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 2.04 million household viewers and gained a 0.7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Boyd (Walton Goggins) visits Ava (Joelle Carter) in prison, telling her he has been investigating Fekus (Danny Strong) for his fake attack.
Dewey then uses a fake ID to visit Dickie Bennett (Jeremy Davies) in prison, offering him a partnership, which he accepts to do.
In prison, Ava intends to kill Judith (Dale Dickey) as Rowena instructed her to do, when Penny (Danielle Panabaker) interrupts as they're checking their cells.
This causes a fight, in which Kendal reveals that Danny killed Jean Baptiste, surprising Daryl as he thought he was in Florida.
Danny then suggests they do "the 21-foot drill" and he runs towards Raylan with a knife when he suddenly drops into a hole that Kendal had been ordered to dig to bury the dog.
When talking with Art (Nick Searcy), Raylan fails to convince him that he wasn't involved in Danny's death and is also refused permission to protect Alison as the Crowes will want retaliation.
In February 2014, it was reported that the tenth episode of the fifth season would be titled "Weight", and was to be directed by John Dahl and written by co-executive producer Taylor Elmore and Keith Schreier.
There's a scene in the climax where this character named White Boy Bob is running up the stairs with a gun, and he trips and falls and shoots himself in the head.
"[3] Danny's actor, A. J. Buckley was notified of his character's death before starting working on the episode while he was guest starring on Supernatural.
[3] In January 2014, it was reported that Mary Steenburgen was joining the series in a recurring role as Katherine Hale, "a beautiful, Southern belle who was the wife of Wynn Duffy's mentor in crime.
"[6] In its original American broadcast, "Weight" was seen by an estimated 2.04 million household viewers and gained a 0.7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Seth Amitin of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.2 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "All in all, 'Weight' led us toward a very good ending for Season 5.
'Weight' builds on the success of last week's 'Wrong Roads' by starting to bring this season into tighter focus, as tonight's episode suggests just how lost Boyd and Raylan have become.
"[10] Kevin Fitzpatrick of Screen Crush wrote, "'Weight' lacks a more effective punch with its guest stars, somewhat meaninglessly returning Dickie Bennett to prominence, though it at least caught our attention with Mary Steenburgen's introduction as Wynn Duffy’s new friend.
"[12] James Quealley of The Star-Ledger wrote, "The Crowe family has some serious problems this week, but where those start and finish has a lot to do with what winds up as another uneven episode of Justified.
"[15] Carla Day of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "There wasn't any light or happiness in the hour at all.