Entirely (UN)BELIEVABLE

Article first published as TV Review: UNBELIEVABLE at Seat42F.

Warning: The following contains spoilers from the first two episodes of the series.

Recently, Netflix launched an 8-episode miniseries titled UNBELIEVABLE. Based on a true story, it tells the tale of multiple rapes that occurred a few short years ago. Taking the perspective of both the investigator and victim, it’s a slow-burn drama that dwells on the emotions involved and how complex such situations can be. It’s a deeply affecting series, and one that should help those who have been lucky enough to avoid such experiences personally better understand what can happen.

Episode one focuses almost solely on Marie (Kaitlyn Dever, Justified), a young teen transitioning out of foster care. A man comes into her apartment at night, ties her up with her own shoelaces, and does what he wants to her. Or so she says. After repeated interrogation, her story begins to fall apart, and she tells the police that she made the whole thing up. But did she?

There have been accusations lobbied against rape victims for failing to come forward or not being consistent in their stories. Marie shows us just how that can happen. A woman who has been through a traumatic experience is forced to relive it again and again, questioned until she starts to doubt her own memories, and made to feel like she’s done something wrong. Under that kind of pressure, the best of us may crack, and most of us would avoid going through it if we could. It’s such a monumental task she’s faced with, through no fault of her own, that one cannot blame her when she fails to live up to ideals.

Frustratingly, that means Marie becomes a pariah and the man gets away with it. This is not justice, nor a happy ending. This is dark, raw, and painful. Episode two picks up a short time later. Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie) is looking into the rape of Amber (Danielle Macdonald, Patt Cake$). At the same time, Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette, United States of Tara) works her own case. Unbeknownst to them, they are likely hunting the same criminal, and even more elusive is that it’s probably the same person that assaulted Marie.

Some of the things above are assumptions at this point, as I haven’t watched all eight installments yet, but they seem pretty clear. UNBELIEVABLE isn’t so much a mystery as it is an examination of trauma and realistic heroism while the procedures of the law take an agonizingly slow time to work themselves through. It’s not your typical crime series, but one welcome on my screen.

Dever is fantastic, as always. So are Wever, Collette, and Macdonald, as well as fellow cast members Elizabeth Marvel (House of Cards), Brent Sexton (The Killing), and Bridget Everett (Camping), among others. Kudos to whoever assembled some of the finest performers who aren’t yet household names, though a couple are well on their way. Even as the pace sometimes seems to crawl along, it’s easy to get sucked into the Emmy-deserving performances.

If I had to compare UNBELIEVABLE to another series I’d say it’s most like The Killing, though not nearly as bleak or obtuse. There is light at the end of the tunnel, if you’re at all familiar with the true story (or television formulas). Yet, it has a similar speed, letting characters breathe more than a little. The focus is on sympathetic people, not villains, so that helps, too. Whatever you think of how that show went on, the first season was fantastic, and so is this.

In fact, I’d go so far as to call UNBELIEVABLE must-see. Even were it not important to the current societal problems, it’s an acting tour de force. For either of those reasons and more, check it out, currently streaming in its entirety on Netflix.

JUSTIFIED Keeps "The Promise"

Article originally published as TV Review: 'Justified' - Series Finale - 'The Promise' on Blogcritics.

    “In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky,
    That’s the place where I trace my bloodline.
    And it’s there I read on a hillside gravestone,
    You’ll never leave Harlan alive.”

Those lyrics, repeated at select times on FX’s Justified for effect, hang heavy over the series finale, “The Promise,” that aired earlier this week. On a show where characters do die, the body count has never been higher than in this final season, and each of the three core lead characters begin the last hour in somewhat precarious positions. By the time that song is evoked a little over halfway through, it seems like it might come true for at least one of them. Thankfully, Justified defies expectation and lets them all live.

Justified is an underrated series and always has been. Inspired by a short story by Elmore Leonard, it is a high-quality, fascinating drama that maintains the spirit of Kentucky, even while being filmed in California. I’ve enjoyed each and every season, and will desperately miss it.

The hero is Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), and throughout, he circles his former friend, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), the man Raylan comes home to put away. The relationship between the two is a linchpin of Justified, and it is also the most important thing in “The Promise.” From Raylan leaving the state after his task is finally complete, to their showdown in the barn, to their final conversation – the last scene of the show – in which Boyd proclaims the reason for their deep, lasting connection is, “We dug coal together,” they are what fans most want to see, and the show satisfies.

“We dug coal together.” It’s a phrase worth repeating because it says so much about these two men and the setting they inhabit. It doesn’t matter how much they disagree, or that Raylan became a lawman while Boyd became a criminal. It matters that they risked their lives together, doing the dangerous work that their daddies did. It bonds them in a way that cannot be broken no matter what else happens, unique from practically everyone else they will ever know. It’s why they will always be a part of one another’s lives.

Which is not to say that they are friends, exactly. In fact, most of this final scene involves Raylan lying to Boyd. Raylan finds Ava (Joelle Carter), the woman they both care deeply about, and learns she has a son by Boyd. Asking Raylan not to tell this to Boyd, Raylan decides to show Boyd evidence that Ava is dead. This may be a kindness to both Ava and Boyd, keeping him from being obsessed over someone that will just get him into more trouble. But I’m sure Boyd would disagree with Raylan’s handling of it.

Ava is just a notch less central than the two men in Justified, but “The Promise” and all of season six show her importance. She lives in both worlds, breaking the law, but ending up getting her life together. Raylan intends to make her pay when he finally catches up to her, four years after she escapes the law, but that wouldn’t be fair to her child. Now a loving parent himself, Raylan understands this and leaves her alone.

Raylan’s code is what drives him. From the first scene of the series, in which he shoots a man whom Raylan feels in the right to shoot, to choosing to let Boyd live and Ava keep her freedom, he makes decisions based on a moral code. It may not always align with the law, but it’s a strong system that makes him one of the more memorable characters on television this past decade.

“The Promise” contains lots of other gems. From a final showdown with this season’s Big Bad, Avery Markham (Sam Elliott), to a last glimpse of Loretta (Kaitlyn Dever), to learning Winona (Natalie Zea) has not settled down with Raylan in the future, to Raylan’s goodbye to his co-workers, every moment is full of authenticity and emotion. It does what it needs to do with the leads, and after a victory lap throughout the year, Justified closes its story with finality. I can’t imagine a more fitting goodbye for one of my favorite shows.

Not "Voting" for Last Man Standing

After suffering through a number of episodes of season one of ABC's Last Man Standing, waiting for something to change, I finally gave up on the hope that it might get good. Still, Tim Allen has significant sitcom chops, and so I was curious enough to check back in on the premiere of season two to see if it had gotten any better.

It has not.

The problem is just a severe lack of funny. There are talented actors performing convincing roles, but that doesn't mean I want to laugh at them. Besides Allen the casts boasts Nancy Travis, Kaitlyn Dever, Hector Elizondo, and others who have proved their worth before. They are wasted here.

I will give credit to the season premiere, "Voting," that it does not just bash a political party. Patriarch Mike (Allen) fills his yard with Romney signs, but is disturbed to learn that his eldest daughter, Kristin (Amanda Fuller, Grey's Anatomy), and the father of her child, Ryan (Jordan Masterson), are Obama fans. He just doesn't see any reason for it, and is even more upset when middle daughter, Mandy (Molly Ephraim), is swayed to their side.

But in the end, Mike is proud to realize he has raised strong, independently-thinking women, and decides not to give them crap for voting for whoever they want to vote for, even driving Mandy to the polls. This is a nice message, and one hopefully a lot of Republican-leaning parents will see and remember when dealing with their Democrat-voting children, as there does seem to be a trend of a generational divide in many families.

I like that "Voting" does not single out either position as terrible. Mike and Kristin lob plenty of criticisms of the candidate they do not favor, but avoids turning it too ugly. They set a good example for their viewers by not letting it dissolve into the seriously depressing hate fest politics current are. The problem is, there aren't any good jokes to go with this plot.

I also am not a fan of the recasting. Replacing Nick Jonas with Masterson feels OK because Jonas only guest starred in a single episode, even though the character badly just forces himself into the group chemistry, pretending he's always been there, when he has not earned that right.. And hiring new children to play Kristin's son is a necessary evil that many television programs do, aging the child quickly and finding more capable performers to handle the demands. But Fuller neither looks nor acts like Alexandra Krosney, who played Kristin for the entire first season, so this is a jarring misstep. And Krosney was better.

The biggest disappointment continues to be with Vanessa. While I adore Nancy Travis, she is totally underused, and when she is present, it's for gags that fall flat. Her cheery "mysteriousness" in "Voting," where she refuses to tell anyone in the family who she supports in the election, is terrible. None of the other characters seem amused by it, and this viewer was not, either.

Could Last Man Standing still be saved? Yes. There are elements here that could be tweaked and make the series worth watching. But after an entire year, and a completely unimproved, even worse, season two premiere, the odds are that these changes will never be made. Banishing the series to Friday means it might not be around much longer, anyway.

Last Man Standing airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter! Check out my website, JeromeWetzel.com! First posted on TheTVKing

The devil is Justified

In tonight's episode of FX's Justified, "The Devil You Know," Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) hunts for Dickie (Jeremy Davies) and Dewey (Damon Herriman), who break out of jail with the help of a guard, Ash (Todd Stashwick, The Riches, Men of a Certain Age). Figuring that the trio (which is actually a sextet at first) is heading for Dickie's family money, Raylan goes after the holder of said money, Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, 24, Forrest Gump). Which results in misguided machinations, leaving Ash nearly dead and Dewey killed. Dickie, with some help, takes out two more of the group, and escapes.

Robert Quarles (Neal McDonough, Despeate Housewives, Tin Man) goads Devil (Kevin Rankin) into standing up to Boyd (Walton Goggins). Devil gets Johnny (David Meunier) behind him, but that doesn't stop Boyd from killing Devil first as soon as Devil makes a threat.

While Justified has been back on the air for three weeks now, it's a hard series to review, and getting harder all the time. That's because episodes, including "The Devil You Know," aren't about a certain event or complete story anymore. As the series goes on, plots get more and more serial, with each week just adding a piece to the larger framework, rather than standing alone. This is certainly not a complaint, as only the best shows are able to successfully do this. But it makes it quite difficult to review an hour at a time.
 
Justified reaches some awesome new levels in season two with the Mags story, and it's gratifying that there are continuations of that still occurring in season three. Yes, Mags is dead, but her money sets the sights of many a bad dude on her son Dickie. Dickie is now out of prison, but Limehouse tells him that there is little money left. Too bad that's not something that the people after the cash are likely to believe, especially with how untrustworthy Mags turns out be towards her neighbors. Dickie is still, and will continue to be, a wanted man.

The best thing that Dickie could do is let Limehouse keep the money. Now some may keep coming after Dickie, but it buys him time and leverage to not have the stash with him. Ash learns the hard way that it's not so easy to get Dickie's family's fortune. Others could repeat the mistake. Boyd, for one, is likely to try. But maybe by not keeping any of it, and possibly still having business with Limehouse, Dickie will have a little flexibility and protection from his enemies. Of course, Dickie is still hunted by the law as a fugitive, so there's that...

Speaking of season two faces, in "The Devil You Know" Raylan pays a visit to Loretta (Kaitlyn Dever) to ask for information. Fans get to see what has become of the girl. She may not be happy, but she's leading an honest life, helping with a family. This should teach her the right things and keep her on the straight path. That's really the most important bit of this small scene, as Loretta isn't getting involved in this season's issues, so she's not important anymore. That's good for the safety of her character, but bad for the viewers who enjoy her.

It's wonderful to see Dever again, even in this tiny, insignificant role. She has been wasting away on the sitcom Last Man Standing lately, and any reminder of what a terrific actress she can be is welcome on the TV screen.

What is Boyd going to do now? Presumably, he still wants Dickie's money, not realizing that it's gone. But knowing that others are going after it, Boyd is probably wise to lay low. Especially after a betrayal by a close lieutenant, which doesn't exactly put Boyd in the best position to go after any large score right now.

But the bodies are piling up around Dickie. So something is going to have to break in this plot soon.

What does Robert want with Boyd? By approaching Devil, is Robert looking to get into business with Boyd? Take over Boyd's territory? Is Robert testing the waters? Or trying to undermine Boyd? Does Robert want Boyd's cooperation, or want him out of the way? It's a real mystery. All that is known is that Robert represents an organized crime group, which wants to make at least part of Kentucky theirs. To what end? Well, we will have to wait for the rest of the season to play out. But he certainly a threat, even if an undefined one.

Which means that Raylan's job is quite a challenge lately. Raylan knows the score with Boyd. But he's just met Robert, and been thoroughly unsettled by him. And surely Raylan isn't comfortable with all of these familiar faces, such as Devil and Dewey, winding up dead. Sure, some casualties are to be expected on a series like Justified, but it seems that the herd of recurring characters is really being culled as of late. Which leaves room for something big and, likely, unpleasant. Even with the plot remaining murky, the anticipation level is building as viewers are left to wonder what Raylan's main challenge will be this season, and how he will cope with it.

Watch Justified Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX.

If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter!

To catch up on episodes or buy DVDS of Justified, please go to amazon.com

Article first published as TV Review: Justified - "The Devil You Know" on Blogcritics.

Who will be The Last Man Standing ?

     ABC's new sitcom, Last Man Standing, finds Mike (Tim Allen, Home Improvement, Toy Story) being benched from his traveling job when the catalogue is deemed a thing of the past. His wife, Vanessa (Nancy Travis, Hart of Dixie, Becker) gets a promotion at her job, and would like Mike to be at home more to help raise their three daughters. Mike is resistant to this change, but because he is a caring father, he decides to do so, even after he is offered his travel itinerary back.

     Allen is excellent at comedy. He can be broad, such as when he rants about the disappearance of traditional man. He can also be subtle, like when he plays with his infant grandson. He knows exactly who this character of Mike is, and fleshes him out easily in a mere two half hours. Mike is funny, denying his middle daughter, Mandy (Molly Ephraim, Paranormal Activity 2), money so she must get a job. But he is sweet, following her to make sure she's safe as she delivers pizzas.

     Too bad the series itself flounders. Don't get me wrong, it's not the worst new series of the year, or even the worst series about the wimpiness of modern men (I'm looking at you, How to Be a Gentleman). There are even glimmers that something good might be there eventually, given the strong cast and the great chemistry. But Last Man Standing is just not funny. At least, not yet. The situations are absurd, like hiring a professional to baby proof the house. Also, the female characters aren't nearly as well defined as Mike.

     That's a real shame. For a family-based series like Last Man Standing to succeed, it needs a strong ensemble, with everyone pulling their own weight. There is certainly the potential for that here. Travis is a veteran, and could handle some real story about why she wants to re-enter the workforce and feel important in the family. Yet, Vanessa is reduced mainly to supportive lines concerning whatever Mike is up to. Youngest daughter, Eve, is played by Kaitlyn Dever, who tackled a very dramatic, meaty role on Justified this past season without breaking a sweat. Use that to your advantage! Mike's boss, Ed, is Hector Elizondo, whose many credits include Pretty Woman, Monk, Chicago Hope, Cane, and The Princess Diaries. Don't just use him for a punch line! Basically, let the drama have as much breating room as the "funny" gets.

     Eldest daughter, Kristin (Alexandra Krosney, Surviving Suburbia), and Mike's young co-worker, Kyle (Christoph Sanders, Ghost Whisperer), haven't gotten enough material to really tell if they can hang with this cast. But there are hints that they can. Kyle has some wonderful interaction with Mike, who approves of the younger guy, even allowing him to date Kristin, though sad that Kyle seems to be the closest thing to manly left in his generation. If this relationship can get more attention, with Mike mentoring Kyle more, that would benefit the series. Also, Kristin is dating Mike, and suddenly his arm is around her on the sofa. Does the audience not get to see the courtship? The falling in love? Play on that.

     There is hope for Last Man Standing. The primary weakness in the first two episodes seem to be writing, but sometimes that corrects itself once a series finds its legs. Let's just hope that happens before it is canceled, like so many other series have been, or soon will be. The ratings for the premiere seem to indicate it will get a chance.

     Last Man Standing airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

     If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter!

Curb Your Enthusiasm goes through "The Divorce"

     Season eight of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm begins with "The Divorce." As the title implies, Larry (Larry David) and Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) make the decision to end their marriage. The half hour begins right where season seven ends, and their bickering causes them, many months later, to dissolve the union. Larry has a great attorney (Paul F. Tompkins), but when he learns the man is only leading people to believe he's Jewish, Larry fires him. Which leads to Larry hiring a Jewish, but much worse, lawyer, who gives Cheryl the house. After an inadvertent comment by Larry, Funkhouser (Bob Einstein) also decides to get divorced. Larry also cancels a girl scout cookie order after misunderstanding with the girlscout's father (Gary Cole, The Good Wife, Entourage).


      Divorce hangs heavy in "The Divorce," but rather than be a bad thing, it is celebrated. Larry and Cheryl manage to remain friends, and are happy they will no longer be together. Funkhouser embraces the freedom from his boring union. Even Jeff (Jeff Garlin) wishes to end his marriage, but his wife, Susie (Susie Essman) would make the process far too painful for him to seriously consider it. Why does Curb Your Enthusiasm embrace such a bleak outlook? Perhaps it is the central character's attitude that influences the most. While Larry loves Cheryl, he tends to roll with the punches, and stay relatively happy. He gets frustrated, but his belief that he almost always right usually keeps him from being too upset. With Larry getting divorced, rather than have the character sink into sad depression, he weathers it as he does everything else.

     The humor comes from the problems that Larry gets himself into. These problems fall into one of two categories: misunderstandings, and the things he brings on himself with his inability to let anything go. "The Divorce" has examples of each. Firmly in the misunderstanding category is the disagreement Larry has with the girl scout's father. While at Larry's house to sell him cookies, the girl (Kaitlyn Dever, Justified) begins her first period. Larry assists her to the best of his ability, while also keeping a door between them. Her father doesn't understand what happens, and so he denies Larry box seats to a sporting event.

     From there, things go into the Larry's fault side. Larry decides that if he's not on good terms with the girl's father, and not getting the favor he desires, he won't do any favors back. He cancels his cookie order, which the girl scouts are flummoxed by. It goes from bad to worse when not just three girl scouts, but a whole troop of them show up at his door. Larry trying to close the door on a bunch of angry young girls is hilarious!

     Larry's divorce problems are also his own fault, since he fires a perfectly competent lawyer to prove a point. This backfires, and Larry ends up with no home, as does Leon (J.B. Smoove), who still lives with Larry. It would not be a good episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm unless the ending was not in Larry's favor, and having twenty-four hours to vacate his home certainly isn't. It will be very interesting to see what happens next.

     Curb Your Enthusiasm airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.

     If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter!

     To catch up on Curb Your Enthusiasm with DVDs and streaming episodes, please click here.

Justifed ends in "Bloody Harlan"

     FX's Justified ends season two with "Bloody Harlan," which has a lot of death, and no shortage of action. All of the various plot threads come to a head, and tie up nicely, without much cliffhanger. The feud between the Bennetts and Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) explodes in a big way, with each group doing damage to the other. Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) risks his life and his relationship with Winona (Natalie Zea) to try to save Loretta (the unexpectedly very talented Kaitlyn Dever), who rushes straight into the hornet's nest on her quest for revenge. Art (Nick Searcy) must decide whether to stick his neck out for Raylan, or truly write him off.

     This season's baddies, the Bennett clan, will be sorely missed when the series returns for a third run. They are complicated and interesting. They're willing to engage in some wicked things to protect their family. They have morals that are tightly followed, but loosely defined. Plus, they are all portrayed be stellar actors.

     Coover (Brad William Henke) is first out, killed by Raylan weeks ago. The dumbest and least rational of the group, that makes sense. Doyle (Joseph Lyle Taylor), the cop, is a more tragic story, as he is ready to go straight. His family is switching to all-legal income, and will be moving away from crime and gang violence. Yet, Doyle is still enmeshed in illicit activity when Raylan finds him, and protecting his crooked kin earns him a bullet in the head. Dickie (Jeremy Davies), who is the baddest of the bunch, ends up in jail. Too bad he and Doyle could not have switched fates, as that would be a cheerier ending.

     The matriarch, Mags (the amazing Margo Martindale - give her an Emmy already!), is always the best, though. She is willing to kill, and also willing to sell out her neighbors, if it benefits her family. Her dream is to help Doyle's kids have a nice, clean life, but she takes what she thinks is the easy way navigating through it, by engaging in dark affairs to give them the seed money needed to start. This is her fatal mistake.

     Mags's final showdown with Loretta may be the single best non Raylan-centric scene in Justified yet. Loretta knows that Mags killed her father, and forces a confession out of her with a gun. She even shoots Mags in the leg. But as Mags is staring back at the teenager, there is a real moment of raw emotion between them. Mags cares very deeply for Loretta, at least as much as Loretta hates Mags. While Mags may fear for her life, there is just as much concern for Loretta's soul as Mags advises her not to finish the job. Mags wants Loretta to have a better life, much like she hopes for Doyle's family. Killing someone would be an act that would forever steal Loretta's innocence and goodness. I wouldn't go so far as to say Raylan is intruding in the confrontation, but his absence in the scene would have taken away nothing. 

     Justified loves playing with shades of grey, and both Loretta and Mags embody that wonderfully. While Loretta may have been justified (he he) in killing Mags, she made the right decision to not do it. But Mags also knows her time is up anyway, and so with a real sense of poetic justice, she offs herself the same way she killed Loretta's father - a poisioned glass of moonshine.

     Boyd has toed the line between rebel and do-gooder for two seasons. He seems to be leaning towards the former, as he does a splendid job in murdering almost all of the men the Bennetts send after him. Boyd is smart, at least as smart as Mags. Sure, she only agrees to meet with him to distract him, but he knows that, and is ready for her. With the Bennetts out of the picture, Boyd should have little trouble running Harland County next year.

     It's too bad that Boyd is going the way of a villain. He could make quite a nice partner for Raylan, even in an unofficial capacity. The two seem to have an understanding now, and do their best, especially on Boyd's end, to stay out of each other's way. Boyd will not provoke Raylan, but given the path he is on, sooner or later Raylan will have to take him out for good. Raylan may have taken pleasure in that before, but by the time it happens, I doubt either will enjoy the conclusion.

     Even more of a reason for Boyd to go over to the dark side is that Dickie manages to shoot Ava (Joelle Carter) during the fire fight. Ava has been portrayed as a good girl for the most part, but she keeps some seedy company, and always has. She knows what she is getting into by being with Boyd. Considering who her former husband was, she is right in thinking she has found a better version of him. Boyd has his faults, but he also doesn't usually shed unnecessary blood, and he has stood by Raylan when Raylan really needs him.

     The only real unanswered question in this episode is, did Ava survive the gunshot? Carter's twitter feed suggests that she did not, though she quickly backtracked. At this early stage in the game, the writers and producers may not even know if they will include her or not. She certainly doesn't have a whole lot to do this season, but neither do other main characters, like Tim (Jacob Pitts) and Rachel (Erica Tazel). Each of the Bennetts have more plot than the three combined. It begs the question, is Ava necessary?

     Raylan is at a crossroads as this episode comes to an end. He has gotten serious again with Winona, and they have a baby on the way. Yet, she said she may not be there for him when he gets home, since he follows Loretta against her wishes. Winona can be a truly selfish person, and not letting Raylan go save a young, teenage girl that needs him is not her best side.

     Should Raylan have chosen Winona? In a way he did, asking Art for a transfer so that he can have a stable job, not one where he routinely risks his life. But Loretta is facing an immediate threat, and Raylan has an established a responsibility for her. Winona needs to understand that. Perhaps she is thinking of her baby growing up without a father, but had Raylan died, his death would have been noble. It is a debatable point, but she should have let him have this one last mission before taming the beast.

     Art, on the other hand, has already written Raylan off before Winona comes to him for help (her parting gift?). She is able to convince Art to go to Harlan, and he and the other marshals, as well as various other law enforcement officers, swoop in and save Raylan's hide. Does this mean that Art has forgiven Raylan? Or did he just see the nobility in saving Loretta's life?

     The series would suffer mightily if Raylan left the Marshal's office, so it looks likely that Art and Raylan will find a way to move past this. What their relationship will be like going forward is anyone's guess, as it is strained and tested repeatedly this year. Winona is a major source of that strife, so if she leaves, that may help patch up Raylan and his boss. But as long as there is a working relationship, things will go on as they have been.


     If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter! Click here for all of my Current Season Reviews.

     Justified has already been renewed for season three, and will return next year on FX.

     To catch up on episodes or buy DVDS of Justified, please go to amazon.com

Article first published as TV Review: Justified - "Bloody Harlan" on Blogcritics.