The official web site of A.H. Lloyd

Re-watching Justified reminds me of how quickly entertainment deteriorated. The second season aired in 2011, and it feels like a completely different world. The writing is crisp, the plots are edgy and there is nothing ‘woke’ about any of it, though there are some jokes the mock political correctness.

In the first season, Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens is a clear protagonist, albeit one who plays by his own rules. He hearkens back to Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, a no-nonsense cop who wants to avoid the red tape and administer justice at the barrel of a gun.

In the second season, Givens transitions to more of an anti-hero, whose shortcuts end up creating more problems than they solve. Because the supporting cast has gotten more screen time, we start to see Givens from the point of view of his coworkers and supervisor, who of course is played by International Stage and Screen Star Nick Searcy. Searcy’s character goes from an affable co-conspirator in Givens’ adventures to an irritated critic, and he becomes a burden on the office.

The other characters also get more fleshed out, and one of the great things about Justified is the way it portrays the villains as real humans with both vices and virtues. It becomes clear that in Raylan’s case, the balance is more even than it first appeared, and as we learn more about his back story, we see how narrowly he escaped being trapped in the Appalachia’s criminal underworld.

While most of the show was filmed in California, the producers use some key location shots and of course the characters and sets are closely modeled on the real thing, and one of the plot points of the second edition is the conflict over whether coal mining is a blessing or a curse. In songs like “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” it is clearly regarded as the latter, with miner who survive tunnel collapses succumbing to injuries and subsequent opioid addiction as well as black lung.

But at the same time, modern miner make good money, protections and techniques have improved, and without their income, local communities collapse into poverty. One of the greatest political shifts has been the speed with which former Democrat strongholds became Republican bastions. Support for domestic coal production is a major element of this, and when we visited the Cumberland Gap for the first time in many years around 2019, the transformation was amazing.

The vacant store fronts and nearly deserted courthouse square was now surrounded by thriving shops. Bell County (which borders Harlan) was no longer dry, and upscale liquor shops hawked local moonshine and tourist merch.

This was unimaginable when the show was filmed, and so the portrait of downward mobility adds to the dramatic impact of the show.

Another element worth mentioning is the product placement. No effort is made to conceal what brands of bourbon are being consumed and the labels are usually clearly visible, which makes me wonder of it was included for character reference or sponsorship. Maybe a little of both, which would be perfectly at home in the world of Justified.