Tube Steak: Three Seasons in on Justified

As the third season of Justified came to an end, there was little doubt in my mind that I was watching the best show on television. If I thought that I had the energy to actually do it, I would absolutely write something after each episode of the show. Unfortunately, I don't have that energy, I surely do not have the time, and far too many do a much better job than I could possibly do (I'm looking at you, Alan Sepinwall). Not having that energy should not give you the impression that I am anything less than completely enamored with the show.

In Justified, Graham Yost and Company have created a television universe so rich with compelling characters both good and bad that it forces comparisons to The Wire in sheer terms of its magnitude of truly enjoyable secondary and tertiary characters. The wide array of law enforcement officials, regular citizens, and criminals of varying degrees is impressive, but more impressive is the skill to which they are drawn. A Crank-like episode following the delinquent dipshit Dewey Crowe ultimately matters to the audience because for whatever reason we welcome Damon Herriman--playing an illiterate racist--into our homes, at least on screen. The simple fleeting appearance of Loretta McCready in the penultimate episode of season three couldn't help but elicit a smile from the audience, and her not striking one as a Van Halen fan beckoned a hearty subsequent laugh. We are conflicted when it comes down to who we actually want to mete out Dickie Bennett's comeuppance because, despite the fact that Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is the show's protagonist, the character of Boyd Crowder draws us in and we simultaneously root for him to succeed--for him to avenge Ava.

Where the show draws its most strength is from the fact that it takes the world that Elmore Leonard created, gives it legs, expands upon it, lets it flourish into something so much bigger than it ever could have been in a book. Since the repopularization of serialized television, especially as cable television got into the mix and started paring down the production load to 10-13 episode seasons for a program, television has afforded writers the opportunity of telling much more complex stories than they had been afforded in any other medium. Even when given that latitude, most show-runners have not gotten their programs to the level that Justified now sits at in terms of having created a universe with a (mostly) singular protagonist in which there is such a dearth of richly imagined secondary characters to draw from each week that characters may pop up only once in a season if for no other reason than that there isn't enough time to fit them in more than that.

What Justified accomplished in its third season, though, was in adding so many characters to the mix working against each other and against Raylan that it was a marvel just to see where each episode went. Each character's motivations set them careening into and away from each other. Each character's actions consistently surprised while setting off interesting and unpredictable chain reactions. As each new event transpired, the turn that it took was unexpected leaving the viewer totally and blissfully unable to suss out where the plot would go next. The introduction of Robert Quarles and Ellstin Limehouse to the mix not only brought heavy hitters Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson into the Justified-fold but also added big-time players to struggle with Boyd Crowder and the re-emerged Wynn Duffy--played fantastically well by Jere Burns--for power in Harlan.

The ensuing orgy of machinations that these varied big bads played out against one another and Raylan was at once overwhelming (in the best possible way) and invigorating. With each one's motives never being entirely clear, the tidal shifts of power were a joy to watch. Even with the inimitable Walton Goggins getting considerably less screen time this season than in years past, the show wasn't lacking for its relative lack of Boyd Crowder goodness. Even with the dynamic between Boyd and Raylan being the most interesting aspect of the show, Graham Yost seems to have an eye on the long play and maintains a healthy dose of the two acting off of one another while keeping them from facing off in a final showdown. Goggins has forced them in this direction with his spectacular turn as Boyd, but the tension and drama between Raylan and Boyd has to build and build and build all the way until the show's end. The successful introduction of first Mags Bennett in Season Two and now Robert Quarles and Ellstin Limehouse in Season Three just shows how deftly they have been able to set up foils for Raylan while not blowing their load on the Boyd front.

Where Yost & Co. will take things in Season Four is anyone's guess. I, for one, am a bit leery about the talk of three four-episode mini arcs that Yost mentioned as a possibility at What's Alan Watching's Post-Mortem on Season Three, but at this point I'll gladly watch whatever they do. I'm on this ride until the end.

Reading Rainbow: Pronto by Elmore Leonard

With Pronto being the book in which Raylan Givens was first introduced, it made as much sense as any other book when choosing a re-entry point for Elmore Leonard, who I had not read since the late 1990s.

While readers flocking to the book in search for more Raylan than their weekly fix of Justified can give them may wade through the first 33 pages wondering where the hell he is, it isn't too long before he saunters in wearing his Stetson hat. Given the fact that Leonard can spin a yarn as easily as he might pour a drink, it's hardly even noticeable that Raylan hasn't made an appearance until he does--with an air of mystery about him.

What might be most odd about the whole book (in retrospect and given that Raylan Givens has become a rather iconic figure much after the fact) is that its events largely take place as a result of Harry Arno--a 66-year-old bookie from Miami--giving Raylan the slip for the second time in their dealings with one another. Knowing Raylan as we have all come to know him, this makes for an odd and almost incongruous introduction.

Regardless of the fact that one has to reconcile Raylan's error with the character on Justified, Leonard's penchant for taut, funny, unpredictable storytelling is on full display in Pronto, and there is the added bonus of getting to read the Tommy Bucks scene from the open of the pilot as it was originally written, complete with the full back story.

If you watch Justified--and if you don't, what the hell are you doing wrong with your life?--there is plenty to love here, even if there are slight changes from the source material that Graham Yost & Co. made with regards to Raylan's back story.

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.