MovieChat Forums > Justified (2010) Discussion > Season Six Question

Season Six Question

posted 9 years ago by Brookeandbuster
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Maybe I'm missing something: What does Raylan have on Ava? The marshals know that the guard stabbed himself (Rachel and Tim say as much in the scene when their driving to protect him) and the guard lost his job and pension because of his role in the incident. Yet, Raylan, Rachel and Vasquez threaten that if she fails to cooperate she'll go back to prison. But, prison for what? Are we suppose to think that Ava doesn't know that the marshall's office knows the truth and that's why she's intimidated? If Boyd cleared her of the original charges, and the marshall's know the guard stabbed himself, and no one proved she killed Judith, then what in the world are they holding on her?

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] huggybizzzle 9 years ago

At the end of Season 4, the police catch Ava in the act as she's trying to dump a body. Season 5 then focuses its attention on Ava serving out her sentence and ends with Raylan bailing her out under the strict condition that she helps the Marshal's office bring down Boyd.

So, yeah, you must've missed those plots somewhere in the shuffle.

[–] Brookeandbuster 9 years ago

No... That's not it. A lot of Season Five revolves around the measures Boyd takes to eliminate those whose testimony and actions put Ava at the scene (such as the mortician Lee Paxton and the Sheriff Mooney). Boyd's actions free Ava and it is the night before her release that the guard, Alert Fekus, stabs himself which condemns her to more time in prison. You might remember the scene when their lawyer ("the Wildman") has to inform Boyd, who anxiously awaits her release, that there was an incident. So, we know it's not these charges and the show explicitly shows that she had been cleared and set for release. So, anyone else know what they have on her?

[–] huggybizzzle 9 years ago

I guess I got lost in the shuffle instead. 

Thanks for clearing that up. I do seem to recall some of those scenes you brought up, specifically the part where "the Wildman" has to be the bearer of bad news and asks Boyd for a drink. And I don't think you're the first person to raise this question either. When the final season aired on FX, there were a few topics like this one floating about.

Season 6 doesn't really do a great job of explaining what kind of leverage Raylan has over Ava, just that he does, so you're suppose to go along with it. Its like he was just winging it at that point and decided that giving her the ol' "Arlo Givens" treatment was the only hand to play.

[–] sawfan1414 9 years ago

It was Raylan who got her the deal to get out of prison, that's what he had on her.

Ron *beep* Swanson is the greatest thing that ever happened to television.

[–] Brookeandbuster 9 years ago

But on what ground are they threatening to send her back to prison? Even if Raylan is the one who coordinated her release that doesn't mean he/they can send her back to prison for something she didn't do (stab the guard). It's obvious the Marshall knows the guard stabbed himself so they can't send her back to prison for stabbing the guard... even if they righted the wrong.

[–] mitchjlake 9 years ago

I just finished season 6 and was trying to figure out what they had on Ave to blackmail her with. Never did. She certainly did plenty to warrant a good jail stay later, but all her other charges at the time she was working for Raylan were, as far as I could tell, dismissed already.

I only watched each episode one time and certainly could have missed something, and don't think I did, but maybe Vasquez was withholding *other* charges against her?

[–] montrossboc-1 9 years ago

They told Boyd that the guard confessed to the stabbing. There is no evidence that he did confess.

Short Cut, Draw Blood

[–] toneblatt 9 years ago

I watched Seasons 5 and 6 closely, and I still think there's plot holes with Ava and the whole prison sequence, starting with, when precisely did Ava have a trial? Of any kind? She's in prison without one? For how long? I guess we are supposed to believe that some of the key legal details are left out ...

[–] SnappinTurtle 9 years ago

There are some plot holes there and there were a couple of old threads on this.
Ava originally went to jail for tampering with a corpse. Boyd’s uh, due diligence resulted in the charges being dropped, and her attorney secured her release from jail. There was never a trial, so she was never convicted.

Before she could be set free, Albert stabbed himself and blamed Ava, which inexplicably resulted in a direct move to Federal Prison. She was still never convicted of anything in court.

The deal Raylan procured with Vasquez meant that they would drop the charges for the attack on Albert in exchange for incriminating information on Boyd. This would have made sense; the only plot hole up to this point is that you do not go to federal prison until you have been convicted of a federal crime.

In S6, the issues became more muddled with the Tim-Rachel dialogue when it becomes clear they knew Ava was innocent in the Albert situation. Tim also flatly castigates Albert for “stabbing himself and blaming Ava.” Even Albert knows that that USMS believes Ava to be innocent.

The upshot is that they didn’t have anything to hold over Ava’s head. I am not an attorney, but I know law enforcement can lie when interrogating a suspect, but I do not believe an AUSA can write up amnesty deals for crimes they know haven’t been committed. If someone knows better, please correct me.

To the best of my reasoning abilities, the only possible legal trouble Ava would have been in is if somehow the charges on Delroy’s body were reinstated, and that would not have been a federal case anyway.

It is a messy plotting, but unlike some shows I watch ( looking at you Downton Abbey, Sherlock), it is a bit of anomaly for Justified to have plot holes like this, and based on the quality of the dialogue I can easily forgive.

[–] Brookeandbuster 9 years ago

I agree that the attraction of Justified isn't necessarily in the effectiveness of its plotting and more so in dialogue and character. So, I as well ultimately forgive it. For me, it's just incredibly distracting given that the plot-line with Ava is so central to the season's narrative and while previous season may require a suspension of disbelief they never ask this much (or at least in this way). It made me think I had to be missing something because this aspect of the plot is completely outrageous. This amount of comments suggests it is just poor plotting which is disappointing because I think it lowers the season overall (in comparison with the series the best seasons at least).

[–] cat_fitz 8 years ago

This storyline pissed me off so much. They had nothing on Ava - and she knew it. I also found it really unlikely that Raylan would put Ava in that position. That seemed out of character for him. I was also pissed they didn't prosecute the guard.

"She hasn't even read the books..." - OursIsTheQueenInTheNorth

[–] NuckyThompson 8 years ago

I was under the impression that Ava was still on the line for that guard stabbing himself. Ava's cover for being out was that the guard confessed. That cover was about the be blown so Rachel and Tim were there to stop that from happening. If the guard told the truth while being tortured, they would have know Ava was lying and was cooperating for her release.