After six seasons, Justified is finally readying its last stone-faced rejoinders. Graham Yost’s series wraps up tonight, and with the series finale looming, the now-badgeless renegade Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) and his small-town Kentucky nemesis Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) are both on the hunt for Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter) in the Appalachian hills—while Avery Markham (Sam Elliott), Loretta McCready (Kaitlyn Dever) and the inconceivably immortal Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns) all have parts to play.
From its indelible recurring villains to its bourbon-soaked charm, Justified has been a joy, though the road wasn’t without its bumps. After Elmore Leonard, the legendary crime writer whose short story “Fire in the Hole” inspired the show, passed away in 2013, and Yost and his staff knew the show’s end was in sight, the ensuing fifth season dipped in quality, and fans got nervous that the show wouldn’t wrap up in peak form. Thankfully, the final season has been lights-out all around: acid-soaked retorts, tense drama, and constantly shifting alliances have been the backdrop as the fate of Harlan County hangs in the balance. Though its best reaction GIFs are reserved for Olyphant’s killer smirk and stoic standoffs, Justified is still a cornucopia of memorable images. There are too many showdowns and one-liners for any mortal roundup, but we’ve compiled a killer selection to quick-draw from. We’ll miss you, Harlan County.
Remember Your ABC’s
The Use Case: Giving advice (especially on style blogs)
The Background: The silver-tongued Boyd Crowder is the scene-stealing Omega to Raylan’s Alpha. There are plenty of love and almost-love stories on Justified, but the most combustible pairing will always be these two—they came from the same coal-mining roots, only to wind up on opposite sides of the law, destined to face off again and again.
Geopolitics, Crothers Style
The Use Case: Specifically, regional arguments between Michiganders, but there’s plenty here to suit any and all arguments.
The Background: Every darkness needs its light, and Boyd more often than not has enough of the latter to make the former palatable.
The Patented Raylan Givens “Justified” Shooting
The Use Case: Keeping things on the up-and-up…but barely.
The Background: The entire impetus for the series was Givens’ “justified” quick-draw shooting of a mob hitman in Miami, leading to his reassignment to his home state of Kentucky. Bending the law to the point juuuust before it breaks is Raylan’s calling card.
Maybe You’re the Asshole
The Use Case: Somebody’s being a…you know.
The Background: Raylan Givens has a way with the expletives allowed on cable television. The above quote, from Season 6, is perhaps his best piece of inadvertent advice. (Of course, there are so many bits like that littered throughout the series that FX could sell a Raylanism-A-Day calendar.)
The Tao Of Tim
The Use Case: When your friend says something so inconceivably dumb that no words are as strong as a good eye roll.
The Background: Raylan doesn’t have a partner per se, but Tim Gutterson (Jacob Pitts) and Rachel Brooks (Erica Tazel) offer such dry counterbalance that they can make him look almost cuddly by comparison.
Here Comes the Judgment
The Use Case: Pulling out the big guns.
The Background: Ellstin Limehouse’s holler in Harlan County is one of the places that criminals and law enforcement alike fear to tread. His first appearance is not unlike Daniel Day-Lewis’ Bill the Butcher from Gangs Of New York, and immediately sets the tone for his character—a man not to be trifled with.
Keep It Sweet
The Use Case: Delivering the final blow.
The Background: Raylan’s father Arlo Givens (Raymond J. Barry) is a thorn in the Marshal’s side throughout the first four seasons, as a petty criminal always showing up in the wrong places. Even after his death, he haunts Raylan’s mind; Raylan’s hallucination of Arlo in one episode during Season 6 was the perfect curtain call for a perfect role.
The Un-Killable Wynn Duffy
The Use Case: Basically any comments section in the history of the Internet.
The Background: Of all the characters to meet sticky ends during Justified’s run, Wynn Duffy seemed the most likely to get offed at almost every juncture. And yet, slick cockroach that he is, he survived through to the series finale, as nearly every associate he’s ever been around on the show dies in increasingly ridiculous fashion.
That Classic Raylan Givens Smile
The Use Case: When you want to turn on the smolder.
The Background: Timothy Olyphant was fantastic as Seth Bullock on David Milch’s classic HBO series Deadwood, but his defining role now and forever will be Raylan Givens. That cowboy smirk peering out from under the weathered brim of a cowboy hat never gets old.
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