[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It is no secret that I worship FX Network. The Americans, Fargo, The Strain, and American Horror Story are all shows that I watch on a regular basis. Sons of Anarchy, The Bridge, Terriers, and The Shield are series that I’ve watched from beginning to end, with Rescue Me and Tyrant among the lone outliers that I tuned out of after a while. I also plan on watching all of Damages sooner or later.
But it all started with Justified.
Rescue Me was the first show that I ever watched on FX, but I couldn’t stomach all of the gratuitous pain and suffering it inflicted on its characters after two seasons, so I dropped it and didn’t look back.
Justified premiered back on March 16, 2010, and was the first FX show that hooked me from the first episode and never let go. If you haven’t read the work of author Elmore Leonard, chances are that you’ve at least seen one or more of the films based on his work. Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, and Out of Sight are among the most popular films that used his novels as source material, but Justified — which was based on Leonard’s short story Fire In The Hole — is the closest that anyone has come to replicating his unique style of writing for the screen, in my opinion.
Justified‘s final season began last week with the sixth season premiere on Tuesday night, and as I look back now on the entire series, I can’t help but think that much of the show’s success hinged on the performance of Timothy Olyphant in the role of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”174″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Olyphant, as Raylan, is as charismatic as he is bullheaded. Raylan is introduced in the opening scene of the series premiere as a swaggering lawman with a cavalier concept of the law better suited for the Wild West, gunning down a drug cartel gun thug after warning him to leave Miami within 24 hours or find himself on the receiving end of a much-deserved bullet. True to his word, Raylan follows through on his threat, with little to no regard for the legal ramifications of his actions.
In a world so pre-occupied with thinking before shooting that pulling the trigger has almost become an afterthought, Raylan represents an old school brand of justice, walking a fine line that makes life a living hell for those in his crosshairs but frustrates the exasperated colleagues to whom the task of cleaning up his messes falls. Though he never sinks to the level of indefensible corruption that blackened the soul of The Shield‘s Vic Mackey, his tactics are often at odds with standard procedure.
Olyphant’s swagger and charisma are an integral part of how Raylan continues to be likable in spite of the fact that most people seem to regard him with a combination of contempt and begrudging respect. Olyphant portrays Raylan as a man confident in his unbending belief that he stands above the criminals he hunts, despite having grown up surrounded by them in the small hick town of Harlan, Kentucky — including his own loathsome father. With a greater understanding of how his home town’s criminal populace operates, Raylan is able to navigate their world with relative ease, never once stopping to consider if superficial differences are all that separate him from the dishonest denizens of Harlan.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”179″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]While Olyphant is fantastic, one can’t praise his performance without also calling attention to the underappreciated work of Walton Goggins, whose character Boyd Crowder serves as Raylan’s chief foil and antagonist. When Raylan is re-located to Kentucky in the immediate aftermath of the series premiere’s opening scene, his return to Harlan also functions as a reunion of sorts, as he crosses paths with Boyd. The two grew up together and even came to be friends while working in the coal mine as teenagers before following opposite paths, with Raylan a lawman and Boyd a career criminal.
Boyd was never supposed to survive the series premiere, but the producers were so enamored with the dynamic between Olyphant and Goggins that the decision was made to keep Boyd alive. Introduced as a bank-robbing white supremacist in the premiere, Boyd reveals himself to be an eloquent and intelligent chameleon, re-purposing different ideas and ideologies to further his own personal agenda. Dismiss him as a dumb redneck at your own peril. Boyd is the outlaw equivalent of a blue collar worker, doing whatever he needs to survive in the hope of securing a future for himself.
Boyd is positioned as Raylan’s nemesis from the beginning, yet the two find their interests aligned on more than a few occasions. As often as the two have gone toe to toe, Raylan and Boyd have also had each other’s backs, further complicating one of the most fascinating love-hate relationships on television. Raylan has made it clear that he intends to see Boyd behind bars — or, better yet, six feet under — when all is said and done, but over the course of five seasons, he has appeared willing to allow Boyd to run free, as long as there is bigger game to hunt.
Until now.
As far as what I’ll miss most about Justified, it all comes back to Raylan and Boyd. Exceptional writing has been a staple of Justified from the beginning, but few performances on television have been as riveting as the work that Olyphant and Goggins have done here. The series has been hit-or-miss in terms of servicing its cast of supporting characters, but it has never failed to provide ample material for the two men whose characters are what hold this show together.
And the final season has set the stage for a long-awaited showdown between Raylan and Boyd. You’re not going to want to miss it.
The final season of Justified airs Tuesday nights on FX at 9pm.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]