ROD CARVETH
When we’re introduced to Ava Crowder in the Season One opener, “Fire in the Hole,” she has just shot and killed her abusive husband Bowman with a deer rifle, while he was enjoying the dinner she had prepared for him. She had finally tired of him getting drunk and beating her. When Raylan Givens hears the news, he remembers that Ava lived down the street from him, and agrees to talk to her.
Pursue Your Pleasure
When Ava sees Raylan, she welcomes him with a passionate kiss and asks if he’s still married. She then admits she has had a crush on him since he had been twelve years old. Normally, someone who has just killed a spouse is not likely to go after another man so quickly. But it’s clear that Ava operates according to a form of utilitarianism, one that focuses on hedonism—the pursuit of pleasure as the over-riding goal.
It’s not clear if Ava was always a hedonist, or that the shooting of her husband allowed her to feel it was okay for her to want what she wanted. Regardless, from the first episode through the rest of the series, Ava always sought what was pleasurable for Ava. And, Ava is not taking “No” for an answer, if the recommended course of action is not to pursue her pleasure.
When Boyd kidnaps Ava, and attempts to shoot Raylan, Raylan’s boss Art warns Raylan that he should not get involved with Ava as she is a witness. So, even though Raylan knows full well that it goes against proper protocol for a Deputy Marshal to socialize with the defendant in an active murder investigation, he nevertheless finds himself unable to resist Ava’s persistent advances.
Ava wants what Ava wants. Ava’s apparent irresistibility soon results in an ongoing sexual relationship. When she mentions to Raylan that she derives comfort from knowing that the “A-number-one gunfighter in the whole US Marshals Service is watching her back,” he reminds Ava that he continues to watch every part of her. It turns out that Art’s warning was correct—because of Ava’s affair with Raylan, Boyd Crowder ends up being released from prison early because both of them have been compromised as witnesses.
When confronted with a choice, Ava pursues the one that maximizes her pleasure, and minimizes her pain. This pattern of behavior is best shown by her behavior in Season Five, a season that begins with her entering jail and ends up with her getting ready to betray her former fiancé, Boyd.
Hedonism
“Hedonism” comes from the Greek word for pleasure. Aristippus (who died in 366 B.C.E.), a student of Socrates, founded this ethical philosophy. Aristippus believed that people should “act to maximize pleasure now and not worry about the future.” Aristippus, however, was referring to the pleasures of the mind—intellectual pleasures—not pleasures of the body. Aristippus proposed that individuals should devote their time to intellectual pursuits, while, at the same time, exhibiting restraint in acting out their physical relationships.
This phrase by Aristippus probably best describes the hedonist philosophy: “I possess; I am not possessed.” Despite his emphasis on pleasures of the mind, in the twentieth century, hedonism became more associated with such expressions as “Don’t worry, be happy” or “YOLO” (You Only Live Once). As these slogans suggest, if a belief or behavior is based on a purely personal motivation (such as the acquisition of wealth, fame, or sexual partners), then the underlying philosophy governing such actions is hedonism.
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) is considered to be one of the founders of utilitarianism. The Oxford-educated lawyer and philosopher was a prolific writer, though his most acclaimed work was his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789). His vision of utilitarianism held that the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people is the fundamental and self-evident principle of morality. Bentham identified happiness with pleasure and devised a moral arithmetic for judging the value of a pleasure or a pain. He argued that self-interests, properly understood, are harmonious and that the general welfare is bound up with personal happiness.
Enunciation
Bentham distinguished between the “enunciative principle” (that each person’s sole ultimate motive is the maximization of their own happiness) and the “censorial principle” (that it is the effects on the happiness of all affected which determines what they ought to do). In other words, society works best when the people pursuing their own personal pleasure are doing so in a community that rewards behavior consistent with the benefit of the whole community and punishes behavior that is inconsistent with best interests of that community.
Bentham employed a quantitative approach—or “hedonistic calculus”—to discussing the principle of hedonism underlying his form of utilitarianism. He proposed that there were seven dimensions of pleasure (and, conversely, pain):
1. Intensity, that is, how pleasant at each moment the pleasure is or how painful the pain.
2. Duration, that is, how long the pleasure (or pain) lasts.
3. Its certainty or uncertainty, that is the probability that the pleasure or pain will occur.
4. Its propinquity or remoteness, or how close the source of pleasure or pain is.
5. Its chance of its being followed by further pleasure if a pleasure, or further pain if a pain.
6. Its purity, or the chance of its not being followed by further sensations of the opposite kind.
7. Its extent, that is, the number of people who will experience it.
Bentham recognized that the hedonistic calculus was only an ideal, and there may be many cases where there’s just no way to determine how many times more pleasant or painful one experience is than another, or how pains and pleasures compare.
The enunciative principle is based on a psychological theory of human behavior. By contrast, the censorial principle is an ethical one. There is a tension between the two principles as it assumes society functions best when the two principles operate in concert with one another. And, according to Bentham, that would be the ideal. But, what happens when a person seeking pleasure does not care about the socially agreed upon norms of a community? What if an individual insists on following a path that only focuses on the enunciative principle, and disregards the censorial one?
Orange Is Definitely Not the New Black
It is not surprising that throughout the series, Ava Crowder would pursue a path of maximizing her pleasure. She’s from Harlan County, and possesses a certain toughness that many of its residents display. Ava endured a marriage to Bowman Crowder that at times was so bad that she took refuge at the “holler” under the protection of Ellstin Limehouse. One of the beatings that she received from Crowder resulted in her suffering a miscarriage. It’s not surprising that, for Ava, enough was enough and she shot her husband. Given how abusive Crowder was, when Ava pleaded guilty to manslaughter, she was only sentenced to parole.
After such a prolonged period of time being subjected to pain, it would not be surprising that Ava would want to enjoy pleasure. So, throughout the series, her decisions appear to be governed by her maximization of pleasure. Even though it is not in society’s best interests to threaten the integrity of a case against Boyd, she pursues an affair with Raylan. When Raylan decides he still loves Winona, Ava pursues an affair with Boyd—enjoying not only the physical comfort of Boyd, but the psychological pleasure of having a relationship with Raylan’s nemesis.
When Ava sees an opportunity, she takes over the local prostitution business. Though prostitution is not something that is in society’s best interest, the position and economic rewards Ava receives gives her great pleasure. When Ellen May poses a potential threat to Ava and Boyd because she knows Ava shot and killed Delroy, Ava agrees to have Ellen May eliminated. Agreeing to the murder of an individual is not beneficial to society, but it’s in Ava’s best interests.
That Darn Body
It is that shooting of Delroy that will land Ava in a great deal of trouble. In the last episode of Season Four, “Ghosts,” Ava and Boyd are afraid authorities will find the body of Delroy where they left it—in a mineshaft. So, they concoct a plan to get Delroy’s body from the mine and move it. When they get there, though, they find that law enforcement has already beaten them there thanks to an anonymous tip. Boyd then comes up with a plan to use his connection with Lee Paxton, who owns the funeral home that Delroy’s body has gone to, to switch Delroy’s body with a corpse from the cemetery. They are successful in making the swap. Unfortunately, Ava is arrested while attempting to dispose of Delroy’s body that night. The charges against her are evidence tampering, obstructing justice, and desecrating a body. As Season Five opens, Ava is in jail, and relying on Boyd to get her released.
While during the first four seasons of Justified Ava made decisions to maximize her pleasure, during Season Five Ava makes decisions to minimize her pain. Though Boyd assures her he will get her released from custody, by the third episode of the season (“Good Intentions”), Ava doubts that Boyd is concentrating on getting her out.
Sent to State
Boyd turns out not to be Ava’s only problem. While in the county jail, corrections officer Albert Fekus tries to molest her. His attempt is thwarted by the arrival of fellow officer Susan Crane, who warns Fekus to stay away from Ava. In “Shot to Hell,” it appears that things are looking up for Ava when she learns from her lawyer that the judge is dropping the now-crumbling case against Ava. Later that night, however, as she is talking to fellow inmate Sally, Fekus comes into the cell under the ruse of doing a bed search and plants a shiv up under the mattress. He then pretends he has discovered an illegal weapon. Though Ava knows Fekus is setting her up, before she can do anything, Fekus stabs himself and cuts his forearm. He charges that Ava attacked him, and Sally plays along. Fekus then leaves the state, and, with no proof that she didn’t stab Fekus (the security cameras were turned off) Ava is sent to state prison.
At state prison, Ava is moved into the general population and bunks with an inmate named Nikki. She is soon befriended by a prisoner named Penny Cole, who fills Ava in about how to survive in the prison. As Ava is adjusting to prison, Boyd is working on her protection, making a deal with a neo-Nazi whose sister, Gretchen, is in the same prison as Ava. Ava meets Gretchen and Gretchen tells her that she was paid to protect Ava. Instead of protecting her, Gretchen punches her in the face, saying she despises Boyd for being a “race traitor” (Boyd had allowed African Americans into his church). One of Gretchen’s crew cuts Ava’s hair. It is after this experience that Ava decides, in order to minimize her pain, that, no matter what she needs to do, she has to put herself first.
In the episode “Raw Deal,” Ava will get her chance. Fellow prisoner Judith leads a religious congregation inside of the prison. Judith agrees to protect Ava, but only if Ava helps her smuggle heroin inside for the congregation. Ava will be taking the place of Penny in the operation. Ava, looking for protection to minimize her pain, agrees.
Not Servicing Milam . . .
In a prison shower room, Penny fills Ava in on the drug-smuggling operation. Penny introduces Ava to a plumber named Rhymer, who brings in the heroin, and Milam, a prison guard who provides cover. In return, Milam gets “serviced” by Penny. Ava realizes that in the future, she will be the one “servicing” Milam. Ava then gets the idea to plant some of the dope in the plumber’s equipment bag. When he leaves, he gets busted, thus shutting down the drug smuggling.
Later, Judith tells Ava that things could get bad for them if the other inmates learn that Judith and her congregation can no longer supply them with heroin. Ava, hoping to avoid having to be involved in any operation that involves her having sex with a guard, volunteers she can provide a new connection to heroin. Judith wonders out loud if it is just a coincidence that Rhymer got caught with heroin the day he is introduced to Ava. Judith warns Ava, “I hope to God Almighty you didn’t risk all of our lives to keep from having to screw a guard.” Penny later tells Ava that if she truly has a connection, Penny might know how to get it into the prison.
Killing Judith
To get the heroin into the prison, Ava will need the co-operation of Rowena, a nurse at the prison. To connect with Rowena, Ava needs to go to the infirmary. Faced with choosing between the pain of suffering an injury to get into the infirmary versus the possibility of Judith hurting her, Ava has Penny dislocate her arm. Rowena eventually agrees to help Ava on two conditions: Ava can’t let Judith know she is the source of getting the heroin in to the prison, and Ava has to get Boyd do a favor for Rowena. Ava gets Boyd to agree. Rowena reveals to Boyd that her favor is for Boyd to help Rowena “get me my retribution” against a man who murdered her prison partner, Vernon, by burning her house down with her in it. Boyd locates the man, and kills him. So, to protect herself from enduring pain from Judith, Ava is—indirectly at least—responsible for a man’s death.
Before the heroin smuggling operation can resume, an inmate named Lara attempts to shank Ava because she believed that Ava caused the disruption in the dope supply. Judith comes to Ava’s rescue. Later, Ava meets with Rowena who adds a third condition to resuming the drug smuggling—she needs to kill Judith.
Ava follows Judith into the bathroom armed with a shiv, intending to kill Judith. Penny interrupts, though, as it is time for bed checks. Penny tells Ava that she knows Ava was preparing to kill Judith and that she is all for it. It turns out that Judith forced Penny to have abortions when she was impregnated by having sex with the guards to keep the drugs flowing. Penny even provides Ava with a shiv, and tells her Judith goes to chapel each night to pray.
When Ava arrives at the chapel, Judith reveals she knows that Ava is there to kill her. She attacks Ava with a steel chair, and starts choking her; however, Ava manages to stab Judith to death.
Source of Pain
In the episode “Weight,” Boyd visits Ava and is excited that he has a lead on finding Fekus. Ava, however, has news for Boyd—she’s breaking off their engagement. Ava tells Boyd that she will always love him, but that she might never get out of prison. It’s also likely that the reason she’s breaking it off with Boyd is that he is no longer providing pleasure for her. She is in prison in part due to Boyd’s actions, and he has not come through with his promise to get her released quickly. Some moves, such as arranging for Gretchen to get paid off, have backfired. Instead of a source of pleasure, Boyd has become a source of pain for Ava.
Raylan visits Ava in prison, and tries to get her assistance in attempting to get Boyd to help bring down Daryl Crowe. Ava tells Raylan that she and Boyd broke up, but also that she didn’t want to help Raylan anyway. Her refusal may have been out of loyalty to Boyd, or out of the pleasure she got from getting a certain measure of revenge against Raylan for his choosing Winona over her. Later, though, the action backfires. After Penny is killed, Ava tells Raylan she’s ready to help him. If Raylan can help her get out of prison, then the pleasure she will derive will clearly outweigh any loyalty she has toward Boyd. Raylan tells Ava, however, that Boyd already helped him, and he no longer needs Ava’s assistance. Ava asks Raylan what Boyd wanted for his help. Raylan tells Ava that Boyd wanted a clean slate—for himself.
Turn of Events
Just when things look the bleakest for Ava, her lawyer calls saying that Fekus and Sally have both recanted their statements against Ava, and that the case against her has fallen apart. As a result, she is going to be released. When she arrives home, Boyd is there. They talk and then he leaves to conduct some business. While Boyd is away, Ava also goes out. She meets Raylan, who has arranged for her release from prison. She has agreed to help Raylan in developing a RICO case against Boyd.
By the time Ava has gotten home, she has been directly responsible for one death, and indirectly responsible for two others. Causing the deaths of three people while maximizing your own pleasure and minimizing your own pain in not in best interest of society. But, it was personally good for Ava—which, for her, is all that matters.