Justified

Season three has just started. Any other fans on here? :)

Haven't seen past season 1 but I liked what I saw.

Season two was slightly better. The Bennett clan make for great antagonists.

I haven't watched it but I've heard good things. How good is it exactly? Salome?

It feels like an old-fashioned show, and that is meant like a compliment. Timothy Olyphant plays a character that is very reminiscent of Seth Bullock in Deadwood (even though it takes place in the here and now).

Like Deadwood, it mixes drama with occasional (dark) humor.

But its main strengths are its rich characters and its Eastern Kentucky setting.



The beauty of this show is encapsulated in what happens next: those two guys beat the crap out of him.

The cinematography looks good, some of it at least.

That said, Timothy Oliphant is no Ian McShane.

Sharky wrote:

That said, Timothy Oliphant is no Ian McShane.

Point being? Olyphant does effortlessly lead what is a quality ensemble in this show.

Quote :

"You want to run your hillbilly heroin fiefdom up here, that’s between you and the great state of Kentucky. I got no interest in shitkicker-on-shitkicker crime. But you will not drag me into this. The next time you set up an operation in this county or any other it better not have my god damn family name on the deed or so help me God, I will lose this star and the dance we do subsequent to that will not end with you finding Jesus in a hospital bed."

I love Raylan Givens...

Watched an episode last night (some macguffin about Hitler's paintings) and it struck me that Oppers must be thinking with her ovaries. It's not terrible, but just the sort of smartarse-dialogue-no-substance comicbook TV I expected. In contrast, the couple of episodes of Borgen I watched were interesting enough for me to turn a blind eye to the insufferable PC-ness of its main characters.

I am Danish. Please, we have sex now?

Care to elaborate as to why you were expecting no-substance TV?

And while you are at it, when was the last time you genuinely enjoyed any TV show?

IIRC, Ambler liked SPIRAL and THE SHIELD.

Correct. Shark is my official representative on Earth.

'The Life and Works of Sir Erica Horatio Ambler' is my chosen Mastermind subject.

Mine is 'Santa and the Gräfenberg Spot: Fact or Fiction?'

Season three was by far the weakest. The season finale was incredibly disappointing.

Has anyone been watching season 4? It's much, much better than season 3, which was a disappointment after the brilliance of season 2. Choosing to make the season about the mystery of the Panamanian diplomatic bag instead of a main antagonist was smart. There is no point in trying to outdo the Bennett clan in that regard.

Looks like they will try to flesh out Rachel and Tim's back-stories some more, which is smart. Apart from the women in his life and Boyd, Art is the only recurring character who has some meat on him.

After a nearly flawless run so far, episode six turned out to be a bit of a letdown. There were parts in there that were good - most every scene between Timothy Olyphant and Jim Beaver - but the marriage proposal came out of nowhere and the subplot with Colton is becoming a bit tedious.

Another let-down of an episode.
It started well enough, the prisoner's escape and Sharon getting shot was quite a surprise.
But apart from Raylan's talk with his dad, the rest of the episode seemed like an opportunistic exercise in crowd pleasing.

The last couple of episodes have been really great, culminating in the latest one ("Decoy"), which just might be the best Justified episode ever. In spite of the little slump in the middle, this season might still rival season two as the greatest.

The recent death of Elmore Leonard made me think I should give Justified another chance. Having dismissed it in an earlier post I am happy to concede I was wrong.

Season 2 in particular presents a rural American society very different from the ethnic/urban problems of most contemporary police drama. Timothy Olyphant, so forgettable in yoof flix such as Hitman, successfully channels the self-righteous Seth Bullock into Marshall Givens, a big man of few words. The supporting characters are also well detailed and played, though I find Jeremy Davies' tics and mannerisms immensely irritating. Fortunately, Margo Martindale is a delight; she was much the best thing in the first three seasons of Dexter so it's great to see her rewarded with a decent-sized part at last.

Some of the other aspects of Justified are less pleasing. Does anyone care about Raylan Given's ex-wife? (What kind of man would choose the shrewish Winona over sultry Ava anyway?) As for Steve Porcaro's soundtrack it is surprisingly anonymous given his background as one of LA's top session players.

Surprised and pleased to see you gave it another chance.
A warning about season three: most deem it the weakest of the four by some distance.

Netflix UK only has the first three seasons so perhaps I'll give S3 a miss then. Though Wynn Duffy gives me a hard-on. Anyway, lots of other stuff on Netflix that you've raved about in the past so I may revive a few forgotten TV threads even if it's only to keep my bullshit-writing muscles going.

One advantage of a dead forum is that there's no one left to read your stuff.

I wouldn't suggest skipping it altogether, but it will be a bit of a let-down after season two.

Season four is a return to form, mostly due to a far more focused effort in the writing department.
Besides that, it's worth seeing just for the sheer amount of "Deadwood" alumni who make a guest appearance.
One of them is a scene-stealer all through the season: Jim Beaver.

The one bit of criticism about the most recent season appears to be that Raylan's womanizing turns that aspect of his character into a bit of a caricature but I cannot say that this personally bothered me too much.