Loosely based on Elmore Leonard’s Fire in the Hole, Justified is a crime drama TV series which was developed by Graham Yost and released in March 2010 on the FX network. It revolves around a tough deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant) who becomes the main target for criminals because of his unconventional enforcement of justice. The series is set in Lexington and the Appalachian Mountains area of eastern Kentucky.
For now, there have been six seasons of the drama, and all of them received universal acclaim. Many critics praised the series and the audience loved it. Slant Magazine’s Chuck Bowen described it like this: “Justified is the strongest, liveliest, and most tonally accurate adaptation of the writer’s work to date, and the latest season bracingly suggests that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.”
Plenty of other critics were left with the good impression, such as Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan who warmly suggested watching the series. He wrote: “The shaggily delightful dialogue, the deft pacing, the authentic sense of place, the rock-solid supporting cast and the feeling that you are in the hands of writers, actors and directors who really know what they’re doing—all of these are worthy reasons to watch Justified.” Finally, the critical consensus reads: “Justified returns to form for its endgame, rebounding with crisp storytelling and colorful characters who never take themselves too seriously.”
Justified holds the score of 80-91 out of 100 on Metacritic, it has 100% approval rating by the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 8.7 out of 10 on IMDB. Another thing that proves the series has been a major success from the very beginning is the fact that 4.16 million viewers watched its pilot episode. However, in spite of these great responses, the FX network eventually decided to cancel the Justified renewal after six highly successful seasons.
