TV.com

Justified Season 1 Episode 1

Fire in the Hole

Favorite

Watched It I've Watched This 7

Next
Episode

6.8

User Rating

446 votes

Your Rating: 10
Your Rating: 9.5
Your Rating: 9
Your Rating: 8.5
Your Rating: 8
Your Rating: 7.5
Your Rating: 7
Your Rating: 6.5
Your Rating: 6
Your Rating: 5.5
Your Rating: 5
Your Rating: 4.5
Your Rating: 4
Your Rating: 3.5
Your Rating: 3
Your Rating: 2.5
Your Rating: 2
Your Rating: 1.5
Your Rating: 1

Rate Now

EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Write A Review

Episode Summary

EDIT

Free Trial / Subscription

VUDU

Buy

AIRED: 3/16/10

In the series premiere, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens heads back to where he grew up, basically a 21st century wild west , where he faces off against one of his oldest friends.

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Pilot episode

8.5

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Nov 16, 2011

The first time I watched this show, I feel like I was way too harsh with it. I spewed out some nonsense about how it was never going to be as good as this show or that show and came to the conclusion that it has a lot more potential. I will admit that I was right about only one thing: the show had a lot more potential than the pilot episode had to offer, and the fact that the pilot episode was pretty good says a lot about the overall quality of the show.

The show is basically about a deputy Marshall named Raylan Givens who still seems to abide by the old cowboy/wild, wild west rules: leave town by the deadline or risk being shot. The first five minutes basically sum up Raylan; he's a charming guy who has a sharp wit and a sense of humor but when it comes to disobeying the law, there's no humor in that. He's willing to do anything, including shooting, to prove his point. Is he a bad guy? Far from it. He's a good guy with a very strict sense of justification.

I thought the pilot did a good job of setting up a potential villain throughout the season in Boyd Crowder. Walton Goggins was incredible in his seven years on The Shield, and it appears he found another delicious role to sink his teeth into. Boyd Crowder may not have much of a background yet (that goes for just about all of the characters), but this is the pilot episode, and what it lacks in making these characters three dimensional it more than makes up for in giving them a personality. Sure, we know Boyd's a white supremacist, he was in the army and that he loves blowing stuff up, but it's tough for a show to truly give us a glimpse into a character in just one episode. Some shows can do it, but this one didn't. It did, however, suck me in and make me 100% interested in where his character will go from here.

And I said it in my first review and I'll say it again: Timothy Olyphant just exudes charisma. I've liked him in just about every movie and television show I've seen him in, even the slightly crappy ones. He's just a charming actor who makes his characters likable no matter what. There were plenty of little hints about Raylan's background, and there was too much mention of his father not to take notice... I like it when shows don't lay all their cards down on the table right away. From what I've heard, the show gets progressively better as time goes on, so it should be interesting to see what happens.

I made a mistake in underestimating the show the first time around. Now that I'm catching up with it again, I must admit defeat and agree that the show, along with Sons of Anarchy, is one of the top dramas for the station.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
5 1

Flag
Share Hide
Olyphant + Goggins = pure gold.

9.5

By logossun, Nov 16, 2011

This is the Drty Hary for the new millennium, folks!Let's face it - Olyphant needed to come back to a good TV role. His Deadwood marshal was so good it propelled him to Hollywood, but there he was simply stuck with bad scripts - and this is just what the doctor ordered. The bottled-up rage oozes out of him at every pore and it's a role he was (so far) obviously made for. But being paired up with Goggins (of Shield fame) is the master-stroke. As much as Olyphant plays pent-up rage, Goggins is pent-up psycho; add history in the mix and the chemistry is unbelievably good. I'm not sure how much they will use that throughout the show, but they should, as much as possible. The back-up crew is sufficiently good and potentially interesting so I'm settling in for a great ride. If there is one thing I disapproved of (although it makes for better TV), it's the fact that the little hick town in Kentucky - is FAR too smart and eloquent. These people should be cussin' and spittin' and being generally on the lower end of the polite-and-smart scale, but it seems everyone has a brain working well in hand with the mouth - even the fast-talking whatshisname, the alligator tooth little piss-ant bad guy. Still, that's a very small price to pay for a good script and excellent leads. Looking forward to more!moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
11 6

Flag
Share Hide
Series premiere

6.8

By thefanof, Apr 13, 2011

Justified, the latest original series from FX, premiered last night. The program has been receiving much hype and even got an A grade from those pretentious nerds at Entertainment Weekly. That being said the show just gets an "okay" from me.

If anything it felt like Dexter in Kentucky, just a much more boring version of the Showtime series. There were too many dull conversations and the supporting cast of cops is just so generic and plain.

What's more is that I don't find myself willing to invest a lot of time in these characters. I don't know if I'm going to commit to them on a crowded Tuesday night.

Justified is not bad, but it's hardly the great show the hype train would have you believe.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
11 17

Flag
Share Hide
Really? This episode gets a 9.8, and 'The Forgotten' gets an average of 6 to 7?

6.5

By elahoda, Apr 13, 2011

I wouldn't say it was bad. Maybe a little slow. I would have to watch at least a couple more episodes, but so far it's just average plot and average acting. There is nothing really horrible about this particular episode, but definitely nothing memorable either. Just a cliche cop, with a cliche ex wife, and cliche old flames, going to his cliche home town that he tried to escape from when he was younger, got out in the world, worked the big cities and got sent home for being a cliche rogue cop.

I might give it another chance, but so far I am not holding out too much hope.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
7 20

Flag
Share Hide
U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens is transferred back to his home state Kentucky after he justifiably shoots a suspect who pulled a gun on him first. When he gets home he finds a friend who is on the other side of the law and a woman who wants him.moreless

10

By jyarter, Jan 09, 2011

Terrific! Not since True Blood have I seen such a show with promise deliver above its expectations. Justified is one helluva ride and Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens is the conductor.

Olyphant plays the character like he was born too. Here is a revival of the old Western Marshall fighting outlaws in the badlands. One on one or one against many doesn't seem to make a difference. Olyphant is confident, cocky, and truly the definition of a man on a mission. He tells it like it is and then backs the talk up. It seems that he doesn't ever make a promise he can't keep as he follows through even when it may be going a little beyond the law. The supporting cast is strong with Nick Searcy as Chief Deputy Art Mullen, Raylan's boss and former partner at as an instructor. There's Erica Tazel as Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks. On the other side of the law there is Walton Goggins as Raylan's former partner in the coal mine Boyd Crowder. Crowder has become a White Supremist and uses his position to reek havoc on the countryside blowing things up and killing people. That is coming to a very quick end now that Raylan is back in town. Finally we have Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, Boyd's sister-in-law who is being tried for justifiable manslaughter for killing Boyd's brother who was beating her regularly. She's cute and has had a thing for Raylan since she was a little girl. There are a few other characters like Raylan's former wife we meet for a fleeting moment, but I'm sure we'll get to know her better as time goes by.

Truly one of the best premieres in a long time and a rock solid program. If you like lawmen and shoot'em ups then this is the show for you. Action packed and always moving. You're just waiting to see what Raylan does next. I'll be watching for sure. Thanks for reading...moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
16 4

Flag
Share Hide

See All Fan Reviews

Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Timothy Olyphant	U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens
Nick Searcy	Chief Deputy Art Mullen
Joelle Carter	Ava Crowder
Jacob Pitts	Tim Gutterson
Erica Tazel	Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks
Walton Goggins	Boyd Crowder

See All Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

John Eddins	lawyer	Guest Star
Matt Craven	Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Grant	Guest Star
Joel Marsh Garland	Pork 2	Guest Star
Damon Herriman	Dewey Crowe	Recurring Role
Kevin Rankin	Devil	Recurring Role
Natalie Zea	Winona Hawkins	Recurring Role

See All Cast & Crew

Watch Online

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA
- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
QUOTES (1)
ADD QUOTES
- Raylan: I guess I never thought of myself as an angry man.
  Winona: Honestly, you're the angriest man I've ever known.
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (5)
ADD NOTES
- Audience - 4,160,000
  EDIT SHARE
- Featured Music:
  Long Hard Times to Come by Gangstagrass (Justified Theme)
  Say Ho by Phase 73
  U.S.A. by Reagan Youth
  Brass Swamp Blues by Evan Olson
  Someday I'll Be Forgiven For This by Justin Townes Earle
  Detroit City by Brandon Calhoon
  Took A Long Tim" by Koko Taylor
  San Soleil by Miike Snow
  Paul Chesne by Old and Grey
  Just Like Z's Blues by Brendan McKinney
  When It's Cold Outside by Buttless Chaps
  Same Ol' Blues Again by J.J. Cale
  EDIT SHARE
- Original International Air Dates:
  United Kingdom: May 5, 2010 on FIVE USA
  Latin America: September 6, 2010 on SPACE
  Czech Republic: October 6, 2010 on AXN
  EDIT SHARE
- The pilot episode of "Justified" is called "Fire in the Hole". It aired on the FX network and included actors Walton Goggins and Natalie Zea. In 2004, episode 13 of Season 3 of "The Shield" went to air. It also aired on the FX network. It also was called "Fire in the Hole", and it also included actors Walton Goggins and Natalie Zea.
  EDIT SHARE
- The Pilot episode is based on the 2001 short story "Fire in the Hole" by legendary crime author Elmore Leonard, who also created the character "Raylan Givens".
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (1)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Raylan: I saw Peter Tosh once. Peter Tosh was a reggae musician and was a member of The Wailers.
  EDIT SHARE