Justified (#17)
You may have never seen this show, but that should change.
Most of the shows on my countdown list are titles everyone has heard of, and most have watched. For Justified, that’s just not the case - for one, it was on FX, a station that in a non-streaming world many just didn’t pay attention to. And for another, the plot itself doesn’t seem to lend itself to great television. Per Wikipedia:
Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is something of a 19th-century-style, Old West lawman living in modern times. His unconventional enforcement of justice makes him a target of criminals and a problem child to his U.S. Marshals Service superior. In response to his controversial but "justified" quick-draw shooting of mob hitman Tommy Bucks in Miami, Givens is reassigned to the Eastern District of Kentucky Marshal's Office, which is based in Lexington. This jurisdiction includes Harlan County, where Raylan was born and raised and which he thought he had escaped for good in his youth.
Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) has indeed been cited for a “justified” killing of a mobster - something that feels a little ickier in a world where we have become much more aware of misguided police shootings, it should be noted. It should also be noted that we, the viewer, are absolutely in agreement with Givens that the shooting was justified.
However, he is reassigned back to Harlan County, where he grew up and that’s where our story really begins.
When it comes to why this show is so good, we need to start with Olyphant (who we previously saw in the discussion about Deadwood) and quite frankly, Olyphant can do no wrong with me. He might be the most charismatic human on the planet and he was born for this role.
Secondarily, not only is the cast terrific (we’ll get to them later) but the plot line is genuinely riveting - Harlan County is coal town, and as such, it is in dire straits. Givens himself worked in the mines before leaving, alongside some of folks who are now involved with criminal activity he has to police.
Chief among them is Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) a white supremacist (but not really, as we learn) who over the course of the series forms the other half of a tandem with Givens where they are on opposite sides but learn to respect each other to a large degree. Another criminal Givens needs to deal with is … his father, Arlo (Raymond J. Barry) which is understandably a complex task.
The first season focused on Givens, as a U.S. Marshal, trying to protect Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter), who has shot and killed her husband Bowman (who has been physically abusing her) and is now under threat from the Crowder clan, including Boyd.
Over the course of the series, Ava turns into one of the most compelling characters and truly grows and is a seriously kick-ass hero. Indeed, most of the women in this show - including Raylan’s ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea) - are at least one step ahead of the men. That includes one of the best villains Givens has to deal with, Mags Bennett (Margo Martindale). (When an older woman is clearly the most terrifying villain on TV, you’ve really achieved something awesome.)
The show was developed out of an Elmore Leonard short story and the first season absolutely FEELS like it tonally (even if, to my understanding, the plot veers offline fairly quickly). There’s a coolness to the cop/crime plotline that the writers built and developed through multiple seasons.
And it’s that writing that really puts this show so heartily on my list. There are numerous quotes from the show worth repeating but this is one I actually use where appropriate on a fairly regular basis:
But aside from quips and great dialogue, the writing (and acting) also truly humanizes everyone - Raylan isn’t a maniac just because he shoots criminals with very little to no regret. Boyd, Mags and others aren’t inhuman because they’re criminals - they feel painted into a corner, they’re angry about it, and they’re doing what they can to make a life.
Justified ran for six seasons, and while some were masterpieces and others were slightly less so, it was incredibly engaging throughout and remained engaging throughout. Apparently a movie will air this year on FX reprising the cast, so that’s fun (if unnecessary, as the series was complete on its own). But it’s a great TV show and everyone I know who has seen it agrees.
That said, this is a show I often find friends have not seen, and I’m not sure how to compel them to do so aside from an article like this. I can just say - if you like cop shows, you’ll like this show. If you like dramas about parts of our country you may not be that familiar with, you’ll like this show (and I know folks from Kentucky who have said they absolutely nail the important parts here). It’s an incredible show that is still not nearly respected or well known enough, and you should do your part in changing that.
Here’s our list thus far:
Matt, This piece makes me want to see it all over again!!