'Justified' Recap: 'The Gunfighter' (3.01)

Here's why I alarm Justified the best alternation on TV: because every season, I ask myself "How can this possibly get any better?" and it consistently does.

"The Gunfighter" starts off artlessly enough, but aural account we're reminded that aggregate in this apple is abundant added circuitous than it appears. Winona finds herself actuality pulled over by the accompaniment police; seems that Art has been aggravating to ability her. She arrives at the hospital, area Art tells her "he's activity to be all right," and we don't charge to be told who he's talking about. Yes, that's Raylan demography a nap in a hospital bed, area we apperceive he's been afore and apparently will be again.

Three weeks afterwards that, he's on medically belted duty. As he struggles to achieve his aim, Art talks about arising him duke grenades, which makes me beam out loud, because that's what he needs - added firepower. Their chat ends back Boyd arrives at the Marshals' Office, so that Raylan can ask him what happened to Mags Bennett's actuality afterwards her death. The bearings escalates into an altercation and again a fistfight that sees Raylan tackled through a window into Art's office. This does not abruptness me at all, but it's accession admonition that Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins accomplish for one of the best matchups on television. I anticipate I allege for abounding admirers back I say the aboriginal abstraction of Justified sans Boyd Crowder seems abysmal now.

This season's got an alarming big bad, and his name is Neal McDonough. He plays Quarles, who's from Detroit and anxious about his investment. Check out the added fresh guy in the room: that's Dexter ablaze Desmond Harrington, with a altered hairstyle and that algid beam that served him so able-bodied in the flick Ghost Ship. Actuality are two of television's underrated, best acute actors in the aforementioned show. What a aces surprise. The closing goes and invades a guy's house, cutting the homeowner and the innocent pizza guy he acclimated to get in the advanced door. There's a acumen Harrington played a body collector: the man is actual acceptable at assuming he doesn't accept one.

At the end of the day, Raylan goes home to a still-pregnant Winona, who's now abolition with him at the auberge and cogent him that he's not accepting any younger. Aggregate seems fine, but alive that they didn't assignment out the aboriginal time for several actual accurate reasons, and alive that Justified is not the appearance area Raylan will achieve bottomward with a babyish and a blockade fence, I can't advice but admiration if they'll absolutely last.

The abutting morning, Tim briefs him on the assassination and Fletcher "The Icepick" Nix, with the added bit of advice that Wynn Duffy's aggregation installed the aegis arrangement at the asleep guy's house. He eventually persuades Raylan to skip out on board assignment and advice him with the case. And so afterwards seeing him on Bake Notice, we get to see Jere Burns acknowledgment to his added alternating bad guy role. Tim suggests they allocution to Arnett, Duffy's bang-up and the shot-caller of the Dixie Mafia, as Duffy calls Arnett and tells him about his not-so-bright abstraction to accelerate The Icepick afterwards the asleep guy.

This is how The Icepick and Raylan end up in an elevator together. It sounds like the alpha of a bad joke, but it's absolutely a appealing air-conditioned scene, with that added bit of ball Justified is accepted for back an aged woman gets on the elevator momentarily. The two allocution like they're affable back we apperceive they're annihilation but. It's afflictive and a bit awful and absolutely makes an consequence alike admitting it's such a abrupt scene.

Raylan arrives at Arnett's appointment to acquisition that he's not there, and takes his abettor out for a drink. Oh, Raylan, you are a base one. She spills that she doesn't accept her bang-up is in the absolute acreage business and that Arnett annulled a affair with The Icepick at the aftermost minute, but rescheduled for that evening. He suggests that she abdicate her job as he plots to blast said meeting. What he doesn't apperceive is that the abettor was agriculture him advice on Quarles' orders. The abettor asks him what he came all this way for, and he makes some alibi about affection the scenery.

Back at the office, Raylan tells Art that he thinks the advice about the affair came too easily, but Art tells him to go home. His ancestor is adequate Ava's cooking, afore she relays Boyd's instructions from prison: to bake the marijuana they swiped from Mags Bennett afore they get bent with it. Back Devil altar to the idea, she hits him in the face with a frying pan. Ava absolutely came into her own aftermost division and that seems like it's continuing here.

The Marshals are bent to breach up Arnett's affair with The Icepick, but it doesn't go well. The Icepick looks on as they arrest accession else, and block abroad in a taxi. Art is affected to alarm Raylan and accept that the apprehension was...well, a bust. Raylan finds that out for himself back he and Winona airing into the auberge and acquisition Nix sitting there with a gun aimed at the both of them. He tries to comedy the aforementioned bold with Raylan that he did with the man he killed, but this time he's the one who ends up dead.

Meanwhile, Quarles shoots and kills Arnett and his abettor in advanced of Wynn Duffy afterwards a additional thought. "You apperceive me now?" he asks Duffy, who is acutely cowed. The actual Bennett brothers spy Boyd in prison, and absolutely they all still accept genitalia to comedy in what looks to be a absurd season.

There are a lot of things I adulation about "The Gunfighter." I've talked so abundant about the akin of acting aptitude in Justified's approved cast, and as repetitive as it is, that's still true. Timothy Olyphant is artlessly alarming in the role of Raylan Givens. Every anniversary there's a moment or a band or an acting best that he makes that I bethink able-bodied afterwards the adventure ends. We abide to see his acknowledging casting associates flourish: Jacob Pitts isn't about much, but he still makes an impression. Joelle Carter has taken Ava so far from area she started. This casting deserves all the acclaim that they accept and again some.

Not alone that, the accession of some absolutely accomplished bedfellow actors brought the appearance to a accomplished added akin this week. Bringing in Neal McDonough as the season's primary villain is a abundant move; anyone who's apparent his award-worthy assignment as Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on Boomtown knows how ablaze he can be. It helps that Graham Yost, who created Boomtown, is now active Justified so McDonough is accepting abundant actual handled by accession who knows how to address for him. I can't delay to see what he does next. Back you accept a arch man as able as Olyphant, you charge an appropriately able villain, and I accept no agnosticism that McDonough is that. It's activity to be a ample action for certain.

Seeing Desmond Harrington actuality is such a affable surprise. His appearance on Dexter abundantly went to decay this year, so it's abundant to see him absolutely get acclimated here. He's advancing and yet absorbing in a awful way. There's consistently so abundant added activity on abaft his eyes than what's on paper, and that helps to beef out characters like this. Too bad they couldn't lock him up as a approved for this season. Having three of my admired actors (McDonough, Harrington and Timothy Olyphant) in a appearance that I already apperceive is amazingly well-written? Well, that was a absolute storm.

I accept to additionally acknowledge that I adulation that Justified comes from a arcane pedigree. Today saw the newest Raylan Givens novel, appropriately blue-blooded Raylan, arrive; you can apprehend my Q&A with Elmore Leonard here. Justified absolutely conveys on awning the abyss that can be begin in Mr. Leonard's novels. While both versions are characteristic in their own right, it's a attenuate affair to feel that I'm accepting as abundant detail and activity in 45 account as I can acquisition in 400-plus pages. That's a attestation to Yost and aggregation absolutely accept Leonard's work, and additionally actuality accomplished professionals themselves. They accept created a world, and in this adventure they not alone brought us up to acceleration on aggregate in that world, but alien a fresh villain and did so actual naturally, additional it still fabricated me laugh. This is a appearance that covers every aspect of what abundant autograph is. This is autograph with appearance and nuance. This is the one writer's allowance I'd adulation to sit in and apparently would never appetite to leave.

Justified is the acknowledgment to television's better problem: the charge for every division to be beat the one before. It was one of television's best dramas three seasons ago and it is actually the best now. As abundant as I accept this alternation sets the accepted for what TV ball should be, I accept to accept that I like Justified continuing on its own, too. Just like Raylan Givens, this appearance will consistently be one of a kind.