Justified was one of those shows that was on our list forever. We had heard people talk about it, we knew we would get to it, but it just never happened. Then the pandemic came and we needed a show to binge that had a lot of episodes. We said, ok, now’s the time.
Six seasons have never flown by so quickly.
Justified was one of the most enjoyable discoveries we’ve had in a long time. The series aired from 2010 to 2015 on FX and is now available to stream on Hulu, and was created by Graham Yost, who went on to executive produce The Americans and Slow Horses. It stars Timothy Olyphant as a U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, who goes back home to the Appalachian Mountain area of eastern Kentucky to try to keep the peace. It is based on a series of stories by Elmore Leonard.
Justified won two Emmys, both for acting, one for Jeremy Davies for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2012 and one for Margo Martindale in 2011 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. These wins are a testament to the entire ensemble of Justified, which, in its six seasons, features a brilliant cast doing incredible work. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t say the reason Justified was appointment viewing for us was Olyphant and his on-screen nemesis, Walton Goggins, who plays Boyd Crowder, Harlan County’s most personable career criminal. The chemistry between Olyphant and Goggins was dynamic—it was clear they were having so much fun and that translated in every way. Each actor was nominated in 2011 for their performances in the show’s inaugural season, it’s too bad the Academy didn’t notice that their work kept getting better and better. Goggins in particular hams it up every chance he gets and makes the absolute most of this character, who he was born to play.
Olyphant and Goggins are what sets Justified apart, performance-wise, but the setting and the stories and the characters of Justified are what keep the show going for five full seasons. Certainly, there is a lot to work with in the back woods of Kentucky, and the writers make the most of it, painting a world that the audience is not used to seeing, and treating the characters with more respect than they usually are given. There are so many excellent performances, from Emmy winners Davies and Martindale to many other guest stars like Kaitlyn Dever, Sam Elliott, Joelle Carter, Mary Steenburgen, Stephen Root, Patton Oswalt, Dale Dickey, and Damon Herriman, each of whom contribute to the show’s tapestry of outrageously entertaining and sometimes heartbreakingly colorful characters.
If you’re looking for a show to get caught up in complicated characters that you really care about and a real sense of place and time, featuring two incredible central performances and an ensemble galaxy of actors swirling around them that will keep you entertained for five full seasons worth of engaging stories about lawmen chasing criminals, you really can’t do much better than Justified. Don’t wait as long as I did.
Addendum: A sequel series, Justified: City Primeval, came out in 2023 and is also available on Hulu. It is just one season, eight episodes, so far. No word on if there will be any more episodes.