Justified was based on a short story by the late Elmore Leonard. His distinctive literary style lives on in this rural Kentucky saga of crime and justice. Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens has one of the best names and most idiosyncratic personalities on television. Raylan's outdated senses of duty and honuor are endearing and they make for fascinating disagreements with criminals who don't share his admirable qualities. His sometimes friend, sometimes foe, always attention-grabbing counterpart Boyd Crowder is played flawlessly by Walton Goggins. IT also features great supporting roles by Nick Searcy as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Art Mullen, Jacob Pitts and Erica Tazel as U.S. Marshals Tim Gutterson and Rachel Brooks, and Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder. Justified is different from many shows in this genre for examining the criminals and their motivations as much or more than the U.S. Marshals. This all-inclusive portrayal contributes to making Harlan County, Kentucky feel like a living, breathing society. The characters are fully-formed and their situations are often dire. Each season usually encompasses an overarching storyline that is intermingled with an assortment of outlandish cases for Raylan Givens to investigate. This show can pivot on a dime from quirky humour to intense drama. Listen carefully to the extraordinary dialogue, there is nothing else that sounds quite like this on TV.
