Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins and Season Three of ‘Justified’

We first introduced you to the FX television series Justified (2010-2015) with our look into the first season last July. We followed with a look into season two in September. The third 13-episode season of Justified brings an exiled Detroit mobster to Harlan through Lexington, Kentucky to establish the oxycontin trade. Meanwhile, a couple of other criminal feuds breakout with allegiances changing with rapid fire, ending up with Nobles Holler playing a decent part in the larger story.

(Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins, left, and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the television series Justified).

Timothy Olyphant continues to star in season three of Justified as the righteous yet rule-bending lawman morally mixed-up with his ex-wife Winona Hawkins, as portrayed by Natalie Zea. The story involving Gary Hawkins, as portrayed by William Ragsdale, is one worth keeping an eye on through the season.

(Left to right, Neal McDonough as Robert Quarles, William Ragsdale as Gary Hawkins and Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy in the television series Justified).

The exiled Detroit mobster Robert Quarles, portrayed by Neal McDonough, interplays with Dixie Mafia enforcer Wynn Duffy, as portrayed by Jere Burns. The banter among these characters highlights cultural differences between the Midwestern United States and Appalachia, aiming for humor in the approach.

(Left to right, Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, Raymond J. Barry as Arlo Givens and Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder in the television series Justified).

Old feuds surface in the telling of the story of introducing new players into the vacuum caused by the deaths of Mags Bennett and others in the second season of the series. The feud between Boyd Crowder, as portrayed by Walton Goggins, and Dickie Bennett, as portrayed by Jeremy Davies, is a central part of that tale. Ava Crowder remains in league with her former brother-in-law, Boyd, while Arlo Givens joins the Crowders, including wheel-chair bound Johnny Crowder, in that process. Joelle Carter plays Ava Crowder. Raymond J. Barry plays Arlo Givens, the father to Raylan. David Meunier plays Johnny Crowder.

(Todd Stashwick as Ash Murphy, left, and Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett in the television series Justified).

Almost everybody through the third season of Justified has an interest in the money that Mags Bennett has left in trust with the Ellstin Limehouse in Noble’s Holler. Dickie Bennett believes himself to be the rightful heir to the fortune, which in separate parts motivates behavior for Boyd, Johnny and Ava Crowder, Arlo Givens, Raylan Givens, Ash Murphy and Ellstin Limehouse. Ash Murphy, a Kentucky jailer, is portrayed by Todd Stashwick. Ellstin Limehouse is portrayed by Mykelti Williamson.

(Left to right, Mykelti Williamson as Ellstin Limehouse, Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the television series Justified).

Law enforcement officers with the U.S. Marshals Service in Justified continue to include Rachel Brooks as portrayed by Erica Tazel, Art Mullen as portrayed by Nick Searcy and Tim Gutterson as portrayed by Jacob Pitts. A nebulous and entertaining fictional part of this series is the different degrees of gray that these characters, and all the characters to some degree, in this series occupy.

(Left to right, Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the television series Justified).

The third season of this series hits another home run of entertaining for me, which allowed me to move quickly through the season. The emotional truths of different characters in the story, flaws and quirks right there for the telling, is part of what resonates in the storytelling of this season. The same has been true of the series overall, with payoffs among the different seasons as well. I grade for season three of Justified at 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, January 18, 2020

The X-Men movie ‘Logan’ entertained this reviewer

Logan (2017) is the latest foray into the X-Men movie universe, having been released in March of 2017. The movie is as emotionally mature as any movie in the franchise, in this reviewer’s humble opinion, surpassing the original X-Men (2000) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) in this regard. Rating well among critics and audiences alike, if you enjoy action movies coupled with a compelling story that tells a compelling conclusion to compelling characters, you could do much worse than the story offered by Logan.

(Hugh Jackman)

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine, or Logan, as the namesake of the movie Logan. We encounter an aged Logan in Mexico as a limousine driver and caretaker to the mentally and physically deteriorating Charles Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart. Logan and Charles are clearly suffering from health issues. Charles has Alzheimer’s Disease, though we never learn of the illness of Logan. Both took medicine to keep their symptoms under what semblance of control can be had.

(Patrick Stewart)

Feeling morally corrupted for hunting mutants before the beginning of Logan, the character Caliban has taken to supporting and hiding out with the very mutants he once pursued. Portrayed by Stephen Merchant, Caliban tries to confront Logan on the source of his disease. He (Caliban) had aimed to help Logan, if only Logan would trust in the friendship that Caliban attempts to offer.

(Stephen Merchant)

Boyd Holbrook plays the antagonist pursuing the three mutants we’ve met already in this review, namely Logan, Charles Xavier, and Caliban. As Pierce, Holbrook forwards the agenda of ridding the world of mutants while a cabal of his friends assist him in this work and other dastardly plans. Part of those plans include the continued experimentation on the child Logan never knew he had, namely Laura.

(Boyd Holbrook)

Laura is played by Dafne Keen, a child less than 13-years-old in the movie who appears to Logan in Mexico seeking safe travel with Logan to North Dakota and then on to Canada. It was Keen’s fluency in Spanish and English that helped land her a role as Laura. Charles Xavier knows of Laura being Logan’s child. Charles finds a way to communicate with the apparently mute Laura. It isn’t until after much traveling, and some unfortunate circumstances befalling Caliban and Charles that we learn Keen can talk.

(Dafne Keen)

The film Logan is filled with action and the kind of fighting scenes that would attract many action film fans. Much of the action bears away from the traditional X-Men fighting into territories of intense hand-to-hand combat. That there is the expected X-Men flare of Wolverine-style action from Laura, Logan, and younger variants of Logan do not disappoint.

There were thoughts of Terminator 2 that came to mind with the Spanish language dialogue, the Mexican border action, and the prolonged indestructibility of Logan. This part struck true to much of the Logan / Wolverine character  that we came to know throughout the series of X-Men movies. This is also true of much of the self-loathing and ambivalent dysfunction between Logan, Charles, and Laura.

The terminal outcome for characters who were critical to the X-Men series in Logan provided a degree of satisfying finality and closure; mostly the outcomes for the characters of Professor Charles Xavier and Logan are the ones I mean.

The movie Logan felt like a parting chapter in a way that was true to their larger narrative while not compromising the story that preceded it. In a sense, a fitting tribute for carrying on their legacy with another generation of characters was a seed we’re also planted.

I came away satisfied with the story told by Logan. If you had some doubt about watching a movie series based on comic book characters, let me say that there are plenty of choices of lesser caliber than X-Men. Consider the X-Men series, with Logan last, if ever you would be so inclined.

My appreciation here for the direction and writing for James Mangold. I further appreciated the added writing efforts of Scott Frank.

Matt – Friday, February 9, 2018