Justified, “The Collection”: Nobody likes rich people.

Raylan really wasn’t kidding when he told his dad at the end of last week’s episode that if he got him out of jail, the least he could do was put him back in. This week saw him back in the Lexington Federal Detention Center to see Boyd Crowder, who’s finally got some color back in his cheeks. Raylan wasn’t making a courtesy call, he was asking Boyd for dirt on any unseemly activities his dad may be involved in. Boyd is still riding the Jesus Train, and agreed to help him out as long as Raylan would give some long, hard thought to the way he’s lived his life and how he expects to account for his misdeeds on Judgment Day. Well, sure. I guess.

This week’s supporting characters were noticeably less engaging than they have been in previous episodes, and that’s because the focus this week wasn’t on the case the marshals were working so much as it was on illuminating Raylan’s lingering feelings for Winona, who popped up again this in an interesting turn of events. She showed up in Raylan’s office asking for information on a short list of people who I’m guessing are in some way involved with Gary, a man Raylan is already inclined to not like because, you know, he’s sleeping with his ex-wife. Raylan ran checks on the names and apparently found something he didn’t like much, because he paid Gary a visit later and told him that if he thought he was going to drag Winona into any bullshit with him, he was going to end up just like Tommy Bucks.

Raylan’s the kind of person who would deliver this sort of message on general principle. Sure, he and Winona are divorced, but they’re still on friendly terms. But the subtext of the entire episode really opened the door to deeper feelings he’s never let go of. While he, Art and Karl are at the Owen Carnes’ house, he has a chance to talk to Mrs. Carnes, who didn’t do too good a job hiding the fact that what she found most attractive about her husband was his money. It’s a feeling that Raylan could relate to. Later, he tells a story about working a detail protecting a guy who had his own private plane. Whenever they had to go anywhere, they’d drive right up, get in and leave. Raylan tried convincing himself that that wasn’t his life, but the next time he had to go to the airport and stand in line with all the other poor schmucks, he missed it. Like he said, everybody gives a shit about money. Apply that to his situation now. Raylan, the simple living, good old country boy, now has to watch his ex-wife move in with Gary, the fancy-pants realtor (or is that realTER?) who’s got money to burn.

But Raylan’s over Winona, right? I thought he and Ava were the next hot thing. We probably shouldn’t make any assumptions. In the beginning of the episode, as the two of them were lounging around in their unmentionables, Raylan tells her that he heard through the grapevine that Boyd Crowder’s said it might not be a bad idea for Ava to get out of Kentucky. This may be one of worst comparisons to make, but think of Karen Filippelli’s hurt feelings when Jim told her she’d be crazy to move down to Scranton to work for Dunder Mifflin. Ava may be good for a fling, but it looks like Raylan’s looking for something more.

By the end of the episode, Raylan finds that Karl the art collector has been buying Hitler paintings and burning them as a way of getting back at his dad who worked for Hitler during World War II. The hate Karl has for his father isn’t lost on Raylan, and he goes back to tell Boyd to call his dogs off of Arlo. Alls well that ends well, amirite? Not so fast. Boyd tells Raylan that he’s made the right decision, but if he could tell him that he had found something out that would Arlo away for good, would he still want to know. Raylan doesn’t know what to say to that, but it’s obvious he’s not going to be able to shut the door on his father so quickly, or his relationship with Winona for that matter.

Stuff I liked:

• “I was close to bringing a sinner to Jesus but now his soul is consigned to eternal damnation, so I hope you’re happy.”
• I’m sorry, but Tony Hale will always be Buster Bluth. “I’m a MONSTER!!”
• “Honestly, I think I’d rather stick my dick in a blender.” “Well that might solve a few problems.”
• Did anyone else notice the weird cuts the episode kept making between scenes? I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of deleted material show up on the DVD. Well, it probably won’t. But I bet it’s out there somewhere.
• We also saw the return of Danny Vasquez this week, so it looks like Raylan’s going to be taking some heat for all those bodies he’s been leaving behind.

Justified, “Fire in the Hole”: You make me pull, I put you down.

Seeing Tom Papa talk about how hilarious “The Marriage Ref” is, or watching promos for that game show with the fat chef from the Friday’s commercials makes me sad. Why is there so much bad television these days? But when TLC is greenlighting shows about midgets who fall in love, along comes a show like “Justified,” and all is right with the world.

“Justified,” which made its debut last night on FX, was adapted from a short story by Elmore Leonard and centers around US Marshal Raylan Givens, played by a slightly less brooding Timothy Olyphant. Anyone who shed a tear at the passing of our beloved “Deadwood” back in 2006 should feel right at home here. While “Justified” lacks the Shakespearean flair of that other western, it’s got all the badassery we could ask for, and — hallelujah — a story and cast that looks more than capable of delivering the goods.

Raylan is a 19th-century lawman in a 21st-century world (I’m probably the first person to say that). After shooting and killing a “gun thug” down in Miami, he’s transferred back to his hometown of Harlan County, Kentucky. As you’d expect, he’s not thrilled at the prospect of going home again. In addition to all the usual drug-dealers, white supremacists and killers, he’s now got his father, his ex-wife, and childhood friend Boyd Crowder (played by the insanely good Walton Goggins) to work with. But all of his reservations aside, this is a place better suited to his way of doing things.

Let’s be honest, lawmen/women who don’t like to [gravelyvoice]play by the rules[/gravelyvoice] is a heavily overused television trope, so a show like “Justified” could have a really hard time standing out. But having Olyphant in the lead role already gives it a huge boost. As Raylan talks to his ex-wife toward the end of the pilot, she tells him that he may do a good job hiding it, but he’s one of the angriest men she’s ever known. The look on Raylan’s face after hearing this is priceless and shows the depth Olyphant brings to the character. The “Deadwood” comparisons are unavoidable, but think a few shades lighter than Seth Bullock.

And the show’s done more to set itself apart from the pack. You’d think that Raylan would be another Martin Riggs. He runs around shooting bad guys and every now and then the Chief sits him down and gives him a good yelling at. At first he and Danny Glover don’t like each other, but after Raylan comes over for dinner you know they’re going to be best buds. This isn’t the formula “Justified” looks to be going with. Raylan’s boss, played by Nick Searcy, seems like he’s much more comfortable to sit back and watch as Raylan work the way Raylan likes to work. Situations like this are where the show gets a lot of its comedy from and one of the things that gives it that Elmore Leonard flair.

Of course I’ve only seen the pilot, so things could really go anywhere. The first episode borrowed generously from Leonard’s short story “Fire in the Hole,” but won’t have that luxury from now on. We’ll have to wait and see if the tone it’s set is something it can stick with. I would like to see a more serialized show but think it might work well as a procedural, even though those types of shows aren’t normally my thing. The pilot was so impressive that I’m willing to stick with it and see where the whole thing takes us. Definitely recommended.

Stuff I liked:

• The pilot was filmed in areas of Pennsylvania while the rest of the first season was filmed in California. The pilot felt so authentically Southern and I hope that carries over in subsequent episodes.
• Herc from “Friday Night Lights.”
• “Man, I don’t understand you.”
  
• A bunch of good one-liners that don’t sound trite and stupid. Maybe you’d have to be Timothy Olyphant to pull that off, though.