Tonight marks the end of the road for FX’s Western drama “Justified,” a cult and critic favorite. It’s the story of a U.S. marshal and his bank robbing rival that came about in 2010, when the TV genre was being reinvented in more culturally sensitive ways.
NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans has called the show “smart” for seasons now, and laments its last episode with Here & Now’s Robin Young.
They talk about how poetic dialogue (the show was based on a short story by Elmore Leonard) and creative plot and character development carried it through six seasons, a Peabody award and eight Emmy nominations.
The end of “Justified” probably also marks the end of a newer wave of TV Westerns that broke the mold of classic Westerns, including AMC’s “Hello on Wheels,” which will soon go into its last season, and “Longmire,” which A&E canceled, and then was picked up by Netflix.
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- Eric Deggans, TV critic for NPR. He tweets @Deggans.
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