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, Ava feels more pressure by her new role that she considers leaving Harlan with Limehouse's help, prompting Raylan to ask Bob Sweeney for help.
After realizing that Ava (Joelle Carter) is nervous about her new role, Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) tells Tim (Jacob Pitts) to check on Albert Fekus (Danny Strong) so he keeps his story straight.
Meanwhile, as Tim and Rachel (Erica Tazel) approach Fekus' house, they notice Duffy's man watching the entrance and they pass to avoid suspicion.
Ava went to Nobles Hollow and asks Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson) for help going on the run; lacking enough cash to pay, she offers to show Errol (Demetrius Grosse) a big score in town in exchange for a car.
At the Pizza Portal, Walker (Garret Dillahunt) becomes worried when land sales fail to go through, Boyd's crew having threatened owners against selling.
To do this, he and Carl (Justin Welborn) visit expert miner Zachariah Randolph (Jeff Fahey), Ava's uncle who has been at odds with the Crowder's over how Bowman treated her.
Walker sends Seabass (Scott Grimes) and Choo-Choo (Duke Davis Roberts) to Calhoun (Brad Leland) late that evening, questioning how everyone found out about Avery's interests.
In January 2015, it was reported that the fifth episode of the sixth season would be titled "Sounding", and was to be directed by Jon Avnet and written by executive producer Dave Andron and co-producer Leonard Chang.
In November 2014, it was announced that Jeff Fahey would join the series in a guest role as Zachariah Randolph, "a weathered and a little shaky, a man beaten down by hardship and drink.
"[3] In its original American broadcast, "Sounding" was seen by an estimated 1.73 million household viewers and gained a 0.5 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Club gave the episode an "A−" grade and wrote, "In its handling of Ava and Raylan, 'Sounding' suggests we are indeed coming full circle, albeit after taking a most circuitous path back to where the show began.
"[10] Kevin Fitzpatrick of Screen Crush wrote, "Admittedly not so exciting or revelatory as last week's installment, but a good amount of fun and tension-building, as the web closing in around Harlan grows ever more tangled.
"[11] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Even with the return of Constable Bob and Limehouse, and the addition to the larger ensemble of Jeff Fahey as Ava's uncle Zachariah, 'Sounding' wasn't quite as giddy an affair as our last two episodes, though it was a fairly necessary one from a plot/character standpoint.
"[14] Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "I'm worried that Ava Crowder isn't going to survive through the end of Justified.
That seems a likely outcome for almost any of the major characters by this point, but the fear is especially acute in her case, because she's being squeezed from every direction, which has forced her to fall back on what pulp novelists of an earlier era would call 'feminine wiles.
The site wrote, "As FX's Kentucky-fried drama unspools its farewell run, steering Raylan and Boyd toward a final showdown, Ava Crowder is woefully caught in the middle — and this week, you deeply felt it via Carter's performance.