Production
Development
In January 2012, it was reported that the fifth episode of the third season would be titled "Thick as Mud", and was to be directed by Adam Arkin and written by story editor Jon Worley and co-producer Benjamin Cavell from a story by Worley and executive producer Elmore Leonard. [2]
Writing
The writers teased more material that would explore the search for Mags Bennett's money in the episode. [3] Series developer Graham Yost explained that Dewey was supposed to die in the first episode but the network told him to change plans, "the uproar was such that it was loud and clear that Dewey must not die until Dewey absolutely has to die." He eventually was grateful for the choice, as it allowed the writers to develop more stories of him. [4] The episode's plotline involving Dewey was based on Elmore Leonard's 2012 novel Raylan although the writers changed some aspects, such as Dewey keeping his kidneys. Raylan's scene in the bathtub was adapted from the novel. [5] [6] Yost teased the episode, deeming it a "Dewey-centric" episode. [7]
Boyd referred to Quarles as a "Carpetbagger", a derogatory term applied by Southerners to opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, and/or social gain. Yost previously referred to the character in a previous interview, further elaborating, "there's a line in there something about a man from the Northeast comes waving $100 bills — it's just that idea of people coming to Harlan to exploit it for its natural resources and then gettin' the money and getting out. First it was timber, then it was coal. In our twisted Justified world, the natural resource down there is Oxy addicts. We just thought that becomes an Elmore-like scam. Elmore's bad guys are always looking for that little gap, that little thing that no one else has tried, that makes some kind of sense." [8]
Yost also explained the meaning behind Winona's letter, "as much as we love Raylan, I think that Winona reminds us that being married to someone like that would have incredible costs. So it's difficult to, at times, like the character who's saying about your hero 'You shouldn't be doing this', because we want him to keep on doing it, because that's the reason we tune in every week. But we wanted to make sure that her point of view was clear and it had nothing to do with her love for him." [4]
When questioned about why Dewey still had his kidneys and what was Lance's and Layla's plan, Yost clarified, "the rationale was that no one who'd actually had their kidneys taken out could go rob people and get more money. Lance figured Dewey was an idiot (not a reach, Dewey being Dewey) who wouldn't know better. He'd go out, get some more cash, and when he came to deliver it, then they'd take 'em out, kill him." [9]
Casting
A few days before the airing of the episode, Maggie Lawson was announced to be guest starring in the show as "a nurse who might have vital information to share with Raylan." [10] Yost and executive producer Fred Golan were big fans of Psych , which stars Lawson. Yost says that when he saw her audition reel, he said, "well, let's get Maggie." [4]
