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In General
A Cuban cartel that dominates the drug trade in not only Miami, but much of the southern USA. Prone to operating through intermediaries, the cartel sets its sights on eliminating US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens following his execution of Tommy Bucks.
- The Cartel: A Cuban cartel that controls the meth and cocaine trafficking in Florida, and much of the American South.
- The Family That Slays Together: We don't know much about the rest of Gio's family, but he, his niece, and his nephew are all players in the cartel.
- The Man Behind the Man: The cartel tends to contract out hits to local muscle like Tommy Bucks, Frank & Joe, Mr. Duke, Sheriff Hunter, and Bo Crowder.
Family
Gio
Gio Reyes
Played By: Jordi Caballero
"I flew you down here to make sure you understand the consequences of accepting this much product on consignment."
The head of the Miami Cartel, Gio is a powerful crimelord, obsessed with maintaining his reputation. When US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens executes one of his henchmen, Gio vows revenge, using a series of intermediaries to try and bring him Raylan's head. He is revealed to have standing connections to both Harlan County, which is a conduit for his cocaine and methamphetamines. Following Bo Crowder's release from prison, Gio enters into a partnership with him, to manufacture meth, and kill Raylan.
- Big Bad: He shares this position with Bo Crowder in Season 1. Gio may not appear often, but his agents constantly harass Raylan, and the only reason why Bo targets Raylan is as a favour to Gio.
- The Don: Of the Miami Cartel.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His niece and nephew. He also seems to have cared about Tommy Bucks, whose death he spends much of Season 1 trying to avenge. This may have been more of an issue of honor. Also, when Raylan returns to Miami at the end of Season 1, you hear his house's answering machine message when Dan Grant, Miami's chief deputy Marshal, calls to let them know he's coming in. The voice is of a young girl who is probably Gio's daughter.
- Faux Affably Evil: Gio's polite in conversation, but his condescension shines through.
- Jerkass: Gio's a smug prick who condescends to anybody he views as less cultured than he is...which is everyone.
- Karma Houdini: Has faced essentially no consequences for his actions, with his criminal empire intact.
- The Leader: Of the Cuban cartel.
- The Man Behind the Man: Many of the first season's episodes are driven by Gio, despite his remaining offscreen for all but two episodes.
- A Man of Wealth and Taste: Whenever he's seen, it's in an expensive setting...playing golf, relaxing in his mansion. This leads to a real contrast with Bo Crowder.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Gio only trusts fellow Cubans (Tommy Bucks apparently excepted), and after what happened with Bo Crowder, stops contracting out to anyone who doesn't share his background.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He tends to adhere to this, with a strong emphasis on gain and reputation.
- Revenge Before Reason: Gio's blindspot is his reputation as a man not to be trifled with. When Raylan kills Tommy Bucks, Gio spends considerable resources trying to have him killed, despite his usual pragmatism.
Pilar
Pilar
Played by: Alexandra Barreto
Gio Reyes' smug, stuck up niece. One of her uncle's most trusted agents, she accompanies a shipment of ephedrine to Harlan County, where she runs afoul of Boyd Crowder, Bo Crowder, and US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens.
- Break the Haughty: Her experiences with Boyd, Bo, and Raylan appear to have shattered some of her arrogance by the end.
- Co-Dragons: To Gio, alongside her brother.
- Dark Action Girl: Shows no compunction about busting out an assault rifle and laying waste to her enemies, though she's far from a spectacular shot.
- Jerkass: A haughty, unlikeable bitch.
- Karma Houdini: Yet to be permanently punished, though after being shot, beaten, and generally abused, she's unlikely to ever go back to Harlan.
- More Dakka: Favours an automatic rifle.
- Siblings in Crime: Alongside her brother Ernesto.
- Sibling Team: With Ernesto.
- Smug Snake: She's fully aware of the power she wields as an agent of her uncle, but isn't as untouchable as she thinks she is. Pilar generally gives off the air of always having somewhere better to be.
- Undying Loyalty: To her Uncle Gio.
Ernesto
Ernesto
Played by: Omar Avila
Gio Reyes' snob of a nephew. Serving as one of his uncle's favourite agents, alongside his sister Pilar, Ernesto is sent to Harlan County with a shipment of ephedrine. He swiftly makes enemies out of Bo Crowder, Boyd Crowder, and Raylan Givens.
- Bullying a Dragon: Mouths off to Bo Crowder with predictable results.
- Character Death: At the hands of Boyd and Raylan.
- Co-Dragons: To Gio alongside his sister.
- Jerkass: Ernesto is arrogant, prissy and irritable.
- More Dakka: Favours an automatic rifle.
- Siblings in Crime: He and his sister.
- Sibling Team: With Pilar.
- Smug Snake: Like Pilar, Ernesto is filled with disdain for his business partners and considers himself untouchable. The reality is that he's an unskilled twit whose power is traced back entirely to his uncle.
- Undying Loyalty: To his Uncle Gio.
Employees & Associates
Tommy Bucks
Thomas 'Tommy Bucks' Buckley
Played By: Peter Greene
"I was telling my friends this morning how yesterday you come to me and, "You don't get out of town in 24 hours, I'm gonna shoot you on sight!" Come on, what is that? They thought it was a joke, they started laughing."
A Miami Cartel captain and experienced hitman, Thomas Jerome Buckley a.k.a. Tommy Bucks has a fearsome reputation in the Florida underworld. Raylan kills him at the beginning of the series, and his death sets the premise of the show in motion.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In Pronto, Tommy is self-serious, stoic, and has a disdain for Americans due to viewing them as soft. Here, he's a much more causal Miami native who loves the city. He also lacks his literary counterpart's racism.
- Adaptational Nationality: In Pronto, Tommy is a Sicilian immigrant who works as a hitman for the Mafia. Here, he's a native Floridian who grew up in Miami.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In Pronto, Tommy was a massive racist who despised anyone who wasn't white or Italian. He shows no signs of that here, and is more than happy to work for a primarily Latino cartel.
- Affably Evil: In his five minutes screentime, Tommy is cheerful, chatty, and tries to convince Raylan to have lunch with him.
- Character Death: Raylan shoots him in the first scene of the series.
- The Dreaded: He was this while he was alive. People know who he is, and those in law enforcement seem to share the sentiments of David Vasquez, who is 'delighted' he is dead.
- Forced to Watch: What he did to Raylan after taping a stick of dynamite into another man's mouth.
- Mad Bomber: Forced Raylan to watch him blow up a man with a stick of dynamite.
- Offstage Villainy: His death at the beginning of the series means that we only ever hear about him through other characters. By all accounts, he was less than pleasant.
- Professional Killer: One of the most infamous and feared assassins for the Miami Cartel.
- Psycho for Hire: Every single time his name is brought up, somebody comments on what an irredeemable, psychopathic bastard he was.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Tommy's early death sets off the very premise of the series, as it forces Raylan to relocate to Kentucky. It also drives most of Season 1, as Gio is unwilling to let Bucks' death go unpunished.
Roland Pike
Roland 'Rollie' Pike
Played By: Alan Ruck
A money launderer for the cartel who steals from them, and is forced to go on the run. After successfully evading Raylan Givens and Tommy Bucks for years, he resurfaces in Los Angeles, pretending to be a dentist. When he assaults a man who was rude to his secretary, he has to run again, attracting the attention of Raylan, and cartel hitmen Joe & Frank.
- Affably Evil: He's a genuinely kind, friendly, and idealistic guy who genuinely wants to help people. He's not even particularly evil, but he has a nasty temper and a propensity for violence when pushed.
- Anti-Villain: Rollie's a good man who genuinely wants to help people, and isn't particularly villainous at all. Unfortunately, he has a nasty temper and is dangerously prone to violence if he's crossed.
- Berserk Button: Harming, or insinuating you will harm, Mindy is the reason you should Beware the Nice Ones.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Rollie is a very nice man most of the time, but if you cross him, he will hurt you in a very bad way.
- Character Death: Roland is shot and killed by a cartel sniper.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a light snark.Raylan: Looks like we have a sniper on the Mexican side.Roland: Well, that's not going to help tourism.
- Depraved Dentist: Downplayed. He's genuinely dedicated to giving his patients good and affordable dental care, but he forcibly removes the teeth of a patient for behaving like a Jerkass without anesthetic.
- Face Death with Dignity: Facing a life in witness protection and unwilling to risk getting Mindy killed, Roland stands up and is killed by a cartel sniper.
- Friendly Enemy: With Raylan. They like each other and are on a First-Name Basis.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Pinned down between a rock and a hard place, he decides not to place Mindy in any more danger or force her to spend life on the run. He stands up and willingly lets himself get killed.
- May–December Romance: With his younger assistant, Mindy.
- Nice Guy: To his patients. Sometimes he lets them pay him in baked goods!
- Punch-Clock Villain: He was this for the cartel, before he stole from them.
- The Tooth Hurts: How he gets back at a nasty patient, confronting him outside and extracting his tooth by force.
Frank & Joe
Frank & Joe
Played By: Lance Barber & Brian Goodman
Frank: [discussing Pulp Fiction] I'm saying, why does he still have his gun out in the first place? When's the last time you rode around in a car holding your gun?
Joe: 'Cause it's a movie! That don't happen, then there's no movie. No messy car, no cleaner. I mean, what do they do? They drive home, jerk off, take a nap?
A pair of hitmen working for Gio Reyes, Frank & Joe are sent to track down and eliminate Roland Pike, and, once he arrives on the scene, Raylan Givens. While Joe is a professional, long-term employee of Gio's, Frank is a local thug, hired because he knows LA. Neither of them is particularly glad about having to work with the other.
- Affably Evil: Joe most definitely gives off this vibe due to his professionalism. In a stand-off with Raylan, he tries to have a reasonable conversation rather than go straight to the shooting.
- Alas, Poor Villain: After being shot, Joe has a rather touching moment with Raylan, contemplating his own refusal to listen as he bleeds out.Raylan: I warned you. Twice.Joe: Well, I guess I'm one of those guys who don't believe you when you tell them the stove's hot. I have to touch it. [laughing] Might get me in trouble one day.
- Character Death: They are both killed by Raylan.
- Consummate Professional: Joe is a thoroughly professional, no-nonsense killer. Frank, on the other hand, is sloppy.
- Dumb Muscle: Frank, who doesn't come first in the brains department.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Joe seems offended and irritated by Frank's racist rant.
- Evil Duo: Joe is the smart one, Frank the stupid one.
- Establishing Character Moment: When they're first introduced, Frank is well into a racist rant while Joe frowns in the seat next to him, showing how different they are right away.
- Face Death with Dignity: After being fatally wounded by Raylan, Joe accepts his fate with good humor and dignity.
- Faux Affably Evil: While Frank is jovial and smiling, he's the more despicable of the two killers due to his racism.
- Fat Bastard: Frank, an overweight racist killer.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Ironically for someone who workings for a cartel headed by Gio Reyes, Frank is deeply prejudiced against "spics".
- Professional Killer: Joe. Frank wants to be one, but is more of a jackass than anything else.
- Punch-Clock Villain: One gets this vibe from Joe, who just wants to get his job over with an go home.
- Semper Fi: Frank is an ex-Marine, though from the sounds of things he didn't last long in the Corps.
- Signature Scenes: Their deaths are basically a wholesale reference to a scene from Elmore Leonard's Pronto, which takes place before the events of Fire in the Hole \ Justified.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Frank was run out of the Marines because of theft and an inability to take orders. He's now a wannabe hitman.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Professional Killer Joe would really like to kill Dumb Muscle Frank.
Mr. Duke
Mr. Duke
Played By: Ray McKinnon
A cartel hitman sent after Raylan Givens, Mr. Duke is a sociopathic assassin engaged in writing a book about his exploits. Prone to killing anybody who inconveniences him, he turns both Red (his local guide) and Sheriff Hunter Mosley against him, before he even has a shot at Raylan.
- Ax-Crazy: Implied, though never really shown.
- Character Death: Hunter Mosley realizes that Duke is likely to clean up 'loose ends' after killing Raylan. He decides for a pre-emptive strike, shooting Duke abruptly in the chest.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Duke wears an innocuous pair of glasses.
- Jerkass: Duke is an off putting creep who continuously insults his allies. It's no surprise Mosley turns on him.
- Professional Killer: For the Cartel.
- Psycho for Hire: And he's been hired by the Cartel to take out Raylan Givens.
- Sadist: Duke takes great joy in tormenting Red by threatening to kill him, and it's implied he records his murders not because the cartel orders him to, but because he simply enjoys it.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: He favours the sawed-off shotgun.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Hunter Mosley rather abruptly shoots him during a discussion about their next move.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Planned to do this to Red and Hunter Mosley, but Mosley was too smart for him.
Hunter Mosley
