Kentucky – Matt Lynn Digital

Mitch Rapp and the book ‘Total Power’ by Kyle Mills

Kyle Mills continues the Mitch Rapp series of books (book sequence here) created by Vince Flynn with the nineteenth (19th) book in the series, the sixth written by Mills. With Total Power, we see a threat to the United States power grid from ISIS (sometimes called ISIL, Daesh, or more simply, IS). The book unfolds with traditional terrorist suspense and a splash of the typical lack of political will, with a stronger bit of terrorism skill baked in.

(**Kyle Mills**, shown here, wrote **Total Power** as his sixth book in the **Mitch Rapp** series created by **Vince Flynn**).

The first movements of the story within Total Power introduce the political intrigue associated with the cost of infrastructure updates to the power grid in the United States, along with the vulnerability of the network if a knowledgeable actor with evil intent along with the proper knowledge planned to exploit what weaknesses exist in the system. The underlying issue of coordinated attacks of strategic execution could plunge the United States in darkness for well beyond days, weeks or months before an effective government or free market response could be forthcoming.

(Alternative covers for **Total Power** as written by **Kyle Mills**. **Total Power** is the 19th book in the **Mitch Rapp** series as created by **Vince Flynn**).

The second movements of the story bring Mitch Rapp, the force of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a US president nearing the end of his presidential leadership to bear on an imminent attack staged at the moment the issue is under attack. The attack, though led by ISIS, actually has a bite beyond the jihadist skill to deploy the attack. Despite an explicit effort led by Rapp and a capable team of counter-terrorists, the attempt to thwart the attack is detected ahead of the CIA trap that had been laid. The attack that both infiltrated ISIS and the United States power grid, plunged the mainland into darkness that would last for weeks or months. Effectively, the United States had been crippled with no effective ability to recover.

(**Vince Flynn**, shown here, created the **Mitch Rapp** series of books. **Flynn** wrote the first **thirteen** books in the series).

With the skills of Mitch Rapp and his team now tactically eliminated, the investigate, infiltrate and get to the knowledgeable few became the third movement of Total Power. The world of malfunctioning infrastructure, computers and communication systems down, and starvation, death and inevitable rioting with little capacity for countering the chaos became the name of the response. The means for getting to a legitimate solution that addressed the infrastructure, and those who damaged it were the odds that needed to be addressed. Would those odds be overcome? You know it would be.

That the narrative telling of Mitch Rapp moved almost strictly into ways to address a power grid attack where powerlessness to respond was at stake was unique and appreciated. This change worked for me more at a high level, though the bigger issue that I found was that there really was only one plausible way that the solution to the problem of that powerlessness was going to be resolved. That I was in tune with how things worked out earlier in the book than I wanted to know proved disappointing. As for Total Power written by Kyle Mills, I give the book 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, March 20, 2023

Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Joelle Carter and Season Four of ‘Justified’

Having taken our first three looks into the FX television series Justified (2010-2015) back as early as 2019 with looks into seasons one, two and three, we resume our look today with season four of the Graham Yost created series. The fourth season originally aired from January through April of 2013, with Harlan, Kentucky being the center of our dysfunctional criminal series based in action and drama. Season four was the final season with novelist Elmore Leonard, whose story Fire in the Hole and other works provided source material for the series, still alive.

(From left, Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder and Jim Beaver as Sheriff Shelby Parlow in the fourth season of the FX series **Justified**).

The fourth season balanced multiple storylines effectively, with series centerpieces Raylan Givens, Boyd Crowder, Ava Crowder and Art Mullen playing their parts with less prominence at points through the season. The prominence of other characters through the course of the season offered compelling storytelling while, by season’s end, delivering top notch drama including series regulars that really deliver.

(From left, Joseph Mazzello as Billy St. Cyr, Lindsay Pulsipher as Cassie St. Cyr and Ron Eldard as Colton ‘Colt’ Rhodes in season four of the FX series **Justified**).

Looming heavy through the season is the notion of reckoning with who characters really are. The notion starts with fallout for the murder of Delroy Baker from season three. Tangled up in this story is that of Ellen May, a prostitute with a complicated story tied to Ava and Boyd Crowder’s connection to Delroy’s death. Colton ‘Colt’ Rhodes story is heavily tied to Ellen May and the Crowders, overlapping with the past impulses of Boyd with the introduction of the ministry of Billy St. Cyr and Cassie St. Cyr. The decisive roles Tim Gutterson and Johnny Crowder offer in Colt’s story work really well on a human level. David Meunier portrayed Johnny Crowder.

(From left, Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson and Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks in season four of the FX series **Justified**).

Then there is the story of Drew Thompson, which in learning of of the hidden identity and the loyalty surrounding the protection of it, forms the central mystery for the season. The fates of Hunter Mosely and Arlo Givens gently weaving into this larger story, intersecting well with Raylan, lends strength to what attracted me to this season of Justified.

(From left, Abby Miller as Ellen May, Raymond J. Barry as Arlo Givens and Brent Sexton as Former Sheriff Hunter Mosley in the fourth season of the FX series **Justified**).

The Jody Adair, Randall Kusik and Lindsey Salazar introductory stories in the earlier episodes of the season, featuring Chris Chalk, Robert Baker and Jenn Lyon, respectively, set important groundwork in furthering the story of season four well. Giving us evidence that the two sides of Raylan Givens were tugging at him, with the story of being a law enforcement officer getting set against Raylan’s sense of family, professionalism, and the influences of his parents, parallels and points to a similar dynamic playing out for Ava and Boyd Crowder.

(From left, Mykelti Williamson as Ellstin Limehouse and Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder in the fourth season of the FX series **Justified**).

The ramping up of Ava Crowder’s involvement in Boyd’s heroin empire in Harlan brings together sense of family and loyalty, which in tying back to Ellen May, the Delroy Baker death, the church attempts of the St. Cyr siblings, and a road that brings in Ellstin Limehouse through Detroit, Michigan and the past of Drew Thompson, gives so many glorious layers of connection that I cannot help to love season four of Justified. The Michigan angle of course renews the stories of Wynn Duffy, Nicky Augustine and their sponsors in Theo and Sammy Tonin. While we do not see Alan Arkin nor William Mapother in their roles as Theo Tonin or Delroy Baker this season, we do see Max Perlich as Sammy Tonin at a crucial time in the revelation of Raylan Givens’ character.

(From left, Mike O’Malley as Nicky Augustine, Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy and Patton Oswalt as Constable Bob Sweeney in season four of the FX series **Justified**).

Notably, the stories of Rachel Brooks and Art Mullen were not offered revelation through this season in the way that stories for other characters were. We did get back in contact with Winona Hawkins, as portrayed by Natalie Zea, later in the season. To say that Brooks, Mullen or Hawkins were afterthoughts for this season is perhaps an overstatement for what was a strong season of revelation and meaningful ends for characters new and old. I give season four of Justified 4.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, August 26, 2023

Barbara Kingsolver and the book ‘Demon Copperhead’

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Barbara Kingsolver‘s reimagining of the Charles Dickens book David Copperfield was released October 18th, 2022. Demon Copperhead is set in the southern mountains of Appalachia, beginning in Virginia of the 1990s United States rather than the 1820s of Suffolk, England. While both works are coming-of-age tales (bildungsroman), with Kingsolver focusing on struggle and strife alongside perseverance and redemption.

(**Barbara Kingsolver** won the **Pulitzer Prize** for **Demon Copperhead**).

Demon Copperhead is both the title of Kingsolver‘s latest book, in addition to being the nickname of the central protagonist and narrator, Damon Fields. Beginning with Fields’ birth to an addicted teenage mother living in a mobile home. Kids transform his first name quickly, with his hair as red as a copper penny and last name conferring the last name. The death of Damon’s father before the child’s birth, along with the child coming to terms with the emotions and meaning of this event. An analogous storyline for the book is an affection the author aims to share largely for Virginia and Tennessee, along with lesser parts Kentucky and Georgia.

(An alternate cover for the **Barbara Kingsolver** book **Demon Copperhead**, which was first released on October 18th, 2022).

A truly difficult upbringing for Damon Fields suggests exploring a couple of redeeming themes for what largely a sad, depressing tale. The redemption rests in Damon’s ability to persevere through the trauma experienced firsthand and through those around him; strength further stands out with the example of nurse practitioner June Peggart, foster sister (to Damon) Angus Winfield, and the fate of Maggot and his mother by the story’s end. Those who might find poverty, domestic abuse, childhood neglect, foster care failures, teen pregnancy, addiction, fentanyl and oxycodone use, human death, animal death, racial prejudice, or heritage prejudice difficult subject matter might need to look elsewhere for subject matter.

(**David Copperfield** by **Charles Dickens**, from which **Demon Copperhead** was reimagined, was released on November 1st, 1850).

Damon’s eventual fate, and some of his experiences in the above, takes a trajectory upwards with his meeting his paternal grandmother, Betsy Woodall. While in many ways no magic solution, the effort to humanize many with this tale while getting to something of an uplifting place, echoing David Copperfield, provides that uplifting feel that will resonate for many investing the time to read Demon Copperhead. I grant Demon Copperhead as written by Barbara Kingsolver 4.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Ray Charles and the album ‘The Spirit of Christmas’

It was 1985 that the Ray Charles album The Spirit of Christmas was presented to the world. Today we embrace this presentation of ten Christmas songs released by the Albany, Georgia native known for blues, jazz blues, soul, country soul and many other variations that influenced many that have listened and made music since.

(The cover art for the 1985 **Ray Charles** album **The Spirit of Christmas**).

Opening The Spirit of Christmas album is the William Chatterton Dix composition What Child Is This? Chatterton Dix was originally from Bristol, Avon, England. The song invokes the birth of Jesus Christ, emphasizing this before invoking a jazz reprise that lasts for approximately the last three minutes of the song.

The Little Drummer Boy was composed by Katherine K. Davis of St. Joseph, Missouri, Henry Onorati of Revere, Massachusetts and Harry Simeone of Newark, New Jersey. The introduction with singing alone before a backing guitar lends an enchanting country emphasis that gives way to keyboard play with a hint of Ray Charles’ musical personality enjoyed with work of his 30 or more years preceding this album.

(The Harry Simeone Chorale first popularized **The Little Drummer Boy** in 1958).

With composition credits from J. Fred Coots of Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and Haven Gillespie of Covington, Kentucky, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town brings us an orchestral, joyous introduction followed immediately by the keyboard play and singing of Ray Charles improvising through the song a smooth jazz rendition of the song.

This Time of Year as composed by Brook Benton of Camden, South Carolina and Cliff Owens (aka Clyde Otis and Clyde Lovern Otis) of Prentiss, Mississippi offers an engaging keyboard opening with orchestration to accompany the sentimental feeling Ray Charles sings for the Christmas season. The mood I sense is one after hustle and bustle wherein a wistful thought of the coming joy of more revelry is to come.

The Johnny Marks composed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sees Ray Charles offering a jazzier version of this holiday standard in the United States for more than fifty years. The effect of this song is among the more enchanting of any on the album. Marks is from Mount Vernon, New York.

(**Mable Johnson**, one of the composers for the song **The Spirit of Christmas**, as seen when she performed for one of two record labels in the 1960s).

The Spirit of Christmas comes to us with composers Mable John of Bastrop, Louisiana, Parnell Davison and Joel Webster. The song is a sentimental reminder of the love that surrounds us with the joy of the happiness that, in experiencing the joy of those around, enlivens us. As a complete song, this is my favorite from the album overall.

All I Want for Christmas opens with a sentimental mood for couples, invoking in my listening a sense of romance. The gradual playfulness of the instruments as they roll in builds an engaging uplift to the joyous feelings that I have by the end of this lovely song. William Henderson (aka Willie Henderson) of Pensacola, Florida and then Chicago, Illinois earned composer credits.

Douglas Fraser, Julia Fraser and Rosalyn Winters composed Christmas in My Heart, which offers notions of magic for the holidays. The mood is laid back yet orchestral, with accompanying vocals that could have come from a church choir.

(**Ray Charles** had a long and distinguished career in music).

The penultimate song for The Spirit of Christmas album is Winter Wonderland, as composed by Felix Bernard of Brooklyn, New York City, New York and Richard B. Smith of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. An uplifting jazzy feeling brings a lightness to the composition. The strength of the keyboards as performed by Ray Charles, among other instruments, stands out as much as his singing.

Christmas Time as composed by Edward Cole makes use of Charles on keyboard with horn, bell and other instrumentation. The somber invocation is an easy reminder of the familial blessings and symbols of love and giving with the season. Cole is originally from Montgomery, Alabama.

Matt – Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Graham Sibley, Andre Jacobs, Jenny Stead and the Malcolm Venville documentary ‘Abraham Lincoln’

The American pay television network History (formerly called The History Channel) aired the three-part documentary series Abraham Lincoln (2022) from Sunday, February 20th, 2022 through Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022. Directed by Malcolm Venville, the documentary offers a biographical look into the life of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president on the United States. Doris Kearns Goodwin served as an executive producer for this Abraham Lincoln documentary. The Kearns Goodwin book Leadership: In Turbulent Times provided the basis for this documentary.

(**Graham Sibley** as **Abraham Lincoln** in the 2022 **Malcolm Venville** **documentary** **Abraham Lincoln**).

The three episodes of the documentary star Graham Sibley in the title role of Abraham Lincoln. Frederick Rendina had writing credits for all three episodes of the documentary, including The Railsplitter, A President at War and Saving the Union. Sundi Lofty had writing credit for A President at War. Rebecca Sue Haber had writing credit Saving the Union. The three episodes sought to offer insight into the formative and political thinking of Abraham Lincoln, the man, on the notions of slavery, race and the notion of equality. The record is not as romantic in this regard as one would hope, which is the mixed bag of truth about Lincoln and the country both then and now.

(The historical **Abraham Lincoln** before he grew his beard).

The Railsplitter episode that began this documentary looked heavily into the life of the sixteenth president of the United States during his formative years. As mentioned by the Internet Movie Database, the episode seeks to articulate Lincoln “[t]hrough a poverty-ridden childhood on the American frontier, [wherein] Lincoln is determined to leave his mark on the world.” Among other things, we are introduced to the president’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, as portrayed by Jenny Stead. It is of interest to learn of the dynamics of the president’s childhood, including the relationships with his father (Thomas Lincoln as portrayed by Steve Larter), his mother (Nancy Hanks Lincoln), his stepmother (Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln as portrayed by Lucy Tops) and his neighbor Josiah Crawford. Deon Lotz portrayed Josiah Crawford, whose inclusion in the documentary offered an insight into personal responsibility for the young Abraham Lincoln. The history of lost political campaigns and the debates with Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, as portrayed by Richard Lothian, were insightful.

The second episode of the Abraham Lincoln, titled A President at War, sees a newly elected Lincoln become president. The first surprise was in the first Republican Party candidate win his party’s nomination and then the popular vote over William Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. Seward, Chase and Bates, as portrayed by Colin Moss, Dirk Jonker and Robin Smith respectively, became members of Lincoln‘s presidential cabinet. With Lincoln‘s election came the secession of the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas as well as the threat of secession by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, the eleven states that formally made-up the Confederate States of America. Border states that were on the fence through the conduct of the war included Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

(The historical **Frederick Douglass**).

The threat of disunion drove much of the politics through the war, as portrayed through friction evident between the president and abolitionist Frederick Douglass as portrayed by Stefan Adegbola; Douglass‘ escape from slavery to the north, as assisted by his future wife Anna Murray Douglass, was told during the opening two episodes of Abraham Lincoln with the portrayal by Nancy Sekhokoane. Friction between Lincoln and his generals, as this episode took pains to demonstrate included Lincoln learning to be commander in chief, included frustrations with getting George McClellan to take the military initiative through the course of the war. Sven Ruygrok portrayed McClellan. The portrayal of Elizabeth Keckley (alternatively spelled Elizabeth Keckly) by Megan Alexander gave depth beyond the Lincoln family anguish at the death of Willie Lincoln, as portrayed by Ben Smollan. Context for the Emancipation Proclamation was presented in this episode.

The documentary episode Saving the Union began with the second day of the Battle of Gettsyburg in Pennsylvania, having picked up from the recounting of the first day’s conflict with generals George Meade as portrayed by Nicky Rebelo and Robert E. Lee leading the competing armies. In Lincoln‘s estimation as demonstrated in the documentary, it was Meade‘s failure to promptly pursue Lee‘s defeated army before they crossed the Potomac River that prompted Meade‘s removal as general following the victory at Gettysburg. With the victory of forces led by Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Vicksburg granting commercial control of the Mississippi River to the north, Lincoln‘s perspective about ending the war then and there has merit.

Justin Salinger portrayed Grant, a future United States president who would assume command of the various armies of the Union war effort. The notions of slave emancipation, African Americans fighting in the army with delayed equal pay, and other abolitionist ambitions advocated by Frederick Douglass and others were given further context, with the narrative interpretations offered throughout the three episodes of this documentary, offered throughout. Other major themes addressed include the Gettysburg Address, the election of 1864 within the context of Grant‘s military leadership, Lincoln‘s second inaugural address, the president’s thoughts on Reconstruction and the period following the end of the America Civil War and finally the assassination of Abraham Lincoln five days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee‘s army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, in Appomattox County, Virginia.

(The historical **Abraham Lincoln** after he grew his beard).

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, offered commentary and context interspersed with the dramatic presentations by actors. Historians Allen C. Guelzo, David S. Reynolds, Christy S. Coleman, Harold Holzer, Ted Widmer (aka Edward L Widmer) and Catherine Clinton, among others, added additional commentary and context through the three episodes of this documentary. The tone throughout the documentary felt even-handed and thoughtfully considered without being preachy, without reaching too far and offering context for where clear criticism and contextual problems with worldviews of the present day clearly exist. I give the documentary Abraham Lincoln as directed by Malcolm Venville 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5 for its quality.

Matt – Wednesday, February 23, 2022

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

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

We first introduced you to the FX television series Justified (2010-2015) with our look into the first season in July. Brad Paisley reprises the closing thought of You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive in bringing the second 13-episode season of this addictive elegy of dysfunctional hillbillies feuding over crime, mining rights for the mountain, and a fleeting sense of a way of life in a community seemingly committed to a violent end. Throw in a sliding moral sense of interpersonal intimacy and trust that complicate definitions of family and friendship, and you have a sense for what season one and season two of Justified have had to offer.

(Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks, Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson and Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy from the television series Justified).

Central to the dysfunctional and blurred lines of friendship and family remains the complicated relationship of almost brothers, almost friends, and almost always murky yet tenuous bond between Boyd Crowder and US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens. A gunfight at the end of season one cemented the tenuous bond and truce of sorts, which in part contributed to the end of the love interest of Givens Ava Crowder. Ava accepts Boyd into her home, where a complicated family history from the first season of Justified transpired, and led to a complicated transition of feelings between Boyd and Ava explored through the show’s second season. Additionally explored was a backstory for US Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks and her brother, as well as background introduced for Marshal Tim Gutterson.

(William Ragsdale as Gary Hawkins and Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins in the television series Justified).

The complicated love triangle between Raylan, the glue to many story lines in Justified, explored the romantic ties and questionable entanglements with the law and each other for Gary Hawkins and Raylan’s ex-wife Winona Hawkins. Winona married Gary before the first season began, yet comes to a place where she questions the emotional priorities of Gary, as she had with Raylan before him. True to the series name, much of these questions are justified, as our the questions Winona also levels at herself through the season. Shenanigans ensue that touch characters Wynn Duffy and US Marshal Art Mullen. The nature of the enlightened perspectives of Duffy and Mullen, while expressed in different circles and levels of justification for sure, offer plenty of interesting fodder for those interested in considering the gray areas of personal ethics that Justified takes pleasure in questioning. Particularly for me, these last two questions seem particularly relevant heading into the next season, as is the question of where Raylan and the Hawkins’ are headed.

(Raymond J. Barry as Arlo Givens, left, and Linda Gehringer as Helen Givens in the television series Justified).

Further glue arises in the relationship of Raylan’s father and aunt, respectively Arlo Givens and Helen Givens. Wishing to hold back spoilers, I offer plenty in saying that either Arlo or Helen take a frightful turn during season two of Justified. The story of these two intersect with Boyd and Ava Crowder, whose story lines echo one another in enough ways to stir some questions.

(Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett, left, and Brad William Henke as Coover Bennett in the television series Justified).

The intersection of Boyd and Ava to Arlo and Helen brings season two of Justified to the central story line, which arguably should have come up earlier in the best way to pitch this season. First, who are the Bennetts? Second, what is their concern with Loretta McReady and her father? Finally, where does this leave us as far as the larger drama of the season?

(Joseph Lyle Taylor as Doyle Bennett, left, and Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett in the television series Justified).

Mags Bennett is the matriarch of the Bennett family. The Bennetts and the Givens family have some degree of a feud occurring that dates back generations in Harlan, Kentucky. Doyle Bennett is a police sheriff and arguably the most intelligent of the three sons introduced during the second season of Justified. The other two are Dickie Bennett and Coover Bennett, who lean more towards the criminal enterprise portion of the family business. Of the three sons, Mags favors one child over the other two. Dickie is the screw-up brother while Coover is the brother lacking common sense yet purported to have an aptitude for cultivating marijuana.

(Kaitlyn Dever as Loretta McCready in the television series Justified).

The story of the Bennetts overlaps with Loretta McCready, a 14-year-old girl who faces interpersonal criminal behavior at the hands of members of the Bennett clan. Through the season, Mags warms to Loretta as the daughter she never had. Whether fate plays a fickle or steady hand for the Bennetts regarding the McCready family and Loretta as Loretta struggles to understand the fate of her father through the course of the second season of Justified is plenty of reason to watch the series. I personally am impressed with the second season. My overall grade for season two of Justified is 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, September 14, 2019

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

The FX television series Justified (2010-2015) recently entered our viewing rotation at Matt Lynn Digital. If you haven’t yet done so, we strongly encourage you check into this series. Season one gets into the first 13-episode season, which is the focus of this review. The season itself credits the Elmore Leonard short story Fire in the Hole as an influence. Elmore James novels Pronto and Riding the Rap are additionally credited for the series, which was developed for television by Graham Yost.

(Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, left, and Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder in the FX series Justified).

The central character of this series is U.S. Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens, the central law enforcement officer forced back to his childhood home in the hill country of eastern Kentucky, specifically in Harlan. The opening scenes of the series, set in Miami, Florida, offer the audience a glimpse into a seemingly cavalier attitude that sets a tone for the series. We are introduced fairly quickly into the checkered history of the Givens and Crowder families as well as the many varieties of interpersonal relationships with lawfulness, lawlessness, and guns this involves.

(Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, left, and Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins in the FX series Justified).

Timothy Olyphant plays the fast and loose lawman Raylan Givens while Walton Goggins plays the masquerading as white supremacist criminal seeking spirituality Boyd Crowder. Raylan and Boyd dug coal together in the past. Joelle Carter plays Ava Crowder, the physically abused wife of Boyd Crowder’s brother. Ava’s husband ends up dead, breeding tension between Ava and the Crowders as her romantic inclination towards Raylan gains expression as Raylan aims to protect her. Boundaries are blurred. Meanwhile, blurry boundaries between Raylan Givens and his remarried ex-wife, Winona Hawkins as played by Natalie Zea, come into play often through the first season.

(Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, left, and Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks in the FX series Justified).

Nick Searcy as Art Mullen and Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks serve the Deputy Marshals service in roles that are played fairly straight when it comes to the dramatic flair of other characters in this season. Mullen plays Raylan Givens’ boss while Brooks plays the occasional partner to Raylan. Boyd’s father Bo Crowder, as played by M.C. Gainey, and Raylan’s father Arlo, as played by Raymond J. Barry, are equal parts cantankerous, corrupt, and confounding in their own ways to their respective sons. The nature of their self-interest was priceless, entertaining for being incorrigible, and worth the effort to see.

(M.C. Gainey as Bo Crowder, left, and Raymond J. Barry as Arlo Givens in the FX series Justified).

My aim here has been to offer you a sense for what the opening season of the series Justified has to give you in terms of criminal, hillbilly behavior. The story builds from episode to episode in a way that is engaging. It is easy to see relationships between characters that are interesting for being a train wreck of entertaining in that it kept me wanting to watch. My feeling is that many of you will feel the same. My overall grade for season one of Justified is 4.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, July 10, 2019