Justified, Tom Shales style critique

             I'll make this critique quick and painless, much unlike FX's Justified. The show is unintentionally perched on the fence between satire and drama. Between the extreme and usually pointless bursts of violence, which you can predict the outcome of 10 minutes in advance, the plot struggles to carry itself anywhere of importance. FX is not necessarily known for the quality or creativeness of its programming, rather it is recognized for the edginess and sarcasm that is so adamant in all of its shows. Justified does not fail to maintain its networks blatant style of obnoxious banter, while it lacks the much needed edge. Shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones seem to suck their viewers in between action with witty and colorful dialogue, while Justified fatigues and irritates its viewers.
            The introduction of Raylan Givens, the hero and star of FX's Justified, is anything but refreshing. Givens plays a quick thinking, slow talking, loose cannon federal Marshal. Sounds like an intriguing character right? Guess again, when good ol' predictable Givens isn't busy seducing a blonde, or sipping on some southern whiskey, you can be sure he is talking a bad guys ear off. Givens interactions with criminals will have you feeling like a practiced fortune teller. The foes will either go their separate ways, or the bad guy will be on the floor with a nice fake bullet hole in his chest. Even when Givens life is in imminent danger, he happily trades unbelievable quips back and forth with his enemies. Seriously it is seemingly impossible for this guy to express any form of emotion, however when it comes to overbearing sarcasm, it is not his first rodeo. It is almost as if you can get the entirety of Raylan's character in the first 10 minutes of the pilot, he is being questioned by internal investigation for a fatal shooting he took part in. He calmly tells his investigators"lets keep it simple, he pulled first, I shot him," there is no remorse, no feelings whatsoever, there is no room for character development. With Raylan from day one it has always been simple,and it will always be "he pulled first, I shot him."
            A little bit of Justified's southern charm goes a long way. Everyone seems to have the wit of Oscar Wilde, or the intelligence of  Forrest Gump. The show takes place in Kentucky, racism and ignorance seem to be not only apparent but tolerated by even the decent characters. Throughout the vicious and constant prejudices portrayed in the show the cast seems to just brush off every instance and barely take notice. I can only assume that this is intentional, I just find it hard to believe that not one character would have been written to have the chutzpah to oppose some of the insensitivity.
             It is a shame the shows writers do not possess the same impossibly good aim as Raylan Givens, or they might have been able to hit their mark at an intelligently written edgy southern drama. Each episode of Justified is reminiscent of a wounded animal, both seem to painfully drag themselves to a place where they can die with a little dignity. Justified premiers Tuesday night at 10 on FX.


I did my critique on Tom Shales review in the Washington Post. I actually like Justified I just felt his style bashing of the show would be the most fun to emulate. 538 words.