Recap: It was Justified.

You might remember Timothy Olyphant from the movie "The Girl Next-Door," or when he played the ghostface killer in "Scream 2," but most people know him as Sheriff Seth Bullock from the critically acclaimed, short lived, HBO show Deadwood. Timothy Olyphant's latest adventure is playing U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens on the new FX show "Justified," and this role just may give Timothy Olyphant the staying power to remain a relevant movie and television actor. When I first saw Olyphant on the FX show Damages, I could not for the life of me figure out what other movie or television show he was from. After racking my brain for hours I finally typed into the google search, "corrupt police guy from Damages," and boom there he was, and his long list of movies he had been in. My point is, he is a memorable face with a forgettable name. But not anymore. During the final episodes of Nip/Tuck and Damages on FX, viewers were constantly shown the same preview for the network's new show "Justified," over and over again, which ended up paying off, because the series ended up drawing in over 4.2 million viewers on the network, making it their second biggest premiere ever on the network.

"Justified" is based on the short story "Fire in the Hole,"written by Elmore Leonard (who is also a producer for the show). The pilot episode starts out with main character, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (in case you forgot already, Olyphant’s character...) out by a pool in an upscale Miami hotel dressed like he just walked out of a shoot out in some dirty dusty western state, complete with a cowboy hat and gun. He is obviously out of place, but set out on a mission. He approaches a well dressed man and takes a seat across from him. It turns out this man is actually a drug lord and a couple days earlier had killed one of Raylan's friends. Raylan gave the drug lord two options: leave the United States in 24 hours, or he would kill him on site. Of course the drug lord stays in Miami and challenges Raylan's ultimatum. While Raylan is counting down for him to leave, the drug lord pulls his gun out and before he could get a shot out, Raylan kills him on site in broad daylight at a swanky Miami hotel. Whoops.... Big no-no for a Marshall.... check out the first thirty seconds of this clip for the real scene...

It is this incident in Miami that sets the story in motion. The U.S. Marshall service decides to transfer Raylan because they need to investigate the circumstances of the shooting, to which Raylan says, "It was Justified. " So maybe it was a justified shooting, but the media fiasco surrounding the incident forces the Marshall service in Miami to get Raylan out of picture. Raylan soon finds out he is being transferred to his hometown in Eastern Kentucky. It's obvious he isn't pleased, and for good reasons. He has an ex-wife there, an estranged con-artist father, old friends who are Nazi's, and all other kinds of backwoods drama. Most of the show's conflict stems from Raylan's childhood friend Boyd Crowder (played by Walton Goggins), and his slew of hilly billy thugs. Boyd Crowder and his father (who doesn't make an entrance for awhile) run a ring of crime in Harlan county.

Part of the shows success lies within the transformative character Boyd Crowder. Boyd starts out as a Nazi white supremacist who uses a bazooka to blow up churches, then he goes to jail where he gets the shit almost beat out of him (but his daddy saves him...), and when he is out of jail (because Raylan sleeps with a witness...) he tries to start his own church, then he becomes a vigilante of some sort by blowing up meth labs in the area. Boyd Crowder is the Yin to U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens Yang. They complete each other.

Raylan grew up in a place where everyone is a criminal, and what makes his character so special is that at times he really could be a criminal too. Yes, he is a moral man of the law, but damn he can kill everyone who gets in his way. There is this criminal dynamic to Raylan Givens that stems from being raised by criminals, and being best friends with criminals his whole life. Raylan Givens could have easily turned out like Boyd Crowder if he had stayed in Harlan county but instead he got out as soon as he could. Raylan has a skill dealing with criminals and people because he sees them all as equal. At one point, while trying to talk a prisoner out of killing a guard in a hostage situation, he offers to get the guy some fried chicken in exchange for the guard. The prisoner accepts and is happy to be able to have a meal with another person who treats him as his equal. Raylan has no problem killing someone if they pull a gun on him, bu he always tries to reason with them at some relatable level. The whole show examines what it means to grow up in a corrupt poor coal mining town where crime is passed down from father to son.

The season finale was basically the shoot-out this whole story has been leading up too, even though there are plenty of shoot-outs throughout the earlier episodes. What is unique about the finale is Raylan and Boyd actually team up to take down Boyd Crowder's father. Raylan has some pretty awesome kill scenes and the good guy wins with the help of the bad guy. The first season ends with no cliffhangers, no desperation, and no frustration, which sounds boring... and in a way it is. The end of this season is more like the end of chapter 1 and the start of a new one. The biggest and most interesting question that viewers are left wondering about is this new partnership Raylan and Boyd forge. Obviously Raylan views Boyd as a bad guy and full of shit, but he did help Raylan and arguably saved his life. Just another transformation? Or is this a ploy to manipulate Raylan down the road? This type of ending is not as satisfying as a main character finally sleeping with their romantic interest, but it does leave a huge question in viewers heads, "What is going to happen next season," which is enough to keep "Justified," and Timothy Olyphant going and relevant.