This fourth season of Justified starts rather oddly, and I don't mean the first few minutes but rather the first half of the season takes a while to really start coming together. Well, actually, having just said that, the first few minutes are odd as well. Out of the blue (literally) a new plot is dropped in (literally) by virtue of planting a plot device many decades before and then jumping to its relevance as the basis for the season long thread this time. Having done this and vaguely linked to it, the show then brings in lots of other things such as the church, the loss of business for Boyd, a relationship problem for Raylan as well as a bit of bounty hunting.
I think there is some attempt to try and tie all these things up into one satisfying ball but in reality it doesn't quite work as well as it should and as a result the first half of the season feels a bit fragmented as some threads (which feel like the main one) just come to an abrupt end or peter out in other ways. It still engaged me and it still had the tough edge that I like about the show, but it seemed that it was a little directionless in some regards and not as tightly plotted as the previous season. Around the mid-point the main thread came more to the fore and started leading the way. This allowed side issues to be side issues and work as such, while the heart of the show was stronger. The Drew Thompson storyline is solid and allows for lots of tough action and character development and I enjoyed it a lot once it got going. The downside to how impacting some of it happened to be was that it was almost flippant with the killings – so FBI agents, main characters, stooges, heavies, all of them get killed on a high frequency and it does rather take away from the show because of how much and how easily it happens. I like this sort of thing for effect when combined with the tough tone, but when it is so frequent it loses its impact.
It doesn't all hang together though and in particular it never quite gets into its stride until the back end of the season when it not only produces some real strong episodes in terms of action, but also works with the characters a bit – in particular some nice moments and contrast/comparison between Rayland and Boyd. The cast continue to do good work though; I like Olyphant, he could easily ride on just his cool (and he does to a point) but more than that he does have a character in there. Goggins is equally as good – the white supremacy thing and the religious thing is all forgotten and his character works now. The various supporting roles are strong and generally everyone is on the same page in terms of the tone of the show and the characters.
Season 4 isn't perfect by any means but it even when it is not quite hitting its mark it is still solidly entertaining. Hopefully the next season will be stronger from the get-go and carry on the good tone and character that the show generally has developed.
I think there is some attempt to try and tie all these things up into one satisfying ball but in reality it doesn't quite work as well as it should and as a result the first half of the season feels a bit fragmented as some threads (which feel like the main one) just come to an abrupt end or peter out in other ways. It still engaged me and it still had the tough edge that I like about the show, but it seemed that it was a little directionless in some regards and not as tightly plotted as the previous season. Around the mid-point the main thread came more to the fore and started leading the way. This allowed side issues to be side issues and work as such, while the heart of the show was stronger. The Drew Thompson storyline is solid and allows for lots of tough action and character development and I enjoyed it a lot once it got going. The downside to how impacting some of it happened to be was that it was almost flippant with the killings – so FBI agents, main characters, stooges, heavies, all of them get killed on a high frequency and it does rather take away from the show because of how much and how easily it happens. I like this sort of thing for effect when combined with the tough tone, but when it is so frequent it loses its impact.
It doesn't all hang together though and in particular it never quite gets into its stride until the back end of the season when it not only produces some real strong episodes in terms of action, but also works with the characters a bit – in particular some nice moments and contrast/comparison between Rayland and Boyd. The cast continue to do good work though; I like Olyphant, he could easily ride on just his cool (and he does to a point) but more than that he does have a character in there. Goggins is equally as good – the white supremacy thing and the religious thing is all forgotten and his character works now. The various supporting roles are strong and generally everyone is on the same page in terms of the tone of the show and the characters.
Season 4 isn't perfect by any means but it even when it is not quite hitting its mark it is still solidly entertaining. Hopefully the next season will be stronger from the get-go and carry on the good tone and character that the show generally has developed.