BuzzFeed: "Veronica Mars and 8 Other TV Shows You Can Only Stream On Amazon Prime"

Looking to get caught up on Veronica Mars before the movie comes out on March 14? Turns out, the only place you can do so now is on Amazon Prime Instant.

At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, "9 TV Shows You Can Only Stream On Amazon Prime," in which I run nine shows that you can only watch on Amazon Prime.

1. Veronica Mars

A long time ago, we used to be friends… and you used to be able to stream Veronica Mars on Netflix. But those days are long gone and on Jan. 9, Amazon Prime Instant announced that it had secured exclusive streaming rights to all three seasons of the UPN/CW sleuth series. And what perfect timing to get caught up (or refresh yourself) on all of the intrigues in Neptune: The feature film sequel opens on March 14, marshmallows.

2. Downton Abbey

Episodes of Julian Fellowes’ well-heeled period drama — which airs Stateside on PBS’ Masterpiece Classic and centers on the Crawley clan and their servants — can only be seen on Amazon Prime Instant these days. Downton’s first three seasons are available for streaming on the platform, while the series’ fourth just premiered earlier this week on PBS.

Continue reading at BuzzFeed...

BuzzFeed: "13 Returning TV Shows To Get Excited About"

Girls is back on Sunday and the onslaught of returning shows is just beginning. Set your DVRs now!

At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, "13 Returning TV Shows To Get Excited About," in which I run down 13 returning television series worth watching this winter. (And, yes, I know that Game of Thrones isn't on there: We still don't have an airdate.)

1. Justified (FX)

Season 5 of Justified finds Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens tangling with some Florida lowlifes, relatives of Dewey Crowe (Damon Herriman), one of Harlan County’s sleaziest denizens. Plus, Boyd (Walton Goggins) tries to find a way to get Ava (Joelle Carter) out of prison… and he exacts a bloody revenge against those who put her there in the first place. Along the way, wisecracks are exchanged, along with gunfire.

Season 5 premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 10 p.m.

2. Girls (HBO)

The stellar third season of HBO’s Girls finds the quartet struggling with new challenges and the first two episodes — which air back to back as a one-hour premiere — reintroduce new realities for these characters. (The brilliant second half of the premiere is a precise and gorgeous tone poem about a road trip.) While Hannah (Lena Dunham) has settled into a life of domestic bliss (relatively) with Adam (Adam Driver), Marnie (Allison Williams) is in a perpetual state of free fall, reeling from her breakup with Charlie (Christopher Abbott). Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) is trying to find her wild side, while Jessa (Jemima Kirke) continues to create chaos in her wake. Change both big and small is on the horizon for these women, and the first few episodes of the season capture the pain and humor of self-transformation. Not to be missed under any circumstances.

Season 3 premieres Sunday, Jan. 12 at 10 p.m.

Continue reading at BuzzFeed...

The Daily Beast: "Joelle Carter's Ava Crowder: The Most Badass Woman on TV"

She’s wielded a skillet, a rifle, and—in last night’s episode of Justified—nearly ignited a man. Joelle Carter talks to me about the evolution of Ava Crowder, empowerment, and last night's explosive episode of the FX drama.

One choice quote: “We wanted to see them on top of a mountain before the fall,” said Carter.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The Most Badass Woman on TV," in which I sit down with Joelle Carter to talk about playing Ava Crowder, empowerment, and more.

FX’s Justified, based on characters created by novelist Elmore Leonard, revolves around criminals and lawmen who collide in a never-ending bloody battle. Unfolding largely in the backwoods of modern-day Harlan County, Kentucky, the show is grounded in a rough-and-tumble man’s world, one containing a very specific code of honor among the hairy-chested set. It’s a show about how we often stumble upon the path of darkness, how violence defines our worldview, how a gun can represent the law or criminality.

But it’s also a show that features one of the strongest women on television in Ava Crowder, one-time battered wife-turned outlaw who has emerged as a force to be reckoned with over the course of the last four seasons. As magnificently played by Joelle Carter in a tightrope performance, she’s a character who engages the viewer’s sympathies while indulging in all sorts of bad behavior: whacking uppity men with skillets, slaying vicious pimps, punching whores, and in Tuesday’s episode of Justified (“Decoy”), nearly setting a man on fire with little more than a cigarette lighter and a snifter of high-proof booze.

Ava’s behavior here is, well, absolutely justified. Her very much NSFW scene is fueled by a desire, both on the part of Ava and the audience, to see Mike O’Malley’s Nicky Augustine pay for treating the Harlan businesswoman as nothing more than a common whore. As Ava uses her sexuality—just one of the many weapons in her deadly arsenal—to get closer to Nicky, the audience cheers her on, wanting Nicky go up in flames, to be punished for his awful misogyny, and for reducing Ava to a simple girl who turns tricks.

Carter, 40, said that the scene is intended to be a “slow burn,” a taut sequence where Ava waits to discover if Boyd (Walton Goggins) has been killed, only to turn her attentions on the man jeopardizing her lover. “Ava reacts before she thinks, sometimes,” she said, laughing.

In person, Carter barely resembles Ava Crowder. Perched on a chair in a corner of a Beverly Hills bar on an unseasonably dreary Los Angeles day, her blonde hair is cut short and her eyebrows dyed for a futuristic short film that she’s producing and starring in. Gone is Ava’s Kentucky drawl, replaced with a rounded accent that could be from Anywhere, U.S.A. (“It’s always in my repertoire,” she said. “When I get drunk or lazy or something, you’ll hear the twang.”)

Last night’s explosive scene displays Ava at a high-wattage intensity, a dangerous cocktail of boiling rage and violent, sometimes unpredictable, self-empowerment.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "18 Shows to Watch This Winter"

Stay cozy this New Year: I find the 18 new and returning television shows that will keep you warm this winter, from Girls and Justified to The Staircase, The Americans, and House of Cards.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "18 Shows to Watch This Winter," in which I round up 18 new and returning noteworthy shows that you should be watching between January and March. Some you're looking forward to, some you may not have heard of, and there are a few that you've already drawn a big red circle on the calendar on the day that they return...

Yes, Downton Abbey is back: the beloved British period drama returns to PBS’s Masterpiece for a third season beginning on Jan. 6, but it’s not the only new or noteworthy show heading to television this winter.

Indeed, some of the most intriguing, dynamic, or plain interesting shows are launching in midseason this year, from Fox’s serial killer drama The Following and Sundance Channel’s Jane Campion-created murder mystery Top of the Lake to FX’s Soviet spy period drama The Americans (starring Keri Russell!), Netflix's American remake of political potboiler House of Cards, and the return of both NBC’s subversive comedy Community and HBO’s Girls.

Jace Lacob rounds up 18 new and returning television shows that will help keep you warm during these chilly winter months, from the intriguing to the sensational.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "TiVo’s 20 Most Time Shifted TV Shows of 2011-12: Mad Men, Fringe & More"

Is anyone watching Mad Men live?

At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "TiVo’s 20 Most Time Shifted TV Shows of 2011-12: Mad Men, Fringe, and More," in which I examine TiVo's Top 20 TV shows with the highest percentage of time-shifting, from Showtime's Nurse Jackie and AMC's Mad Men to Fox's Fringe and ABC Family's Switched at Birth.

TiVo singlehandedly changed the way that many viewers watch television, allowing consumers to record their favorite shows and time-shift their viewing altogether.

Increasingly, time-shifted viewing is having an enormous impact on television ratings, and the networks have begun to consider the uptick in DVR-viewing when calculating their overall ratings. According to the data provided by TiVo to The Daily Beast, the shows with the highest aggregated rating of time-shifted viewing during the 2011–12 season are the usual suspects: Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Glee, and NCIS, to name a few. In other words: popular shows become even more popular once TiVo examines the overall time-shifted viewing. This is not a surprise.

What is interesting, however, is TiVo's data that illustrates the percentage of the total viewing of a given show that was time-shifted. (TiVo calls this measurement "Percentage Time-Shifted Viewing.") For instance: Showtime’s dark comedy Nurse Jackie has the highest percentage of time-shifted viewing out of any primetime show on television. Shows as varied as Mad Men, Fringe, and Switched at Birth are also on the list. (Community, meanwhile, ranks at No. 164, just behind An Idiot Abroad and Survivor.)

A few caveats before we dive in: The data provided comes from TiVo’s Stop||Watch ratings service, which “passively and anonymously” collects DVR viewing data from a sample group of 350,000 nationally distributed TiVo DVR subscribers. (That sample group represents roughly 17.5 percent of TiVo’s overall subscriber base of approximately 2 million customers.) Additionally, TiVo considers any viewing that takes place five seconds after the live broadcast as being “time-shifted.” As for the Percentage Time-Shifted Viewing figures we’re looking at: higher percentage time-shifted scores indicates preference on the part of viewers to watch the specific show time-shifted than live, independent of the overall popularity of the show.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "2012 Emmy Nomination Snubs & Surprises"

The nominations are out: Homeland, Downtown Abbey, and Girls get their shot at the awards, while The Good Wife, Community, Louie, Justified, and many others are shut out.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "2012 Emmy Nomination Snubs & Surprises," in which I discuss which shows and actors were snubbed by the TV Academy as well as a few surprise nominations. Plus, view our gallery of the nominees.

The Television Academy has today announced its nominations for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards and, looking at the list, you may be forgiven for thinking that every single member of the casts of Downton Abbey and Modern Family had walked away with nominations. (It just seems that way.)


AMC’s Mad Men and FX’s American Horror Story tied for the most nominations, with 17 apiece, while PBS’ cultural phenomenon Downton Abbey—which shifted from the miniseries category into Best Drama this year—grabbed 16 nominations (tying with History’s Hatfields & McCoys), including many in the acting categories. Also getting a lot of love this year: Game of Thrones, Homeland, Modern Family, and Sherlock. Not getting a lot of love: network dramas.

Once again, the dramatic categories are fierce competitions, including the dramatic actress races, which boast Julianna Margulies, Michelle Dockery, Elisabeth Moss, Kathy Bates, Claire Danes, and Glenn Close for Lead Actress and Archie Panjabi, Anna Gunn, Maggie Smith, Joanne Froggatt, Christina Hendricks, and Christine Baranski for Supporting. But for those shows that managed to score a bounty of nominations, there were those that were shut out in the cold altogether.

Hugh Laurie, an Emmy mainstay, failed to get a nomination for the final season of Fox’s House, while Justified didn’t get any love as a show or for its stars, Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins. (The show scored only two nominations overall, none in the main categories.) With Downton Abbey in the best drama series mix, CBS’ The Good Wife didn’t score a nomination, and the comedy list, heavy on HBO contenders, failed to include Community, Louie, and Parks and Recreation. (Speaking of which, will Parks’ Nick Offerman EVER get a nomination at this rate?)

Some oversights, however, are more egregious than others, and the nominations this year had their fair share of surprises as well. Here are some of the biggest snubs and most shocking surprises of this year’s Emmy nominations…

SNUB: Parks and Recreation (NBC)
This year’s Best Comedy category boasts no less than three HBO shows—including two newcomers in Girls and Veep, and returnee Curb Your Enthusiasm—leaving little room for much else to break through. The rest of the positions went to 30 Rock, Modern Family, and The Big Bang Theory, all of which have proven over the years to be irresistible catnip to Emmy voters. But to leave out Parks and Recreation, which had one of its best and most nuanced seasons to date, is particularly myopic. Revolving around the campaign of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, who was rightly nominated), Season 4 was tremendous, examining the hope and optimism of one political candidate against whom the odds were stacked, thanks to a spoiled candy company offspring (Paul Rudd) and his manipulative campaign manager (the ubiquitous Kathryn Hahn). Omitting Parks from the list of nominees is a slap in the face given just how deserving this show is of some awards recognition.

SNUB: Community (NBC)
Likewise, the final Dan Harmon season of Community was also shut out of the awards process. Putting aside the fact that none (NONE!) of its commendable actors managed to secure nominations in their respective categories, the gonzo and wildly imaginative comedy was also denied a Best Comedy nomination, despite the fact that this season proved to be one of its most absurd and inventive yet, delving into chaos theory, the mystery of a murdered yam (presented as a Law & Order episode), a Civil War parody, 8-bit video games, and a scathing Glee takedown. Perhaps Community is simply too good for the Emmys; perhaps it belongs not to awards committees, but rather to the people instead: to those individuals who appreciate and understand the warped genius of this show.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

Justified, Downton Abbey, Shameless, and More: What to Watch on TV This Winter

With the return of Justified, Downton Abbey, and Shameless, and the launch of Touch, Luck, and others, I take a look at what’s coming to your TV this winter over at The Daily Beast, in my latest feature, "What to Watch on TV This Winter." (To get right to my thoughts on the 18 shows included and bypass the intro, you can click here.)

January brings some fresh opportunities for the broadcast and cable networks to try and lure you back with new and returning programming. Among the highlights: costume drama fiends will be lined up for the Jan. 8 return of British drama Downton Abbey; FX’s Justified returns for a third season of Kentucky shootouts on Jan. 17; HBO’s cult comedy Eastbound and Down returns on Feb. 19; auteurs David Milch and Michael Mann unite for HBO’s Luck, launching Jan. 29; and Kiefer Sutherland returns to television with Fox’s Touch, which will get a preview broadcast on Jan. 25. (It officially premieres on March 19.)

Absolutely Fabulous, the outrageous British cult comedy that gave the world the fashion-obsessed Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley), will celebrate its 20th anniversary with three brand-new specials this year, the first of which airs on both BBC America and Logo on Jan. 8 at 10 p.m. ABC will offer the globe-spanning espionage/revenge drama Missing, starring Ashley Judd as a former CIA agent in search of her son, who vanished in Europe, and Game of Thrones’s Sean Bean, beginning March 15. In the not-soon-enough category, Mad Men’s long-delayed fifth season is expected to turn up on AMC sometime this spring, possibly as early as March.

Elsewhere, the usual slew of reality shows—Fox’s American Idol (Jan. 18), NBC’s The Voice (in the coveted post–Super Bowl slot on Feb. 5), and CBS’ The Amazing Race (Feb. 19)—returns with new cycles, while AMC gets into the unscripted business with the Kevin Smith–produced Comic Men, launching Feb. 12. And ABC may have a contender for the worst television show of all time with Work It, a cross-dressing “comedy” starring Ben Koldyke and Amaury Nolasco that already has GLAAD up in arms. (It uses male anxieties, unemployment, and a relentless misogyny to wring jokes out of a stale, Bosom Buddies–like premise.)

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "Most Memorable TV Deaths of 2011"

Looking back, 2011 proved to be a particularly deadly one for television characters, whose bodies were stacking up even before the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which rather notoriously raises the body count each season.

From Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones to Downton Abbey and Boardwalk Empire, TV-show creators this year proved that they were only too willing to kill off beloved characters or shock their respective audiences with deaths involving characters long believed to be “safe,” whether those were little girls, Halloween trick-or-treaters, or heroes.

Safety, it seems, is an outmoded idea. Head over to The Daily Beast to read my and Maria Elena Fernandez's latest feature, "Most Memorable TV Deaths of 2011," in which we examine our choices for the most memorable TV demises this year, rounding up an unlucky 13 who left their fictional lives too soon. But beware: if you’re not up to date on the 12 shows discussed below, you’ll want to avoid reading any further, as there are SPOILERS.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "Homeland, Justified, Downton Abbey and More: The Best and Worst TV Shows of 2011"

At The Daily Beast, it's finally time for my Best and Worst TV Shows of 2011 list: with 10 shows up for recognition as the best (including Justified, Homeland, Downton Abbey, Community, Parks and Recreation, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, and more) and five for worst of 2011. (Plus, you can also compare my Best/Worst picks to my colleague Maria Elena Fernandez's.)

Head over to The Daily Beast to read my latest feature, "Homeland, Justified, Downton Abbey and More: The Best and Worst TV Shows of 2011," which--as the title indicates--rounds up the best and worst television that 2011 had to offer. Warning: the story may contain spoilers if you are not entirely caught up on the shows discussed here.

What is your take on our lists? Did your favorite/least favorite shows make the cut? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

The Daily Beast: "Our Emmy Picks!"

While the Primetime Emmy Awards aren’t typically known for offering gasp-inducing surprises, last year’s ceremony did make an instant star out of The Good Wife’s Archie Panjabi, who walked off with the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, even as most of the crowd gathered said, “Who?” (Those of us who know and love The Good Wife, however, cheered for Kalinda’s win.)

Anything is possible, particularly in some key races (like Panjabi’s category again this year) that are going neck-and-neck as we move into the days leading up to Sunday’s telecast, which will air—for the second year in a row—live from coast to coast.

The winners will be announced on Sept. 18’s live Primetime Emmy Awards telecast on Fox.

But, in the meantime, over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Our Emmy Picks!," in which Maria Elena Fernandez and I offer their predictions of who and what will take home the top prizes in 10 key Emmy races. Will stealth frontrunner Margo Martindale win for Justified? Will Jon Hamm finally take home the Emmy for Mad Men? And will AMC’s period drama four-peat this year? Let’s take a closer look at the major categories. (Meanwhile, all of our Emmys-related content from the last few weeks--from Mad Men and The Good Wife to Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey--can be found in one location, right here.)

Who do you think will win at this year's ceremony? And who should win? Head to the comments section to discuss our predictions and debate the potential winners.

The Daily Beast: "Margo Martindale: Emmy’s Stealth Frontrunner"

Nominee Margo Martindale, in the running for outstanding supporting actress, may not be prepping an Emmy acceptance speech--but she should be, especially after her magnificently malevolent turn as Mags Bennett on FX's Justified this year.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Emmy’s Stealth Frontrunner," in which I sit down with Martindale to discuss playing Justified’s Mags Bennett, how she won’t be wasted on CBS’s A Gifted Man, and why she believes in ghosts.

Justified returns for a third season in 2012.

The Daily Beast: "The Emmy Awards’ 10 Biggest Snubs"

The nominations are out: Parks and Recreation, Game of Thrones, Friday Night Lights, and Mad Men get their shot at the awards, while Community, Nick Offerman, and many others are shut out.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled, "The Emmy Awards’ 10 Biggest Snubs," in which I examine shows and actors were snubbed by the TV Academy. Plus, view our gallery of the nominees.

The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards will be televised live on September 18th on Fox.

Put an End to My Troubles: Getting to Know the Mystery on the Season Finale of Justified

If there is any justice in the world--our world, that is, and not the rough-and-tumble Harlan County--Margo Martindale will walk away with an Emmy nomination (and, one imagines, a win) for her jaw-dropping performance as Mags Bennett this season. Tough-as-nails and quick with her rapier wit, Mags was a top-notch schemer with the brutality to match her Machiavellian machinations, and Martindale brought her to life with all of the grit and dust of the Kentucky mountains intact.

And if there was a highlight of the second season of FX's sensational and atmospheric lawman drama Justified, a season overflowing with dramatic highs and serpentine plot twists galore, it was Martindale's accomplished turn as the head of the Bennetts, a pot-growing clan that has been enmeshed in a feud with the Givens for seventy years. Would Mags and Raylan bury the hatchet? Or bury it in each other's backs? That was the question swirling around the season finale, one populated by several other compelling strands: the quest of vengeance enacted by poor Loretta McCready, the wily plots carried out by bad boy Boyd Crowder, and the future happiness between Raylan and ex-wife Winona.

In the end, Season Two came to a close with much bloodshed, violence, and enmity, much in the same way that it began: with two people sitting across from one another, over a bottle of Mags Bennett's infamous apple pie.

There was a sense of coming full-circle here in the terrific and taut season finale ("Bloody Harlan"), written by Fred Golan and directed by Michael Dinner (who helmed the pilot and second episodes of the series), as Mags poured out another dram of apple pie.

Once more, the poison, we're told, was in the glass and not the jar. I didn't think that dear old Mags would try to kill Raylan, but as soon as she grabbed two separate glasses--one from above and one from below--I knew that Mags had made her choice. That she died, her stomach wrenching from the very same poison that killed Loretta's daddy as she made her peace, both with the world and with Raylan Givens, shuffling off this mortal coil and clutching Raylan's hand was profound and perfect. Was it the only way to end a bitter feud that began seventy years earlier? Was Mags going to see her dead sons--Coover and Doyle--once more and "get to know the mystery" that she spoke of so fondly in her final moments?

Loretta did get one shot off at Mags, shooting her in the leg, but rather than become a killer and enact her revenge on the woman who killed her father--becoming, in essence, Mags herself--Loretta is given a second chance at life. It's Raylan who talks her down, which is ironic as Raylan knows a thing or two about vengeance and about killing. And it's interesting that it's Mags herself who serves as the conduit for Loretta's new life twice: first in killing her father (an effort to transform Loretta's existence and take her away from a life of crime) and here in the final showdown. But is Mag's suicide an escape from punishment--both Loretta's and the law's--or a balancing of the scales? A life for a life? Hers for Loretta's? Hmmm...

I do mourn the loss of the Bennetts, though interestingly Dickie--the one man whom everyone wanted dead--managed to survive everything this season, including what seemed like a pretty certain execution from Boyd. The man with a limp ended up being the last man standing. Which means that in the world of Justified, the story of the Bennetts might not be over quite yet. With Dickie still kicking and the identity of the mysterious old woman who got him out of jail last week still unclear, there are still quite a few story threads to be picked up down the line. And that's a Good Thing Indeed, though I will miss the wrathful leadership of Mags herself.

The season finale also left more than a few storylines dangling in the wind: would Ava survive Dickie's gunshot, falling to the ground in her own kitchen much like Helen a few episodes ago? Would a pregnant Winona face the future with Raylan... or without him? And would Raylan stay in Kentucky or get the hell out?

We at least learn that Art hasn't completely written off Raylan as a lost cause. He and the Marshal Service do come to Raylan's rescue, just as Doyle is about to end Raylan for good. (As soon as Doyle took the gunshot to the head, it was clear that the bullet had been fired by marksman Tim.) We've not spent much time in Lexington these past few episodes, though the relationship between Raylan and Art did get some depth this season.

However, I'm still of the mindset that we desperately need some development of Tim and Rachel, who got seriously shafted this season (even more than in Season One) when it came to storylines. But this is a quibble that I hope is addressed when the writers begin to break stories for Season Three; these two need some more screen time and some additional shading, which is difficult when much of the action takes place not in the offices of Lexington but on the dirt roads of Harlan.

As for Boyd, he proved himself to be just as--if not more--crafty than old Mags Bennett, envisioning that the Bennetts would attempt to gain the upper-hand during their parley and take out his compatriots. (I loved the shot of Johnny Crowder wheeling out of the barn after he blew up his own house, with two of the Bennett's goons inside.) While the finale once again came down to white hat Raylan working together with black hat Boyd, there was the sense here that Raylan may have been willing to cross a moral line and allow Boyd to murder Dickie... until he realized that he needed his old adversary alive.

But it was the sight of Boyd, literally handing Raylan's white hat back to him, that made me think that Raylan's moral compass wasn't quite as haywire as it appeared. Was it a moment of weakness or of the realization that he and/or Boyd couldn't enact justice upon Dickie Bennett? Or was it something far more pragmatic?

Ultimately, I thought that "Bloody Harlan" was the perfect ending to a sensational season of Justified, one that masterfully balanced individual, character-based plotlines (Winona/Raylan, the salvation of Boyd Crowder, Loretta McCready) with episodic plots... and one hell of an overarching, serialized narrative, one that took the strengths of the series and exploded them sky-high. While I was a huge fan of the first season, it's this second season that demonstrated the real depth and scope of Justified... and has given the writers some mighty big shoes to fill when it comes to Season Three.

What did you think of the season finale of Justified? Did it meet your expectations? What will happen to Raylan, Ava, Winona, Boyd, and Dickie? Who was that mysterious old woman from last week? And how on earth will we be able to stand the long wait for Season Three? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Season Three of Justified is set to air next year.

Black as Coal, Dark as Sin: Quick Thoughts on the Next Three Fantastic Episodes of Justified

It's always gratifying when a fairly procedural show takes a serialized plot and runs with it.

That's the case in the next three amazing installments of FX's Justified, which pick up the threads of last week's Winona-centric "Blaze of Glory" and several other ongoing storylines and take them to some truly remarkable places, including next week's "The Spoil," which might just be the strongest episode of the series to date.

It's with these episodes, viewed individually or as a whole, that Justified not only reaches the heights of last season's Crowder storyline but overtakes it as well, transforming this season into an intoxicating blend of procedural cases of the week and a larger mythology for the series, one that entangles Raylan and Winona, Boyd and Ava, Mags Bennett and her clan... and a coal company with designs on the mountain and lands of both Harlan and Bennett counties.

This last element introduces one of the season's most intriguing and nuanced characters in Rebecca Creskoff's Carol Johnson, an executive from said coal company who has not only an interesting offer for Boyd Crowder but also for the good people of both counties. Her presence in Kentucky is the powderkeg that threatens to ignite the rest of the season, bringing with her questions of culpability, of moral boundaries, and of land rights. It's an interesting approach that pays off in dividends here and Carol manages to infiltrate the lives with Raylan, Boyd, and Mags with a good deal of bluster and confidence.

I'm not going to spoil the plot of what lies ahead, but I will say that these three episodes are absolutely outstanding. While the entire cast shines (praise goes to Timothy Olyphant, Natalie Zea, Walton Goggins, and Joelle Carter, as always), it's Margo Martindale's Mags Bennett who steals the show here. Over the course of the next three episodes, we see Mags to go some places I never imagined (particularly in "The Spoil" and "Brother's Keeper"), from the maternal spark that's lit by the presence of young Loretta McCready (Kaitlyn Dever) in her clan and the grandstanding speech she gives in "The Spoil," to her shocking rage and the power she holds over her sons. Martindale gives a stand-out performance that's jaw-dropping as she wields an unnatural amount of power over her malevolent sons and the county as a whole.

Look for some great scenes between Mags and Carol Johnson, and between Mags and Boyd in the next few weeks as the Bennett plot kicks into high gear. But it's Martindale's performance during a scene in "Brother's Keeper" that floored me entirely, as it shows in no uncertain terms just what Mags holds dear and what she doesn't. Brutal, emotional, and jaw-dropping, it's a menacing scene that pits Mags against Raylan and likely sets up the showdown between the Marshall and the Bennetts at the end of the season.

(UPDATE: As some are inquiring about Jeremy Davies' Dickie Bennett and his presence in the next three installments, I'll say that Dickie is definitely in these episodes and has a fair amount to do, especially in "Brother's Keeper"... and I'll reveal that we learn just how he got that limp of his. Hmmmm....)

All in all, three fantastic installments of Justified await you over the next three weeks and you'd be crazy--or drunk on Mags' apple pie--if you miss them.

Justified airs Wednesday nights at 10 pm ET/PT on FX.

The Gunslinger Returns: An Advance Review of Season Two of FX's Justified

Lawman Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is back with a bang as the gripping second season of FX's taut drama series Justified kicks off tonight.

In the time since we last caught up with the beleaguered Raylan, this taut series hasn't lost any of its luster or its off-kilter nature. Season Two, which launches tonight, begins with "The Moonshine War," which picks up exactly where we left off at the end of last season as Raylan, Boyd (Walton Goggins), and Ava (Joelle Carter) attempted to fend off fire from the Miami drug cartel's hitmen.

The action picks up moments later to reveal just how the three manage to live to tell the tale. But rather than sweep last season's plotlines under the rug, there are consequences to the shootout in Bulletville and to Raylan professionally. Will he be held accountable for the death of Bo Crowder? Will he stay in Harlan or return to Miami? Will he choose his ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea) or Ava? Will Boyd choose the path of vengeance or of godliness?

Fortunately for us, these questions loom over the action of the electric second season, which effortlessly sets up new adversaries for Raylan and the U.S. Marshal Service in the Bennetts, a Harlan County clan of pot growers who rule the county with an iron first.

Or make that an iron fist in a metaphorical velvet glove.

Heading up this operating is Mags Bennett, the matriarch of the clan, played to perfection by Margo Martindale, who plays Mags as a combination of feudal lord and tough-love matron. Her front might be the rundown local store that . operates while cooking up some mean moonshine (or as she calls it "apple pie," 180-proof, cut with some cider, cinnamon, and vanilla for good measure). Mags is ruthless, duplicitous, and above all else, dangerous.

There's also some bad blood between the Bennetts and the Givenses, a fact that's hinted at in the early episodes. Whatever passed between Mags and Arlo has the potential to ignite once again, especially as the vacuum of power left by Bo's death means that someone will likely try to step in to fill his criminal shoes in Harlan. Not a good thing, considering the amount of bloodshed that the Crowders brought to the table.

Mags isn't in this business alone. While she remains, um, distant from the sort of blood-letting that her particular operation entails, Mags isn't above getting her hands dirty when needs must, as we see in the season opener. But she's also the kind of woman who has the reputation for "helping" the locals with their glaucoma troubles. Her enforcers are her sons, played ably by Lost's Jeremy Davies, Brad William Henke, and Joseph Lyle Taylor, the latter of which plays Doyle, a local sheriff as crooked as they come. (Special praise is due for Davies, whose limping, conniving, sadistic Dickie Bennett is a nasty piece of work. This is a gripping portrayal miles away from the endearing genius of Daniel Faraday and there's a wounded animal nature to Dickie's savagery.)

While I don't want to spoil too much, I will say to keep your eyes open for Kaitlin Dever's Loretta McCrady, one of the most spirited and clever character to appear on Justified. Following in the footsteps of the characters played by Winter's Bone's Jennifer Lawrence and True Grit's Hallie Steinfeld, Loretta is another kick-ass teenage girl who doesn't suffer fools gladly and is more than capable of making her way through this world alone. When her father (the always fantastic Chris Mulkey) vanishes, she's taken under Mags' wing. But this girl knows how to fight her way out of a tough situation and something tells me that Mags may have underestimated this pint-sized brawler. (Witness the way in "The Moonshine War" that she takes out the triple-named sex offender harassing her in the grow shed and you'll see what I mean.)

And then there's Boyd Crowder who has one hell of a transformation at the very tail end of the third episode that must be seen to be believed. Boyd ends up in a profession very much suited to his, uh, unique skill set but one can't help but feel that he's looking backward instead of looking forward. With Raylan watching his every move with as much intensity as Boyd's new-found god, something has got to give before long. And once you reawaken that dragon, there will be hell to pay.

All in all, Justified returns with its swagger, precision, and character intact in its second season. Olyphant is once again at the top of his game with a character that he was born to play and the thwarted friendship between Raylan and Boyd remains at the heart of this crime drama. This is an Elmore Leonard-ian drama with all of the quirkiness, violence, and memorable characters that such a description entails. Season Two, off to an electrifying start in the three episodes provided to press for review, promises to delve even deeper into the mindsets of the characters in Lexington and Harlan as the tension mounts for what's likely to be a major brawl between the Marshal Service and those Bennetts. Me, I just can't wait for the inevitable explosions.

Season Two of Justified premieres tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on FX.

Midseason TV Preview: 16 Shows to Watch This Winter

Winter is coming...

Well, not that winter, not just yet. While we continue the long slog until April when HBO launches its adaptation of Game of Thrones, there's quite a lot of new and returning television series to keep us entertained in the meantime.

Over at The Daily Beast, I offer "16 Shows to Watch This Winter," a round-up that includes such series as Episodes, Shameless, Big Love, Downton Abbey, Parks and Recreation, Portlandia, Off the Map, The Chicago Code, Lights Out, Archer, Justified, The Killing, Body of Proof, and others.

In other words: quite a fair bit coming up.

Which of these new and returning shows are you most excited about? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Year in TV: The 10 Best (and 5 Worst) TV Shows of 2010

It's that time of year when we bid farewell to the last twelve months and start looking toward the future, but it's also a chance to reflect, to catalogue, and to reminisce as well.

My selections for the Ten Best (and, cough, five worst) TV shows of 2010 have now gone live over at The Daily Beast.

The series selected represent the very best that television had to offer the past twelve months and include such shows as Mad Men, Community, Terriers, Parks and Recreation, The Good Wife, Fringe, Justified, Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, and Modern Family.

It wasn't easy to whittle down the competition to just ten shows as, despite the overall drain in creativity this calendar year, there were quite a lot of fantastic series. (In fact, one of the very best of the year didn't even air on American television at all: Season Three of BBC One's Ashes to Ashes--including its breathtaking and gut-wrenching series finale--would have made this list if it had been open to overseas programming that hadn't aired within the US during 2010. Additionally, Downton Abbey would have made the list but it's set to air in January on PBS, so will be held until the 2011 list.)

As for other runners-up, that category would include (but wouldn't be limited to) such series as Damages, Party Down, Nurse Jackie, Sherlock, Bored to Death, Better Off Ted, Doctor Who, True Blood, Treme, Big Love, Archer, The Choir, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The IT Crowd, The Life and Times of Tim, Luther, and 30 Rock (for the current season, at least).

But now that the list is (finally) live, I'm curious to hear what you had to say:

What's your take on the best of 2010? Do you agree with my picks for the best of the year and the worst? Head to the comments section to discuss, debate, and analyze, as well as share your own best-of list for 2010.

Bulletville: An Advance Review of the Season Finale of FX's Justified

It's only fitting that FX's lawman drama Justified should go out with a bang.

The first season of Justified, based on characters created by the incomparable Elmore Leonard, wraps up its run tonight with a fantastic installment ("Bulletville") that is more than aptly titled.

Over the course of the thirteen-episode run, Justified has succeeded in creating a vividly drawn world of crime and punishment, a Southern Gothic landscape set in the hills of Kentucky (and the offices of Lexington) where violence runs amok, fugitives are caught, and the good guy dons a cowboy hat and slings a gun with the best of them.

In the capable hands of Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins, Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder have become some of the most deftly drawn adversaries on television, former friends turned enemies whose relationship is a constantly shifting morass of blame, confession, and enmity. Like Raylan, the audience has never been sure of whether to fully believe Boyd's alleged conversion and newfound religious belief. Can a leopard change its spots? Can a bad man turn good?

Those questions about human nature seem to be at the forefront of tonight's season finale, which wraps up the season-long Crowder family storyline in a hail of bullets and offers some intriguing twists along the way. With the emphasis placed squarely on Raylan/Ava/Boyd, it sadly means very little screen time for the other U.S. marshalls this week but it also means that the pacing is killer, allowing the tension to seep into every scene.

While Raylan and Boyd are the focal points for the episode, it's also about the twisted relationships between fathers and sons and how that formative relationship can shape a man. Can we ever live up to our father's expectations? Do we want to become him or kill him? What happens when we turn our backs on where we came from? Important and weighty questions that both Raylan and Boyd are forced to contend with as the first season comes to a dramatic close tonight.

Additionally, the season finale examines issues of causality. Can one crucial action define a man's life... and possibly his death? Justified began with Raylan's transfer to Harlan because of his "justified" shooting in Miami, an moment in time from which everything else spins out as a result. Returning to Harlan, Raylan finds himself falling into a relationship with Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter)--and reigniting something with his ex-wife Winona Hawkins (Natalie Zea)--and becomes enmeshed in yet another war with the Crowders.

Throughout the season, the threat of the Miami drug cartel--whose lieutenant Raylan shot in a posh Miami restaurant overlooking the ocean--has loomed large and that shooting, justified though it may have been, comes back to haunt to Raylan Givens in no uncertain terms, even as it connects with the meth trade in Harlan and the insidious involvement of Bo Crowder (M.C. Gainey).

We will find out just how far Boyd's supposed religious conviction will take him, what lengths he'll go to for retribution, and the sacrifices he's prepared to make for his cause... whatever that might be. Suffice it to say, there are some surprises remaining in Goggins' wiry self-appointed preacher and some nicely rendered epiphanies to boot.

It all comes down to a final shootout in Bulletville, as these things should, and the body count for tonight's episode is mighty high. Who will walk away and who will be six feet under? Find out tonight in the riveting season finale of a series that's at once smart, provocative, and action-packed. Fire in the hole, indeed.

Justified's season finale airs tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on FX.

TCA Award Nominees Announced: Modern Family, Glee, Mad Men, Lost, Parks and Recreation, Party Down Represented

The Television Critics Association today announced their short-list nominations for the 2010 TCA Awards, which will be handed out during TCA Summer Press Tour, which kicks off at the end of July.

Among the nominees for Program of the Year, such series as Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Glee, Lost, and Modern Family. In the individual genre categories, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Lost, Sons of Anarchy, and The Good Wife will compete for the top drama prize, while Glee, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Party Down, and The Big Bang Theory are up for comedy kudos and such talents as Eric Stonestreet, Jane Lynch, Aaron Paul, Katey Segal, Nick Offerman, and many others are up for individual honors.

I'm glad to see so many broadcast network series competing side by side with their cable brethren. It almost gives one hope that the network model isn't completely cracked.

Additionally, this year's TCA Awards is also the first time that I'll be voting, as a newly installed member of the Television Critics Association. I was extremely pleased to see so many of my own personal nominations make the list here and I've already gone ahead and cast my ballot. (You can guess who and what I voted for.)

The full list of nominees can be found below.

2010 TCA Award Nominees

Program of the Year:

"Breaking Bad" (AMC)
"Friday Night Lights" (DirecTV/NBC)
"Glee" (Fox)
"Lost" (ABC)
"Modern Family" (ABC)

Outstanding Drama Series:

"Breaking Bad" (AMC)
"Lost" (ABC)
"Mad Men" (AMC)
"Sons of Anarchy" (FX)
"The Good Wife" (CBS)

Outstanding Comedy Series:

"Glee" (Fox)
"Modern Family" (ABC)
"Parks and Recreation" (NBC)
"Party Down" (Starz)
"The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)

Individual Achievement in Drama:

Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad," AMC)
John Lithgow ("Dexter," Showtime)
Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife," CBS)
Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad," AMC)
Katey Sagal ("Sons of Anarchy," FX)

Individual Achievement in Comedy:

Ty Burrell ("Modern Family," ABC)
Jane Lynch ("Glee," Fox)
Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation," NBC)
Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory," CBS)
Eric Stonestreet ("Modern Family," ABC)

Outstanding New Program:

"Glee" (Fox)
"Justified" (FX)
"Modern Family" (ABC)
"Parenthood" (NBC)
"The Good Wife" (CBS)

Outstanding Movie, Miniseries or Special:

"Life" (Discovery Channel)
"The Pacific" (HBO)
"Temple Grandin" (HBO)
"Torchwood: Children of Earth" (BBC America)
"You Don't Know Jack" (HBO)

Outstanding Achievement in News & Information:

"30 for 30" (ESPN)
"America: The Story of Us" (History Channel)
"Life" (Discovery Channel)
"The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
"The Rachel Maddow Show" (MSNBC)

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming:

"Dinosaur Train" (PBS)
"iCarly" (Nickelodeon)
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (Cartoon Network)
"Word Girl" (PBS)
"Yo Gabba Gabba" (Nick Jr.)

Career Achievement:

James Garner
Bill Moyers
Sherwood Schwartz
William Shatner
Dick Wolf

Heritage Award:

"24"
"M*A*S*H"
"Law & Order"
"Lost"
"Twin Peaks"

Riding the Rap: FX Renews Justified For Second Season

Raylan Givens is going to be stuck in Harlan a little while longer.

FX today announced that it had commissioned a second season of Timothy Olyphant-led drama series Justified, based on character created by Elmore Leonard.

A second season of 13 episodes is expected to air on the cabler, with Season Two likely launching next year. The first season of Justified, meanwhile, is set to wrap up its run on June 8th.

"We are very excited about the tremendous, widespread acclaim that Justified has received from both audiences and television critics," said John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks. "Graham Yost, Tim Olyphant, Elmore Leonard and their talented partners have crafted a uniquely ambitious and entertaining series which is everything we aspired to when we developed the show.”

“I’m just thrilled, and I’m looking forward to chronicling the future adventures of Raylan Givens,” said executive producer Graham Yost. "To work with an actor like Tim, who was born to play this role, has been a wonderful experience.”

The full press release from FX can be found below.

FX ORDERS SEASON TWO OF JUSTIFIED

Network Orders 13 Episodes for Second Season from
FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television

Six All New Episodes Remain in Season One, Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT
With Season 1 Finale Airing June 8

Season One (First-Run) Averaging 3.4 Million Total Viewers and 1.7 Million Adults 18-49
With Multi-Run Weekly Average of 7.5 Million Total Viewers and 3.9 Million Adults 18-49

Basic Cable’s #1 New Series In Delivery of Men 18-49

LOS ANGELES, May 3, 2010 – Justice has been served, as FX has ordered another season of its newest critically acclaimed hit drama series Justified, picking up a 13-episode second season, today announced John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks. Six all new episodes remain in season one, airing Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT, with the first season finale airing on June 8th.

“We are very excited about the tremendous, widespread acclaim that Justified has received from both audiences and television critics,” said Landgraf. “Graham Yost, Tim Olyphant, Elmore Leonard and their talented partners have crafted a uniquely ambitious and entertaining series which is everything we aspired to when we developed the show.”

Developed for television by Graham Yost and starring Timothy Olyphant, Justified (TV-MA) is based on the popular Elmore Leonard character “Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens” from his short story Fire in the Hole and some of his other novels.

“I’m just thrilled, and I’m looking forward to chronicling the future adventures of Raylan Givens,” said Yost. “To work with an actor like Tim, who was born to play this role, has been a wonderful experience.”

Through seven weeks, first-run episodes of Justified are averaging 3.4 million viewers and 1.7 million Adults 18-49. The weekly multi-run average viewership for the series is 7.5 million total viewers and 3.9 million Adults 18-49 (six episodes). Justified is this year’s number-one rated new series on basic cable in delivery of Men 18-49 (1.1 million). Justified was the most-watched series premiere in FX history, with 4.9 million total viewers, surpassing The Shield’s 4.8 million total viewers (3/12/02).

"This pick-up speaks volumes to the quality and collaboration on the series, and our unparalleled partnership with FX,” said Jamie Erlicht, President, Programming for Sony Pictures Television. "The viewer response to Justified has been as enthusiastic as ours was when we first heard the pitch."

Olyphant stars in the lead role of Givens, a true-blue hero born and reared in the hill country of eastern Kentucky, who left at age 19 to become a U.S. Marshal. Now, years later, after shooting a gun thug in a Miami hotel and thereby incurring the wrath of his Marshals Service superiors, Raylan has been sent in punishment (and by fate?) to the one place to which he vowed he would never return – Kentucky. But, being back in Kentucky, Raylan will also have to confront a past crowded with enough skeletons to choke a graveyard.

The series co-stars Nick Searcy as Givens longtime friend and boss “Chief Deputy Art Mullen”; Jacob Pitts as “Deputy Marshal Tim Gutterson”; Erica Tazel as “Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks”; Joelle Carter as “Ava Crowder,” Boyd’s sister-in-law; and Natalie Zea as Raylan’s ex-wife “Winona Hawkins.” Walton Goggins guest stars as “Boyd Crowder,” who worked with Raylan in the coal mines as teenagers and has now chosen a criminal path.

Yost wrote the pilot and serves as Executive Producer/Writer on the series. Leonard is an Executive Producer on the series along with Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Michael Dinner, who directed the pilot episode. Justified is produced by FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television.