Justified – The Final Season Coming January 20

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On January 20, the sixth and final season of Justified begins. For five seasons, Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) has tangled with his lifelong frenemy Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) and a host of other colorful lowlifes. Many of them have exited the show rather abruptly, like the mobster in Justified‘s very first scene, shown above. Now, the series is coming to an ending that I’m sure will be bittersweet for most fans.

Justified is based on “Fire in the Hole,” a short story by one of America’s best mystery writers, Elmore Leonard. The character of Raylan Givens became so popular that Leonard’s wrote what became his final novel, appropriately entitled Raylan, to detail the Marshall’s further adventures. Until his death in 2013, Leonard was a consultant and frequent presence on the set of the television show. 

The strengths of Justified over the years have been its colorful dialogue and quirky characters. Frankly, last season was a bit of a disappointment for viewers. Instead of the great master villains of seasons past like Emmy-winner Margot Martindale and Neal McDonough, last season’s big bads were the Crowder family, a group of Everglades lowlifes who migrated to Justified‘s Harlan County, Kentucky setting in a futile search for greener criminal pastures. While they certainly weren’t the type of people, you’d want to run into in a dark alley at night, they simply weren’t enough of a screen presence to serve as suitable adversaries for Raylan for an entire season.

Fortunately for viewers, Justified seems to have found a terrific villain for its final season. Sam Elliott will travel to Harlan County, playing Markham, a “legendary” gangster turned legitimate pot entrepreneur who’s looking to reclaim his former empire. Markham is also looking to reclaim his former lover, Katherine Hale (Mary Steenburgen), who was one of Season Five’s best new additions. Markham’s plans undoubtedly won’t sit well with Raylan, and they probably won’t sit well with Boyd Crowder, who’s planning on going into illegitimate business with Katherine, either.

Although Elliott, Steenburgen, and other new cast members like Garret Dillahunt and Jeff Fahey are likely to keep things interesting this season, more than anything, most viewers will be looking forward to the final showdown between Raylan and Boyd. We’ve seen many recurring villains on television series over the years for whom the heroes have acquired a grudging respect, but nothing like the relationship between Raylan and Boyd. The two are on opposite sides of the law most of the time, but they genuinely like each other. They are the best friends either of them has ever had and they both know it, which should make their final encounter special. 

While you’re waiting for that final showdown between Raylan and Boyd, here’s one of their encounters from the past:

 

Photo Credits:

• Timothy Olyphant: “Actor Timothy Olyphant Arrives at the Cosmopolitan’s Grand Opening and New Year’s Eve Celebration” by The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas / Flickr / CC By-ND 2.0
• Sam Elliott: “CSM Basil Plumley Reception: 12OCT2012” by The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center / Flickr / CC BY

 

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