Justified (2010–2015)
- Genre:
- Action, Crime, Drama
- Starring:
- Timothy Olyphant, Walter Goggins, Joelle Carter
I loved Justified when it first aired. Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens could easily have been a stereotypical lawman, but his anacronistic style -- both the good and bad of it -- make him an extremely interesting character. And Walter Goggins as Boyd Crowder is, in my opinion, on of the best antagonists of any TV series in a very, very long time.
I recently decided to rewatch the series from start to finish. Watching all six seasons in just a few weeks is a much different experience than watching it week-to-week when it originally was broadcast. I still love it, and probably love it more.
There is, of course, a lot of police brutality, which I view a lot differently now than I did 10ish years ago. I wouldn't have thought of it as brutality then. I think it drives the main plotline that goes through the entire series, which is that Boyd and Raylan are at times not very different at all. One is just labelled the lawman, and the other is the outlaw.
I remember reading that originally Boyd Crowder was supposed to die at the end of the pilot. In early screenings Goggin's performance was so well received that he not only was kept around, but became the Givens vs Crowder story became the overall story of the entire show.
I heard an interview with Goggins where he said that he'd play the character as long as he wasn't portrayed as stupid. He was tired of Southern characters being uneducated idiots. Crowder is not that at all: Probably unschooled, but hard working, wildly intelligent, and with a vocabulary that makes some of his dialogue a delight to listen to. He consistenly outsmarts most people around him.
Then there's Ava Crowder, the survivor. Loretta Mcready, the pot-growing orphaned teenager who makes deals with the criminals around her. And other characters who, while from the hollers of Kentucky, are sharp, know what they're doing, and are portrayed (often, anyway) as people who are trying to get by in a world that is wanting to leave them behind.
I read "Fire in the Hole," the short story that inspired the series. The character in it, in my opinion, is interesting but no where near as compelling as the one in the show.
Soon I need to watch A City Primeval, which is set 15 years later. I started it when it first aired but never finished. Time to wrap it up.