Justified is one of the best shows on television. Great story and even better and well delveloped characters.

As for Oz, that show was and will always be one of the best things HBO has ever done.

Justified has retained a good deal of Elmore Leonard's [who created the character] voice. For those unfamilar, Leonard also authored 'Out of Sight,' 'Get Shorty,' and 'Rum Punch' [which went to film as 'Jackie Brown']. He also wrote 'Three-Ten to Yuma.'

So picture a Kentuckified version of those films, with the straight-laced lawman who has endearing personal weaknesses/egos and unconventional, charismatic, lawbreakers, exchanging tense and fascinating dialog that eventually builds to epic showdowns and/or mutual detante.

And its great in so many ways. One week it will be a huge rousing speech. The next there will be a momentary eye-roll that just slays you. Then out of nowhere there'll be massive carnage that has you rocking in your seat, arms wrapped around your knees, murmuring nonsense.

Raylan Givens is the best character on TV for my money! Love that guy.

Mags, both in the performance and the story arc they gave her, sure gave him a run for his money last season. Boyd hasn't been a slouch either.

Oh, and speaking of 'Out of Sight' [which went to TV as 'Karen Sisco'], Carla Guigino has a recurring character next season. Character's named Karen Goodall, don't know if it's a continuation/evolution of Sisco, or some new character altogether.

Oz flew under the radar bigtime. It really got stronger as the seasons went on. The story arc with the O'Reilly brothers late in the show's run was absolutely perfect. Oz was very much like the Wire in that it had numerous interesting characters and a number of different stories being told at different levels.

Mags was a great character and I do also love Boyd. Boyd is a close second to Raylan. I love how conflicted Boyd is as a character. One minute he wants to do the right thing and the next he is plotting something evil. love it!

I missed about the last half of the last season of Justified. Anyone know where I can go to watch them? (besides the obvious torrent download)

Amazon instant or Itunes, $2.99 an ep. Hulu airs them free 30 days after network airing, but have taken old eps off at present.

Thanks for the info. $3 an episode is definitely worth it to get caught up.

*EDIT* Damn, Amazon has both seasons for $20 each. I'll probably just buy them.

Did you ever watch The Wire?

Is Justified serial or Criminal of the Week?

Serial (at least Season 1 was).

Good.

Once I finish up Deadwood, I think I'll start on Justified.

I haven't clicked on the Homeland thread as I'm just now watching it, but have you seen that show yet?

Actually, a bit of both. Certainly less serial than S2. They had story arcs that carried through [the Crowders, the ladies, Pappy, what to do about Miami], but they also had standalone stories [the dentist cartel accountant, that lady with the stables and the guy who collect paintings by Hitler in order to burn them]. It was a cause of concern for the more navel-gazing of critics [ie, what kind of show does this want to be? Deep musings, eh"]