Season Six of Justified on FX Promises More Memorable Scumbags

Season six of Justified on FX is upon us and the question is will there be a new scumbag or two worthy of some of its past great specimens of disposable white trash?

Well, here’s hoping so and for plenty of them.  A quick review of the cast of Justified on FX reveals a number of new men and women in the cast, so there is a good chance we will see some unique craziness once again.

In true Justified fashion, there appear to be a few new backwoods hotties that look like they will provide just enough willing charm to go along with their requisite hillbilly white trashiness.  If nothing else, this FX show has specialized in just that:  backwoods hottie, white trash women.  Easy come, easy go.  Looking good is half the battle for the women of Harlan County.  The other half is hooking up with a dumbbell in a pickup truck.  And maybe getting a shower now and then.  To be honest, none of that is too tough for them.  It sure has been great fun.  But there is something else, too.

The real hardcore criminal element on Justified has been left to the menfolk.  Again, there appear to be several new candidates in the cast for season six of this FX show.  Additionally, some of the names of these characters are most promising.  According to IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1489428/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt, the season six cast includes male characters with the following names:  Crackpot, Mr. Handsome/The Pig, Mundo/Choo Choo, Seabass, Calhoun-Deceased, and Boon.  Additionally, Wynn Duffy, the ever malleable sort, who will go which ever way the criminal wind is blowing, and wherever there is a buck, is back as a middleman and facilitator, as he has been for the Detroit mob in the past.  Or will he strike out on his own this season?  Jere Burns has been perfect as the RV dwelling, no permanent address, Wynn Duffy, Kentucky born and bred, corrupt, and smooth as Kentucky sour mash bourbon whiskey.  How he has survived this long in Harlan County is both a mystery and a thing of beauty.  He is the ultimate survivor.  How long can it last?

A few of the supporting, hardcore, dirtbags from past seasons are among my favorites from Justified on FX.   Season two featured Dickie Bennett, who was about as spot on as a country criminal could ever be.  Played by Jeremy Davies he was about as greasy as they come.  Our U.S. Marshall hero, Raylan Givins, played by Timothy Olyphant, could not resist the urge to toy with him and it was well deserved.  That is the best performance I have seen by Davies, anywhere.  Whomever is responsible for the look he had on the show, long greasy hair and sketchy beard, got it right.  And Davies fully inhabited this skinny greaseball right down to the constant whining and the visibly scheming, spinning, wheels in his head.  If there was ever anyone born on the wrong side of the tracks in Harlan County, it was born under a bad sign, Dickie Bennett.

Season three bought us Robert Quarles,  played by Neal McDonough.  A real fish out of water in Harlan County, he was always dressed to the nines.  From the Detroit mob, he had an eye for underutilized Harlan County criminal talent.  He was a tad bit questionable in the romance department, too.  Normally a sophisticated and cool character, his temper tantrum meltdowns at the end were special.  His blonde hair and baby face belied his truly psychotic nature.  The backwoods crooks and out of town crime bosses were always equally taken aback, in bemused fashion, by the secret weapon he had up his sleeve.  Except for BBQ man, Ellstin Limehouse.  Whack!  Quarles was a truly scary, yet, psychotically hilarious character.

Season four brought us Ron Eldard’s character, Colton Rhodes, a/k/a Colt, not so fresh off a combat tour of Iraq.  A truly efficient killing machine, our prime villain, anti-hero Boyd Crowder, played by Walton Goggins, never had to give him instructions twice.  Colt’s quite literal interpretations of Boyd’s desires often resulted in overkill.  Or, rather, instant kill.  Until they didn’t.  Seems our Colt might have had a soft spot in there somewhere for a pathetic member of the opposite sex and that sent him down the proverbial road to ruin.  Not a new story, but his weary and desperate meltdown into lying, covering up, and shooting up drugs was a thing to behold.  He really was just trying to be a good employee for Boyd.  I just didn’t want to let go of Colt, my pick for the greatest of the great supporting cast of scumbags and dirtbags that have graced the gritty back roads of Harlan County.  Something about the long hair, the sunglasses, the addiction, the panicked agenda, and a no hesitation way with firearms, had me rooting for him from the first round he chambered.  At heart, you knew Colt was, deep down, a good guy.  He just happened to have a unique skill set that was needed in Harlan County.  A hired gun who was at loose ends and could keep his mouth shut.  He was just a guy trying to make it day to day and he didn’t have a whole lot of options.  Dang, Colt, you will be missed.  I always knew Ron Eldard was a great actor.

So who will it be in season six?  There are a number of new characters in the cast for this final season of Justified on FX that have the shifty, steely-eyed look we have come to know and love over six seasons.  And whether they are lawmen or on the wrong side of the law, the question is do they have the moxie?  Can they survive and prosper?  Somehow, I doubt it.  With the likes of lawmen like Raylan Givens around what chance do they have?  And with likes of killers like Boyd Crowder and Wynn Duffy around, well, with friends like that, who needs enemies?  Yep, new meat in town has the life expectancy of a Harlan County housefly on Justified.  So, no matter how charming the psychopath, or how cool the lawman, don’t get too attached to the salty dudes on Justified.  Who dies, and how many, is not a matter of if, it is just a matter when and how.  That’s just the facts of life in Justified and Harlan County, Kentucky.