Doing the Right Thing: Raylan Givens from Justified

I know…you’re wondering what took me so long 🙂

I watched the first season of Justified in a week, and found Raylan Givens, the Deputy US Marshall, compelling (and not just because he’s played by handsome Timothy Olyphant). Raised by a criminal father, he’s chosen the side of justice.

He’s smooth-talking, soft-spoken and reasonable. His approach to a situation is usually measured, thought through, whether it’s facing a gun-runner who killed a man in front of him, his old coal-digging partner who’s now a white supremacist, his ex-wife or his father.

He can’t turn his back on someone who needs his help, be it his ex-wife’s new husband, the girl who had a crush on him forever, or even a fugitive who got away from him once before. He tries to talk his way through situations, building a rapport with the criminals, but he’s also a quick draw. He warns them that if he’s going to draw, he’ll put them down. Too bad they don’t believe him.

He appears fearless as he walks into dangerous situations, like to the white supremacist church or the drug dealer’s apartment. My husband, who enjoys the show as well (Raylan’s a man’s man. I think my dad would like this show too) says instead that he’s like a knight confident in his ability.

Elmore Leonard created the character in some of his short stories, and Justified is based on “Fire in the Hole,” where Raylan has to go back to Kentucky, where he was raised—from the place he escaped. We see Raylan as conflicted and confident, but ready to do what’s right in the name of justice.