Neo-Westerns have become one of the most popular genres in the streaming era, and the best one is undeniably Justified. Western TV shows are certainly not a new phenomenon, as they have been around since the medium first gained popularity. Television owes a massive debt to series like Gunsmoke and Rawhide, whose DNA is all over the best neo-Westerns of today.
Taylor Sheridan is often credited with popularizing the genre, as his expansive and engrossing Yellowstone universe has captivated Western and non-Western fans alike. The franchise is still going strong, with multiple spinoffs at various stages of development. However, 14 years before Yellowstone aired its disappointing series finale, Justified showed us exactly why the neo-Western is here to stay.
Justified Is The Best Neo-Western Show Of All Time
As Deadwood fans know, Timothy Olyphant is the undisputed king of Western TV, and his turn as Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens in Justified definitively brought the genre into the 21st century. Premiering on FX in 2010, Justified follows Raylan as he protects the good citizens of rural Kentucky, defending them against an array of criminal threats, most notably his former best friend, outlaw Boyd Crowder (a phenomenal Walton Goggins).
What makes Justified the quintessential neo-Western series is how both Raylan and the show as a whole blend classic Western sensibilities in a gritty modern setting. Though he’s a lawman, Raylan employs his own brand of frontier justice in his work. He often gets the job done, but he also leaves a trail of morally questionable decisions in his wake.
Across Justified‘s six seasons, the cat-and-mouse dynamic between Raylan and Boyd becomes more complex, nuanced, and high-stakes. Despite hailing from the same roots, as men, they chose an existence on opposite sides of the law, and yet Justified proves that no matter how hard Raylan or Boyd fight to secure their ideal future, they can’t outrun the past. In fact, it’s the past’s battle with the future that proves the ultimate cat-and-mouse game, which is what the neo-Western is all about.
Has Justified Aged Well?
It’s precisely Justified‘s embracing of classic Western themes in a contemporary setting that gives the Western series its timeless feel. It may have run from 2010-2015, but few would call it a “2010s show,” as it is still just as resonant today, holding up against any current TV series despite Justified having ended over a decade ago.
A lot of this is due to the whip-smart, witty dialogue, and for that, Justified must thank its source material. Raylan Givens is the subject of several short stories by the iconic Western and crime writer Elmore Leonard, with Justified particularly inspired by the author’s “Fire in the Hole.”
Though Justified season 1 leaned a bit into the procedural side, it’s the central conflict between Raylan and Boyd that remains the beating heart of the series. Embittered rivalries have been driving storytelling for centuries, and Justified‘s lawman vs. outlaw feud will continue to entertain for decades to come.
Neo-Westerns And Television Are A Perfect Match
Though the Western has long been associated with the big screen, the genre — particularly the neo-Western — thrives much better in TV form. Whether it’s Justified, Yellowstone, or another series in the subgenre, neo-Westerns are defined by their morally complex characters, and longform storytelling allows the narrative to deeply explore the many facets of Western TV antiheroes like Raylan Givens and John Dutton.
To limit Raylan’s hunting of Boyd or the Duttons’ brutal battle for their ranch to a two-hour feature-length film would be doing these epic stories a grave disservice. Television allows these stories to become true sagas, spawning multiple generations and time periods, as seen with Yellowstone prequels 1883 and 1923.
Even the story of Raylan was able to continue on television with the 2023 Justified prequel, Justified: City Primeval, a hit with both audiences and critics alike. The same success just couldn’t be guaranteed on the big screen — just look to Kevin Costner’s failed Horizon: An American Saga — proving that neo-Westerns deserve to have a fully fleshed-out narrative that only television can offer.
- Release Date
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2010 – 2015
- Directors
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Adam Arkin, Jon Avnet, Peter Werner, Bill Johnson, John Dahl, Michael W. Watkins, Dean Parisot, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Tony Goldwyn, Don Kurt, Michael Katleman, Billy Gierhart, Frederick King Keller, John David Coles, Lesli Linka Glatter
