Posts by Todd VanDerWerff
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Justified, Season 4, Episode 9: ‘The Hatchet Tour’
So when did you know? Perceptive commenters all over the Internet have been guessing that Sheriff Shelby was Drew Thompson for a while now, and they won me over to their point of view a couple of weeks ago, so much so that I found myself actively hoping the show was going to swerve and reveal […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 8: ‘Outlaw’
Even if it weren’t a generally fine episode of Justified, “Outlaw” would stand out as the best possible Emmy tape the show has ever given to its once-nominated, never-awarded star. As Arlo Givens dies slowly of being stabbed (in the heart!) with a barber’s scissors, Timothy Olyphant gets the chance to show us a Raylan […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 7: ‘Money Trap’
It’s been a long time since Raylan Givens killed anyone. In fact, I was racking my brain trying to figure out the last time he unloaded his gun into a suspect and drawing a blank. I’m pretty sure he’s resorted to nonviolent means for most of this season, so that puts us back to Season […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 6: ‘Foot Chase’
Well, that was a mess. “Foot Chase” is like a weird funhouse mirror version of last week’s highly entertaining episode, wherein there’s an artificial time limit — Josiah will bleed out and die from the wound to his leg if he’s not given medical attention soon — but there’s next to no urgency on the […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 5: ‘Kin’
Watching “Kin” might be the most fun I’ve had watching an episode of television in a long, long time. There’s something effortless to it, something that just races along from plot point to plot point but never feels forced or breathless. There are times when having this many balls in the air can make a […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 4: ‘This Bird Has Flown’
Remember all of that stuff a couple of weeks ago about Boyd Crowder marching to the beat of his own moral compass? Yeah, we should probably just forget I ever said any of that, because when Sheriff Shelby describes the man who got him where he is as someone unfettered by a traditional moral compass, […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 3: ‘Truth and Consequences’
Among the many things I like about Justified is the fact that the vast majority of its characters are allowed to be at least a little bit smart. Too many TV shows turn their characters into people who just do whatever the plot demands of them, and that, of course, can get boring and erode […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 2: ‘Where’s Waldo?’
One of the best things about Justified is that it takes ideas of redemption, salvation, and faith at least somewhat seriously. It’s hard to say that Raylan Givens believes in much of anything, but the people around him are committed to various ideals of firebrand Christianity, of the sort that remains popular throughout pockets of […]
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Justified Season 4, Episode 1: ‘Hole in the Wall’
It only took about five minutes, but I realized something very quickly as I settled into the Season 4 premiere of Justified: I’d missed these sons of bitches. Is there any other great (or very good) drama series on the air that’s as fun to hang out in as this one? Mad Men is too […]
