Justified

Season 1 Episode 8

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6.8
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EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Episode Summary

Raylan has his hands full when a murderous inmate takes hostages and starts making demands.

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • Raylan deals with a hostage situation

    8.5
    By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Nov 13, 2011
    Raylan Givens truly is the epitome of cool in Justified, and I'm still waiting for the episode when he loses his cool and just goes off the deep end. Until then, though, I'll settle for his charming smile and tendency to outdraw his opponants. While I thought the hostage situation was pretty random to the episode and seemed like it was thrown in there simply to contrast the U.S attorney's opinion of Raylan with the way that Raylan treats the situation, but overall, I thought it had plenty of that amazing writing that's taken up much of the season so far, and it also slowly but surely carried on the plot with Boyd Crowder.



    The episode appears it's going one way for much of its allotted time and quickly veers off into different territory. For instance, one might assume early in the episode that we're going to get an episode that focuses on the Crowder family and the way that they harass Ava. It's been heavily hinted throughout the last few episodes that Bo wants revenge on Ava for his son's death, and while we get a tense scene near the beginning of the episode, it's somewhat of a red herring. Early in the episode, just before Raylan is to speak to an attorney about his shooting of the guy in Florida, as well as Boyd, a man takes a cop hostage, and it's up to Raylan to successfuly talk down the man. As I said before, I personally found the plot to be a bit contrived, as if they thought this idea up to take up some screen time until we could get to the next episode. However, no one can deny how great the writing was. Watching Raylan and the criminal connect and the way they played games with each other's heads was great.



    The episode once again ends with a Boyd/Raylan moment, and it's just a matter of time before the show whole-heartedly turns its focus on this mini-rivalry that has sprung between them. I don't believe for a second that Boyd has gone to the good side, and while I love the way the writers are building up this eventual showdown, it seems to be moving too slow. Why give us just a teaser an episode when the episodes could be focusing on this lush relationship even more? Either way, as long as the writing stays superb, the show shouldn't have a problem.moreless

  • 108

    6.5
    By thefanof, Jun 17, 2010
    Justified fans rejoice as the show has been renewed for a second season! Hopefully they can pair it with a popular show (please renew Damages, even though it's 99% dead) and viewership will pick up.



    Tonight was the obligatory hostage crisis episode that nearly every drama has to have, however, few have done it inside the actual station, so I will give props to Justified for being creative in that regard. We also did not see Raylan draw on anyone, which is a rarity for this show.



    Tonight's episode was better than the last two, but still not great. Justified has some work to do if it wants to compete with all the great dramas on Tuesday night.moreless

  • One HELLUVA stand-off!

    9.0
    By logossun, Jun 17, 2010
    I have to say this first: W. Earl Brown (who was a regular on Deadwood with Olyphant) is FANTASTIC in this episode and made me forget about Walton Goggins, which is no small feat.

    He was a straight-faced, no-muss-no-fuss convict knowing where he's been and where he's going. Yes, the end of the stand-off may have felt flat for most, but it wasn't the chicken :-) - it was a promise of being treated like a human being even just for a little bit, and that must have resonated really well with anyone who's ever had demanding, patronising, overpowering people in their lives.

    All props to the writers and the two actors - you need to really know what you're doing to make one basic room and one basic interaction work for half an hour - and they did it brilliantly.

    Icing on the cake was the showing of the hand of the DA; we all expected a drilling on the marshal's shooting - and we got something completely different - a cold shower rising from a human mistake.

    The only weak link in the episode (and I can't believe it) was the ending. Goggins' does NOT do well with his preacher character - it's somehow not "out there" enough - so I'm actually pulling for him becoming the cool homicidal maniac once again.

    All in all, the episode kept me firmly rooted to my seat, and that's always a good thing.

    I remain skeptical of the all-in-one episodes and I hope they won't fall into petty crime cases, but for now, the show is indeed justified!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

Timothy Olyphant

Timothy Olyphant

U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens
Nick Searcy

Nick Searcy

Chief Deputy Art Mullen
Joelle Carter

Joelle Carter

Ava Crowder
Jacob Pitts

Jacob Pitts

Deputy Marshal Tim Gutterson
Erica Tazel

Erica Tazel

Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks
Walton Goggins

Walton Goggins

Boyd Crowder
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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

W. Earl Brown

W. Earl Brown

Cal Wallace

Guest Star

Dave Hill

Dave Hill

US Marshal

Guest Star

Fredric Lehne

Fredric Lehne

SWAT Commanding Officer

Guest Star

M.C. Gainey

M.C. Gainey

Bo Crowder

Recurring Role

Rick Gomez

Rick Gomez

David Vasquez

Recurring Role

William Ragsdale

William Ragsdale

Gary Hawkins

Recurring Role

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