"Hole in the Wall" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American Neo-Western television series Justified. It is the 40th overall episode of the series and was written by series developer Graham Yost and directed by executive producer Michael Dinner. It originally aired on FX on January 8, 2013.
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 follows Raylan Givens, a tough deputy U.S. Marshal enforcing his own brand of justice. 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, Raylan begins unconvering a 30-year-old mysterious case that may trace back to his jailed father. Meanwhile, Boyd's business is threatened by the arrival of a new church and he also reconnects with an old friend.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 3.59 million household viewers and gained a 1.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. These numbers were higher than any episode of the second and third season and is the second most watched episode in the series. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the lighter tone, new characters and new direction for the series.
Plot
January 21, 1983
A man picks up his newspaper in front of his house in the suburbs. As he is about to enter, he heads back outside when he hears a noise. He finds a dead parachutist in the street, with packages of cocaine surrounding him. The man tells his wife to call the police.
Present day
In the present day, Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) receives a phone call from a former acquaintance/romantic partner, Sharon Edmonds (Aja Evans), who is now a bail bondswoman in Knoxville, Tennessee. She enlists Raylan's help in finding a fugitive named Jody Adair (Chris Chalk), who is hiding out in Lexington and wanted by the Knoxville police. Raylan finds Jody at his wife's house after she refuses to let him and he prepares to take a gun from his car. He takes him into custody after a standoff in which Raylan subdues Jody by shooting the airbag in his Jeep, making it blow up in Jody's face.
Boyd (Walton Goggins) confronts Oxy dealer Hiram (David Ury) as he owes him money. Hiram claims that a newly-arrived preacher motivated him to turn religious and abandon his criminal life. Boyd causes an explosion outside and threatens Hiram to get the money or he will kill him. In Harlan, two teenage burglars, Benny (Casey Brown) and Roz (Alexandra Kyle), invade Arlo Givens' old house and start breaking into a wall. They see the bag with an ID for a "Waldo Truth" in the wall, and are about to take it when they see a car with police lights approaching. They run out of the house without the bag. Constable Bob Sweeney (Patton Oswalt) sees them but fails to catch them.
Bob alerts Raylan, who shows up at the house with Jody in the trunk of his car. He and Bob find the bag, which contains an ID for someone named "Waldo Truth", and Raylan stashes it in his trunk along with Jody. They leave the house, unaware that Benny and Roz are watching them. Raylan goes to a hardware store to inquire about Arlo's work on the house. He runs into Roz, who flashes him to distract him. She escapes and Raylan discovers that this was a distraction so they could steal his car. Meanwhile, Ellen May (Abby Miller) is visited by a constant client, Arnold (Brian Howe), who gives him an undisclosed drug. Arnold dresses in a bear costume, but Ellen May, under the influence of drugs, shoots him when she mistakes him for a real bear. Ava (Joelle Carter) reprimands Ellen May for her actions, although Arnold won't press charges.
Ava shares this information with Boyd and Johnny (David Meunier), whose condition has improved although he still needs to use a cane. At the bar, a client named Colton "Colt" Rhodes (Ron Eldard) arrives asking for Boyd. Ava and Johnny feign ignorance but Colt sees through their lies. He attacks Johnny and heads for Boyd's office, prompting Ava to take a shotgun. But when they enter the office, they find Colt and Boyd happily reunited as friends, as Colt worked on the military police and even arrested Boyd a couple of times before they turned friends.