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.
Following the shooting of a mob hitman, Raylan is sent to Lexington, Kentucky to investigate an old childhood friend Boyd Crowder, who is now part of a white supremacist gang.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.31 million household viewers and gained a 0.9/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Under the office's instructions, Raylan meets with local informant Arnold Pinter (David Eigenberg), who also works as a fixer for journalists.
Travis returns to his parents' house, where it is revealed that he and Curtis have kidnapped Pinter along with his friend and waitress, Samantha (Erin Cardillo).
Despite their attempts to remain anonymous, Pinter easily deduces that Curtis and Travis are the kidnappers and reveals that he knows that Samantha is working with them to make him talk.
In its original American broadcast, "Fixer" was seen by an estimated 2.31 million household viewers and gained a 0.9/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Seth Amitin of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.4 out of 10 rating and wrote, "Television characters from the whole southern/Appalachian area are typically either used for a fish out of water story or non-existent.
"[6] Luke Dwyer of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The bottom line is that Justified has a solid based to build on: a solid main character, supporting characters that are coming along, a building long term story line and some decent likely one-off performances by villains.