How Justified makes me a better writer…or at least humbles me to try

Confession: I time-shift everything I watch. I hate commercials. I mean, I delay the start of a show by 15 minutes so when I do finally hit the Play button on the DVR remote, I can watch my one hour show in 44 minutes. What does this confession mean? Nothing, except that Tuesday night, I did what I haven’t done in maybe two years…watch a one hour, prime time television show live. Why? Because it was the season three premiere of friggin’ Justified, for Pete’s sake – perhaps the best written, best acted, best shooting’ show I’ve seen since…well, maybe ever. (Maybe BSG or Firefly, I’ll admit).

The reason I enjoy it so much is that it give me impetus, motivation, and perhaps a kick in the ass to write a better story myself. The dialogue, the one-liners, the incredible characters, the plot arcs with individual subplots all tying into a larger story, the realistic acting right down to the facial expressions, are all so high quality, I feel myself bowing before the screenwriters (figuratively of course).

In Monday’s premiere, Boyd Crowder (maybe the coolest bad guy on TV, played by Walton Goggins) and Raylan Givens (the underrated Timothy Olyphant) had these little, minor exchanges (like many others they’ve had) in the US Marshal’s office:

• Raylan: Did you do something you shouldn’t have?
• Boyd: Well, that’s a pretty low bar, Raylan.

• Raylan: There’s still a sizable amount missing.
• Boyd: How sizeable, Raylan?
• Raylan: Well over ten dollars.
• Boyd: Well now, if I found that kind of money, I’d be in Mexico by now.
• Raylan: Boyd, I’ve been to Mexico, I don’t think you’d like it.
• Boyd: How so?
• Raylan: There’s a lot of Mexicans.

All told in deadpan, straight face, one to one conversation that showed such an amazing character interaction, I was blown away. And the story itself? Even better. By Season 3, they’ve interwoven three different villains – the Crowders, Mags Bennett, and now the Dixie Mafia with a surprise visitor from Detroit – into the overall arc so well, you’d have no idea the same story is still going on…yet it is.

Special shout out to Wynn Duffy, played by Jere Burns (love that guy) for the show’s most memorable and laughable quote: “Raylan, I’m sorry. I would like to be of more help but I’ve gotta get back to watching women’s tennis.” And for a little slapstick value, Joelle Carter’s character Ava’s cast iron skillet to the face bit was excellent. Not a stretch, not gratuitous, but like everything else in Justified, it fits right in.

Entertainment factor aside, and there is a massive one, Justified shows what a story can be in the hands of a talented writer (or group of writers), and for that I’m thankful. And damned jealous…

Aspiring writers, take an hour out of your week to catch Justified and see what a story really is. (Or like me, take 44 minutes…)