Tube Steak: Justified Is Fucking Back!

Despite their ridiculous obtuseness, the teasers for Justified that seem to have been running on FX since it wrapped up its second season last spring have certainly worked up everyone's feverish hunger for new episodes. As January 17th drew nearer, it grew harder and harder to keep my anticipation in check.

Holy shit was that anticipation justified warranted.

If one is to gauge where this third season may go from where "The Gunfighter" kicks things off, it is hard not to be watching on with baited breath, especially on the heels of Justified's fantastic second season. After a cursory nod to Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens having been shot in the finale of season two, writers Graham Yost and Fred Golan waste no time in establishing the fact that Raylan's years on the job have left him worse for wear, with his aim being off while rehabbing. Despite the fact that Winona is with child (which is played around with well in this first episode), this hints at a metaphorical impotence and as is evidenced here will force him to get by more and more on his wits.

As is usually the case, the show really hits its stride once Walton Goggins struts onto the screen as Boyd Crowder, with his tête-à-tête with Raylan in the Marshals office getting the show off the ground. The best moments in the show often come from their back and forth, and this is no exception with this priceless nugget of dialogue coming from it:

Boyd: Well now, if I found that kind of money, I'd be in Mexico by now.

Raylan: Boyd, I've been to Mexico. I don't think you'd like it.

Boyd: How so?

Raylan: There's a lot of Mexicans.

This is but one in many great moments in the episode. Dear John [the Judd Hirsch series] alum*, Jere Burns's character, Wynn Duffy, is set up to be featured more prominently as the next in line to head up the Dixie Mafia in Frankfort. His return to the show made for a funny exchange and a reneging on Raylan's promise that their "next conversation wasn't gonna be a conversation."

*And more recently, he was featured as the last remnant of The Management on Burn Notice.

The presumed big bad is introduced namelessly as Neal McDonough comes to Lexington representing the innocuously-named entity referred to as 'Detroit.' His character [whose name will be revealed to be Quarles at some point] clearly has both gravitas and panache and should prove to be a formidable foe, even if he only proves to be the tip of the 'Detroit' iceberg. His introduction is an impressive and cold-blooded one and leaves you wondering what could have been had Terriers been given a second season.

The imminent threat in this episode comes surprisingly from Dexter's Desmond Harrington, showing up here as wanted fugitive Fletcher 'The Ice Pick' Nix. While his choice of accent is odd to be sure, he does pull off menacing hitman pretty damned convincingly.

Luckily for all involved, the best moment is saved for last, and the one remaining question mark in the episode is answered with a silent Boyd exclamation point.

By the end of the episode, Justified had successfully resumed its status as the most eagerly anticipated hour of television every week.