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.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.17 million household viewers and gained a 0.6 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
In Florida, Winona (Natalie Zea) talks to her daughter Willa, questioning what is Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) doing instead of being with them.
In Nuevo Laredo, Raylan meets corrupt Federal officer Aguilar (Rolando Molina), who insults him and tells him to get out.
At the Marshal's office, Raylan tells Rachel (Erica Tazel) and Vasquez (Rick Gomez) that Aguilar named Dewey Crowe (Damon Herriman) as a witness on Johnny Crowder's death and he could identify Boyd.
Rachel and Vasquez explain that Dewey will be released as the jury fell for his claim of innocence on Wade Messer's death and he also has a restraining order against Raylan.
Despite the order, Raylan meets Dewey as he leaves prison, telling him he will be extradited to Mexico for being involved in Johnny's murder unless he names the killer.
Raylan and Tim (Jacob Pitts) have set up a command base on Arlo's house when they are visited by a man named Ty Walker (Garret Dillahunt) interested in buying the property with cash.
Raylan and Tim decide to pull surveillance off Boyd to follow Dewey, who gets scared at a state police roadblock and drives off the road.
Ava states she feels lost so Raylan reminds her about her past when she killed Bowman, uplifting her spirits.
In January 2014, FX Original Programming President, Nick Grad mentioned that the series would probably end with the sixth season, "We like having shows that rate really well, and there’s an instinct that you want it to go on forever.
According to series developer Graham Yost, the breaking point that signed Dewey's fate was in the final scene when he talked to Boyd about Mexico, "that was it.
In September 2014, it was announced that Garret Dillahunt was joining the series in the recurring role of Ty Walker, "a special ops veteran who spent most of the last decade deployed in combat zones, as a soldier and later a private contractor.
Yost said, "so then we started thinking about who was gonna be part of the team of bad guys this year, the fresh blood.
'"[8] In its original American broadcast, "Fate's Right Hand" was seen by an estimated 2.17 million household viewers and gained a 0.6 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Club gave the episode an "A−" grade and wrote, "From the outset, 'Fate's Right Hand' is a far more confident installment of Justified than pretty much anything that aired last season.
There's a definite sense that the show is consciously returning to its core strengths, with Boyd's resumption of his bank-robbing career marked by a lengthy pre-credits sequence in which he prepares to go back to his work, maybe even his calling.
"[18] Kevin Fitzpatrick of Screen Crush wrote, "We'll be sad to lose Justified after only six seasons, but 'Fate's Right Hand' definitely feels like a return to simpler times, and a much cleaner start than anything we had last year.
"[19] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "In a series that was always destined to conclude with Raylan going against Boyd one last time, Ava is a huge wild card.
"[21] Kyle Fowle of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The final season premiere, 'Fate's Right Hand', takes the first steps toward building to that inevitable confrontation between Boyd and Raylan, and in typical Justified fashion, it's not immediately clear how everything will go down; but the general sense of foreboding means that we have 12 more episodes of a tightly wound cat-and-mouse game to look forward to.
"[22] Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The premiere of Justified's sixth season is proof of how the awareness of death can focus the mind.
Because this is such a densely packed and intricately structured episode, all built around the idea of old ways fading and a fearsome future looming.
"[23] James Queally of Los Angeles Times wrote, "Raylan wants to go back to Florida, to his wife, to the way things were.
"[25] Jack McKinney of Paste gave the episode a 9 out of 10 and wrote, "I started out by discussing the ways that a finale can undermine the legacy of a great show, but in this case I think that the better question concerns whether or not a show coming off an uneven season can use a final season to right itself.