On February 9th, the FX series Justified returns for its second season. Although it could never replace Deadwood as the best neo-western drama of all time, it's still extremely entertaining; thus I will definitely put it in my Tivo rotation, and I recommend you do the same.
If you didn't catch the first season, don't sweat it: Timothy Olyphant plays a trigger-happy U.S. Marshal who gets transferred to the Lexington, Kentucky field office after gunning down a Miami thug in a Marshal-Dillon-style hip draw. Resisting the urge to see Mr. Olyphant as typecast here is difficult to say the least, but he does an admirable job of differentiating his character, Marshal Raylan Givens, from his iconic portrayal of Seth Bullock (another trigger-happy lawman) in Deadwood.
The character development is a little shallow, and the relationship between Marshal Givens and his ex-wife is a bit sloppy, but you can't beat Justified for pure testosterone. In that arena, it has more complexity than Rescue Me, and better suspense than other cop shows like Southland. The writers also do a great job of playing out the action and suspense without having to rely on explosions and countdown clocks (a la 24). This is where Timothy Olyphant shines ... as one character in the first season notes: "you got ice water runnin' through your veins, dontcha?" He clearly does, and on screen that translates into unadulterated bad-assery.
Of course, this one has the typical annoyances that all cop and lawyer shows have: why the heck is a U.S. Federal Marshal investigating local murders and handling confidential informants? Sometimes I hate my law degree. The writers throw us the standard bone, a one-line explanation about why Marshal Givens is needed to help bring down a group of white supremacists, etc. And they actually attempt to put the Marshal in real-life U.S. Marshal situations (prisoner transfer, fugitive pursuit), so I'll suspend disbelief before the second season premiere in February. Not because I'm naturally forgiving ... but because I really enjoy watching Timothy Olyphant use his freakishly long arms to administer a beat-down. Have Gun Will Travel!
P.S. -
Erica Durance, I love you.
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