Justified

Renewed for a fifth season.

 

Pretty intense scene there at the end with the chair delivery ... though I couldn't imagine they'd go so dark as to plant a bomb in the chair to blow up a pregnant woman, though Theo Tonin is a sonofabitch. Still, these last two episodes have been phenomenal.

 

Had they kept Colt alive until the finale there'd have been a lot more uncertainty about what's going to happen. Generally only one really bad dude dies per episode. Given that, my wife and I are guessing that Boyd is gonna play a contributing role in keeping Winona safe. We think there's also a chance that Raylan will be a semi-co-conspirator in keeping Eva out of trouble's way. That preserves the Boyd-Raylan yin-yang that just makes this show so wonderful. And, remember, the producer said early on this season that nothing bad happens to Winona.

 

What'd y'all think of the season finale? Funny how, in this show, carting Eva off to jail seems a lot less ominous than dealing with the harsh realities of Boyd's outlaw world on the outside. As far as her goofy attempt to shed the body all by herself -- making that kid get out of the van -- did she anticipate at all the difficulty of moving even a badly decomposed body over land and through a fence without help?

The timing of the new Detroit boss, Theo's kid, on the tarmac strained credulity, too. Would have much preferred since Raylin take out Nicky man-to-man.

And it was shitty of Raylin to try to put any future harm to Winona and the baby on Art, just because Art didn't want him going all vigilante on the Detroiters.

 

I thought it was OK.
Not great by any stretch.
Overall, I think was a pretty weak season, probably the worst so far.

 

In his post-show interviews, Yost said there was some dialogue that got cut explaining Ava thought it was best to get rid of the body herself because letting somebody else (Ellen May) know where the body was got her into the mess in the first place.

Letting Sammy take care of Nicky fit perfectly with a big theme this season that Raylan does just enough to stay on the right side of the law to tell himself he's one of the good guys. That's a big part of who Raylan is. The bad guys have to draw first, or turn down his offer for a peaceable resolution (even if he knows he's offering a shitty deal a guy like Nicky will never take). It's how he"justifies" his actions in his own mind and how he separates himself from Boyd and Arlo.

I loved the scene with Boyd and Wynn in the bar. I've rewatched the entire series the past few weeks and the development of Wynn is pretty cool. At first he's about to go nuts wondering why he has to deal with all these shitkicking hillbillies. Now he's come to respect and, I think, kind of like both Boyd and Raylan.

 

Wynn also gets some of the best lines in whatever episode he appears in.

"Theo has a guy on the way down who has killed more people than malaria."

 

I really liked it. I liked that it focused on Boyd and Raylan after a season that kind of explored the back characters. I also liked that the Shelby arc kind of came back on Raylan in the decision making process on Nicky/Sam....he didn't want to have to go into hiding like Shelby did, I think.

 

I'm killing to put a face to Theo. He's the kind of guy who can disappear for one or two seasons and then be the heavy in the final season. I love the show, but I don't see it going much longer than eight seasons maybe nine.

 

They put a face to Theo Tonin. It's Adam Arkin.

 

I liked it. I've realized that Boyd is the series' essential man. He is yin to Raylin's yang. People underestimate him at their peril. His character, while devious, abides by a moral code. He and Raylin are divergent parts of the same whole.

I thought the Eva thing was a bit questionable. Why chuck the body yourself? I figured the undertaker was setting Boyd up with their deal. It seemed a bit too good to be true.

I did like the way Raylin handled his business without firing a shot. Letting Sammy do his dirty work for him while ingratiating himself with the Detroit boss was a brilliant win-win.

I'm just glad they didn't end with a cliff-hanger. That's just a little too overdone.

 

Justified's seasons have been fairly self contained for the most part, so a cliffhanger would have been out of character.

The characters recur, but there's a new situation/antagonist/theme each year.