Previously on Justified.

The episode begins with us heading back to the prison where Swanee and Zelmare escaped. Oficers and their dogs are in hot pursuit, when one officer finds an escape rope in the storm drain.

The officers follow this trail straight to Kansas City, where our sharp officer is still in pursuit. This is Dick ‘Deafy’ Wickware, played by the one and only Timothy Olyphant, and he’s chewed out by the local police captain. Deafy speaks about the history of the Mormons, as he’s a priest of the Mormon church, given that the captain asked about his faith. As Deafy knows, people in Missouri aren’t sympathetic to the Mormons.

The chief asks why Deafy is here, but Deafy explains that he’s a U.S. Marshal. He’s in search of Swanee and Zelmare and would like a local officer to help him in his pursuit.

So the captain brings in Weff to aid the investigation, even though Weff is currently working on the hospital investigation. That doesn’t explain why he went to see the Faddas yesterday. Hmm. Anyway, that case will be kicked to someone else, while Weff while help Deafy. People call him ‘Deafy’, by the way, because he hears what he wants to hear. Meanwhile, Deafy just wants the address of Zelmare’s sister.

We’re brought up to speed from the events of the previous episode as Weff and Deafy to make their move. Deafy asks Weff if he makes him nervous, on accounting of how jittery he is. Weff explains that he’s been hunting fugitives since he was in short pants. He even caught a Mexican trying to paddle to China. Imagine that.

There’s a saying in Salt Lake- only God knows the true truth. However, Deafy is a pretty good judge of character. Deafy then asks bout this Fadda family, and Weff explains that they’re just local Italians.

The two then spot Oraetta leaving her home and heading across the street, where she leaves a pie at the front door of the funeral home. Weff notes that not everyone walks around with sin in their heart. The two then see Thurman exit and take their pie. Once he heads back in, Deafy decides that now is the time to make their move.

He kicks in the door as the officers stream in, while Thurman is left with the pie in his hands.

Deafy heads to the kitchen and begins searching while Dibrell and Ethelrida just finish cleaning. Deafy asks Dibrell where her sister is, reminding Ethelrida that harboring a fugitive is a crime. Ethelrida says that Zelmare is in prison, but Weff doesn’t buy it. He orders the officers to begin searching the premises.

The officers explore every nook and cranny of the house. They eventually end up in the morgue and pull out each drawer, but don’t find either Swanee or Zelmare. Just some disgusting corpses. No big deal, right?

The now-disgusted officers depart, but if they’d just checked one more drawer, they would have found their prey, as that’s where Zelmare and Swanee are hiding. Dibrell tells Weafy that her sister is indeed in prison, but Deafy knows that she’s escaped. Dibrell says that this is “His will,” saying that everyone was put on this world to toil.

As this conversation continues, Ethelrida sees Swanee and Zelmare peek around a corner and prepare to shoot Deafy, but they soon retreat. With no sign of the fugitives, Deafy bids the family a good evening and departs. Dibrell and Thurman then leave to inspect any damage incurred.

Time for the adults to talk. The next day, Doctor Senator heads to a Spud’s All Time to meet with Ebal about the slaughterhouse situation. Ebal says that it wasn’t a smart move, as it wouldn’t stick. Doctor brings up Donatello giving Loy permission at the playground last week, but Ebal just wants the current deal respected.

Doctor talks about his time in the war and the Double V Campaign. It’s what was sold for Colored soldiers: fight for America and then win the battle at home, as in no more inequality. So Doctor was sent to Nuremburg and a colonel promised him a big job: interview Hermann Göring. However long it takes to get him to talk, he must use his training to build the people’s case.

So Doctor sat with the man for six weeks. For the first two weeks, Hermann just stared at Doctor, who soon appeared to Hermann’s ego. This got Hermann talking, but then, one Sunday morning, Doctor knocked on the colonel’s door and delivered his report. What did the colonel do? Throw it in the trash. All 400 pages of it, plus footnotes. The colonel just wanted to make the Nazi squirm by answering to a Negro.

Right now, the Cannon family’s word is as good as the Fadda’s. Ebal agrees to pass on the word.

Satchel inquires if Rabbi Milligan is Jewish, but he isn’t, even though he’s called “Rabbi.” Rabbi brings up a saying in poker: you play the hand you’re dealt, and the two of them are proof of that. When Rabbi was a boy, he also had to go through this exchange.

Apparently, to Satchel, this means being traded to another team, like in baseball. Rabbi got traded twice, in fact. However, Satchel will get to go back to his team one day.

Rabbi’s original team, meanwhile, is pure shite. Gaetano enters, having heard every word and asks Rabbi to repeat what he said. Rabbi can’t leave, though, as the door is locked. Rabbi acknowledges that he’s American, though Gaetano guesses that he’s Irish. He says that when Rabbi what it was like to kill his own father. But hey, who remembers?

Josto arrives and wants Gaetano out of his chair, but Gaetano likes it. Besides, it’s too big for Josto. But Josto asks if he caused trouble at the slaughterhouse. Gaetano took care of things, but Josto reminds his brother that he’s the boss. However, Gaetano tells Josto that he can’t even take care of the doctor who pushed his family out on the street.

This makes Josto angry, even though Gaetano does truly believe that his brother can’t take care of some pencil pusher. Josto tells Gaetano to follow orders or go home. Gaetano leaves the office, but not before grabbing a nearby portrait.

So since Oraetta isn’t working for Dr. Allen Sneet, she applies for a new position at the hospital while Dr. Harvard goes over her history at St. Barthomolew’s. Harvard notes her connection to Dr. Allen Sneet, who gave her a glowing recommendation. Yeah, right. Soon enough, she gets the job with a starting date of next week. Oraetta asks Dr. Harvard what his favorite treat, and he’s partial to macaroons.

Outside, Josto’s surveillance on Dr. Harvard is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Oraetta, who also gets into his car. She accuses him of spying on her, but she’s just kidding. Sure. Oraetta presents some more drugs for them to snort and notes how bad Josto must feel after the death of his father.

She then unzips Josto and starts stroking him off while singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. You’ve never had a handjob like that before! As Oraetta exits, Josto asks for her name, but she just tells him to call a girl on the phone next time and ask him out proper.

Loy and the Cannon crew head to work at the Apex Vending Machine Company when a young man, Dwayne, approaches, claiming that he’s just here for a cup of joe. Loy presents a wad of bills and tells his eldest son, Lemuel, played by Matthew Elam, note how happy Dwayne is. He has a ‘blight’ look in his eyes. This is when you start to dream and make plans of how to turn around your shit.

Now, Dwayne is making plans into the future. Then, he’s not even Colored anymore. He’s J.P. Fucking Morgan. Loy pockets the money, saying that he stole from the man because he made a future for himself, and Loy took that. Loy tells Dwayne to fuck off.

As he does, he passes Zelmare and Swanee, who, keeping note of the number of people with Loy, decide that they’ll have to reload.

Inside, Loy’s operation is hard at work while Leon tells both him and Doctor Senator that he wants to be more involved with planning and managerial work. Loy then tells Leon that Lemuel is thinking dropping out of community college, so Leon will be his driver and pal up to him to keep him out of trouble. That’s managerial enough for Leon.

Dooctor Senator reminds Loy that, as God created tornadoes, we’re reminded that we aren’t in control of all things. True, but to Loy, you can at least raise the odds.

Ebal asks Gaetano if the boss is home, but Gaetano says that the boss, as in Donatello, is dead. Ebal brings up the slaughterhouse situation, saying it’s the price of transition. Gaetano wants to kill someone, despite, as Antoon and Paolo point out, that Josto doesn’t want any killing.

Gaetano then summons Constant Calamita, played by Gaetano Bruno, to his side and asks if he wants to shoot somebody at the top of the Cannon family- someone that Loy loves, in order to see him suffer. Oh, and Calamita should take Rabbi Milligan with him to see if he’s truly loyal. Gaetano then finishes his drink and tells Antoon and Paolo that they’re all Faddas.

They have fought all throughout all history and, most of all, are warriors. Unlike the Americans, they fight or die.

Rabbi and Satchel listen to the baseball game on the radio when Calamita enters, telling Rabbi that they have business. As Rabbi gets read to leave, he tells Satchel that if he doesn’t return, he’s either dead or in jail. Satchel, meanwhile, should continue his lessons.

While Rabbi focuses on Satchel’s lessons, Calamita tells Milligan that his time is soon coming. Rabbi wants to know what they’re up to, but Calamita tells him that he’ll know once he sees it. They spot Leon and Lemuel leaving a building, and while Rabbi believes that they’re just going to scare them, Calamita has something else in mind for the eldest man.

Though Rabbi knows that if they kill Lemuel, the Cannons will, in turn, kill Zero. They head in pursuit of the two, maintaining a safe distance. Calamita instructs Rabbi to roll down his window. Rabbi reminds Calamita that if they do this, it’s war, but Calamita is focused on this task, as he orders Rabbi to take out his gun.

Rabbi asks if Josto gave the order, but no, this came from Gaetano and the instruction was to make it personal. Again, Rabbi asks if Josto knows. Leon and Lemuel stop at a red light, and as Calamita pulls up, Leon notices just in time that the Italians are about to open fire.

When Rabbi ultimately doesn’t fire, Calamita goes for his gun and fires, but ends up hitting the back windows. He and Rabbi struggle for a bit before Rabbi ultimately threatens to inform Josto that Calamita is taking orders from Gaetano instead of Josto. He then gets out of the car and decides to walk home.

At the mortuary, Swanee digs into the pie and asks Dibrell if her family is cursed, since that’s what Zelmare said. She talks about her Chinaman father who ended up living in a cave with a coyote who tricked him in his sleep. Her father had two shadows: one for him and another for the devil. Her father would hug her really hard in the neck at night. In Swanee’s mind, it’s not houses that get haunted.

Zelmare arrives with a bag full of bullets, as well as Thurman’s father’s gun. As Ethelrida again is instructed to go to her room, Dibrell chews out her sister, asking who she plans to rob. Thuman, meanwhile, will be driving them in the hearse. Before leaving, though, Zelmare downs some more of the pie.

This will not end well.

On the way to their target, Zelmare and Swanee hide in the trunk, with Zelmar noting that Swanee smells like dessert. However, Swanee realizes that she ate too much pie, as it gives her a sudden bad case of gas.

The two rush inside Loy’s setup as Swanee then vomits and shits herself at the same time. Well, it’s more of just a gas attack, but I’m convinced that she shit her pants. One of the men opens fire from a concealed gun, forcing Zelmare to hasten the money collection. Swanee’s condition doesn’t improve, though. She even pukes on some of the money.

I don’t care that the two of them walked away with money. That is not what you call a successful robbery.

Loy learns about the attempted shooting by the Italians, with Lemuel telling Loy that they were shooting him, with Lemuel just being the proxy. Loy tells Lemuel that everyone else who has their own name? They’re proxies. But Lemuel shares the Cannon name, so that makes him Loy by extension.

Lemuel doesn’t see this as any of his business to begin with. He’s a music man and believes his father is doing the choosing. He can have more power or more safety, but not both. What Lemuel doesn’t even matter, so he leaves. As for the robbery, $20,000 was taken and three are dead, but the robbery wasn’t by the Italians. No, this was by two broads, and one of them threw up.

This will be important for the police report.

Doctor Senator notes that a coordinated plan like this requires planning, so Loy wants everything locked down. He believes that if Rabbi was involved, then he should be able to bloody up Zero to make a point. That could only escalate things, but one question remains: who gave the order? The boss or brother? Doctor figures that Josto and Gaetano might be fighting with one another, so there’s no telling who gave the order.

Once Loy decides to shoot back, it’s to the death, so if they decide to escalate, they better be damn sure what their next move is.

I said at the premiere that this season, at the time, felt the least Fargo-like, but I might have been too hasty with my judgment there. Sure, this is just the third episode, but I get the feeling that as the season progresses, this will feel more familiar to what I’d expect from Fargo as the plot develops.

Much of that has to do with the characters and awkward situations they find themselves in, especially with the introduction of Dick ‘Deafy’ Wickware. I’ll admit right off the bat that I’ve never seen either Justified or Deadwood, so I don’t have any history with Timothy Olyphant, but he makes a great first impression.

Much like Oraetta Mayflower, he feels like someone who fits in the Fargo world, with his monologues about religion, his outlook on the world, and being an officer who wants to do the right thing. He’s just here for Zelmare and Swanee, sure, and he came pretty damn close if the officers weren’t so disgusted by the other bodies in the morgue.

It’s established from the onset that he gets shit done, and he has good reason to pursue the fugitives. Right now, that’s all he’s here for, but him being a very meticulous officer, I’m sure he’ll be back with more questions. Plus, I guarantee he gets wrapped up in the conflict between the Italians and Coloreds, if he learns about the robbery.

There’s no way you bring in a character with such presence and restrict them to finding two fugitives. It’s only a matter of time, whether through his own detective work or perhaps him working with Weff, that he becomes a player in the larger plot of the season. While Weff and Deafy are both officers, we know that Weff is in the pocket of the Italians, so I’m curious if there’ll be any more tension between them.

Speaking of, and that’s my lame attempt at a transition, we see growing tension between Josto and Gaetano. While Josto is both trying to keep the peace and an eye on Dr. Harvard, Gaetano is focused on one thing: chaos. I’m liking the intensity of Salvatore Esposito’s performance, as he portrays Gaetano as a ticking time bomb.

Gaetano is very proactive, making moves in order to convince the other Italians to escalate. He already went to the slaughterhouse of his own accord, and now he’s put Rabbi Milligan in his crosshairs by trying to get him to prove his loyalty. He’s making moves that Josto won’t because he’s interested in power and dominance, while Josto is all about keeping the peace. For the most part.

Now that Rabbi Milligan, who truly does care for Satchel’s well-being, has been shown to not take decisive action against the Cannons, he has a target on his back. Potentially, anyway. He could always spill that Constant acted on Gaetano’s orders instead of Josto’s, but Loy already knows that Rabbi was present at the shooting. Right now, besides Satchel, Rabbi might not have allies on either side anymore.

He’s becoming one of the most interesting characters this season because of how embroiled he is in this conflict, not to mention his personal history with the feuding families. He’s already had to kill his own father, so he has that burden on him forever. Now he’s in with the Italians, but his loyalty has been called into question and all but confirmed when he refused to kill Lemuel.

Talking about Loy for a moment, since we don’t get a lot of him, he’s also interested in control, but perhaps over things that are out of his grasp. Doctor Senator warns him what could happen if they escalate things, and though we haven’t gotten a lot from Loy yet, I get the sense that he wants to remain one step ahead of his opponents. Like Josto, he’s all about control.

Side-note, I hope get to spend more time with Loy and his family. He’s one of the central characters and head of one of the families, not to mention he’s played by Chris Rock, but as of now I feel he’s been on the sidelines. The final scene is an example of something I’d like to see more of, where he goes through his stance on family and control.

Hell, Doctor Senator has had more prominence than him, and that’s not a bad thing because I do like Glynn Turman. His monologue about interviewing Hermann Göring and the two wars that Black men in America fought was a powerful moment and I like that it was with Ebal. These two are the old guards of their families and both interested in keeping the peace.

The problem is that each understand that their word is as good as the other’s, especially when Donatello isn’t around to confirm whether he signed off on the slaughterhouse deal. Both also understand that if this escalates to a war, there will be casualties on both sides, and nobody wants that.

It’s nice to see that Oraetta was able to find work, but I must ask…who is this woman? She’s going to be a wild card this season, and her catching Josto and then administering a handjob in his car was just…odd. Funny and very much in tune with her character thus far, but who is Oraetta Mayflower? The fact that she asked what Dr. Harvard’s favorite treat is makes me feel that her dessert making days aren’t over.

Speaking of, I don’t really have anything to say about Zelmare and Swanee’s botched robbery. Well, I can’t call it ‘botched’ because they do get away with $20,000, but at the same time…it’s a fart joke. The second we’ve had this season in just three episodes.

While it’s nice to see a payoff to Oraetta’s pay, and while Swanee’s pain just made the robbery more awkward, I question what kind of humor Noah Hawley is going for this season. Hopefully this isn’t a trend.

Still, Raddoppiarlo was another solid episode with great character moments throughout. The introduction of Deafy, the robbery, and attempted assassination are sure to throw the brewing conflict into an unpredictable place as both sides now contemplate going to war.