“Justified” Season 6 premieres tonight, Jan. 20, at 10 on FX. The new season of “Justified” will not only be the last, but will also put the focus right back where it belongs, on the war between Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins).
After getting bogged down with a bunch of swamp-gang losers (fronted by Michael Rapaport as Darryl Crowe), “Justified” is returning to what it does best, plus wrapping in a number of the show’s best elements just in time for the “Justified” finale, currently expected to air on April 15.
"Justified" Season 6
"Justified" Flashback - The Beginning
For those unfamiliar with “Justified,” it opens with U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens gunning down a mob hitman on a Miami pier. His cowboy justice no longer welcome, Givens is sent back home to Harlan County, Kentucky, and immediately finds himself embroiled in old feuds. The longest running conflict on “Justified” is between Givens and Boyd Crowder, a psychotic criminal who goes from being a neo-Nazi to a Born Again Christian to a drug dealer over the course of the five existing “Justified” seasons.
"Justified": Raylan vs. Boyd
While much of “Justified” is about the manichean cowboy struggle between the chaotic evil of Boyd and the lawful good of Raylan Givens, there’s a third main character who will play heavily in the final season of “Justified”: Boyd’s former fiancée and Raylan’s sometime lover, Ava Crowder. Her character arc throughout “Justified” has seen her on both the right and wrong sides of the law, with Ava spending nearly all of “Justified” Season 5 in prison.
"Justified": Ava Caught in the Middle
The Season 6 premiere of “Justified” gets right into the conflict that will define the final season of “Justified,” as Raylan sets up Ava as an informant against Boyd in an effort to build a RICO case against Boyd Crowder and his gang. Dewey Crowe, the inexplicably still-alive dumbass of the Crowder crew, also makes a season premiere appearance, as Raylan tries to turn Dewey into another informant.
The first episode of Season 6 of “Justified” brings back Dixie mafia toughie Wynn Duffy, who is hiring Boyd out as a freelance bank robber. The premiere episode also introduces new villains, including the excellent Garret Dillahunt as Ty Walker, who has a powerful introductory standoff with Raylan in the premiere episode.
The first episode of “Justified” Seasons 6, entitled “Fate’s Right Hand,” spends its time moving pieces into place, reestablishing Boyd and Raylan’s final missions while introducing us to the new villains. Surprisingly, Boyd and Raylan don’t even meet face-to-face in the Season 6 premiere, you’ll have to wait for Episode 2 of “Justified” Season 6 to see the two stand off.
Season 6 of “Justified” is already shaping up to be a lot better than the series low-point of “Justified” Season 5. Season 6 of “Justified” premieres tonight, Jan. 20 at 10 p.m. on FX with series premiere episode “Fate’s Right Hand.” Get loaded on whiskey and be ready.
