Justified: Season Five

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from the prior season+++The fifth season of Justified introduces more of the Crowe family with Darryl (played by Michael Rapaport), who has a history in Florida with Raylan, coming to Kentucky after he learns that Dewey won a $300,000 lawsuit after suing the Marshal's office for police brutality. Daryl ends up taking over the businesses that Dewey bought with his money and basically becomes the season's big bad, along with his sister, Wendy (played by Alicia Witt). Boyd is working to get Ava out of prison while also working with Wynn Duffy (Played by Jere Burns) to control the Oxycotin market in Harlan County. This season also introduces a new love interest for Raylan, a social worker played by Amy Smart, and has an expanded storyline for Art. Unfortunately, the roles of Tim (Jacob Pitts) and Rachel (Erica Tazel) take a major backseat.For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show again looks and sounds great in HD. There are a bunch of extras spread across the three discs, including commentary tracks on selected episodes, deleted scenes, and a bunch of making-of featurettes that range in length from a couple of minutes to almost forty minutes. So, a lot of good material if you like the bonus features.Overall, the series continues to be very strong. It is very well-written and acted, with Olyphant and Goggins doing the heavy lifting, but all the actors doing a great job regardless of how big or small their roles are. The series has a great slate of recurring and guest stars including Danielle Panabaker, Sam Anderson, Mary Steenburgen, Stephen Root, and Adam Arkin (to name just some). As has been the case in prior seasons, there is quite a bit of violence and sexual content in the show, and it can push the boundaries of what can be shown on basic cable. If that does not bother you, however, it is well worth watching.

(a couple of season 5 spoilers included, so please proceed with caution)Great show! These characters are so complex and layered. So dynamic. So substantial. It is usually hard to tell what they will do and many instances on this show have caught me completely by surprise, which has me hooked.The delicate relationship between Boyd and Raylan has made them my favorite frenemies on television or film by far. Olyphant's character (Raylan Givens) walks a fine line between good and bad (and sometimes even stumbles over it) and usually I want him to succeed except for the few occasions I actually want him to fail. Usually when it comes to Boyd. Oddly enough, I almost always want Boyd to win anything he does. Such a deeply conflicted character. He has certain honorable ideals, and yet he has his ALWAYS criminal lifestyle. And Boyd has come such a long way from the season one old distant almost friend coworker to Raylan, less than loyal brother, and "all around bad guy who robbed banks and was just rather second rate" to a criminal 'almost' kingpin who is deeply devoted to his longtime girlfriend (and now ex) and even pretty loyal to his frenemy and knows how to handle himself in just about any situation.The characters have alliances and friendships that may change based on the situation. Even Raylan is far from the man he was in season 1. Back then it was all about the law, with a few caveats when it came to his home town and its occupants. Now he is looking to the future and his career and his ability to care for his family. Which actually makes him less likeable in some way, though not enough to make him unlikeable. The man is still amazing.As for supporting characters, I cannot believe how incredible the supporting cast is from year to year. And not just the regular characters but the one-season ones as well. Time and again I have been shocked by the calibur of actor that has been killed off after first appearing, reminiscent of that first scene in Scream where one of the title characters just up and dies on us. Seasonally, really great actors and characters have appeared and 'exited' all while my jaw brushes the ground. All of it clearly well thought out by the writers. And the ones that stick around are pretty amazing as well. High quality, great acting.Speaking of which, this group of writers is so on point. Their dialogue is perfect. It is realistic while also being incredibly dark and sardonic, sometimes funny, sarcastic, curt, ridiculous (when appropriate for the character), and always reflective of the individual speaking. The storyline is gripping and both engaging and repellent (in the 'I am glad I am not there but I just can't stop watching' sort of way).All in all, one of the best shows ever created and continues to be great even now. I now there is one season left but my heart wants more.

Uno de mis programas favoritos! Tengo todas las temporadas. Timothy Olyphant brilla en el papel de Raylan Givens, el resto del elenco es excepcional, también.

Season 5 of Justified is very exciting. Once I put the first DVD in the player, I couldn't stop watching it. I finished watching the whole 3 discs in 3 evenings (I didn't finish it sooner, because I had to sleep so I could go to work the next morning). The story sure grabs you and gets you going.I didn't re-watch the previous seasons to confirm, and my memory isn't what it used to be, but this feels like a more violent season. I lost count of the number of dead bodies by the middle of the second disc.Be warned, there is something really stupid, and I mean really, really stupid about this set. On Disc 2, in the "Deleted Scenes", they make mention of episodes on disc 3 and they don't even bother telling you in advance. By watching the "Deleted Scenes" I got to know a bit of what was coming, which spoiled a bit of the surprise. If you don't want to be disappointed, don't watch the "Deleted Scenes" on disc 2 until you've watched all 13 episodes.The picture quality is very good and the 5.1 Dolby soundtrack is also very good.If you've enjoyed the previous 4 seasons of Justified, you can't miss Season 5.If you've never watched Justified before, you'll get a thrill out of it, even though you'll wondering what happened before and will be temped to get the previous seasons.

After what felt like a slowing down of ideas in Season 4, feels back on form in season 5. It's not many series that can remain this tight and well written into their 5th season, but Justified remains top entertainment. Newcomers should note, this is not a series to easily jump into in the middle - I would highly recommend making sure you see this from season 1.For veterans, Timothy Olyphant continues to shine and is enough of his own man with his own set of values that he comes in to more friction than ever with his patient but weary boss, Art Mullins. The strength of the show as ever is the depth of characterisation not just of the 'hero' character, but the 'bad guys' who are equally 3 dimensional. At least the local bad guys are, with Walton Givens as Boyd Crowder lighting up the screen with his charismatic but chilling performance. In this season, the Florida branch of the crime family come to visit, and stir things up. The Mexicans get involved and the ever present Detroit mafia keep making things complicated, and meanwhile Boyd's fiancee struggles in prison as Boyd tries various schemes to shorten her stay.Violent and uncompromising, but also with black humour, this continues to be a must see TV series. Recommended.

On se dit à chaque nouvelle saison - comme c'est si souvent le cas - que Justified va s'essoufler, être moins réussi que la fois précédente. Mais non! Cette avant-dernière saison (la 6ème est la dernière, actuellement en cours aux USA) des exploits de Raylan Givens, le Dirty Harry des Appalaches) et de son miroir ami d'enfance, Boyd Crowder est tout aussi réussie, passionnante et déjantée que les épisodes précédents. L'intrigue ultra-complexe amène cette fois dans le comté de Harlan une foule de truands et de mafiosi bien décidés à y régler des comptes et à prendre leur part d'un gâteau plus ou moins copieux d'ailleurs. Avec Ava en prison que Boyd fait tout pour sortir, Raylan qui met un certain temps à comprendre ce qui se passe et quelques nouveaux personnages tout aussi sacoureux (la belle Lituanienne, le nouveau shérif local corrompu comme ses prédecesseurs, un avocat de troisième catégorie et une aide à l'enfance au comportement bizarre), l'intrigue se noue et se dénoue. De dézinguages en situations plus ou moins cocasses, le tout dans l'inimitable atmosphère de la région minière des Appalaches, avec toujours la musique Country en fond, on reste scotché devant l'écran et on a du mal à ne pas regarder les 14 épisodes de cette saison 5 d'un seul trait. Vraiment, Justified est une des toutes meilleures séries policières de ces dernières années.

Still wish this show was running new episodes! Plus the short story it was inspired off of by one of the greatest Writers/Authors of all time Elmore Leonard. The whole series was brilliantly well adapted!