After tonight, no more Harlan County, no more wise cracks from Tim Gutterson, and no more Raylan Givens. It’s an end of an era that should be getting more attention than it is.
Continue reading Justified: Preparing For Raylan’s Ride Off Into The Sunset
Howdy howdy! This here is a good ol’ fashioned TV News Roundup where we the good folk of Grizzly Bomb scour the big bad internets machine on the look-out for the news you need and gosh darn just want.
And that’s about as far as I’m taking that.
Hokey fake cowboy talk aside, this really is a TV News Roundup where we’ll scour the latest TV news and compile it for you in one easy to read place, no need to wade through countless photos of a Kardashian or Justin Bieber here!
Continue reading TV News Roundup: Sherlock, Always Sunny, Zombieland, and More!
My love of Justified is no secret. Raylan Givens is a near perfect TV hero and Boyd Crowder make an excellent foil to our hero. The actors (Olyphant and Goggins) share some of the best on-screen chemistry in all of television. The first 3 years of the FX show have given us some of the best action/drama this side of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.
Continue reading Justified: Season 4 – Raylan, Boyd, and Patton Oswalt? Plus 3 New Trailers…
It is that time of the year again where dreams get crushed, and the elite throw a party for themselves to give the obligatory ‘pat on the back’. The 2012 Emmy Nominations are in, and it’s time to fight for the snubbed and decry the undeserving. I have the list down there courtesy of EW, but let’s talk about what I think were great nominations and of course, the snubs.
Continue reading 2012 Emmy Nominations Are Out, Who Got Snubbed?
Tuesday night marked the close of Justified‘s third season. And while the episode, titled ‘Slaughterhouse’, did not result in killing off as many characters as it’s title might lead you to believe, it did deliver an emotional conclusion. Going into the episode there was a lot of stuff up in the air – The explosion at Boyd’s bar, Winona’s pregnancy, Arlo’s degrading mental health, the fate of Dickie Bennett, the future of Noble’s Holler, and the shooting of State Trooper Tom Bergen. In the middle of it all, US Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW…
SUMMARY: The finale picks up after the shooting of State Trooper Bergen, which we learn was indeed fatal. This sends all the Law Enforcement into an uproar, and focuses Raylan’s rage towards the alleged shooter – Robert Quarles. As Art and the State Troopers mobilize to hunt down the man from Detroit, Raylan launches his own investigation. One that is sure to bring a lot of shit down on the heads of Limehouse, Wynn Duffy, and the Crowder gang. Anyone Raylan thinks might be able to lead him to Quarles. This results in a great scene in which Mr. Duffy is forced into an involuntary game of Russian Roulette. This scene shows Raylan displaying very little caution in the wake of his friend’s death, and clues us in to his state of mind a bit. Someone is gonna pay for the death of Tom Bergen.
After his dealing with Duffy, Givens take a much bigger risk as he marches into Noble’s Holler to to threaten Limehouse. This, as expected, does not go well. Raylan, finally after weeks of build up, takes a swing at the esteemed leader of the Holler, it does not work out as planned…
Limehouse, knowing Raylan’s death means only more trouble for the Holler, makes a deal with the Marshall to get Boyd Crowder back in prison. He informs as to where the body of one Mr. Devil is buried, and from here it seems only a clock’s tick away from seeing Boyd back in an orange jumpsuit. It would seem that someone let word slip of the murder and unmarked grave to Mr. Limehouse, and the most likely candidate for that honor is – Arlo. Raylan’s father.
Now as Raylan is tearing apart Harlan County looking for Quarles, the man himself decides to kidnap Vic Mackey’s wife and her 2 sons. He then contacts Detroit and learns that it’ll cost him $500,000 to return home. At this time he contacts the man hunting him and adds Marshall Givens to his group of prisoners. You see, Quarles knows the only place he can get the money he needs, is from Limehouse. He sees Raylan as the insurance he needs to exit the Holler afterward. Here’s the thing though, we soon learn the ol’ crazy Quarles was in fact NOT the man who shot Trooper Bergen, and that Johnny Crowder, the very man who pointed the finger at Quarles to begin with, was a liar. Despite the new found truth about the Trooper however, things still do not end well for Mr. Quarles.
As Quarles lies on the ground, bleeding out, he drops a bomb on Raylan. Tom Bergen was shot by none other than Arlo Givens. During the interview with Arlo two major events occur. First he covers for Boyd and cops to the murder of Devil. This lets Boyd off the hook and out of custody. Secondly he reveals he didn’t know who the Trooper was, only that it was a man with a hat, pointing a gun at Boyd. In one swift moment Arlo delivers a crushing blow to Raylan, while freeing Boyd and reuniting him with Eva.
REVIEW: A man with a gun and a hat – like Raylan. It’s at this point that we see an already strenuous Father-Son relationship get even more strained as we learn that Arlo made a choice. Boyd over Raylan. Father of the year or what? The end of the episode features a voice over by Raylan as he tells the story to Winona, and in essence what will undoubtedly be his own son.
While Season 3 was no where near as good as Season 2, Justified remains one of the best shows on television and consistently one of the safest bets to spend an hour of your time. The whole cast is superb and I especially enjoyed Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy, as he often steals near every scene he is in. I’d give the finale a 5/5 and the season overall a 4/5.
As for next year…
Likely Season 4 will reduce Johnny Corwder, Limehouse, and Dickie Bennett to a subplot as there are already rumors of Jeff Goldblum and Eric Stonestreet being brought in as new villains next year.
This comes from The AV Club:
The hat-smoke has barely cleared from last night’s Justified finale, but already showunner Graham Yost is looking ahead to the next wave of character actors he can bring in to drive Timothy Olyphant into a terse, squinting rage. In an interview with The Wrap, Yost says he’s currently trying to coordinate schedules with the Modern Family production team to get Eric Stonestreet down to Kentucky, a casting choice prompted because, as Yost says, “He’s a Kansas boy, and he’d like to play a bad guy”—particularly a bad guy on a show where the bad guys get do most of the fun stuff while racking up Emmy nominations. Also on Yost’s wish list: His former Raines collaborator Jeff Goldblum (who could definitely make up for that show by playing a Justified villain), displaced Luck star Jason Gedrick, and “anyone from Boomtown, anyone from Band Of Brothers, anyone from The Pacific,” as the show apparently looks to branch out beyond mining the former cast of Deadwood. This is despite the fact that they still haven’t brought in Ian McShane yet, and we’re probably just going to keep muddying Justified casting reports by bringing that up until it happens.
Personally, I loved Raines and I really enjoy both Stonestreet and Goldblum so I hope Yost can snag them both. I also suspect that we’ve not seen the last of Theo Tonin and his Motor City based syndicate.
The long-awaited, but inevitable return of Justified aired last night, and it was worth the anticipation. Raylan Givens probably accounts for about 37% of the total ‘swagger’ in all of television right now. The guy has got character, and he exudes a remarkable likability factor. Basically, he is so cool that I want to be his sidekick. I could make witty quips and get kidnapped, and eventually snag an unorthodoxly hot girlfriend, who doesn’t really compare to his girlfriend, but is a catch none the less on her own. She wouldn’t be “Hollywood Hot”, because she would have glasses or something, but she would be “Real life Hot” so it’d be cool.
Continue reading Justified: Season 3 Premiere – “The Gunfighter”
Alright gang, fire up your DVRs and get ready for FX’s best shows not about Bikers or bars in Philadelphia to return.
First is the animated brilliance that is Archer. The story of a self-indulgent, American James Bond-Type (a comparison he doesn’t welcome), and the barley functional agency by which he is employed, Sterling Archer is television’s most entertaining spy. And come Thursday, January 19th, he is back on FX.
That follows though, the premiere of the 3rd season of Justified, which will air 2 nights earlier on the 17th. Justified is maybe my favorite show on all of television, and is the earlier casting announcements (here and here) are any indication, this newest season is primed to continue the 2 years worth of excellent programming we’ve come to expect.
FX continues to edge out Showtime, AMC, and HBO as my favorite network for original programming.
Somehow, the second season of Justified managed to be better than the first one. I don’t know if it’s possible to expect the same level of improvement this year, but the casting director isn’t hurting their chances. It was announced this week that the show has added 2 new villains who are sure to run into conflict not only with Raylan, but Boyd, and maybe even Dickie too.
Former Boomtown co-stars Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson join the cast in an attempt to replace the Bennett clan this season.
Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers) will portray ‘Quarles’, who Screen Rant described as “a Detroit gangster looking to make a power play in the void left by the Crowder and Bennett families from seasons past. Given Quarles hails from the Motor City, and supposedly has a penchant for fine tailoring – he may find himself a fish out of water in Harlan County.”
I’ve been a big fan of McDonough since his turn as ‘Buck Compton’ on Band of Brothers, but that’s certainly not the extent of his resume. I’ve like him in just about everything I’ve seen him in, and that includes a much underrated performance in SyFy’s Tin Man (right), and of course that fact that he appeared in the only season of Terriers only further endears him to me. And Marvel fans may know he has a long history with the Comic Book Giant having voiced ‘Bruce Banner‘ in The Incredible Hulk cartoon from the 90’s and is now playing ‘Dum Dum Dugan‘ in Marvel’s latest line of movies, including this summer’s Captain America: The First Avenger. The guy is a boss actor and the fact that he’s coming to Harlan via Detroit – I can’t wait.
The other new hire – Mykelti Williamson: “plays ‘Limehouse’ – the decidedly more homegrown of the two baddies in season 3. Limehouse comes from a small, predominantly black town in Harlan County – and has no qualms with breaking the law in order to keep his holler protected.”
Now Williamson has been in plenty of roles over the years, everything from Free Willy 2 to The Final Destination. He played a convict in Con Air and the director of CTU on 24. But the role he is still most known for is that of Forrest Gump‘s best friend – Bubba Blue.
‘Limehouse’ seems like he’ll be the one we are more conflicted towards, as ‘Quarles’ will more than likely be a straight up dickhead from the get go. Maybe a little bit like Wynn Duffy, but less crazy. Anyhow, they’ve already begun filming and the show is set to return with another 13 episode set in January. We’ll try to keep you updated till then.
And to close things out, in case the pregnancy ruins her figure, here is Natalie Zea:
A couple weeks ago I got excited and told you about the quality of nominations from the first ever ‘Critics Choice TV Awards’. Representation for Community, Parks and Rec, Always Sunny, and Justified made me think someone had finally gotten it right. Then the winners were announced. Most of the good-will they had built with me has since disappeared. Let’s take a look…
– Desired Winner: Justified
– Predicted Winner: Boardwalk Empire
– Actual Winner: Mad Men
This is about the least inspired choice possible. Way to distinguish yourselves by picking the show that has won this award 3 years running from the Emmy committee. I feel like they mailed this one in for a bid to be taken seriously, and in that bid I think they lose credibility.
It’s nice to see Justified nominated, but it looks like this one was over before it started. Mad Men is obviously not a terrible pick as all the shows were good, just seems uninspired.
– Desired Winner: Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: William H. Macy, “Shameless”
– Actual Winner: Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
This is again predictable. I really like Jon Hamm, but so far this looks just the same as every other awards show out there, giving gold to maybe the most over-rated show on television.
– Desired Winner: Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
– Actual Winner: Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
This is a show that I admit to have not watched, so I can say anything against the pick, but can’t speak for it either. Julianna Margulies is a solid actress and I’ve heard only good things about this show, so I’ll just give them the benifit of doubt and assume this was the right pick, but it’s too bad FNL didn’t get any love from the voters. This is the spot I thought Mad Men would get it’s statue, but obviously they still cleaned up without it…
– Desired Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: John Noble, “Fringe”
Normally I wouldn’t have any problem with the greatly under-rated Fringe collecting some accolades, except in this case where it costs Goggins a much deserved victory here. Noble is great, I just thought it was Boyd Crowder’s year is all…
– Desired Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: TIE: Margo Martindale, “Justified”/Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
Well HOLY SHIT, I almost called one right! Justified almost took the spotlight, but instead had to share it with – You Guessed It – Mad Men. Now I love Hendricks from her days on Firefly, but come on. This is a sham. A tie? BOOO. Martindale should’ve had this one to herself.
– Desired Winner: “Parks and Recreation”
– Predicted Winner: “Modern Family”
– Actual Winner: “Modern Family”
I really have no issue here. Parks and Rec I thought deserved it, but Modern Family is a great show. And to be honest, with the quality of nominees here, so long as it didn’t go to Glee or The Big Bang Theory I was gonna be ok with it. That being said, Modern Family would’ve been 3rd on my list, behind Community at 2nd. Anyhow, who can complain about a show that stars Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, with Al Bundy to boot?
– Desired Winner: Charlie Day, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
– Predicted Winner: Steve Carell, “The Office”
– Actual Winner: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
This is without a doubt the biggest issue I have with this list. The Big Bang Theory is unbelievably stupid and keeps getting rewarded for it’s formulaic CBS assembly line style of comedy. Nothing against Parsons personally, but this just seems to be a show about who non-nerd imagine real nerds act. And his character is annoying. I hate this show. And when you take into account the other 4 nominees, this decision makes even less sense…
– Desired Winner: Martha Plimpton, “Raising Hope”
– Predicted Winner: Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
– Actual Winner: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Not it’s not unusual to hear me praise Tina Fey, I’m a huge fan of her’s. The problem I have here is that this was easily the weakest season of 30 Rock to date, while Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation really took off this season and I just don’t get the choice. Sure, in 2009 – Fey over Poehler is a no-brainier, but this one just seems like a reputation win…
– Desired Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Predicted Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Actual Winner: NPH, “How I Met Your Mother”
If Jim Parson’s won is my #1 issue, this is my #1B issue. I like NPH, but as we’ve talked about in the past HIMYM isn’t what it once was, and this was without a doubt Nick Offerman’s award. Offerman’s ‘Ron Swanson’ is the best character on television and he was absolutely robbed here. It makes me wonder if the voters even watched Parks and Rec this season. As much as I like Harris, he actually would’ve been last on my list of the 5 nominees…
– Desired Winner: Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
– Predicted Winner: Jane Lynch, “Glee”
– Actual Winner: Busy Philipps, “Cougar Town”
I was rooting for Bowen because I think she gets overlooked, but I can’t badmouth Busy Phillips. I don’t watch Cougar Town, but she was a principal character on Freaks and Geeks, and was in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles so she’s ok in my book…
This could’ve gone anyway really, all the nominees were deserving.
Where I will give them credit is that they awarded the first Critics’ Choice Television Icon Award to Danny Devito, star of Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The first season of Justified far exceeded my expectations. Raylan Givens delivered on every level and the show produced not one, but two of the best characters on television today. That first season ended with one of the best finales I’ve ever seen, and somehow season has not only managed to avoid being a let down, but actually turned out better than the first.
Last night that 2nd season came to an end in a ‘full circle’ kind of way, and I loved it. There aren’t many shows on anymore that can put you on the edge of your seat, but that’s wear I sat through the whole episode. The finale picks up with Raylan talking to Art about transferring to Glenco, which is a move to make Winona happy. Boyd requests a parlay with the Bennetts, and Loretta McCready disappears from her foster home. These 3 events set up the rest of the episode.
First, we learn that Winona is prego. This explains some of why she doesn’t want Raylan in the field. So perhaps we’ll see a little Raylan in the future, though more likely I think Winona either get killed, leave Raylan, or lose the baby before that happens.
Next, during Boyd’s parlay with the Bennetts he anticipates their intentions and sets up ambushes at both Ava and Johnny’s houses. This results in the death squads sent to each location being executed by the Crowder gang. The explosion we saw in last weeks preview killed not Johnny Crowder as we expected, but the Bennett’s men instead. And the assault on Ava’s house ended almost exclusively with Bennett clan deaths.
Almost – Dickie shot Ava before escaping.
Doyle receives a call from Dickie with the news while still at the parlay. This is Boyd and Arlo’s big “F U” moment with Mags and Doyle. The Bennett assault was a failure and Boyd now has the upper hand.
Next we see Loretta has not been kidnapped, but instead commissioned a ride to Harlan for a chance at revenge on the Bennetts for the murder of her father. Raylan learns of her intentions and heads to Harlan. This is when Raylan falls victim to Dickie’s baseball bat. When Raylan recovers consciousness he finds himself strung up by his ankle in Piñata position.
This is when things looked the worst for Raylan, that is until Boyd Crowder shows up with a gun and a whole lot of bad intention. He has just seen Ava’s gunshot wound and has some swift retribution planned for Dickie Bennett. After getting Raylan cut down from the tree, Boyd allows Dickie to live at Raylan’s behest in order to help find Loretta.
Raylan takes Dickie to play ‘Human Shield’ at the Bennett’s house. When he gets there Loretta is already inside with Mags and Raylan has to deal with Doyle. Doyle seems unconcerned with the danger posed to his brother and decides he has had enough of Marshall Givens.
This is about the time that Loretta, inside the house opens fire on Mags, shooting her in the leg. This gunfire causes Doyle’s men outside to open fire – hitting Raylan and nearly killing Dickie as well. With Raylan on the ground, Doyle decides to end the feud once and for all. This results in Marshall/Sniper Tim Gutterson blowing a hole in the Police Chief’s forehead…
This brings the entire Marshall service rushing in at Art’s command, who is there because of Winona’s plea for him to help Raylan. The injured Givens limps into the house to find the injured Mags at the end of Loretta’s gun barrel. After Raylan is able to talk the gun out of Loretta’s hand he sits down with Mags. And full circle we’ve come as Mags pours a couple of glasses of her famous Apple Pie drink and, like with Walt McCready, the glass for the drink proves to be fatal. This time however, Mags poisons herself. News of Doyle’s death and Dickie’s arrest, couple with Coover’s death and Loretta’s attempted murder, Mags decides it’s all too much.
The episode and season end with Raylan’s hand in hers, and the Bennett’s hold on Harlan County officially released. I don’t think many people expected Dickie to be the only Bennett to survive the season, but such is life. This sets things up for the 3rd season where we are sure to see Boyd reclaim the county as his own.
I truly believe this is be the best running series on Television and I already can’t wait for season 3…
Video is also from Warming Glow…
OTHER JUSTIFIED ARTICLES:
– Justified: A Beacon of Modern Masculinity
– Justified: Cottonmouth – Harlan County’s Best of the Season
– FX Renews My Faith: 3rd Season of JUSTIFIED Ordered
– Justified: Episode 209 “Brother’s Keeper”
Grizzly Bomb 