Justified

[Star Wolf]

He has a great personality, too.

Not only Givens but all the deputies in the Marshals Office. At first and the entire justification for the show was that he was being held accountable for his public body count. You had the sniper shooting to wound Nazis firing machineguns in an ambush of Marshals. In the second episode Givens did not shoot anyone, in the third he took two rounds to his chest. In the forth professional killers finally got to the fugative he was trying to bring in.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

In fact I can't spontanesously think of a tv show where the good guy kills so many people if that makes you feel better.

Even more than Jack Bauer?

I find it a bit chickenshit of a show to have a main character who kills at an alarming clip, yet they contrive everything so he's always the good guy. Anybody who racks up a body count like that has got to have a screw loose. I'd respect the show more, and maybe watch, if they were more honest about that.

It's interesting how many people in this thread dislike the show not for the show itself, but because of the type of show it is.

Sounds like it's like most shows on TV - they give the viewer the vicarious thrill of violence without too many messy ethical complications that might distress the viewers. There's always some evildoer "forcing the hand" of Our Hero so he can kill the guy - isn't that convenient? That's been TV's bread and butter since the days of Gunsmoke. If it were the kind of show I'd like, the ratings would probably be worse (unless it were on HBO or Showtime) because the kind of show I like deliberately makes the viewer uncomfortable.

TV is packed with Justified type shows. I was just hoping maybe it would be the rare trend-breaker - meaning, I was hoping the title was ironic and Our Hero is justified only in his own deluded mind. Oh well, I'll keep looking.

Instead of just making stuff up to complain about, you may want to actually watch the show. He kills two of the five who die in the first three episodes, only one of which is a showdown quick-draw scenario. The second is a multi-person, three-sided gun battle. He does everything possible to not kill people. Everyone gets the benefit of the doubt and every chance to stand down. He ends up talking his way out of most situations.

The first quickdraw was big news, so all the bad guys want to test themselves against him in various ways. He isn't the one going around hoping to kill people, he's just supremely ready to do so and not sorry about it. And everyone is always commenting on his actions/attitude. Admittedly, he puts himself in dangerous situations constantly, but that's his job. At least, that's what he tells himself. He's also a very angry guy, passive-aggressive, with a complex family history.

Not exactly Gunsmoke.

 

[Gaith]

It's interesting how many people in this thread dislike the show not for the show itself, but because of the type of show it is.

Never said that I hated it, though I am concerned with how much of tv programming is based upon supposedly realistic crime/violence. Just said I wasn't interested.

 

[Star Wolf]

It's interesting how many people in this thread dislike the show not for the show itself, but because of the type of show it is.

Never said that I hated it, though I am concerned with how much of tv programming is based upon supposedly realistic crime/violence. Just said I wasn't interested.

From the initial set up of "get out of Miami in 24 hours or I'll kill you" to 17 year veteran Marshal Deputy Givens uncuffing prisoners on their word of honor to transport them, to a team of marshals rather lazy handling of a machine-gun ambush, I would say that "realism" is not one of the goals of the producers of Justified. Southland it is not.

 

[Star Wolf]

But my impression is that it's a more straightforward vigilante/vengeance wish fulfillment type show, where the story is unambiguously on the side of the sheriff and so are the viewers. Zat about right?

To some extent, yes--he seems to shoot somebody every episode, usually in quick-draw scenario of some kind or another. However, the latest episode (#4) has him chasing down a fugitive dentist who the viewer can sympathize with to some degree.

I was hoping this show would be more arc based, but it seems to be highly episodic, with Olyphant chasing a 'fugitive of the week' in every installment.

Well now that the season is over we have seen the grand story arc play out with the father/son messes of Deputy Givens and former white supremacist/born again Boyd. Also the initial Miami showdown is still causing problems. I understand that Boyd, Walton Goggins is being promoted to a regular from guest star status next year.

 

[auntiehill]

Normally, I wouldn't watch a cop show, let alone one with a trigger-happy Marshall in a cowboy hat, but I really like this show. I love Timothy Olyphant; his delivery of some of the dead-pan humor is spot-on. I like the bizarre inner-workings of the "back-woods" Kentucky crime family and the bizarre understanding that exists between Boyd and Raylan.

I think what appeals to me most is the rather calm bemusement he displays at the massive stupidity of the criminals, while also appreciating the cunning and complexity of Crowder family "business."

 

[sojourner]

^Amazingly enough, he fires his gun very little. I like the show, but personally, I hope they make it a little more episodic. The Crowders are getting dull.

 

[auntiehill]

^ True. I like the episode about the dentist and the one about the convict taking the guard hostage in the office. Those were both good, self-contained episodes.

 

[Star Wolf]

^Amazingly enough, he fires his gun very little. I like the show, but personally, I hope they make it a little more episodic. The Crowders are getting dull.

I didn't make a count but on another board they said Deputy Givens has killed 10 and wounded 3 this season. I see why he has an AUSA on his case.

The Crowder's are all but gone. The story of Boyd and how he deals with the great shock to his faith, into further vigilantism or back to traditional crime next season is what I am looking forward to.

 

[Teelie]

I like the series. It's different than the typical cop shows but it's not "out there" either. The finale was good too a suitable cliffhanger for the next season.

 

[David cgc]

^Amazingly enough, he fires his gun very little. I like the show, but personally, I hope they make it a little more episodic. The Crowders are getting dull.

I didn't make a count but on another board they said Deputy Givens has killed 10 and wounded 3 this season. I see why he has an AUSA on his case.

Well, yeah, but how many of those were in the finale? There were the two that came for him in the hotel, the one who was holding him at gunpoint when Bo was bringing him in, the guy in the trees, the one who tried to climb in through the window, and the man from Miami (Boyd winged him, but Raylan got the kill). That's six, plus Arlo for one of the woundings. Four and two is still a lot, though, even spread over twelve episodes of time.