When I first tried to get into this show, I actually had to Google the difference between the US Marshall Services and the difference between the FBI, State, and Local Police. You’d think at first glance they’d solve crimes like the people on Dexter, CSI, Law and Order, generic crime show. But the US Marshalls deal specifically with tracking down federal fugitives and escorting government-important personnel. So here I am, all caught up with the shenanigans of US Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and criminal mastermind Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins). Givens is a wise cracking, cowboy hat wearing, southern twang talking, Han Solo-esque men of men who tracks down the baddies while protecting the ones he cares for with his favorite pistol by his side and a conflicted sense of morality. Crowder is a spiritually conflicted man who has used his wit to slither his way through the crime rings of Harlan County, Kentucky, as he tries to take back the town his family once owned. Combined with cultural insight to southern lifestyles, an amazing cast, and a surprisingly central and amazing storyline, Raylan Givens and company give us one of the most badass shows on air.
Raylan Givens has recently been transferred from the US Deputy Marshall service in Miami back to his hometown in Kentucky for seemingly gunning down a drug lord in plain sight in the light of day. The chief is hesitant to add him to his team for Givens’s unorthodox and trigger happy methods, but can’t deny that Givens brings results when it comes to tracking down Kentucky’s most wanted. As Givens returns home, he encounters his criminally estranged father, the step mother who raised him, a sour ex-wife, an old crush, and his old friend from his coal mine who has turned into one of Kentucky’s most dangerous terrorists, Boyd Crowder. Raylan deals with himself, these people, and Kentucky’s most wanted as he gunslings everywhere from Lexington to Frankfurt to Harlan County. Minor spoilers ahead, keep reading for more detail.
You are one crazy sunnovobitch. And I love you for it.
The story of this show started out very similar to shows like Law and Order, CSI, and even Dexter, where each episode revolved around a specific crime and the heroes of the story worked the hour time slot to solve the crime. Sprinkle in some side-drama involving old flames, family drama, and other uninterested plot lines, and you’ve got yourself a textbook crime show. Where Justified stands out is that instead of focusing on being very different every episode and bringing in big celebrity guests for one time criminals, the show is surprisingly linear with majority of the episode revolving around solving an issue that popped up in the last episode.
The first season of this show is very similar to textbook crime drama in this manner. It the very first episode, where Givens unlethally shoots Crowder before imprisoning him, I assumed Goggin’s character simply the guest character. But he was repeatedly brought up again and again in his recovery and served as sort of an unofficial criminal informant (CI). These two essentially teamed up in some cases to take down the bad guys. The chemistry during these meetings are electrifying and compelling. Sure, these two people hate each other, but there is a level of respect that is portrayed so well through the screen. Goggin’s character Boyd goes through a spiritual awakening after prison, creates a church, and inducts criminal followers and subsequently tries to cleanse the disgusting crime of his country, mainly Oxycontin and Methamphetamine, both underground industries run by his crime lord father. When his father punishes Boyd by killing all his men and breaking Boyd spiritually, Boyd agrees to help Raylan take down one of Kentucky’s biggest crime circles. This all leads up to the very satisfying conclusion to season 1.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you.
Season 2 takes us back Raylan’s hometown even more, when he gets entangled with a very powerful local family, the Bennetts. Season 2 gets even more complicated than season 1, as we introduce a town’s social structure and the effect a very influential family has on it. Raylan’s enemies are even stronger and more equipped than before and more than one occasion has someone said, ‘get rid of the Marshall’. Fortunately, Raylan successfully shoots himself a way out every time, but not before delivering a couple of great lines in true Han Solo-esque fashion. It’s season 2 where we get even more character development and watching Boyd Crowder fall back into the darkness of the criminal ring is highly compelling. All war breaks loose between the new Crowder clan and Bennetts as Raylan and the US Marshall Service tries to clean up the mess.
Season 3 started this year and it looks as though the stakes are as high as ever as we see Boyd Crowder truly beginning to take over Harlan County as well as the introduction of a spine tingling money launderer and a cold-blooded businessman. What will Raylan do this time? Will guest stars like the Carla Gugino save the day? Time will only tell, and I look forward to watching.
During both of those season and season 3 so far have showed a great deal of southern culture. Dip, accents, Oxycontin, racism, family rivalries, etc. There’s so much culture here in the songs sang and the deep sense of community.
It’s difficult to encapture 13 hours per season of storyline, plot, and character development into a single paragraph and I just gave you some of the highlights without giving away too much. I highly suggest you watch the series yourself and see the awesome and tense moments. I highly suggest this series to anyone who loves a good crime show and may be a little tired of the monotony of CSI or Law and Order. There’s varied characters to love, enjoy, and root for. There hasn’t been a character as cool, collected, and good with a gun since Han Solo. So if your’e feeling a little nostalgic, I recommend you give US Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens a twirl. You won’t be disappointed.
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