Coalition (Justified)
The series is based on Elmore Leonard's stories about the character Raylan Givens, particularly "Fire in the Hole", which serves as the basis for the episode.
The series revolves around the inhabitants and culture in the Appalachian Mountains area of eastern Kentucky, specifically Harlan County where many of the main characters grew up.
In the episode, Quarles escapes from his captors and while everyone is looking for him, Boyd enters into an uneasy alliance with Dickie in order to find Mags Bennett's money.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.46 million household viewers and gained a 0.8 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Boyd sends Ava and Arlo to case a bank that may have Mags' money, attracting the attention of State Trooper Tom Bergen (Peter Murnik), who informs Raylan.
Arlo's mind continues deteriorating, confusing Boyd for Raylan, hallucinating conversations with Helen (Linda Gehringer) and pulling a gun on Ava.
In March 2012, it was reported that the twelfth episode of the third season would be titled "Coalition", and was to be directed by Bill Johnson and written by producer Taylor Elmore.
[3] Series developer Graham Yost explained that there were different plans for the episode, "there was gonna be a big robbery of mining machinery and all this stuff, but we knew we wanted Limehouse to be setting up both Quarles and Boyd.
"[5] In its original American broadcast, "Coalition" was seen by an estimated 2.46 million household viewers and gained a 0.8 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "I continue to struggle with the bigger picture, but it's hard to deny the confidence and momentum the show has gathered for the finale.
And I don't imagine Boyd Crowder to be the type easily taking to the role of prisoner, so who will be the one to ultimately put a bullet in ol' blondie bear?
"[10] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Ninety-five percent of 'Coalition' was certified brilliance, and the kind of plotting you get at the climax to the best Elmore Leonard stories.
"[11] Luke de Smet of Slant Magazine wrote, "Season three has been the program's most ambitious to date, and for that reason it's easy to forgive its imperfections.
But there's a price to pay for being too ambitious, which we see in an episode like 'Coalition', which, though exciting, is too busy to provide us with the sort of quiet, well-paced, and compelling scenes we became accustomed to.
"[12] Ben Lee of Digital Spy wrote, "After last week's slight misstep, Justified pulls a brilliant episode out of the bag.
"[13] Joe Reid of Vulture wrote, "In a season full of strange bedfellows, Justified managed to shuffle the deck again this week, with a rapid-fire series of deals, schemes, and setups.
"[15] Dan Forcella of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It may have seemed like Ellstin Limehouse was too busy cutting up pigs to know what was going on in Kentucky recently, and it definitely seemed like his right hand man Errol had decided to rise up against the boss last week, but 'Coalition' proved that it was all part of the good butcher's master plan.
