan Givens is a fictional character created by American novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard.
Givens is a Deputy U.S. Marshal and initially appeared in the novels ''Pronto'' and ''Riding the Rap''. (''Pronto'' was adapted as a TV movie in ...
, particularly "Fire in the Hole", which serves as the basis for the episode. The series follows Raylan Givens, a tough deputy U.S. Marshal enforcing his own brand of justice. The series revolves around the inhabitants and culture in the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
area of
eastern Kentucky
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
* Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
* Eastern Air ...
, specifically Harlan County where many of the main characters grew up. In the episode, Raylan works in finding Josiah Cairn after he finds his severed foot in his house and must team with Sheriff Shelby in his quest. Meanwhile, Boyd and Ava attempt to get closer to high society in order to find Drew Thompson.
According to
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.30 million household viewers and gained a 0.9 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics; while critics praised the scenes with Raylan and Shelby, critics expressed frustration with the episode's tone and lack of direction.
Plot
Boyd (
Walton Goggins
Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in a number of television series, including ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), '' Justified'' (2010–2015), ''Vice Principals'' (2016–2017), ''The Righteous ...
) and Colt (
Ron Eldard
Ronald Jason Eldard (born February 20, 1965) is an American actor.
Early life
Eldard was born on Long Island, New York. He is the sixth of seven children, and has four sisters and two brothers. He is of Irish and Scottish descent. Eldard's mothe ...
) interrogate a wealthy banker that may be Drew Thompson but the man turns out to be the person he claims to be, forcing them to leave. Raylan (
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
) sees as Marshals inspect the yard, with no sign of Cairn (
Gerald McRaney
Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows ''Simon & Simon'', '' Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and ''House of Cards''. He currently stars ...
), except his severed foot. Raylan finds a bloody footprint in the yard that is unmistakably from Roz's (
Alexandra Kyle
Alexandra Kyle (born November 11, 1988) is an American actress from Los Angeles, California.
Career
Kyle appeared in 1996's ''Eye for an Eye (1996 film), Eye for an Eye'' starring Sally Field and Kiefer Sutherland. She co-starred again with Su ...
) cast boot.
Raylan doesn't know where she may have run off to, so he starts with her boyfriend's trailer. Raylan finds the boyfriend target shooting at a picture of a Native American. Sheriff Shelby (
Jim Beaver
James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series '' ...
) turns up, and deduces from the picture where the stepdaughter is. After they find her, she tells them some guys in a beat-up van took her stepdad and called him "Drew Thompson." Shelby tells Raylan that he earned the job with Boyd's help but he is not in his payroll, although Raylan remains unconvinced. Tim (
Jacob Pitts
Jacob Rives Pitts (born November 20, 1979) is an American television, film and stage actor. His most notable performances were as Cooper Harris in the film '' EuroTrip'' (2004), as Bill "Hoosier" Smith in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'' (2010 ...
) picks up a veteran friend, Mark (Ian Reed Kesler) at a clinic for addiction and they see Colt entering the clinic. Colt forces a recovering addict to help him get a new heroin dealer. He also attacks a prostitute when she states to be unaware of Ellen May's (
Abby Miller
Abigail "Abby" Miller is an American actress best known for her recurring role as Ellen May on the FX series '' Justified''.
She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and studied theater in London before moving to Los Angeles to pu ...
) location.
In an attempt to get closer to the real Drew Thompson, Ava (
Joelle Carter
Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''.
Early life
Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,Romy Rosemont
Romy Rosemont (born October 28, 1964) is an American actress, who has appeared in multiple television series, including ''Shark'', ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''Prison Break'', and ''Private Practice''. She got her brea ...
) shows up to get Boyd, and deflects Raylan's questions about why she's stalling Arlo's pardon. Cairn is revealed to be in an undisclosed location with two men and Sonya is revealed to be part of the situation. She allows them to cauterize his foot as he is quickly losing blood.
Ava bribes Arnold ( Brian Howe) to get her and Boyd invited to Tillman Napier's swinger party for the next day and he agrees to get them in. Raylan and Shelby follow Sonya to a house with a beat-up van and find Cairn just as they are continuing with the cauterization. Arlo told Sonya that Cairn was Drew Thompson, which Cairn denies. Cairn says the former Harlan County Sheriff Hunter Mosley somehow knows where Drew Thompson is. As authorities arrive to take them to the hospital and jail, Raylan and Shelby share some experiences in their lives, although Shelby still does not tell Raylan that Ellen May is with him.
Tim accompanies Mark to confront a dealer to whom he owes money. When the dealer demands more money, Tim holds him at gunpoint and ends up paying Mark's debt. Johnny (
David Meunier
David Meunier (born David Miller; February 5, 1973) is an American actor.
Early life
Meunier was born in Woodburn, Oregon. He played football in high school, and a teammate convinced him to try out for a school production of ''Guys and Dolls''. ...
) and Colt attack a customer who supposedly hit on a prostitute, but Johnny does not know Colt is the one who hit her. Colt brutally attacks the man and leaves the apartment. At the bar, Ava confesses to Boyd that she regrets ordering Ellen May's assassination and wonders where their relationship is going. Boyd then shows her he is saving money for their future and then shows her a ring. He proposes to Ava, who happily accepts.
Production
Development
In January 2013, it was reported that the sixth episode of the fourth season would be titled "Foot Chase", and was to be directed by
Peter Werner
Peter H. Werner (born January 17, 1947, in New York City, New York (state), New York) is an American film director, film and television director.
Biography
Werner was born to a American Jews, Jewish family, in New York City, New York, one of t ...
and written by co-executive producer Dave Andron and executive story editor Ingrid Escajeda.
Writing
Series developer
Graham Yost
Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films ''Speed'', '' Broken Arrow'', and '' Hard Rain'' and the TV series '' Justified''.
Early life, family and education
Yo ...
teased that the episode would answer the question on Boyd's plans with the money. On Boyd's proposal, Yost said, "There are a bunch of pivotal episodes this season, this is certainly one of them. It's a pivotal episode for the series. We knew Boyd and Ava were a devoted couple, but a proposal ups the ante. With what's gonna happen specifically in episode 7, and the things they have to do, we just thought this was the time." Actress
Joelle Carter
Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''.
Early life
Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,
Casting
Despite being credited,
Erica Tazel
Erica Tazel (born 1977) is an American theatre and television actress best known for the role of US Deputy Marshall Rachel Brooks in the FX television series '' Justified'' (2010–2015).
Life and career
Tazel holds a B.A. from Spelman College a ...
does not appear in the episode as her respective character.
Reception
Viewers
In its original American broadcast, "Foot Chase" was seen by an estimated 2.30 million household viewers and gained a 0.9 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
. This means that 0.9 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode. This was a 5% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.42 million viewers with a 0.9 in the 18-49 demographics.
Critical reviews
"Foot Chase" received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Seth Amitin of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' gave the episode a "good" 7.7 out of 10 and wrote, "If you were to sum up what this season is about, what would you say? It's not entirely about the chase for Drew Thompson, since they haven't spent that much time on it. It's not about Boyd and Raylan. It's not about Boyd trying to defeat a preacher who's converting his addicts into believers. 'Foot Chase' is another episode in Season 4 that seems to have an idea of where the season is going, but falls short of organizing the tumbling ideas, plots and arcs."
Noel Murray of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the episode a "B−" grade and wrote, "'Foot Chase' is the weakest ''Justified'' episode of the season so far, but if nothing else, it gives us the line above, which when all is said and done could end up being the thesis statement for season four, if not the entire series." Kevin Fitzpatrick of ''
Screen Crush
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
'' wrote, "Just about at the midway point through its fourth season, and ''Justified''s story has picked up considerably. We have to hope that the church stories of the first few episodes will circle back around at some point, if only to "justify" their presence before 'Kin' and 'Foot Chase' hit the gas on the Drew Thompson storyline. Most of 'Foot Chase's plots fire on all cylinders, though the hour will most likely be remembered for its closing scenes between Boyd and Ava, and rightfully so."
Alan Sepinwall
Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He th ...
of ''
HitFix
HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
'' wrote, "This has been a darned entertaining season of ''Justified'' so far, but 'Foot Chase' illustrated some of the pitfalls of building the season around this complicated mystery story involving many players with many agendas. It's an episode that almost works anyway, thanks to the chemistry between Raylan and Shelby in one corner and Boyd and Ava in another, but on the whole, it's a mess. The hour tries to pack too much in, and the storytelling suffers as a result." Rachel Larimore of ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' wrote, "''Justified'' loves its odd couples. It was nice to see Shelby out and sparring with people—too often he seems like the resident impotent sheriff mostly around to maintain the criminal order."
Joe Reid of ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'' gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Everything that happened between Raylan and Shelby was gold this week, from their swapping stories about their worst jobs pre-law-enforcement to Shelby telling Raylan about the last time before tonight that he shot a guy." Dan Forcella of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Boyd Crowder's clan has been reeling for a while now. Whether it be exterior issues via Preacher Billy and Wynn Duffy or within the group courtesy of Johnny wavering, Shelby defecting, Ellen May escaping, and Colton jones-ing, the Crowder clan has been in dire straits. The ending to "Foot Chase" was the greatness that came out of that terrible situation, and it was incredible for several reasons."