Justified was a series about a US Marshal named Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant). The show starts with him in Miami confronting a drug dealer whom he had given 24 hours to get out of town. Needless to say, the drug dealer did not listen and the outcome was not good for him. As a result of that, Raylan was reassigned to the Marshal's office in Harlan County Kentucky, where Givens grew up and tried desperately to leave. Upon his return to Harlan County, an old rivalry with a neo-nazi drug-running family led by Walton Goggins begins anew when Raylan gets involved with the wife of one of the Crowder family members played by Joelle Carter and has to deal with his ex-wife played by Natalie Zea.
The show is a balance of a story-of-the-week show and that has a larger serialized story arc that plays out throughout the season. It has a strong supporting cast including Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Jere Burns, and professional Twitter troll/right-wing nutjob Nick Searcy. The show also featured a lot of great guest stars like Alan Ruck and in later seasons Patton Oswald. The season has 13 episodes and packs a lot into them.
For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in the HD format. The cinematography is great and provides a lot of great visuals of rural PA which is doubling for Harlan County. For extras, there are commentary tracks on selected episodes, all of which feature series creator Grahm Yost and either cast members, writers, or producers, then there is a feature on adapting Elmore Leonard's stories (from which the show was based) to TV. Then there are features on Justified's storyline, the characters in the series, a feature on the real Harlan County, and a feature on the history of the US Marshal service. So, a lot of material for people who like watching the bonus features.
Overall, the show is a good mix of action and drama, with some comedic moments along the way. The show is very well-written and acted. While it is an ensemble cast, Raylan is clearly the main character and everything revolves around him. That said, the show does do well developing the other characters and giving all the actors good material to work with. Olyphant does a great job playing a guy that has a ton of swager, bucks authority, and seemingly never lets anything phase him, but also has cracks in that veneer. It is definitely an adult show that has some swearing (the s-word gets dropped a lot) and some sexual content. It was not a carbon copy of anything else that was on TV at the time, so if you are coming to the show late and wondering if it is worth watching, I definitely recommend it.
The show is a balance of a story-of-the-week show and that has a larger serialized story arc that plays out throughout the season. It has a strong supporting cast including Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Jere Burns, and professional Twitter troll/right-wing nutjob Nick Searcy. The show also featured a lot of great guest stars like Alan Ruck and in later seasons Patton Oswald. The season has 13 episodes and packs a lot into them.
For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in the HD format. The cinematography is great and provides a lot of great visuals of rural PA which is doubling for Harlan County. For extras, there are commentary tracks on selected episodes, all of which feature series creator Grahm Yost and either cast members, writers, or producers, then there is a feature on adapting Elmore Leonard's stories (from which the show was based) to TV. Then there are features on Justified's storyline, the characters in the series, a feature on the real Harlan County, and a feature on the history of the US Marshal service. So, a lot of material for people who like watching the bonus features.
Overall, the show is a good mix of action and drama, with some comedic moments along the way. The show is very well-written and acted. While it is an ensemble cast, Raylan is clearly the main character and everything revolves around him. That said, the show does do well developing the other characters and giving all the actors good material to work with. Olyphant does a great job playing a guy that has a ton of swager, bucks authority, and seemingly never lets anything phase him, but also has cracks in that veneer. It is definitely an adult show that has some swearing (the s-word gets dropped a lot) and some sexual content. It was not a carbon copy of anything else that was on TV at the time, so if you are coming to the show late and wondering if it is worth watching, I definitely recommend it.
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