The Best Drama on TV

For all the hoopla surrounding the return of MAD MEN, the best drama of the year might well be JUSTIFIED. It has all the complexity of MAD MEN plus shit happens! A lot!  Personally, I was a little underwhelmed by the MAD MEN premiere even though I'm a huge fan of the show.  But that could just be me.  Critics went nuts.   What did you think?

But I digress...

Graham Yost, who may be as brilliant as Matt Weiner but doesn’t have Matt's zest for PR, had an impossible task this year. JUSTIFIED’s second season was extraordinary with maybe the best TV villain since Glenn Beck. Margo Martindale took home an Emmy for her delicious portrayal of evil matriarch and convenience store owner, Mags Bennett. I wondered, how could they possibly top themselves?

Well, they have.

This year is amazing. There are only three episodes left (it airs Tuesdays at 10:00 PM on FX), but you can probably catch up pretty quickly. Or, go back on line or on demand and watch the first ten – other than reading blogs what else is there to do to kill a day?

In case you’re totally unaware of this show, JUSTIFIED follows the exploits of U.S. Marshall, Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) who is re-assigned to his hometown in Harlan, Kentucky. Imagine Li’ Abner with guns and meth labs. His chief nemesis is also at times his one ally, Boyd Crowder. Walton Goggins, who was great in THE SHIELD is through-the-roof spectacular here.

Everyone in JUSTIFIED plays to the top of their intelligence. Considering the backwoods setting you’d imagine that would be an IQ of 9. But these folks are cagey, wily, and speak in a stylized manner that I can only describe as cornpone poetry. Yes, they’re hillbillies, rednecks, racists, murderers, and crooks, but they never say “y’know” and “like” and thus talk better than we all do.

Raylan is the coolest cat on the small screen. Fonzie with marksmanship skills. Yet, he’s clearly flawed. His bemused boss tolerates him, his co-workers hate him, his ex-wife left him (even though she’s pregnant with his baby), and so this “hero” of our show lives in a seedy room over a bar. The closest person he has to a friend is career criminal Boyd, so when he’s not beating the shit out of him the two go out for drinks.

This year there are several villains. In addition to Boyd, there’s now Limehouse, an African-Kentuckian who owns a BBQ joint, speaks folksy, and knows everything that’s going on. It’s like he has “the machine” from PERSON OF INTEREST and is somehow able to keep tabs on all that’s happening from the comfort of his meat slaughtering shed. Mykelti Williamson plays him as sort of a cross between Uncle Remus and the Samuel L. Jackson character from PULP FICTION.

And then there’s Quarles. The Emmy this year goes to Neal McDonough. He’s the ultimate champagne villain as envisioned by David Lynch. So smooth, so scary, so fucking WEIRD! His henchman is Wynn, played by sitcom vet, Jere Burns. Wynn is a bad ass in his own right but even he is freaked out by Quarles. His reaction shots are priceless.

Then, for a little spice, there’s Dickie Bennett (Jeremy Davies from LOST), the Fredo and only surviving member of Mags Bennett’s family. Jeremy is setting the standard for weasels that actors will be trying to live down to for years.

Things are about to come to a head in Harlan County. All the villains are jockeying for position, ready to make their move. Can Raylan thwart them all? A war’s a comin’! Somehow, Pete Campbell wanting a bigger office doesn’t seem as riveting.

JUSTIFIED, tonight at 10:00 on FX.  Rated V for violence, L for language, and if we're lucky -- S for sexual situations and nudity.

Just a reminder.  You can get my book of humorous travelogues, WHERE THE HELL AM I? TRIPS I HAVE SURVIVED for FREE -- Kindle version only.  And only for three days.  Just click here to download yours FREE today! 

UPDATE: There was a glitch but now it's been resolved and the book is again available to download for free.  Talk about the old joke -- I couldn't GIVE AWAY my book for about an hour.  Thanks to everyone for getting it... and telling your friends.