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Arlo Givens was a recurring character in the FX series Justified. Arlo is the father of Raylan Givens, former husband of Frances Givens, and the former husband of Frances's sister, Helen Givens. Arlo is a career criminal who has ties with the Crowder family. In "Outlaw", Arlo is stabbed in the chest by Former Sheriff Hunter Mosley. He later dies off-screen. Arlo is portrayed by guest star Raymond Barry.

Biography[]

Background[]

Arlo was a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. He also suffers from bipolar depression and has suffered two heart attacks. He's charming but violent and sells drugs. Arlo's criminal activities strained his relationship with his son long before Raylan became a U.S. Marshal. Other characters reference past crimes such as selling stolen mining machinery for cocaine. When he and Bo Crowder were in their prime, they escorted drug shipments in and out of Harlan. Arlo has been on medication for his PTSD and bipolar depression. However, when he doesn't take his medicine, it causes Arlo to hallucinate and act more brash than he usually does. Arlo was a known abuser of his late wife Frances, and would also abuse Raylan.

Season 1[]

Arlo makes his first appearance in the episode "The Lord of War and Thunder" when he plays out a con on a drug dealer but not without getting Raylan to unknowingly help him.

Later in the episode “Fathers and Sons”, he is revealed to be Bo Crowder's former crime partner and a former Vietnam veteran and widower.

Season 2[]

At the start of season two, Arlo is violating his house arrest by living in a trailer just outside his house. Raylan comes to find him to discover Helen is keeping him out at gunpoint because of what he tried to do to Raylan. However, Raylan convinces her to let him back in.

Later in the season, Arlo joins up with Boyd Crowder to rob Dickie Bennett. Dickie notices a limp resulting from a gunshot wound Arlo sustained earlier in the season. In retaliation, Dickie breaks into Arlo's wife's house resulting in the death of Helen Givens.

Season 3[]

Arlo remains part of Boyd Crowder's crew of criminals. In "The Gunfighter" he works with Devil to try and sell the weed they seized from Mags Bennett after her death while Boyd is in prison. They meet with Rodney Dunham but he refuses to buy the weed because they have not dried it and it has started to rot. Arlo and Devil are annoyed when Ava steps in to diffuse the situation with 'Hot Rod' and they go drinking. Ava later invites them for dinner and tells them that Boyd wants them to burn the weed. They are disbelieving and Devil refuses to comply. Ava hits Devil in the face with a skillet to assert her authority.

In "Cut Ties" Boyd is transferred to the same prison as Dickie Bennett and manages to get Dickie to tell him that Ellstin Limehouse is holding Mags' fortune. In "Harlan Roulette" Boyd has Arlo and Devil stand guard while he meets with Limehouse. Limehouse refuses his proposal that they kill Dickie and split the money. Limehouse says that he knows Arlo and reveals to Boyd that he has heard he has the Bennett weed. Boyd realizes that it has not been burned and threatens Arlo before punching Devil. Boyd agrees to sell the weed to Limehouse at a massive discount. He punishes Devil (a white supremacist) by forcing him to load the truck with Limehouse's (African American) men and Arlo cautions Boyd to go easy on Devil because he was just trying to make money. Boyd tells Arlo that he has plans to get them paid. Arlo counters that he wants to hear Boyd’s plans and asks where Johnny Crowder is. Boyd looks at the truck, catches a defiant glare from Devil and then goes inside.

Inside, Boyd tells the others that his father (Bo Crowder) considered himself a Harlan criminal but became a middleman for Miami and Frankfurt. Boyd invites Ava to join them in the dining room. Boyd says that Bo’s association with outsiders cost him his life and that he will not repeat his father’s mistakes. He says that he plans to take control of every aspect of crime in Harlan encompassing protection rackets, robbery, illegal gambling and drug distribution. He tells his crew that they will be meticulous and clean. He warns that there will be no more smash and grabs and no more bad decisions. He says that they will give up Bo’s prostitution business because it is untenable in the recession and will be less valuable than drugs. Arlo says that Boyd has made a fine speech but that they will need more men. Boyd claims to have started recruiting and says that for today they are going to reclaim some Crowder property. Later they visit Johnny Crowder's old bar and are met by Johnny and new recruits Rip and Jimmy. They force the new owner Buck Mulligan to sign the deed over to Boyd at gunpoint.

In "The Man Behind The Curtain", Arlo shows up at Limehouse's holler, looking for his late wife Frances Givens. Limehouse assumes that the man is drunk, but Arlo assures him that he hasn't drunk anything and that he is looking for Frances. Arlo tells him that either Limehouse gets Frances or he will. Limehouse assures Arlo that Frances isn't there, prompting Arlo to pull out a gun in an attempt to shoot Limehouse. However, he winds up being knocked unconscious by Errol. Later, Arlo shows up at Johnny's bar where it is shown Arlo has not been taking his bipolar medicine. He attempts to drink, but Ava takes the glass and downs his alcohol, much to his displeasure. Ava tells him he needs to take his medicine, especially after what happened last night at the holler. Arlo attempts to get Boyd to talk Ava out of it, but he simply tells Arlo that he can't argue with logic before walking off.

In "Coalition", a reluctant Dickie and Errol visit Boyd at Johnny Crowder's bar in order to recruit Boyd's services in locating Mags's money. Boyd (who holds a grudge against Dickie for shooting Ava) grabs him and drags him in the back room towards his office, putting a plastic bag over his head and punching him several times. Errol begs Boyd to stop, because there is more than $3,000,000 at stake and the only people that can help Boyd locate the money are Dickie and Errol. Boyd reluctantly stops after Ava begs him to let them hear out the plan. Arlo, however, wants to kill Dickie to avenge Helen's death. While discussing the plan to rob the bank where Limehouse stashed Mags's money, Arlo is ordered by Boyd to tag along with Ava and be the "eyes" so that they know exactly where to go during the robbery. Arlo is spotted by Tom Bergen and Raylan as he is keeping watch outside of the bank. Boyd later tells Arlo that he won't be in need of his services during the robbery due to Arlo's age, which angers Arlo and Arlo pleads that he is still a tough guy to no avail. Helen appears in a vision to Arlo, scolding him over allowing Boyd to keep him out of the bank heist while Dickie Bennett (who murdered Helen) sits in Johnny's bar. Arlo, fed up at Helen scolding and insulting him, throws a beer bottle against the wall when Ava comes in. Ava asks if Arlo has taken his mediciation, and Arlo (who clearly hasn't) tells Ava he doesn't need them. Ava goes into the bathroom to fix Arlo some water and get his medicine and comes out to see Arlo holding her at gunpoint. Arlo locks Ava in the basement before fleeing.

In "Slaughterhouse", Arlo arrives in Johnny's bar while Boyd is being interrogated by the police over Tom's murder. Arlo talks to Raylan and says he heard someone in a hat was shot and guesses that it wasn't him. After the cops and Raylan leave, he is pulled aside by Boyd, who is enraged that Arlo locked Ava in the basement, but Arlo indirectly admits that Helen is the reason he locked Ava up. Boyd forces Arlo to take his medication in front of him. Soon Boyd learns from Shelby that a warrant is out over Devil's murder and Boyd soon realizes that someone in his crew is a traitor since they are the only ones that knew about the murder. Arlo denies any involvement but once again suspects that Helen may have said something. Raylan, Art Mullen, and the State Police arrive to arrest Boyd, and Arlo tells Raylan he is sorry for the way he treated him when he was younger. Raylan thanks Arlo before leaving. After learning from Quarles that Arlo killed Tom, Arlo is brought into the Marshals office where he admits to the murder of Tom, who Arlo shot in order to protect Boyd. (Arlo did not know Tom was a Kentucky State Trooper and only saw a man in a hat with a gun pointed at Boyd) Arlo also admits to the murder of Devil, taking the rap for Boyd, who walks out a free man.

Season 4[]

In "Hole in the Wall", Raylan visits him in prison to question him about the mysterious canvas bag, as well as its contents. Arlo denies knowing what any of it is, including a driver's license issued to a "Waldo Truth". Arlo also denies hiring the two teenagers, Roz and Benny, to raid his house in search of the bag. Arlo, however, slips up in his lie and mentions that Raylan should put the bag back in the wall (A fact which Raylan never disclosed in the conversation). Arlo calls for the guards and hangs up the phone. Sam Porter, an observant prison trustee who noticed Raylan leaving with the bag, talks to Arlo in his cell and reveals he knows a lot about the bag. Arlo denies knowing anything about the bag just like he did with Raylan. When Sam turns his head to give Arlo a book, Arlo cuts Sam's throat with a straight razor.

In "Kin", he is brought into the Marshal's office because Vasquez wants to offer him a deal: His freedom in exchange for divulging the location of Drew Thompson.

In "Money Trap", Raylan visits him to offer a deal to send him to a country club jail if he tells him where Drew is located. Raylan also informs him that Boyd Crowder is helping Theo Tonin locate Drew, and that if they find him first, the deal is nullified. Arlo refuses the deal, telling Raylan to "eat shit". Before departing, Raylan tells Arlo he will be glad when he hears the news if Arlo dies in prison.

In "Outlaw", a corrupt prison guard brings a supposedly drugged Arlo in for a haircut. Hunter Mosley enters and knocks the prison barber out. Arlo, faking his catatonic state, hits Hunter in the face with a canister of Barbicide and brutally attacks him, as well as the prison guard when he enters the room. While Arlo believes Mosley to be incapacitated, he briefly lets his guard down, and Mosley subsequently impales Arlo in the chest with a pair of barber's shears. Raylan visits Arlo in the infirmary to question him one final time about Drew's whereabouts. Arlo beckons Raylan, "closer." When Raylan leans in, Arlo whispers to his son, "Kiss my ass," Arlo's last line of dialog in the show. Back at the Marshall's office, Raylan casually annonces that Arlo is dead. At the end of the episode we see Arlo's toe tag and Raylan over his dad's corpse. Arlo is later buried in the plot outside the family home.

Season 6[]

In "Dark as a Dungeon", his ghost appears to Raylan as Raylan searches through Arlo's old shed that he was forbidden to enter as a child, only to find nothing and remarks that he thought every evil thing about Arlo was in the shed. 

Relationships[]

Family

Gang members

Associates

Murder victims

Other

Memorable Quotes[]

Arlo - "I'm nothin' if not predictable."

Raylan - "Like phases of the moon."


Arlo (in hospital bed): Where were you, woman?

Helen: Down in the parking lot, giving blow jobs for cash.

Arlo: Were you payin', or were they?


(To Raylan while dying) - "Kiss my ass" (In the "Outlaw")

Appearances[]

Season one appearances
Fire in the Hole Riverbrook Fixer Long in the Tooth The Lord of War and Thunder
The Collection Blind Spot Blowback Hatless The Hammer
Veterans Fathers and Sons Bulletville
Season two appearances
The Moonshine War The Life Inside The I of the Storm For Blood or Money Cottonmouth
Blaze of Glory Save My Love The Spoil Brother's Keeper Debts and Accounts
Full Commitment Reckoning Bloody Harlan
Season three appearances
The Gunfighter Cut Ties Harlan Roulette The Devil You Know Thick as Mud
When the Guns Come Out The Man Behind The Curtain Watching the Detectives Loose Ends Guy Walks Into a Bar
Measures Coalition Slaughterhouse
Season four appearances
Hole in the Wall Where's Waldo? Truth and Consequences This Bird Has Flown Kin
Foot Chase Money Trap Outlaw The Hatchet Tour Get Drew
Decoy Peace of Mind Ghosts
Season six appearances
Fate's Right Hand Cash Game Noblesse Oblige The Trash and the Snake Sounding
Alive Day The Hunt Dark as a Dungeon Burned Trust
Fugitive Number One Collateral The Promise

Image Gallery[]

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