FX has been pumping out great shows for years now, with series like The Shield, Terriers, and It‘s Always Sunny in Philadelphia proving just how diverse and creative the network’s development team is. However, out of all the shows that have come out on FX over the past decade or so, for me, there is absolutely no question that Justified is the cable channel’s greatest achievement. Despite being mostly a procedural-type series when it first began, Justified quickly became more serialized, utilizing its Kentucky setting to provide us with some great, backwoods country villains, such as Mags Bennett in the show’s second (and best) season, and carpetbagger criminals like Raylan’s main nemesis in Season 3, the psychotic Robert Quarles. Even the fourth season of Justified, which mainly abandoned the “Big Bad” structure and instead focused on the Drew Thompson mystery, featured a scenery-chewing Mike O’Malley as Nicky Augustine, a character whose murder, which was, in a way, caused by Raylan (even though he didn’t pull the trigger himself), had major repercussions in Season 5. See, a good villain is just as important to Justified‘s DNA as smart, fast-paced dialogue and strong, commanding performances from Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins, and a true, good villain was exactly what was missing from the Justified Season 5 cast.
There’s no denying the fact that the fifth season of Justified was the show’s weakest one by far. There were quite a few great individual episodes and some truly fantastic individual moments (everyone remember Boyd’s cigarette pack bomb?), but overall, things just felt a little off. It was as if the show was trying to be more dark and serious by giving us more violence and death on a weekly basis (and there was A LOT of deaths in Season 5–the premiere alone was filled with them) to make up for its lack of real tension, which was caused by the fact that the Crowes, specifically brothers Darryl and Danny (played by Michael Rapaport and A.J. Buckley), didn’t feel like legitimate threats, not in the same way as the Justified villains that had come before them.
There’s a short and simple answer for why the Crowes were not good villains: they were stupid. While Mags, Quarles, and even Boyd’s father Bo were scary because of their intelligence and their ruthlessness, the only thing frightening about the Crowes was how idiotic their next decision would be. There was no real thought or strategy put into their plan to take over Harlan. They simply wanted it and thought that they could take it, and that type of egoism, combined with their lack of intelligence, made them more of a thorn in Raylan’s side instead of an actual challenge for him.
The Justified writing team did try to rectify the situation by having Darryl shoot Art near the end of Season 5, a development that certainly provided some much needed emotion and purpose to a season that had been spinning its wheels, favoring unique and original procedural plots (those were, for the most part, the really good episodes from Season 5) over more serialized storytelling. Yet while Darryl’s attack on Art did up the stakes for Justified‘s fifth season and give Raylan even more of a reason to go after the Crowes, it came a little too late, a last desperate attempt by the writers in the eleventh hour to try to recapture what they had with the Bennetts in Season 2, when Dickey shot and killed Raylan’s Aunt Helen. Ultimately, there was no was no way that the show could fill the gaping villain hole in the Justified Season 5 cast.
But all that doesn’t have me worried for Justified‘s sixth and final season, which premieres in January. As the end of Season 5 teased, it’s going to be the long-awaited confrontation that we all knew it had to be, the battle that Justified has been building towards since its pilot: Raylan versus Boyd. And if Boyd Crowder doesn’t fit your description of a good villain, well, then you’re more stupid than Dewey Crowe (and he thought he had four kidneys).
Some questions still remain, such as if Ava will be able to stick to her and Raylan’s plan and help take Boyd down and what exact roles will Tim, Rachel, and Art play in this final showdown. However, unlike with the villains that made up part of the Justified Season 5 cast, I feel incredibly relieved to know that Raylan’s last shootout will be with a more than worthy adversary. It’s going to be big, it’s going to be bloody, and it’s going to be thrilling to watch, and the only thing we can’t be certain about is who will make it out of Harlan alive.
Photos via FX
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Good article. Agree with a lot of the thing you pointed out.
The problems with Season 5 were glaring: 1) Miscasting Michael Rapaport as Darryl Crowe with his painfully grating attempt at a Southern accent. 2) Ava’s too long, Orange Meets Black rip off stint in prison. Season 5 spent much of its time setting up the final season with Art’s shooting, introducing Mary Steenburgen and her character’s ties to ADA Vasquez, and acting-Chief Rachel Brooks and Vasquez asking Raylan’s help to trap Boyd before he leaves permanently for Florida. I hope Raylan is allowed to leave Harlan alive. Because that’s what Elmore Leonard would do . . . allow Marshal Raylan to live for another story or future FX movie script.
“Miscasting Michael Rapaport as Darryl Crowe with his painfully grating attempt at a Southern accent.”
I keep seeing this everywhere, but honestly I think it is overblown and was a non-issue for me. I understand everyone thinks they know what an authentic southern, or even Kentucky, accent sounds like, but Darryl was not born and raised in Kentucky. Rather, Daryl and his family were back-woods, Everglades, white trash. If anyone can pinpoint what a back-woods, Everglades, white trash accent sounds like, I would love to hear it. Point being, the mob mentality of the fan base wanted to crap on Rappaport, and his accent was the easiest thing to pile on. I do not blame him for the poor writing of his character.
Regardless, I enjoyed season five and cannot wait for this next season. This show is special and has my two favorite TV show characters of all time, which says a lot considering how much TV I watch and like.
totally with you on this one.
i cant grasp the full on hatred so many fans had for that character.
I agree that the complaints against Rapaport are a little overblown. But i do think he was miscast. He is a “New York actor” so to be cast as a Southerner is a little strange. To me, he did his job well, and he got really good the last couple episodes, but he wasn’t very outstanding. Not like Quarles, Mads or even Nicky Augustine. The accent never bothered me. People have different accents. That was his.
I was raised the deep South. Have family there. The reason you keep hearing the complaint is because it’s true! His bad attempt was so grating and distracting, it took away from the performance in a big way. If he said “Man” one more time, I would have thrown my remote at the TV screen.
I’ve lived in Texas, TN, Florida. I’ve visited LA, MS, VA, KY. Rapaport is from NY, and he sounds like someone from NYC faking a Southern accent.
Glad it’s a non-issue for you. As you said, my distraction? . . . I’m not alone. It was that bad. He should have spent more time with a dialect coach. That’s what Timothy Olyphant does.
I’m a die hard Justified fan. The blame falls at Rapaport’s feet because that’s where it belongs . . . in my opinion. Again, I’m not alone. Other than his performance, I liked the season. I’m a huge fan of Dewey Crowe.
Are you sure you are not harping on the accent due to his character just not being good? Honestly, I live in Texas, have lived in Florida, and went to school in Indiana. Accents are what they are, and once again, we are talking about a very remote dialect that I doubt 99% of the population has heard; back-woods, Everglades, white trash.
I honestly think the root of the issue is that the Crowe family was a poorly written string of thorns in Raylan’s side. We hated them because they were dumb, caused problems for our favorite characters, and just did not seem to go away. Contrast that with Bo, Mags, Quarles, and Augustine, who were all smart, crazy and just wonderful villains. Yes, I agree Rappaport was mediocre at best, but once again, his character, story and writing for the character were also subpar. Honestly, throw any actor into that exact role with those exact lines and tell me, apart from Daniel Day Lewis, that they would be good.
Daniel Day Lewis? He would have been good.
It’s hard to top one’s self. Year after year after year. That’s why we’re at the final season. The writers have run out of ideas.
Biggest mistake Graham Yost ever made, imo, was killing off Mags Bennett.