Justified

[Gingefners, The]

A topic for OL to talk to himself some more about the show.

But yes, season 4 just ended. Terrific season once again and it's cemented it's place as the best show being currently made*. Terrific cast of actors. Among the best dialogue on anything I've ever seen - So good I could watch a whole season of Raylan and Boyd talking about coal and it'd still be great. Superb characters throughout. Class act all the way. SO EVERYONE WATCH IT.









*Excluding shows I haven't watched, obvs. But this is still better than them.

[OL]

Listen to this man. He speaks wise words.
I wholeheartedly feel there is no other show on tv right now that's as consistently entertaining as Justified. And yes, the characters are excellent, and the dialogue is cool, fun, and quotable. Some of the best villains in the history of tv too, for my money. Neal McDonough as Quarles last season was my favorite so far, but just about all others have been great as well. Margot Martindale won an Emmy for season 2, and it was absolutely deserved.
I think a big part of why it's so good is that it's consistently funny. And not like sitcom/jokey-jokey funny, but more like clever dialogue-funny. Like how Pulp Fiction, for example, can have you laughing the whole way without actually telling any jokes. I love that kind of thing, and Justified is just filled with it.

[mue 26]

Why have I never heard of this before? Not even once.

[OL]

Not enough advertising I guess?
I'd imagine if you generally don't watch FX, you probably wouldn't hear about the show at all, outside of maybe the occasional mentions in one entertainment magazine or another.
If I'm not mistaken, it frequently gets listed on a variety of "best shows on tv" lists these days. It just obviously doesn't have the budget of, say, an AMC or HBO series, so you probably wouldn't hear about it as much as you'd hear about a Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones, or Mad Men.
I just randomly happened upon a marathon at the end of the first season, so that's what got me interested.

[Gingefners, The]

Listen to this man. He speaks wise words.

sig'd

I think a big part of why it's so good is that it's consistently funny. And not like sitcom/jokey-jokey funny, but more like clever dialogue-funny. Like how Pulp Fiction, for example, can have you laughing the whole way without actually telling any jokes. I love that kind of thing, and Justified is just filled with it.

Ha! I originally had a line saying it's as funny as any sitcom currently going, but felt it gave the wrong impression about the show's style so it got deleted. Kudos for capturing that element better than I did. It just a delight to watch. How can you not love this?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fwoe8l2Y0U[/youtube]

I guess one more thing to add for anyone thinking of watching it, is to give it at least 5 or 6 episodes. Not because the early episodes are bad, but they give the impression the show is just an above average case of the week show.

[TwiceFriedRice]

I really like this show too. I've watched the first 3 seasons, but haven't seen season 4 yet.

I disagree that it's the best show going right now though. It's consistently entertaining, but shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men are also consistently entertaining while still doing something new too. I'm not saying this show is unoriginal or anything, but compared to those two shows it's relatively formulaic. And, while I like Raylan a lot, he feels too much like your typical invincible badass hero. He's got a little baggage, but I feel like the relationship between he and Boyd could be explored a little more, especially in regards to their past. I thought they were going to do this in Season 1 (I think it was the pilot) but after Boyd got shot that was kind of it. The two still have great chemistry though, and that's one of the highlights of the show. Really, the villains, especially Boyd Crowder, are the best thing about this show along with Nick Searcy (forget the name of his character). Margo Martindale was incredible while she was on the show. Glad to know she got an Emmy for her performance. Neil McDonough is great in anything he's in (check out Band of Brothers if you haven't already), and Mykelti Williamson looked like he was turning into a good villain at the end of Season 3.

I've heard Season 4 is the best. Looking forward to watching it.

[OL]

I loved season 4, but it wasn't my favorite. I believe Graham Yost (writer/producer/the guy who got the show up and running to begin with) was pretty much hands-off on this season, except for writing one of the late episodes. So as a whole, this season felt a lot different. I believe he's mostly been working on The Americans this year (another great show). I also didn't spot Elmore Leonard's name in the credits at any point this season, while in the previous 3 he'd been listed as an executive producer, having a small hand in story and all that (it is based on his writings, after all). So it felt different because of that too.
Still, it had a good helping of important-as-hell developments along the way, and allowed the supporting cast to shine a little more than they had before. I was disappointed that there wasn't a more prominent villain though. More than anything, Theo Tonin (the mob boss out of Detroit, played by Alan Arkin in the previous season) acts as the looming badguy presence... and yet he never even shows up for the entire season. It's just a variety of his henchmen that actually show up, with one played by Mike O'Malley serving as the "main" one (and he does a great job). But even then, he doesn't really do much until the last couple episodes.
So, while previous seasons had excellent villains like Bo Crowder, Mags Bennett, Dickie Bennett, and (my favorite) Robert Quarles, this one felt a little lacking. Limehouse shows up few times, but not quite as much in a "villain" capacity as he had before.
I was also disappointed that Winona didn't show up more. Probably one of my favorite female characters on tv, but she literally only shows up about three times in this entire season. And even then, it's only for a scene or two here and there. I believe Natalie Zea has been working on some other show, so she wasn't able to be as much of a regular cast member as before. Kind of a bummer.