By Michael Walsh
After becoming a star for his role as Sheriff Seth Bullock on the excellent American western television show Deadwood, Timothy Olyphant assumed a number of intriguing roles, including being the main villain in Die Hard 4 and his turn as bald video game character Agent 47 in Hitman.
But until Olyphant assumed the role of confident U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on the Graham Yost-conceived show Justified, fans of the prematurely canceled Deadwood have been without the presence of a suave law enforcement badass.
Olyphant falls right into the role of Raylan Givens, a seemingly natural fit for the man who played three seasons as a sheriff who had to calm storms between some of the meanest characters the old west had ever seen. Givens, dressed to cowboy perfection, a costume topped off by his signature hat, is a suave Marshal, a womanizer of the tenth degree that has so much swagger to his step it almost hurts to watch him work fugitives the way he does.
There is more to Justified than a 19th-century style law enforcement officer who with his smooth talk, tough demeanor and eloquent speech takes down perp after perp in old school western fashion. The show is tightly written, and each of the four episodes shown so far has introduced the audience to a new criminal. Much of the time they have some connection to Givens past, which reveals more about the mysterious individual’s history.
Since the pattern seems to be Givens taking down a new criminal each week, I expect the one thing tying the season together to be the divulging of information on his past. The relationship Givens has with his criminal father is already being played off as one major and key point to the show.
Justified shouldn’t be mistaken with the countless of dull and lifeless crime dramas seen around television. This FX show has life to it, much like the show Burn Notice, and the writing and dialogue is absolutely hilarious. Aside from quick funny jabs from Givens and the relationships he holds with his coworkers, the characters written into the show are fascinating. For example, episode four introduces us to one of the most badass dentists you’ll ever meet. And the pilot episode has us watching Givens track down an anarchist Nazi who enjoys using explosions as diversions to his bank robberies.
One of the most entertaining aspects of the show is when Givens finally meets these absurd criminals. The interaction held between him and just about every character is great in its own way, but there is nothing better than when he faces off with the bad guys. Givens isn’t afraid to just get in the back seat of a car where two men are staking him out to tell them they better get out of town or they’ll be dead the next time they see him. It’s this kind of unrivaled confidence that makes him one of the more likable characters I’ve had the pleasure of watching.
Still in its early stages, Justified is in good form. Yost shows understanding of his character and writes him dialogue like he has been doing it for years now. I am still only unsure of the direction Yost wants to take with his characters. There are a few side characters that have yet to be developed and as I mentioned before, no true overarching plot to carry things along outside of Givens’ past life and hidden agendas he may carry.
Justified might not ease the nasty taste left in Deadwood fans’ mouths after HBO canceled the show, but Olyphant’s new character will give them a chance to remember.
