Best TV of the Decade, No. 19: “Justified”

When it comes to discussing the greatest HBO dramas ever, few would argue with the admission of The Sopranos. Perhaps fewer would contest the inclusion of The Wire (though I may have, several eons ago). And Game of Thrones will likely get vocal support as well (though it’s perhaps best not to jump on that powder keg).

But what of Deadwood? David Milch’s grungy, foulmouthed Western, starring Ian McShane and Timothy Olyphant, was until recently considered an unfinished masterpiece (the story was finally wrapped up with a TV movie this past spring), but it’s unclear whether the “unfinished” or “masterpiece” aspect deserved more attention. Airing only three seasons, the last of which is shakier than the first two, it appears the unloved stepchild in HBO’s supposed Holy Trinity.

Personally, I have no bones about including it. To my mind, Deadwood is the greatest of the HBO dramas, a sprawling, ambitious, and engrossing look at the birth of an American city, and all the triumphs and tragedies that accompanied it. The characters are fascinating, the dialogue spectacular (despite – and yes, occasionally because of – the profanity), and the show untainted by its too-soon expiration date.

The end of Deadwood in 2006 naturally left a lot of fans yearning for more. And although the movie took over a decade to arrive, we did receive some form of compensation in the meantime… in the form of a little show called Justified.

Okay, so Justified doesn’t have that much to do with Deadwood, apart from the sight of an Timothy Olyphant in a ten-gallon hat (and occasional cast crossover with actors like W. Earl Brown and Garret Dillahunt). But with his vocal twang and Old West morality, Raylan Givens made us feel that perhaps Seth Bullock wasn’t really gone – he’d just taken his 19th century brand of two-gun justice to the new millennium.

But even once we got past the Deadwood factor, Justified still had plenty of merits to grant it inclusion on this list.

Based on the “Fire in the Hole” character created by Elmore Leonard, Justified premiered on FX in 2010, and initially seemed like another well-made but unremarkable drama from the station that (at the time) was wrapping up runs of Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me. The first season leaned heavily on standalones, particularly in its first half, allowing Olyphant to play up his cool factor and deliver smoky one-liners, but causing the show to feel restricted in format.

Things began to change as the season progressed, and hit its stride somewhere around the more character-centric “Hatless.” Helping matters was the increased focus on Boyd Crowder, the loquacious and lyrical crook played with bravura by Walton Goggins. Though Boyd was originally intended to be killed off in the pilot, Goggins’ performance inspired the writers to bring the character back, and eventually make him a regular. In time, he would turn the role into something even more unique and wondrous than he did Shane Vendrell on The Shield.

Justified hit its creative peak in Season Two, which revolved around one of TV’s all-time greatest villains – Mags Bennett, chillingly played by Margo Martindale. (Martindale has since become a ubiquitous TV presence in her own right, with roles in The Americans, The Good Wife, and Sneaky Pete, as well as a tongue-in-cheek self-performance on Bojack Horseman.) The season was a gold standard for the 13-episode model that many cable shows have used before and since – a season that starts in standalone territory and gradually, organically builds toward its more serialized climax. It’s an excellent season, winning the show its only two Emmy Awards (for performances by Martindale and Jeremy Davies).

Later seasons saw great storytelling and performances as well, though in keeping with the early trend, the show proved more successful in its even-numbered years. Season Four maintained suspense by adopting a mystery formula (and featured the show’s single best episode, “Decoy”), while Season Six sent the series out on a high note with the combined villainous power of Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen, and the aforementioned Dillahunt. (Jonathan Tucker’s Boon has his fans, but I’m not among them.)

But even the odd-numbered seasons weren’t all lacking in merit. Season Three suffered from a meandering pace, but benefited from the mini-Boomtown reunion of Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson. Only Season Five, with its heavy focus on the uncompelling Crowe brothers, feels like a mark against the series.

As with many of the decade’s best shows, Justified benefited from an outstanding supporting cast, though some were served better than others. At the positive end were Art (Nick Searcy), the Chief Deputy who occasionally put Raylan in his place, and Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns), a businessman who seemed to get mixed up in every shady deal in Kentucky, as well as Boyd’s sister-in-law Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter), a tough woman who frequently came between Boyd and Raylan. Less well-developed were Tim and Rachel, Raylan’s fellow deputies who did their best to tolerate his outside-the-law antics, and Raylan’s ex-wife Winona, who never blossomed outside his shadow. Most of the show’s characters were fine, but we got the definite sense that some could have been finer.

In the end, however, Justified understood its main character, testing his limits at least once per season, as we fearfully wondered when he would hit his breaking point. But like the Old West heroes he so dutifully followed, Raylan understood precisely how to mete out justice in the hardened world around him – swiftly and stoically, with a wide-brimmed hat and a deadpan one-liner.

Tune in tomorrow for the 18th-best show of the decade, though preferably not after eating a heavy meal.

The List So Far

20. Person of Interest