Raylan drinks alone at a dive bar, depressed and essentially suspended for the week due to his unwise actions of late. A couple of rednecks at the other end of the bar loudly crack crude jokes about a woman one of them was with. Raylan asks them to quiet down. One thing leads to another and a half-drunk Raylan meets the pair outside for a round of fisticuffs. Raylan holds his own… for about ten seconds. Then one of the guys smacks him over the head with a two by four and the rout is on. As a final insult, the rednecks take Raylan’s hat with them when they leave.

Later on, Raylan’s ex-wife Winona is at his place patching him up and tells him about Wynn Duffy’s surprise visit a few days before. An associate of her husband Gary’s, Duffy had essentially broken into her house and made veiled threats against Winona. Raylan says he’s going to go have a talk with Duffy.

Gary, meanwhile, goes to see an old college friend, Toby, who also happens to be an ex-NFL player. Gary confesses to Toby that he’s borrowed close to a million dollars from some sordid characters, and now it’s come time to pay but he can’t. Toby says he can’t help him with the money, but he’d be happy to help him confront these loan sharks.

Raylan goes to see Wynn Duffy, finds him in a messy storefront office with his thug sidekick, Billy Mac. Duffy will neither confirm nor deny his association with Gary. Raylan gets out before he’s thrown out, but Duffy sends Billy Mac to tail him.

Duffy’s on the phone with his boss, Emmitt Arnett, when Gary and his old friend Toby come by. Gary explains to Duffy that Arnett will make more money if he’ll just wait for the land he bought to increase its value. While Gary talks, Toby stands in the background looking threatening. Duffy seems unmoved by any of this. He suggests to Toby that he extricate himself from this situation, but Toby replies with threats. As Gary and Toby leave, Duffy promises to relay this conversation to Arnett.

Raylan goes to see Arnold Pinter, the bookie he saved from a kidnapping a few weeks earlier. Pinter tells Raylan that Duffy is working for Arnett, and that both of them are pretty tough hombres.

That same night, Duffy and Billy Mac show up at Toby’s house. Billy Mac, a one-time featherweight boxer, beats Toby up pretty bad out of retaliation for backing Gary.

Duffy and Billy Mac next show up at Gary’s office as he’s getting off work. They rough Gary up and tell him what they did to Toby, and that worse will happen to Gary and Winona if Gary doesn’t pay up by the next day.

Later that night, Raylan shows up at Billy Mac’s house, takes his gun from him and convinces him to reveal their plans for Gary and Winona. Billy Mac says they’re planning to at the very least kidnap Winona, and maybe worse.

Raylan goes to see Winona. He explains what’s going on and that he needs to get her somewhere safe. As he drives her to a hotel, Winona reveals to Raylan why she chose Gary over him. That Gary “wants things,” and wants a better life. His ambition led him down the wrong path, yes, but it’s one of the things she loves about him.

Raylan finds Gary at the plot of land he bought with Arnett’s money. Gary’s about to shoot himself, but Raylan talks him out of it. He gets Gary talking about his plans for the land. Reminds him what makes life worth living for him.

The next morning, Raylan and Gary go to Duffy’s office. Duffy, Billy Mac, Arnett, and one of Arnett’s thugs are all there. Gary hands over the deed to the land, explaining to Arnett that even now it’s worth about what Gary owes him, and in the future it will be worth far more. Arnett’s fine with this, but Duffy isn’t. Duffy was supposed to get paid out of the cash Gary handed over. How’s he supposed to collect, now? Duffy and Billy Mac pull guns, as does Arnett’s thug. The three of them fire nearly simultaneously and all end up writhing on the ground. Arnett slips out with the deed and Raylan and Gary leave unharmed.

Finally, Raylan returns to the dive bar he got beat up at a few days before. He finds the rednecks in possession of his hat, but although he makes it known he won’t back down from a fight if that’s what it takes, he’s able to talk the rednecks into turning it over without violence.

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