| “ | First you turn me down. Now this. What's next? Third time? You gonna tell me by the power vested in you that there's something else I ain't allowed to do? This is still America, last time I checked the flagpole. | „ |
| ~ Avery to Raylan Givens |
Avery Markham is one of the two main antagonists of season six of the American TV series Justified, with the other being Boyd Crowder. He is a mobster and the boss of Ty Walker, Calhoun Schrier and many other villains in the series.
He was portrayed by Sam Elliott, who also played Thunderbolt Ross in Hulk.
Biography[]
Markham used to be the top Mafia boss in Kentucky, until he went undercover to avoid arrest, eventually resurfacing in Colorado, where he began selling weed and reported ex special forces soldiers such as Ty, Choo-Choo and Seabass. He then began having Ty pose as an estate agent and convince people to sell him their properties, with Ty killing them if they refused twice, (or, in one case, if they insulted him) so Markham can use them to grow weed and expand his weed empire.
In The Show[]
Markham is present as an abstract force in the episode "Fate's Right Hand", in which Ty attempts to buy the Given's property as part of Markham's plan. He also briefly appears in the episode "Cash Game", in which Katherine Hale tells him that she believes an employee (Boyd) is stealing from her, to which Markham replies that if he was her, he would torture Boyd until he told him the truth.
He appears more substantially in "Noblesse Oblige", where he discovers from Ty that Boyd stole several legal documents belonging to Avery and the "blackmail ledger", a ledger containing the personal details of Markham's enemies, from Calhoun. He contacts Boyd's fiancé Ava and tells her that she needs to act tough if she wants to survive in the criminal world. Then, Markham and Ty pay a visit to Boyd and intimidate him, Markham telling Boyd that he doesn't want him to go to The Portal (a club that Markham owns) and that he'll kill him if he sees him there.
In "The Trash And The Snake", Ty attempts to get Loretta McCready to sell Markham the McCready property, but US marshal Raylan Givens shows up and makes him leave, so he calls in Markham. Markham gets into a standoff with Raylan, unnerving him by bringing up his fatal shooting of cartel member Tommy Bucks at the beginning of season one as Ty watches. He manages to prove that he's a force to be reckoned with to Raylan before he and Ty depart.
In the next episode, "Sounding", Markham and Ty discuss how either Raylan or Boyd is meddling with Markham's plan. Markham tells Ty that Boyd and Raylan require different methods to be taken care of.
In "Alive Day", Markham proposes to Katherine, who agrees to think about it, before asking her if she's an informant he's uncovered, which she denies. Markham is then informed by Raylan and his partner Tim Gutterson that Calhoun has been murdered when they come to interview him at The Portal. Ty soon informs him that Choo-Choo killed Calhoun while he and Seabass were interrogating him. Markham tells Ty a military story to show him that it may be necessary to kill Choo-Choo, an option Ty later goes for after Choo-Choo fails to kill kidnapped witness Caprice.
In "The Hunt", Markham and Seabass receive a call from Ty, who was shot in the shoulder by Raylan during the events of "Alive Day". Ty requests that Markham send someone to pick him up from the church where Caprice was being held, claiming he's still holed up there, but Markham realises that Ty is trying to get whoever he sends in arrested to distract the police from their manhunt for him and doesn't send Seabass to help him, instead paying Seabass off. Markham is arrested and interrogated by Art Mullen about the murder of Grady hale (which he didn't do) but is released due to the unlikelihood of Markham killing him.
Markham goes after Ty for his betrayal in "Dark As A Dungeon", in which he teams up with Raylan to find Ty, in the process discovering that Boyd is the one interfering with his plans. Markham tries to bait Boyd by setting a bounty of $100,000 on Ty's head, but Ty is waiting for Boyd and tries to help him rob his employer's vault, resulting in Raylan killing Ty during the robbery.
Markham visits Katherine in her hotel at the beginning of "Burned", but Seabass shows up and holds them at gunpoint demanding money. Katherine manages to shoot and wound Seabass before finishing him off with a shot to the head. Loretta from "The Trash And The Snake" upstages Markham during a speech and convinces landowners to take her alternative to selling to Markham: they get protection and the ability to continue farming without selling. Markham responds by having Boon go after Loretta. Markham argues with Raylan about how it seems like Raylan is using him to get to Boyd, and decides he's got to do what he's got to do.
Markham, Raylan and Gutterson meet in a diner in "Trust", with Raylan stating that he believes Boyd has an informant inside Markham's organisation and they plan to tell Katherine that they're transferring Markham's money, knowing that if Boyd doesn't find out then they can trust her. Markham does so, and Katherine proceeds to tell Boyd, revealing her as the insider, although not the one from "Alive Day". Markham then visits Loretta's great aunt Lilian to find out who Loretta's next of kin is so when he kills her he knows who to target to get them to sell Loretta's property. Lilian guesses his purpose and refuses to answer his questions, so he has Boon kill her. He then gets a call from Boyd revealing that Boyd has betrayed and kidnapped Katherine and wants the $10 million that Markham was transferring in return for Katherine. When Markham arrives, Boyd reveals that Katherine was the insider and departs with the money, leaving the shocked, heartbroken Markham to contemplate murdering Katherine.
This cliffhanger is resolved in the following episode, "Fugitive Number One", when Katherine reveals to Markham that the government informer from "Alive Day" is in fact Markham's associate Wynn Duffy, prompting Markham to forgive her and leave with her to kill Duffy. However, realising that he'll be recognised if he kills Duffy personally, he forces Carl Lennon, guarded by the corrupt Deputy Stiles, to locate his money and kill Boyd by telling Boon to kill Carl's brother Earl if Carl fails. Carl is killed by Boyd in self defence, but the calculating Markham continues the contract still valid and orders Boon to kill Earl anyway, but Raylan saves him and persuades him to testify against Markham for attempted murder. Raylan then informs Markham that Katherine and Mike Cosmatopolis killed each other while Katherine was trying to kill Duffy.
Markham visits the morgue to see Katherine's body in "Collateral", vowing to regain the $10 million from Boyd and kill Boyd and Duffy, as well as sending corrupt cops Birch and Crosley to kidnap Boyd's former fiancée Ava. He then goes after Loretta, finding her in a barn with her lover Derek Waters, who he shoots. He then tells her that the real reason Boon has been pressuring her is because he wants her to reveal anything she knows about Boyd through her connection to Ava. Loretta tells Markham she doesn't know anything and pleads her case to him, stating that she knows a lot about the marijuana trade and they could partner up.
In "The Promise", Markham discovers that Loretta knows where Boyd stashed the $10 million and he and Boon interrogate her to find out what her contact Zachariah Randolph told her. Birch and Crosley return, and offer to take Loretta to show them where the money is, but Markham sends Boon instead. Just after Boon leaves, Boyd arrives and grabs Birch as a hostage, however Markham simply comments that Boyd chose the wrong hostage and shoots Birch. In the resultant shootout, Boyd shoots Markham in the eye and kills him, before proceeding to kill Crosley, allowing Ava to escape.