Justified: The Final Season [Blu-ray + UltraViolet]

Justified is probably one of the best shows on TV. Fantastic writing, snappy dialogue, engaging plot lines, and top drawer acting. Season 2 with the Bennett Family is probably my favorite out of the 6. Mags, Dickie, and Coover were great characters, plus I enjoyed Boyd’s flirt with religion and thought it fascinating that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't escape his destiny.Season 5 was my least favorite, which was a bit of a surprise, as Dewey Crowe was one of my favorite characters and I would have thought a story about his kin would have been fun. Unfortunately it fell as flat as Michael Rapaport’s fake southern accent.After dropping out Season 5, I began to wonder if the loss of Elmore Leonard was adversely affecting the writing, so was reluctant to watch Season 6. Am glad I changed my mind! The addition of Sam Elliot, Mary Steenburgen, Garret Dillahunt and a quick draw killer named Boon, brought the show back to its former glory.A lot of times when a show comes to an end (like LOST, Deadwood or Sons of Anarchy) the finale can fall flat, leaving me wondering why I devoted so many hours to watching the show at all. Justified’s finale ranks up there with them best of them like Breaking Bad. Definitely a satisfying conclusion. The final showdown between Raylan and Boon was a classic scene right out of Gary Cooper’s High Noon.Was glad the final season gave more air time to supporting characters like Marshall’s Tim Gutterson and Rachel Brooks. They both played great parts that were given short shrift in the earlier seasons. Other fantastic supporting cast members were Chief Deputy Art Mullen and Ava Crowder. You couldn't help but admire both of them in their own way.Hard to say which I liked more as the main character, Raylan or Boyd. Both were well fleshed out and played to perfection by Timothy Olyphant and Walter Goggins. When the two of them were on screen together, the dialogue just sparkled. At times it reminded me of the snappy repartee you’d get in a Neil Simon play or an old Cary Grant movie like His Girl Friday.I like the way Raylan and Boyd’s families shared a similar background, though each chose a different path in life, Raylan as a U.S. Marshall and Boyd as a criminal. Because Raylan’s father Arlo was a criminal, it gave Raylan a great understanding of the criminal mind, which sort of reminded me of the old saying, “To catch a thief, you’ve got to think like a thief.” Also liked the way Raylan’s character at times was a shade of grey. As his fellow Marshall’s were well aware, Raylan often walked the line between lawman and vigilante.Through the seasons you can definitely see Raylan grow and mature. If his season 6 final showdown with Boyd, if their encounter had come a few years sooner, the outcome probably would have been a lot different. The fact that Raylan changed over time shows the maturity of the character and the skill of the writers. The last scene between Raylan and Boyd - won't give it away - but will only say it was perfect.Fantastic job by all. On a scale of 1-5, Justified is a 10.

I started watching Justified after it had gone off the air and was so hooked by the first episode, that I turned into a binge watcher for the first time in my life!! The actors played their parts with such dedication that you could feel the emotion in each episode. I loved Walter Higgins in both the Shield and Sons of Anarchy, he is a wonderful character actor and never does anything half way. I would love to see him in a new cable drama soon, playing another part that he will make his own. I remember seeing Timothy Olyphant in Gone in 60 in Seconds and a small part, many years ago in First Wives Club....he has come a very long way since those days and I would watch another series with him in it if he choses to make another show. All the guest spots and known actors that appeared through out the 6 seasons were wonderful and cast perfectly!!It was a nice change to see a series about a small town in the backwoods country not bring depicted as a typical stereotype. These people were played as they are, not made to look uneducated, poor, hillbilly trash like other shows have done in the past. Yes, it was a small town, where everybody knows everybody, where families fued and money/jobs are hard to come by easily. But it was portrayed respectfully and showed how hard they had to work to put food on the table, raise their children right and keep family values/traditions alive. It was a very nice change if pace and it brought a piece of authenticity to the show that it might have been missing. This doesn't mean that there aren't bad things happening but bad things happen in every town, city, county across the nation.The only real issue I had with this show was the character of Winonna, Raylin's ex-wife & mother of his child. When she met Raylin she knew exactly who he was and what he did for a living. She married him knowing he was a LEO and she agreed when she married him to live that life by his side. Then all of a sudden a few years in she decides she can't stand the thought one day he may not come home or get hurt on the job so she divorces him....come on lady...give me a break!! How fair was that to him? Then she pulls him back in, to push him away again and in the final season she wants to be with him again but by the last episode she's changed her mind yet again. I feel bad more for Raylin and his daughter then Winonna. Being married to a LEO myself and living this life for the past 15yrs with our children myself and my husband have seen this happen and it's horrible how it tears apart families and how much the officers blame themselves. For once I would like to see a law enforcement series that didn't portray the wife as a whiney, weak willed, scaredy cat who just can't deal with his job. Someone write it truthfully like the rest of us LEO wives are really living it!! Head held high, proud of your husband, supportive of his work and making it all work for everyone!! Next time some director wants to have a show about law enforcement and there are characters for the officers wives & children please find one of us out in the real world and talk to us, visit our homes, observe what it's really like before you decide to cast those rolls. Do it correctly...give the respect to all of the first responders out there and their families that they deserve. That is my one and only real gripe about this wonderful show that went off the air way before it's time!!I know a lot of people said they were disappointed in season 5 lack luster performance and that the finale for season 6 was too soft and not what they expected out of their tough gunslinging cowboy marshall or of Boyd the outlaw. But I think season 5 was a good way to watch Raylin deal with all the emotions and baggage that Harlan County brings with it. We got to watch him struggle to find ways to handle situations differently without firing straight from the hip. It was almost like watching a little boy grow from throwing a tantrum when he is mad into a young man who no longer let's his anger get the best of him. Raylin worked through all the demons that haunted him from Harlan and turned a corner in his life, choosing instead to mature and start thinking about the child he brought into this world, making her his top priority. You also got to see how Boyd & Ava's relationship changed and why it changed. Ava has always been with the bad boys and Boyd was more than a bad boy he was an outlaw and probably psychopath but she loved him because he loved her with everything he had and would do anything to protect her, make her feel safe. Unfortunately Boyd is not the kind of man to do something the easy way and he doesn't forget either, which makes him reckless & dangerous. You see Ava struggle with her love for Boyd in season 5 because she does love him but she's feeling like he isn't focusing on her needs while shes in prison and he isnt fullfilling his promise to keep her safe, which leads her to make dangerous choices that will effect all of their lives. We also got to see more of the office/team dynamic within the marshals office with Art being injured & retiring, Rachel looking to move up into Art's position and Tim still doing his thing, trying to help everyone & still fighting his own demons from Afghanistan. It was touching to see how the team all came together to find Art's shoiter