(S01E12) "I'm the Chief. This is my office, it's my informant and this is my call...and that's my bottle, and I'm not gonna let you drink it all just because you're daddy didn't hug you much when you were little." - Chief Mullen to Raylan on hiring Raylan's father as an informant on the Boyds

Former ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulous famously stated that the reason the Zucker Brothers' cult cop comedy spoof 'Police Squad!' failed is because viewers actually had to sit down and watch it.

It may sound like the most idiotic statement since someone let Dan Quayle step in front of a microphone, but he had a point. Television can be a very passive form of media consumption. You're not locked into your favorite chair when the TV is on like you are at the movie theater where the screen is the only thing forcing your line of attention. You can leave it on while you eat dinner, check your email or clean your guns.

If, however, you left last night's 'Justified' on in the background, you missed one hell of an interesting twist. Replay it and watch it from start to finish. Hot glue yourself to your Barcalounger if you have to.

There's an interesting dynamic in the dueling showdowns between Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder and their respective daddies. Boyd has become a man of faith and sees himself as a renegade force of evil against his father who hopes to turn his little corner of Kentucky into the biggest producer of meth this side of the Oklahoma border. Raylan, of course, still has his hang-ups with his crooked father who has his hands stuck in more mobster's honey pots than a six armed Winnie the Pooh.

The plot set up an interesting twist with Raylan's father being asked to become a "snitch" on the Crowder's operations. Naturally it seems a little improbable in the real world since family relations are bound to get in the way of a criminal investigation, but it works in the TV world because the Marshals have run out of options and Raylan has a raging distrust for his old man as evidenced by his showdown over his instance that he wear a wire.

The duality the plot has set up makes for interesting viewing for several reasons. First, it keeps you guessing. It may look like a symmetrical progression between the two pairs, but one is bound to veer off the track at any moment. Secondly and most importantly, it keeps you watching. There could come a time by the end of the season where Boyd and Raylan join forces to take on their evil dads. The only way it could be sweeter is if it happens on Fathers' Day week.

Raylan getting down and dirty with his ex was kind of a shocker. It's hard to read her since we still don't know a lot about her. The fact she was carrying such a strong torch for Raylan threw me for a loop. Sure it didn't hurt that her current husband isn't a real catch since he invests with bloodlusting loansharks, but she always seemed reluctant to be in the same room with him, even when she really needed him. This time, it's safe to say that she didn't mind being in Raylan's hotel room for longer than say, oh, 10 minutes, maybe?

Ava's reluctance to leave town was also a little baffling, but understandable. She says she doesn't want to leave her home or her town, but she's really refusing to let a piece of scum like Bo Crowder and his band of merry meth peddlers get the best of her. That feeling became twice as strong when she realized that Raylan had scored with her ex and leaving her with less chance of trusting the one good thing she thought she had in her life. It was hard not to feel sorry for the poor dear, especially since I already have kind of a thing for her. It's like watching the head cheerleader get cheated on by my high school's quarterback from the window of the Yearbook staff room all over again.

Naturally, the biggest surprise award goes to Raylan's dad who not only agrees to wear a wire after cheating death in a heart wrenching scene with a disgruntled soldier at his VFW bar, but the deal he tries to cut with Boyd's dad as he tries to play both him and his own son. This show always knows how to solve problems and leave just a little left over to make the next episode even more interesting. It fills you up with a great, tasty meal and leaves a little unfinished aperitif to get you to come back for seconds.