Justified season 3
The third season of the American neo-Western television series Justified premiered on January 17, 2012, on FX, and concluded on April 10, 2012, consisting of 13 episodes. The series was developed by Graham Yost based on Elmore Leonard's novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and his short story "Fire in the Hole". Its main character is Raylan Givens, a deputy U.S. Marshal. Timothy Olyphant portrays Givens, a tough federal lawman, enforcing his own brand of justice in his Kentucky hometown. The series is set in the city of Lexington, Kentucky, and the hill country of eastern Kentucky, specifically in and around Harlan.
Cast and characters
Main
- Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, a suave deputy U.S. marshal who runs afoul of a dangerous Detroit-based mobster
- Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, the chief deputy of Lexington's marshals office.
- Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, Boyd's lover who begins to take an interest in his operations.
- Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson, a Lexington deputy marshal.
- Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks, a Lexington deputy marshal.
- Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins, Raylan's pregnant ex-wife who, despite becoming re-involved with him, begins having doubts about their relationship.
- Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, Raylan's intelligent nemesis who begins to take over Harlan's criminal underground.
Guest
- Carla Gugino as Karen Goodall (née Sisco), the Assistant Director in the Marshals Service. Reprising her role from the 2003 crime drama television series Karen Sisco, the character's surname was changed as FX did not own the rights to the Karen Sisco character or stories at the time at which the Justified episode in which she guest-starred initially aired.
- Richard Speight Jr. as Jed Berwind, an imprisoned Bennett henchman that Raylan seeks help from.
- Steven Flynn as Emmitt Arnett, a Dixie Mafia higher-up who owes money to the Detroit Mob.
- Linda Gehringer as Helen Givens, Raylan's deceased maternal aunt and stepmother that Arlo imagines talking to.
- James LeGros as Wade Messer, a Harlan petty criminal and drug addict who Raylan is hunting after he sold him out to Dickie in the previous season.
Production
The third season of 13 episodes was announced on March 29, 2011.Filming
Episodes were shot in California. The small town of Green Valley, California often doubles for Harlan, Kentucky.Episodes
;Notes
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 96% with an average score of 9.6 out of 10 based on 28 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Justified continues to dispense its brand of spare dialogue and sudden violence, culminating in a very satisfying finale." On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim.Robert Bianco of USA Today praised this season, writing: "As you'd hope from a show based on Elmore Leonard's work, the plots snap, the dialogue crackles and—to press on with the point—the characters pop." Verne Gay of Newsday said of the third season, "Lean, laconic, precise and as carefully word-crafted as any series on TV, there's pretty much nothing here to suggest that the third season won't be as good as the second -- or better." However, Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker was critical of the third season, writing: "Extended storytelling has its own conventions and clichés, all of which appeared in Season 3... it echoed every cable drama, in the worst way."