Review: 'Justified' Packs Many Pleasures Into Its Second Season

Filed under: Reality-Free, Stay Tuned

TV critics say this a lot, but in the case of 'Justified' (10PM ET Wednesday, FX), it's really true: You can jump in to the second season of this show without having seen the first one.

Sure, once you dive in to season 2 of this distinctive drama, you may want to go back and watch the previous adventures of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant). But it would pain me to think anyone would deny themselves the many pleasures of 'Justified' on the assumption that there's a grand mythology viewers must know before watching the show. That's not the case.

"You pull on me, I'll put you down." That's Raylan's simple philosophy, which he frequently shares with hard-luck lawbreakers and other desperate types.

The great thing about 'Justified' is that even though Raylan's worldview is pretty easy to summarize, the show in which he stars isn't even remotely simplistic or formulaic. 'Justified' manages to be both a loose, colorful evocation of the fictional world created by Elmore Leonard (the novelist who first gave life to Raylan) and a deceptively complex drama that manages to keep the audience guessing without being precious or off-putting.

 

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