It is this killing and the fact that only Raylan is able to locate Ava’s house that
leads Raylan deeper into Harlan County and does so by himself. When Ava opens the
door, the pair converse and she kisses Raylan deeply declaring her former school-girl
crush. Raylan has now experienced “separation” from Lexington and also his
colleagues and “regression” (Slotkin 12). After she finishes explaining about Bowman’s
abuse and her method of killing him, Ava verbally asserts to Raylan that she feels
comforted by his presence. The duo, even though she is under suspicion for the death
of her husband and he is a representative of the law, proceed to have an illicit affair,
much to the chagrin of Art. Slowly but surely Raylan becomes embroiled in the
tragedies that repeatedly rock Harlan County, including his own attempted murder by
the sheriff of Harlan, Hunter Mosley, in “Blind Spot”. According to Slotkin in a discussion
of the “‘savage war’”, “Native resistance to European settlement . . . takes the form of a
fight for survival; and because of the ‘savage’ and bloodthirsty propensity of the natives,
such struggles inevitably become ‘wars of extermination’” (12). In seasons one through
four, there is a villain and group which inevitably face off with Raylan and the marshals.
The culmination of events lead to each season’s finale when a “‘war of extermination’”
where the villain and his or her crew tend to die a horribly violent death (Slotkin 12). In
season one, the villain is the cartel, the same cartel for whom Bucks and Sheriff Mosley
worked.
Many of the villains in the series are from outside of Harlan—the Detroit mob,
Mags Bennett, and the cartel—but due to their connections to Harlan and their
suspected offenses against the US justice system, Raylan must become involved.
Slotkin observes that Native Americans become a symbol for the European settler, one
which represents a barrier to their desired utopic space (13). In order for this space to
revert to its former utopic state, an obliteration of the criminal element occurs at the
close of each season of Justified (Slotkin 13). Because rehabilitation of the criminal
element through imprisonment is unsuccessful, Raylan turns to death as his only option.
Criminals like Boyd, his father Bo Crowder, and Dickie Bennett are repeatedly released
from prison, thereby allowed to create havoc in Raylan’s utopia once more;; in order to
ensure that they are no longer a threat to his community, they must die. This behavior is
reminiscent of that of the frontier lawmen, who tended to kill the offending element in
their community. These acts were repeatedly heralded by the public, including
newspaper reporters. The hero’s beliefs are reduced to what can be considered
“personal motive” (Slotkin 14). In season one, Bo is responsible for the protection of the
criminal element for a price; once released from prison he also becomes involved in the
production of meth. Not only must the cartel be stopped, but also Bo, who elects to have
Ava killed and hire Raylan’s father, Arlo. During the season one finale, Bo and the cartel
face off against Raylan, Boyd, and Ava, only to be killed in the illustrious Western
shootout. In 1.13 and 2.1, the threat is neutralized (Slotkin 12). Bo and most of his men
have been killed as has one of the members of the cartel; a deal is then struck with the
head of the cartel, Geo, and Raylan for peace. Because Raylan blames himself for
bringing the cartel to Harlan and endangering his companions, it is Raylan who ensures
their removal, so that this space may be utopic once more.
Throughout the series, Raylan repeatedly navigates through frontier and
contemporary societies; the communities in each accept and reject him on the basis of
55