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Justified, Ep. 4.11: “Decoy” a riveting Western-in-miniature

Justified, Season 4, Episode 11: “Decoy” Written by Graham Yost and Chris Provenzano Directed by Michael Watkins Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Some of you multiplex-frequenters might have checked out Kim Jee-woon’s The Last Stand this past January, in which a seemingly unstoppable cartel badass has to make his way through a sleepy border town …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.11: “Decoy” a riveting Western-in-miniature

Justified, Ep. 4.10: “Get Drew” outlines the stakes of Season 4 in swift, hilarious fashion

Justified, Season 4, Episode 10: “Get Drew” Written by Dave Andron and VJ Boyd Directed by Billy Gierhart Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX The notion of Justified‘s fourth season as being driven by a central mystery has been a flawed premise all along, as it turns out. For a few episodes now, there’s only been …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.10: “Get Drew” outlines the stakes of Season 4 in swift, hilarious fashion

Justified, Ep. 4.09: “The Hatchet Tour” dives into the Givens family myth

Justified, Season 4, Episode 9: “The Hatchet Tour” Written by Taylor Elmore and Leonard Chang Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX First things first: if, like me, the title of this episode conjured visions of a hatchet-wielding baddie (perhaps in Detroit’s employ) making Raylan or Boyd’s life difficult, shutter …

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Justified, Ep. 4.08: “Outlaw” course-corrects with a shocking turn of events

Justified, Season 4, Episode 8: “Outlaw” Written by Benjamin Cavell and Keith Schreier Directed by John Dahl Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Read any interview with Graham Yost and he’ll mention that, in the grand scheme of things, Justified has been conceived as being about six seasons long. That puts us well over …

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Justified, Ep. 4.07: “Money Trap” sidesteps the central mystery and revives the gunplay

Justified, Season 4, Episode 7: “Money Trap” Written by Chris Provenzano Directed by Don Kurt Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX With its colorful-but-inept villlainry, reams of gunplay, and swift pacing, “Money Trap” surprises by feeling more like a throwback to Justified‘s first season than perhaps any since Mags Bennett cast an ominous cloud over …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.07: “Money Trap” sidesteps the central mystery and revives the gunplay

Justified, Ep. 4.06: “Foot Chase” sticks to the show’s periphery, with mixed results

Justified, Season 4, Episode 6: “Foot Chase” Written by Dave Andron and Ingrid Escajeda Directed by Peter Werner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Justified is generally wonderful at balancing a ludicrous array of plots and characters, but “Foot Chase” demonstrates that the show can;t function properly without Raylan at its center. With too much …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.06: “Foot Chase” sticks to the show’s periphery, with mixed results

Justified, Ep. 4.05: “Kin” rallies a great supporting cast for a rollicking hour

Justified, Season 4, Episode 5: “Kin” Written by Fred Golan and VJ Boyd Directed by Peter Werner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX As a preface, can we just…? Along with the outstanding regular cast (and an appearance by underrated ex-regular Natalie Zea), “Kin” finds time for past guests Stephen Tobolowsky, Patton Oswalt, Jim …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.05: “Kin” rallies a great supporting cast for a rollicking hour

Justified, Ep. 4.04: “This Bird Has Flown” boasts comic highlights and a wounded core

Justified, Season 4, Episode 4: “This Bird Has Flown” Written by Taylor Elmore Directed by Bill Johnson Airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET on FX Justified is about a lot of things, but one aspect of the show that often gets overlooked is its nuanced take on masculinity, and its subtle rewriting of the Lone Gunman ethos. …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.04: “This Bird Has Flown” boasts comic highlights and a wounded core

Justified, Ep. 4.03: “Truth and Consequences” outlines the season’s revised game plan

Justified, Season 4, Episode 3: “Truth and Consequences” Written by Benjamin Cavell Directed by Jon Avnet Airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET on FX – In case you hadn’t gotten the memo that Justified‘s fourth season is going to be a vastly different beast from those that came before, “Truth and Consequences” might give us a better …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.03: “Truth and Consequences” outlines the season’s revised game plan

Justified, Ep. 4.02: “Where’s Waldo?” heavy on comedy, light on plot indicators

Justified, Season Four, Episode Two: “Where’s Waldo?” Written by Dave Andron Directed by Bill Johnson Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX If you were concerned that Justified‘s third season may have suffered from a character glut, now might be a good time to check out entirely. Boyd’s new/old pal Colt isn’t going anywhere, and …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.02: “Where’s Waldo?” heavy on comedy, light on plot indicators

Justified, Ep. 4.01: “Hole in the Wall” swiftly sets up the show’s latest reconfiguration

Justified, Season Four, Episode One: “Hole in the Wall” Written by Graham Yost Directed by Michael Dinner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX In a recent blog post summing up the joys of watching Justified, Vulture’s Matthew Zoller Seitz compared the show to Cheers – not because the shows share thematic or structural DNA, …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 4.01: “Hole in the Wall” swiftly sets up the show’s latest reconfiguration

Justified, Ep. 3.13: “Slaughterhouse” ends a strong season in rollicking, macabre fashion

Justified, Season 3, Episode 13: “Slaughterhouse” Written by Fred Golan Directed by Dean Perisol Airs Tuesdays at 10pm on FX “That’s cute.” Among the many virtues of Justified is its sense of dramatic, and even comedic irony. Throughout the third season, there have been countless references to Robert Quarles and his nifty arm-gun. We’ve seen …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.13: “Slaughterhouse” ends a strong season in rollicking, macabre fashion

Justified, Ep. 3.12: “Coalition” harnesses the storytelling power of chaos

Justified, Season 2, Episode 12: “Coalition” Written by Taylor Elmore Directed by Benjamin Cavell Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX So long, Dickie Bennett. No, “Coalition” doesn’t kill him off, exactly – the shot that he takes from Raylan hardly seems fatal – but a pretty definitive dressing-down (“You’re just a craven, stupid hillbilly …

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Justified, Ep. 3.11: “Measures” readies us for war in Noble’s Holler

Justified, Season 3, Episode 11: “Measures” Written by Benjamin Cavell Directed by John Dahl Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX “Measures” is far from the greatest hour of Justified‘s so-far stellar third season, but it’s a crucial one. After a season full of shifting allegiances, double-crosses, schemes, and new threats, we finally have a …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.11: “Measures” readies us for war in Noble’s Holler

Justified, Ep. 3.10: “Guy Walks Into a Bar” shows off Neal McDonough at his most gloriously unhinged

Justified, Season 3, Episode 10: “Guy Walks Into a Bar” Written by VJ Boyd Directed by Tony Goldwyn Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX In what was easily the best episode of the totally serialized portion of Justified‘s third season, we finally get to see just how freaky Robert Quarles can be. Now he’s …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.10: “Guy Walks Into a Bar” shows off Neal McDonough at his most gloriously unhinged

Justified, Ep. 3.09: “Loose Ends” does some last-minute character work before the home stretch

Justified, Season 3, Episode 9: “Loose Ends” Written by Ingrid Escajeda Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX We’re getting to the home stretch of Justified‘s third season. The ninth episode of last season was “Brother’s Keeper,” in which poor Coover memorably met his end. Where that season had a pretty …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.09: “Loose Ends” does some last-minute character work before the home stretch

Justified, Ep. 3.08: “Watching the Detectives” offers a whole lot of frame-ups

Justified, Season 3, Episode 8: “Watching the Detectives” Written by Graham Yost Directed by Peter Werner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX A curious thing happens on Justified this week: it collides with reality. Sort of. We’ve now spent 30-some-odd hours enjoying the antics, quips, shootings, and beatdowns handed down by Raylan Givens, sometimes …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.08: “Watching the Detectives” offers a whole lot of frame-ups

Justified, Ep. 3.06: “When the Guns Come Out” avoids past mistakes and pre-empts new ones

Justified, Season 3, Episode 6: “When the Guns Come Out” Written by Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Dave Andron Directed by Don Kurt Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX I’m out adventuring in Chicago this week, so this week’s review is a little more curt than usual. If Justified‘s second season had an agreed-upon nadir, …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.06: “When the Guns Come Out” avoids past mistakes and pre-empts new ones

Justified, Ep. 3.05: “Thick As Mud” a thriller in miniature

Justified, Season 3, Episode 5: “Thick as Mud” Written by Jon Worley and Benjamin Cavell Directed by Adam Arkin Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on AMC As the episode’s title implies, Justified gets dense, tricky and seriously murky this week, in what’s probably the strongest outing yet of the new season. The show has gotten …

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Justified, Ep. 3.04: “The Devil You Know” thins the herd, thickens the plot

Justified, Season 3, Episode 4: “The Devil You Know” Written by Taylor Elmore Directed by Dean Parisol Airs Tuesdays at 10pm on FX As a brief digression, allow me to spin a little pre-emptive Justified fan-fiction. With the welcome re-appearance this week of Kaitlyn Dever as Loretta, and witnessing the return of her easy repartee …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.04: “The Devil You Know” thins the herd, thickens the plot

Justified, Ep. 3.03: “Harlan Roulette” gets down to business, but doesn’t forget the wit

Justified, Season 3, Episode 3: “Harlan Roulette” Written by Dave Andron Directed by Jon Avnet Airs Tuesdays at 10pm on FX It’s still early to make too many predictions about Justified‘s third season, but it’s noteworthy that there are distinct shades of Breaking Bad in this week’s installment, “Harlan Roulette.” The effects of Oxycontin (aka …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.03: “Harlan Roulette” gets down to business, but doesn’t forget the wit

Justified, Ep. 3.02: “Cut Ties” follows season protocol, with added complications

Justified, Season 3, Episode 2: “Cut Ties” Written by Benjamin Cavell Directed by Michael Watkins Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Moreso than with most “prestige” dramas, seasons of Justified tend to follow a pretty set formula in terms of serialization. After a premiere in which the season’s major players are introduced, we get …

Read More about Justified, Ep. 3.02: “Cut Ties” follows season protocol, with added complications