However, it wouldn't work at all were it not for Timothy Olyphant. Olyphant plays the lead character, federal marshal Raylan Givens. He's got an ex-wife he's not completely over and a girlfriend who shot her husband dead. He's got a father who's tangled up with the criminal element. And, most of all, a hat he's just not going to part with. All of which are interesting details.
But Olyphant himself is the most interesting detail of all. The only man on TV who convincingly embodies the longing and lust Chris Isaak is always singing about, Olyphant's also the only man who ever made Katie Holmes come off as a sexual being in any performance (Doug Liman's Go). If you're looking for The It Boy of 2010 and 2011, look no further than Olyphant.
In "Fathers and Sons," Raylan and his ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea) hit the sheets and the sweat on Olyphant's chest after looked as real as the sex scene. Winona's remarried, he's a man with bigger dreams than brains, and, shortly before she showed up at Raylan's looking for sex, Raylan had to save her husband's ass. Zea played the seduction with both longing for Raylan and a desire to get back at a stupid man who'd put himself, her and Raylan in danger of being killed by the mob.
Zea's so strong in her role that you're torn whether to root for Winona to hook back up with Raylan or for him to stay with Joelle Carter's Ava. And some of the best scenes this first season have been little throw away scenes between Zea and Carter. Winona and Ava appeared to be forming a tentative friendship but that was before Ava saw her and Raylan in bed. If the two characters are going to be at cross-purposes next season (though that would be rather obvious for this show), the actresses can certainly provide the fire and smoke.
No one's giving a bad performance, but those three really are the ones digging deepest. Walton Goggins has been hampered by the fact that, until the season finale, his character Boyd was as confused as everyone else as to whether or not his 'transformation' was genuine.
Boyd Crowder is the brother of Ava's dead husband. She shot him because he beat her. The Crowder family's never been any good and with Boyd and father Bo both suddenly out of prison, the last episodes packed a lot of action. Bo trying to pull in a big drug shipment only to have transformed son Boyd shoot a missile into the truck. Bo retaliates by having his son beat up and ordering his son to leave town or his 'disciples' will be killed. Boyd walks away but, shortly afterwards, hears gunshots. Running back to his camp, he finds all of his 'disciples' dead, hanging upside down from trees.
The season started with Boyd telling Raylan to get out of Harlan within 24 hours or he'd kill him. Instead, Raylan shot Boyd in the chest. The season ended with Bo kidnapping Ava and Ava, Boyd and Raylan in a cabin, being shot at by drug dealers. After one of the drug dealers is shot dead and the other's escaping, Boyd turns his gun on Raylan and tells him to let her go because he intends to hunt her down.
Why?
She killed his father. Raylan points out that Boyd had come to the cabin to kill Bo and in Boyd's f-ed up mind, that makes no difference because there's a difference between him killing his own father and some stranger doing it. And the series works because, like Raylan, you could understand the 'logic' Boyd was operating under.
Unlike so many dramas, this isn't a show where everyone talks alike and any line of dialogue could easily be handed to another actor. The characters are fully conceived with their own tics and traits. It's probably the best drama to emerge since January and probably one of the three best dramas on TV currently.
And if you missed it on FX, you can check out Hulu's Justified page where five episodes are available. We would strongly encourage you to start with "Hatless." Raylan shoots his mouth off at the local bar and gets his ass kicked by two thugs and his hat stolen. Enjoy the textures on display, the incredible acting and, most of all, Timothy Olyphant who makes other actors starring in dramas come off about as sexy as Ray Romano.