# Justified (2010)

> A stubborn U.S. Marshal returns to his Kentucky hometown, where old criminal rivals and family feuds keep pulling him into gunfights.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1352

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 78
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Graham Yost
- Network: FX
- Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Jere Burns, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea
- TMDB rating: 8.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1489428/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: wry, sardonic, tense, violent, gritty

## What critics say

Critics and viewers broadly regard Justified as an overlooked, sharply written modern western carried by its cast, especially Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins.

## Synopsis

Justified (2010-2015) is an American crime drama and neo-western series created by Graham Yost for FX, adapted from Elmore Leonard's short story Fire in the Hole. Timothy Olyphant plays Raylan Givens, a quick-drawing U.S. Marshal reassigned from Miami back to his native eastern Kentucky, where he keeps running into his former childhood friend turned criminal Boyd Crowder, played by Walton Goggins. Other principal characters include Nick Searcy as his boss Art Mullen, Joelle Carter as Boyd's volatile ex-wife Ava Crowder, and Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins. Across six seasons of thirteen episodes each, the show is one continuing story rather than a case-of-the-week format, with each season building around a rural Harlan County criminal network: coal-country families, bootlegging clans, and hired muscle. Raylan's job is to haul in fugitives while navigating a strained relationship with his estranged father. The tone is wry, sardonic, and violent, with long dialogue exchanges that hum with tension and Southern gallows humor. Its atmosphere is dusty, humid, and grounded in small-town Kentucky, with dry humor balancing bursts of brutal gunplay. Fans of Deadwood, Fargo, and Ozark will find resonance in its blend of crime, moral ambiguity, and western myth.

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