6. Justified (2010–2015)
Neither a movie nor a western, Justified tells the story of Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) as his over-the-top Wild-West brand of justice gets him sent to his backwater home county of Harlan, Kentucky.
For many viewers, though, the real hero of Justified is Raylan's friend from the old days, Boyd Crowder. Played with equal parts ham and finesse by Walton Goggins, the sly, affable, entrepreneurial criminal displaying model Southern manners arguably steals the show from the second season onwards.
Even though Justified has a contemporary setting, it's so intent on depicting the rural US as the modern frontier, that it's a western in all but the appearances. Red Dead Redemption 2 would do well featuring a slightly larger-than-life magnificent bastard with Goggins' voice, no matter which side of the law he would occupy.
Published Aug. 26th 2018
