“Justified” and the Search for the Perfect Western.

Raylan Givens in a chair pointing a gun

Spread the love

“It was justified.”

I was in the mood for a western after watching the season 2 return of The Mandalorian, and after wracking my brain for who the hell played the Marshal Cobb Vanth and why the hell did he look so familiar? I found myself drawn to one of Timothy Olyphant’s other westerns (of which there are a few), and landed on Justified.

The very first scene of episode 1 hooked me. I mean, hook, line, sinker, I was all in. it’s immediately apparent that Raylan is a cool customer, and Boyd put it best, “you got ice cold water running through your veins.” and boy do I LOVE to see it.

I’m not sure if it’s just my affinity for the classic gunslinger traits, or if he just really is that badass. Even in season 1 we’ve seen that he’s not infallible, he makes mistakes. Hell, that scene I love so much that sets up the show could arguably be seen as a “mistake” since what he did was largely against the rules, even though shooting him probably saved his own life. Or it could also be argued that ***spoiler alert*** letting Boyd live, and not shooting to kill him was a mistake, because we know he comes back as a regular antagonist for the series (I’m guessing, since as I said, I’m still in season 1, but most reviews of the show itself really praise Walton Goggins’ performance as Boyd, so I don’t think I’m wrong on this one).

Something I really love about Raylan as a character is along with his cool attitude, his southern boy manners never seem to waver. Taking off his hat when it would be considered disrespectful to wear it, always knocks first, and is generally polite or at least cordial to most people he encounters (I could be wrong on this, it’s just the impression I’ve gotten so far).

To really impress upon you how good this show is, my mom, my dad and I, who all tend to have WILDLY different taste in shows/movies, all adore it. Like, this is “our show” now.

So, if you’ve never given Justified a chance, I highly highly recommend it. As far as I know it’s only available on Hulu, due to their whole thing with FX.

Selected quote: “You make me pull, I’ll put you down.”