Justified - Episode 3.05 - Thick as Mud - Interview with Graham Yost

You let Dewey live!
Graham Yost: Yes, of course. That was your big concern last time we talked, wasn’t it?

It was. Was there ever any discussion of him not making it through this episode?
No. No. I gotta tell you, back in the first season, when Dewey had joined Boyd’s little Church of the Last Chance Salvation up in the woods and screwed up and risked Boyd’s wrath, in the first outline or pass, I had Boyd kill Dewey. Just the reaction at the studio and at the network was “Noooo, you can’t kill Dewey!” I wanted to re-cement that Boyd was a badass, and remind people that this is the same guy that killed the guy in the car in the pilot. But the uproar was such that it was loud and clear that Dewey must not die until Dewey absolutely has to die.

You mentioned last week that this kidney business was Elmore Leonard’s idea. It’s from his new book Raylan?
Yes. But we decided to put a spin on it, that they hadn’t actually taken out Dewey’s kidneys. Lance was just using it as a threat, thinking that Dewey wouldn’t be smart enough to figure out that his kidneys were still in his body. Then they would take them out and get double the money.

Source: Full interview @ Entertainment Weekly