Justified: A Fond Farewell to One of Television's Most Fascinating Casts of Characters
By Mike Cardillo
Justified is awesome. Justified’s six-season run ends tonight on FX. Two writers from this site are big Justified fans. Those two writers wrote some things about how much they’re going to miss Justified. We’re still not sure if it was Justified.
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MC: Well, Stephen, reckon this is the end for our old friend Justified. Choo Choo is right, isn’t he?
Wouldn’t it be great if Justified never went off the air? What are we supposed to do with ourselves on Tuesday nights? Volunteer?
SD: You mean, what if Justified was still on air today? [shoots self]
Well, Michael, there are other things going on. I mean, Justified was barely three months a year. That’s like a quarter. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things. Of course, even during the first and fifth seasons when it was stretching or finding itself, it wasn’t enough. At its worst, it was entertaining. And the main reason for that was the scenery. The supporting characters that made up the world of Justified. The guys who Raylan killed within an episode or two. Besides Raylan and Boyd and Art and Tim and Wynn (holy shit what a cast) who are you going to miss the most?
MC: It’s funny. The characters who’ve hung around from Day One and who’ve received next to zero screen time — Tim and Rachel as the most obvious examples — for some reason I’m going to miss them as much as anybody. Is it weird to have an affinity to barely-fleshed out characters from a basic cable one-hour drama? But that’s the type of show Justified has been throughout its run. It’s got charm, even if 90+ percent of the show is littered with morally questionable characters and situations.
SD: Wynn is the most obvious example of someone who could carry a spin-off. You can not question his Saul-ness. Tim and Rachel in their abbreviated time have been great. It seems like Rachel was given less time than anyone, but she was an unquestionable badass. Come to think of it, I would watch her spin-off. And Tim? GFOH. I honestly don’t know if I was more shocked to realize he was the guy in EuroTrip or 21. Either way, these are great actors who deserve the spin-off love even thought they won’t get it.
While I took us on this detour, what’s your favorite non-Raylan role for Timothy Olyphant?
Anyways, this last season it feels like that dude obsessed with hipster Fedoras is on screen more than Tim and Rachel combined. Turns out his name is Boon. He is related to Ramsey Bolton, isn’t he? They look like maybe they could be brothers. Maybe?
SD: Where to even begin?
Deadwood… holy shit. What a show. If I were going to be in charge of programming a cable channel that didn’t care about language or nudity, Deadwood would be my No. 1 priority. If only because The Wire has had it’s due. Deadwood is a hell of a show and Timothy Olyphant is dreamy as f— in it.
I’m not going to lie to you. There are a ton of cast and writing cross-overs between Justified and Deadwood and both shows are the better for it.
Now, for the question I asked of you, I have no answer. Any number of Bennetts would be a decent answer. Especially, Mags. Loretta has been legit since she was just a kid. Limehouse… Oh, Limehouse. There’s another character that deserves a spin-off. That’s what I’m talking about. Even when the stories were weak, the people surrounding them were worthy of your time.
As for Boon, he survives and opens a coffee shop.
What do you think Art does when he hits retirement?
MC: Obviously the first thing Art does after he retires is pour himself a nice liquor drink, put his feet up and fire up his Deadwood DVDs. I’d also imagine Art spends his time puttering around Tennessee. Living his life. Lots of rueful stares off into the sunset thinking about old cases. At some point he probably would take up residence at a local diner, sitting at the counter and spinning yarns about Raylan with a twinkle in his eye.
Since we’re talking about the future and — sports debate buzzword alert — “legacies” … Justified is going to be remembered for its insane IMDB page. If you were a character actor from 2010-15 and your agent didn’t book you a three-episode arc on Justified they deserved to be fired. What other show can claim Avon Barksdale, the host of Nickelodeon Guts and the kid from Jurassic Park among its many participants?
Any other random character from Justified who stands out for you Stephen?
MC: Not pictured: Art’s cell phone clip on his belt.
SD: Mike O’Malley is the end-all be-all in my humble opinion. But clicking on the IMDB link I now know that Billy St. Cry was also Dustin Moskovitz in The Social Network. And while we’re here, why hasn’t Ron Eldard (Colton Rhodes) been in more recently? His showdowns with Tim were some of the best scenes. Non-Raylan and Boyd division.
Dammit. I’m not going to say that The Girl Next Door is the third defining role of Oyphant’s career, but I’m not going to deny it either. Look. I’m out of segues. I’ve said it before – there is no show that I enjoy watching more. Even last season. Justified wasn’t perfect, but the universe they created is. When bad guys die, I am sad. When good guys are in trouble, I’m worried. I want everyone to win tonight.
MC: Stephen, all our work on the award-winning Hard Pass Podcast (plug, plug) is paying off. One of the questions I scrawled down when we came up with this great idea was “who do you want to win?” Since you’ve answered everybody, I’ll pose this to you:
Do we like Raylan?
SD: I forgot about Bartender!
MC: – says the cool one-liners, gets away (mostly) with being a rapscallion and always nails the perfect quasi-David Beckham facial hair. I like Raylan, but I also sort of don’t always like Raylan, is what I guess I’m saying. If Justified cares about cementing its place in the early-to-mid-2010s TV cannon, it’ll end with Raylan catching the bad one. His luck has to run eventually, right?
SD: YOU TAKE THAT BACK! I love Raylan Givens. I say that as a man who married a woman in the not-to-distant past. He’s handsome, has a code, and could protect me if it came down to it. I mean, I don’t think he golfs, but no one is perfect.
MC: Look, all I’m saying is that if Raylan Givens used Twitter — which thank god he would never do — his profile would probably just read “Bourbon.”
SD: His feed would probably be a lot of Instagram links to pictures of his daughter so it seems like he’s being a good dad.
MC: Maybe that’s why we like Raylan. He’s a mostly good guy, but isn’t afraid to play by his own rules. Man … a cop who plays by his own rules? What will they think of next? Breakfast tacos?
SD: Well, Raylan dying would be the No. 1 downer. Ava No. 2? Boyd No. 3? If they kill Tim, Art or Rachel we riot and refuse to watch season 7. Other than that, is there anyone left we still even care if he or she leaves Harlan alive?
MC: Characters left alive? I would have said Dewey Crowe, but … too soon. Too soon. Loretta seems chill enough. She deserves to grow her Kentucky Bluegrass dope in relative peace. (Another potential spin-off if you’re reading, FX executives.)
Two lingering questions for me: will we ever really understand the whole “Detroit” plot? And would you eat pizza at Sam Elliot’s pizza place? We’ve had an entire season with a pizza joint as a backdrop and never seen anyone even eat a single slice.
SD: Yes, I would eat pizza at the Pizza Portal. And not just because FX appears to have given the Portal an online presence. (It might be real. I honestly can’t tell.) If, for some reason, I was riding through Harlan and happened upon a pizza place, I would eat there. I might end up dead, but that’s the price you pay for living with a thirst for fresh local pizza.
As for Detroit, the mob is confusing. There’s no real explanation for Miguel Cabrera leaving Miami and there’s no real explanation for Justified leaving Kentucky. It happened. We deal with it – walking away without looking back if we have to – and that’s that.
I’ll miss you Raylan. Goodnight sweet prince.
MC: Love you too! Fingers crossed you don’t get run over by Michael Chiklis driving a tomato truck.
