On January 20^th, FX’s Justified began its sixth and final season. Based on several Elmore Leonard works, Justified follows Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), a US Marshal who is “exiled” to his hometown of Harlan, Kentucky. Raylan frequently finds himself in conflict with erstwhile mining buddy, now criminal mastermind, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), as the two attempt to coexist in a world that seems a little too small for both of them. Justified highlights the local culture and explores numerous themes, such as family, religion, history and the thin line that divides the good guys from the bad.

Join Jeff (of Slazenger1) and me in the coming months as we honor this criminally underrated drama with a series of “RayActions” to each of Justified’s Season 6 episodes. These posts will not be particularly formal, but will give us the chance to make some observations and reflect on each episode, likely culminating in a full Season 6 Dead Season Discussion after the finale.

This week’s RayAction covers Justified’s Season 6 premiere, “Fate’s Right Hand.” It contains SPOILERS for the entire series of Justified. Fire in the Hole!

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Patches
Justified is back. And I mean that both literally and figuratively.

First, the literal part. I have missed this show more than any other show on television. I watch Homeland, Always Sunny, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Sherlock, and Game of Thrones. Most of those shows, I can watch when it is convenient. I have no compulsion to watch them NOW. The exception is Game of Thrones, which can sometime be – “oppressive” or “a chore” are too strong, but – heavy. It takes a lot of energy to watch Game of Thrones. It’s epic, meaningful, constantly tragic, and most of the time, almost relentless in its humorlessness.

I missed Justified so much because it so effortlessly avoids either problem. It is deep and meaningful and explores important topics and themes, but it’s loaded with quirkiness, humor, and local flavor. Justified is a lot like Raylan describes bourbon to a Mexican Federale: Continue reading →