Fletch's Favored Five: Things About Justified

There's a lot to love about FX's latest hit drama Justified, which airs its ninth episode tonight. Here are but a few of my reasons:

1. Timothy Olyphant
Might as well start with the star. I've counted myself as a fan of Olyphant's ever since his role as drug dealer Todd Gaines in 1999's Go, a job that's been pretty rough since then. There's been the occasional high since then - Deadwood, his similar role in The Girl Next Door, for starters - but mostly his career has been marked by either bad decisions or bad directors or bad luck. Playing the villain in Die Hard 4 should have helped to make him a household name, but sadly, that's one where even he wasn't all that memorable. We'll call it the wrong part for the right actor.

But with Justified, Olyphant's found a perfect role. His character's name may be Raylan Givens, but it might as well be "Clint Eastwood." Raylan's a U.S. Marshall not just from the old school, but quite possibly living in it - it's a wonder he has and uses a cell phone. Olyphant gets to play him with a mix of toughness and cool, and the former Mayor of Carmel would be proud.

2. "Based on a story by Elmore Leonard
Words to my ears. I really need to go back and check out earlier adaptations of Leonard's work, because ever since Get Shorty, I've been smitten with them and seen most of all of them - even the critically shat-upon ones like Touch (remember Skeet Ulrich?) and The Big Bounce.

Justified is taken from a short story of his called "Fire In the Hole," a phrase that was uttered in the first episode. That might've made me wonder how much the rest of the series really owed to Leonard, but he's also served as an Executive Producer for a few episodes, so my fears have been calmed. More importantly, you can feel his imprint all over the writing, most notably in scenes like one where two thugs are given valuable seconds of screen time for nothing more than throwaway banter. The banter might be throwaway (and witty), but its inclusion is invaluable, making the show feel that much more authentic and unlike the scads of procedurals you see all over TV. Moreover, it demonstrates, as the show often does, that just because the characters you might be seeing at any given moment aren't the "stars" doesn't make them any less important to the show.

3. Kentucky
A simple one here, as it's just always refreshing to see media that can somehow overcome the overwhelming need to have everything take place in either NY or LA (or maybe Chicago). As it turns out, the show is filmed in southern California and parts of Pennsylvania, but hey - it's a start.

4. Walton Goggins/Boyd Crowder
It's hard to know who deserves more credit - Goggins or the writers of the show, but one thing is clear: Boyd Crowder is one of the scariest and most hilarious characters on television, played with glee and eight slices of ham by Goggins, who seems to be enjoying himself almost as much as I'm enjoying watching him. He's unpredictability defined, which is most of what makes him scary.

5. That Guy. Which one? All of them.
Finally, the real reason for this post, and aside from Olyphant, my chief reason for loving Justified. They have gathered a murderer's row (no pun intended) of That Guys for each and every episode it seems. In fact, I want to break this down on an ep-by-ep basis. Here are the guys I'd count for each one (some were/are recurring characters, others are one-and-dones):

Episode 1 - Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects); Doug E. Doug (Cool Runnings, Cosby)

Episode 2 - William Ragsdale (Herman from Herman's Head! Am I the only one that watched that show?)

Episode 3 - David Eigenberg (Sex and the City)

Episode 4 - Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Speed); Clarence Williams III (The Mod Squad, a million movies, including The General's Daughter, Half Baked and Reindeer Games)

Episode 5 - Eddie Jemison (the Ocean's movies)

Episode 6 - Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Stranger Than Fiction); Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager, The Wonder Years); Brett Cullen (aka Goodwin on LOST)

Episode 7 - M.C. Gainey (LOST, Con Air, former FF-UN)

Episode 8 - W. Earl Brown (There's Something About Mary - Warren!); Jere Burns (Dear John)

Long story short: there hasn't been one episode yet where I wasn't happy to see one of the supporting cast, as if they were a long-lost friend. Keep 'em coming, Justified. If you need to catch up, watch back episodes of the show here. I highly suggest getting on board before you find yourself out of the loop with this great show.