After we finished watching the finale for this season of Justified, I told Mike I wanted to watch Season 1 and Season 2 again. That's how good it is. It reminds me of The Godfather series in that it's about families where the children, often now adults at least in chronological age, are fiercely loyal, fed up, extremely angry, severely disappointed by the actions of their parents. Their parents are often horrifying in their narcissism, in their willingness to put their business ahead of the welfare of their children. It reminded me of The Wire is that the acting is top drawer, and most of the actors I had never seen before. I was thinking about it while watching Friday Night Lights, where they had a sequence where you saw moments with different characters, no words, just music playing, and it was incredibly moving. I feel you could do the same with the cast in Justified. They are so visually interesting; they are able to express so much just in their physical presence. They are that charismatic.
Don't get me wrong. We were talking about this yesterday. I think a big part of the reason for the success of this show is Elmore Leonard. It is quite helpful to start with a foundation of such great writing and to recognize it by continuing on in his tradition. Elmore Leonard is a consultant on this show, and his creative spirit seems to infuse each episode. The music is also wonderful, an evocative and powerful complement of this stew that I hope continues for a long time.
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