Things are definitely hitting the fan in this week's Justified. While the Marshals try to get Drew Thompson someplace safe - you have to love Art inquiring about a rocket launcher - Boyd is trying to appease an unhappy Nick Augustine (guest star Mike O'Malley; can you believe this is the guy who used to host Nickelodeon's GUTS?).

Holed up in his father's house, Raylan recounts history with Drew (guest star Jim Beaver), at least until Art comes in and gives him a status update. "Art, we gotta move, and we gotta move soon," Raylan insists. That's a good idea, because Boyd is telling Augustin...

Justified keeps going strong this week, as Raylan and Quarles have another confrontation that makes up one of the best scenes in the show's history. If Timothy Olyphant or Neal McDonough don't win an Emmy, I will be shocked.

Nothing good ever happens past nightfall in Kentucky, at least on this show. There are two sheriff's deputies planting drugs in Shelby's truck, for one. He stops them with his shotgun, but it's clear they're playing dirty in Harlan County. Shelby then talks to Boyd, who decides he doesn't want his friend going anywhere alone from that point on. He goes to vis...

Even the best Justified villain has to fall. And with only five episodes left in the show's third season, this is the beginning of what should be a fantastic end.

We start at the end of another long day for Raylan (does he even have short days?), as he contemplates what to do with the gun that killed his ex-wife's second husband. He stashes it in his apartment and then decides to inspect the ceiling.

The next morning, he's summoned into Art's office. Art wants to know what Raylan has on Quarles "right now that you can prove." After the resulting silence, he tells Raylan that until Quarl...

This week's Justified is a slow episode by comparison, but leave it to one of TV's top writing staffs to have something worthwhile in even the quieter hours.

Still dealing with Winona's departure, Raylan is getting blitzed at a different place, which happens to be the bar below his new apartment. Imagine his surprise when Quarles shows up at the bar beside him. "You're a bouncer in a dive bar," he says, and is not impressed. Raylan retorts with details of Quarles' propensity for roughing up male escorts that I didn't need. The next day, determined to take Quarles down, he needles...

If there's one film actor who came into television and blew the doors off the medium, it was Justified star Timothy Olyphant.

In three seasons as quick-witted, quick-drawing Kentucky marshal Raylan Givens, the Live Free or Die Hard actor hasn't given a bad performance. In fact, he hasn't given less than a great one. Whether it's his leveling stare or just the way he points his words, Olyphant carries himself with a natural intensity that makes Raylan the infamous character we've been told he is. Simply put, in someone else's hands, this role just wouldn't work.

Off-screen, he's incredib...

By the title of this episode of Justified, you should be able to guess that there's more shooting than usual. Yet as is also usual, this show is a lot more than just its body count.

While Raylan is trying to figure out where Winona ran off to after she left him last week, lots of people are being shot (which is kind of typical for Kentucky). He's advised not to keep going after her, but we all know Raylan is too stubborn to listen. Instead, he goes looking for the money from the bank robbery she swiped last season, and when he finds it missing, he knows what's up. He asks Art for ...

There's a lot going on in this week's Justified, and quite a few familiar faces. If "Thick As Mud" has a particular pop to it, it's because Elmore Leonard has a co-story credit for this ride.

While Limehouse is determined to keep Dickie (and anyone else) away from what remains of Mags' money, Boyd and Arlo are burying Devil's body after his bloody end, and Raylan's relationship with Winona is as rocky as it's always been...and oh crap, Dewey Crowe is missing some internal organs. That last part is courtesy of that creepy prison nurse Lance (Clayne Crawford), who just will not go awa...

Justified: just when you think you've got it figured out, it keeps unraveling and then it punches you in the stomach. And it's worth all the pain, because it's the best series on TV.

This week, Devil's a little restless, but that's because he's got a meeting with Quarles. What the heck is going on? One of those instances where someone thinks they're bigger than they are, that's what. After his conversation with Boyd last week, Devil is twitchy, and Quarles does his best to make him feel important. "This is an opportunity that only happens once," he teases, and Devil is listening.

...

Timothy Olyphant might be the star of FX's Justified, but he's far from the only one. Actress Erica Tazel has made the most out of her first series regular role as the no-nonsense Rachel Brooks.

From the pilot episode, Rachel has proven an effective balance to Raylan's more outside-the-lines approach, and we've seen their relationship grow along with her character. One of the highlights of season two came in "For Blood or Money" where we got to learn a lot more about Rachel, who has become one of Justified's most pleasant surprises, and that's because it's obvious how much thought a...

If you want to see just how far Justified has come, "Harlan Roulette" is the episode to look at. Colorful, intriguing and at a few points unsettling, it's the complete package.

Ellstin Limehouse is having words with Ava. He says she looks good, and she replies "better than the last time we saw each other," which is just one heck of a loaded sentence. She wants him to meet Boyd. And so, on a bridge in the middle of the night, with plenty of glowering from various minions on both sides, the two converse. "It has come to my attention that you are in possession of something that belo...

Episode two of Justified's second season is a solid standalone that also continues to hand us pieces of a masterful bigger picture.

Last week's episode ("The Gunfighter") started Justified's third season off strong. "Cut Ties" keeps up the standard, but in a different way.

Raylan wakes up in Winona and Gary's house, quickly mistaken for Gary by the realtor who's showing people around. Have a joke about Winona cheating on him with a realtor again. Once Raylan wakes up and pulls himself together, he visits Boyd in prison and actually asks him for relationship advice. Boyd points out that ...

Here's why I call Justified the best series on TV: because every season, I ask myself "How can this possibly get any better?" and it always does.

"The Gunfighter" starts off simply enough, but within minutes we're reminded that everything in this world is much more complex than it appears. Winona finds herself being pulled over by the state police; seems that Art has been trying to reach her. She arrives at the hospital, where Art tells her "he's going to be all right," and we don't need to be told who he's talking about. Yes, that's Raylan taking a nap in a hospital bed, where we kn...