Second season of Justifed represented a minor, but identifiable shift in tone and structure compared with the first. With the major characters, themes and settings already set, next 13 episodes were more focused on actual drama. The episodes abandoned procedural model and had all of its subplots tightly connected into a story arc. For its protagonist, US Marshall Rayland Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant) this meant confronting the past, especially his own dysfunctional family on the wrong side of the law. Furthermore, this meant confrontations with his family’s traditional enemy – Bennett clan, led by formidable matriarch Mags Bennett (played by Margo Martindale) whose plans to establish criminal empire coincided with the ambitious and lucrative real estate deal with mining company. Rayland also had to deal with his former wife Winona (played by Natalie Zea) for whom he still had feelings and plans of common future, but also had to make difficult choices between helping her and breaking the law.
While having somewhat different content (and being shot in California instead of authentic locations of Kentucky), new season Justified didn’t bring any major changes in style. Fans could still enjoy specific combination of action, drama and black comedy, mixed with colourful characters and even more colourful dialogues. The greatest assett in second season was acting, namely the Bennetts, with Margo Martindale being especially effective as a person who is both cold-blooded killer and loving mother-figure. The predictable but effective end of the season was, however, compromised with another irritating cliffhanger.
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcey, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea
Created by: Graham Yost
Number of episodes: 13
Pro: well-written and fascinating characters, diverse and talented cast, good dialogues, humour, general atmosphere, music
Contra: repetitiveness in some of the events, bad cliffhanger
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RATING: 6/10
