| “ | I'm nothin' if not predictable. | „ |
| ~ Arlo Givens |
Arlo Givens is a major antagonist in the first four seasons of Justified. He is the father of series protagonist Raylan Givens and a member of the Crowder gang.
He is portrayed by Raymond Barry.
Biography[]
Arlo was the father of Raylan Givens and the husband of a woman named Frances, both of whom he would regularly beat and abuse. He was also the partner of Harlan crime lord Bo Crowder, assisting in running drug shipments and illegal alcohol in and out of Harlan. He was in charge of the racketeering business until he eventually ran it into the ground. Arlo also once stole mining equipment and sold it in return for drugs. He was eventually kicked out of the Crowder mob for embezzling money. He also fought in the Vietnam war, developing PTSD and Bipolar depression.
Season One[]
Arlo first appears in the show when he breaks into the house of his tenant Stan Perkins and vandalizes his property in order to get revenge on him for not paying his rent. Stan calls the police on Arlo, leading to a confrontation between Arlo and Sheriff Hunter Mosley. Mosley attempts to get them to reconcile but Arlo kicks Stan in the genitals, forcing Hunter to arrest him for assault. However, Arlo manages to sneak Stan's stash of illegal drugs away in the process.
Arlo is bailed out of prison by Raylan, now a US marshal. Meanwhile Stan and his thugs go out looking for the stolen drugs, beating up Raylan's stepmother and Arlo's second wife Helen. Arlo retaliates by going round to Stan's house and brutalizing his thugs with a baseball bat. He takes the opportunity to plant the drugs back in a hidden compartment before faking a heart attack in the middle of the fight, causing him to be taken to hospital. This leads to Raylan arresting Stan after he finds the drugs. Raylan soon works out what Arlo did and confronts him, vowing to put him back in jail.
Later in the season Raylan attempts to convince Arlo to help spy on Bo. Arlo initially refuses, but seemingly relents after a confrontation with a mentally ill Vietnam veteran convinces him he isn't afraid of death. He is soon revealed to be lying, as he fakes the deal he was supposed to make with Bo and gives him $20, 000 he was given by the marshals. Bo ultimately tells him to help kill Raylan by meeting with him and shooting him in the leg, allowing the assassins Heckle and Jeckle to kill him. This fails as Raylan draws his gun first and shoots Arlo in the arm before killing Heckle and Jeckle and calling an ambulance for Arlo. He's later placed under house arrest until all of the £20, 000 are accounted for.
Season Two[]
At the beginning of Season Two Arlo is caught violating his house arrest by Raylan after Helen kicks him out of the house. He is forced by Raylan to pay back the money, although Helen gets him out of completing his debt by giving Raylan information on the Crowder's forging racket in return for Arlo's house arrest bring lifted.
Arlo is approached by Bo's son Boyd, who has taken over from Bo after his death at the hands of Pilar Reyes. Boyd enlists Arlo to help him rob Dickie Bennett, to which Arlo agrees. Arlo and Devil, wearing ski masks to disguise their identity, accompany Boyd to where Dickie is attempting to sell weed to Rodney Dunham and hold guns on them while an unmasked Boyd mocks Dickie and steals his drug money. However, Dickie notices Arlo's distinctive limp and figures out his identity. This leads to Dickie killing Helen in order to avenge himself on Arlo.
After Helen's death Arlo attempts to blame Raylan, claiming that Dickie killed Helen in retaliation for Raylan shooting his brother. Raylan responds by pointing out that Arlo wasn't home at the time, forcing him to admit that he was with Boyd, having just robbed Dickie. He vows revenge against Dickie, breaking into his house with a gun but finding him gone. Raylan then shows up and arrests him for breaking and entering. Arlo gives Raylan a location to search for Dickie, but Raylan has him booked anyway. He is soon released without charge at Raylan's instruction in an attempt to use a property deal involving Arlo and Mags Bennett as leverage to have Mags give up Dickie.
Season Three[]
While Boyd is in prison for assaulting Raylan, Arlo and Devil work under Ava attempting to sell marijuana to Rodney Dunham. During the deal Dunham refuses to buy because the crop has been damaged due to improper storage. Boyd, through Ava, orders them to burn the crop but they refuse.
Boyd is transferred to the same prison as the now-incarcerated Dickie and discovers that the Bennett fortune is being held by Ellstin Limehouse. After his release he arranges a meeting with Limehouse, accompanied by Arlo and Devil. Limehouse agrees to split the money in return for the weed crop, causing Boyd to become enraged at the realization that Arlo and Devil disobeyed him. Boyd threatens Arlo before punching Devil to the ground. Afterwards Arlo argues with Boyd about his failure to burn the crop.
Boyd announces that the Crowder mob is abandoning the prostitution business because it's too expensive, and that he intends to take control of Harlan's criminal underworld. Arlo remarks that they will need more men, to which Boyd replies that he has already started recruiting. Boyd then announces that they are going to reclaim some Crowder property before he, Arlo, Devil and Boyd's cousin Johnny visit the old Crowder bar and force the new owner to sign it over to Boyd at gunpoint.
Arlo fails to take his Bipolar medicine one day, causing him to begin hallucinating that Limehouse has his late wife Frances. Arlo goes round to Limehouse's holler and demands that he give him his wife. Limehouse tells him Frances isn't there, at which point Arlo pulls out a gun and is knocked unconscious by Errol Butler before being thrown out. This leads to an argument with Ava about whether or not he should take his meds.
Dickie visits the Crowder bar to request help in robbing Limehouse of Mags's money. Boyd, who has a grudge against Dickie, drags him into the back room and savagely beats him until Ava manages to talk him down. Arlo, who also has a grudge against Dickie for Helen's murder, wants to kill him but Boyd persuades him to spare him and he agrees to keep watch while Boyd robs the bank where the money is stashed. However, Boyd later tells him he isn't needed due to his age. This causes an angry Arlo, who hasn't taken his medication, to lock Ava in the bathroom and run out to kill Dickie. Soon after, a state trooper named Tom Bergen is shot dead in the course of the robbery while trying to apprehend Robert Quarles, causing Quarles to be blamed.
During the manhunt for Quarles, Boyd discovers that a warrant has been put out for him over the murder of Devil, who he killed earlier in the season for betraying him. Boyd is arrested by Raylan for the crime in front of Arlo. Later on, Quarles is cornered by Raylan and denies shooting Tom Bergen. After having his arm severed he tells Raylan that Arlo was the shooter, having mistaken Bergen for Raylan, before presumably dying. Arlo is arrested for the crime, and also confesses to Devil's murder to ensure Boyd's release.
Season Four[]
Raylan visits Arlo is prison to ask him about a mysterious canvas bag found in the wall of his old house, as well as the driver's licence inside issued to a "Waldo Truth". Arlo denies any knowledge of the bag or the teenager who tried to steal it, but accidentally reveals he is lying by telling Raylan to put it back in the wall, forgetting that Raylan never told him it was in the wall. After Raylan leaves a prison trustee named Sam Porter tells Arlo that he knows about the bag due to his past with the Dixie Mafia. Arlo responds by slitting his throat.
During the course of his investigation Raylan works out that "Waldo Truth" was a man killed by fugitive Drew Thompson to fake his death, and Arlo and Bo Crowder made a deal to hide the evidence and provide Drew with a new identity in return for cocaine. Raylan attempts to get Arlo to give Drew up in return for being transferred to a nicer prison but he refuses the deal. Raylan also offers Hunter Mosley, incarcerated in the same prison after trying to kill Raylan, the same deal after finding he was a friend of Drew.
Hunter figures out that Raylan approached Arlo with the deal and plans to kill him, bribing a prison guard to give him access to him. Arlo comes to the same conclusion about Hunter and fakes a catatonic state while in the barbers chair so Hunter will come and get him. When Hunter tries to stab him Arlo jumps up and bludgeons him with a can of barbicide, seemingly knocking him out. Arlo lets his guard down, giving Hunter the opportunity to stab him through the chest with some barber's shears.
Arlo is interrogated in the prison hospital by Raylan, who offers him one final chance to give up Drew's whereabouts. Arlo beckons him closer, before whispering "Kiss my ass", causing Raylan to leave in disgust. Later Arlo dies of his injuries off-screen and is buried in the Givens family plot.