Though not the most widely watched show on television, for six seasons, Justified was one of the best series around. After wrapping things up with a very satisfying end, the crime saga set in Harlan, Kentucky continues to find new fans and rewards its old fans on repeat viewings.
Just like any show, some episodes of Justified are better than others. The adventures of Raylan Givens always gave viewers something to love, but some entries in the series don't match up against the show's brightest moments. Here are the worst episodes of Justified according to IMDb.
Foot Chase
Season 4 of Justified changed things up from the typical "big bad" formula by instead focusing on a season-long mystery. The real identity of the mysterious Drew Thompson was a fun adventure that gave the season a fast-paced energy. That makes this episode feel a little out of place.
While the Drew Thompson mystery is still the main focus, this episode brings a lot of random new characters to the already complicated storyline. Though typically entertaining, it felt like an unnecessary detour.
Money Trap
This is another episode from the excellent fourth season that might have lost some viewers simply because it takes away from the season's intriguing main story. The episode follows up on a storyline from earlier in the season about a fugitive Raylan tracked down.
Watching Raylan hunt dumb criminals is always fun and Chris Coy is great as the increasingly unhinged target, but the episode feels a bit like filler. Boyd and Ava's trip to a swinger party isn't as much fun as it sounds either.
The Life Inside
Justified maintains a great sense of humor even when it is dealing with deadly situations. To achieve this, the show needs to strike a delicate balance in its episodes' tones. For this episode, they might have lost touch of that tone a little bit.
The episode follows Raylan and Tim trying to track down a pregnant fugitive who may have been kidnapped by human traffickers. The gruesome nature of the crimes in question just makes it harder to fully enjoy the episode.
This Bird Has Flown
Given how engrossing the mystery in Season 4 was, it seems like viewers were not as interested in any episode that veered away from that storyline. This episode was a particularly strange detour, though filled with some fun moments.
After his new girlfriend steals his savings and runs off with her old flame, Raylan goes on a personal errand to track them down. It's rare seeing Raylan in such a vulnerable state but the story is just not as interesting as what is going on with Drew Thompson.
For Blood or Money
One shortcoming of the show was that they rarely found the time to flesh out the characters of Tim and Rachel, Raylan's US Marshal colleagues. These two characters had been with the show from the start but were never given much to do. Tim has an interesting backstory in the army, but the show never knew what to do with Rachel.
This oddly melodramatic episode seems to be trying to flesh her character out a bit as she tracks down her fugitive brother-in-law. Aside from a fun early role from Chadwick Boseman as a criminal and wannabe magician, there's nothing too special here.
The Collection
The first season of Justified, while entertaining, was obviously still finding its footing. They had yet to establish a season-long arc and were instead focusing on the case-of-the-week format that is seen in many police procedurals.
This episode deals with Raylan investigating the death of a man whose property was being seized by the Marshal service. As a rule, the murder mystery approach isn't all that compelling, even if the show's writing was already very impressive. But this episode does get points for bringing Boyd back into the story.
The Lord of War and Thunder
This episode is at least memorable for finally introducing us to Raylan's father Arlo. We had heard a lot about him leading up to this, but now we get to dive deeper into their troubled relationship. While it provides some good moments, the story surrounding his introduction is only serviceable.
The show does a good job of showing that Arlo is not just some hothead criminal but rather a man with a plan. However, the conflict seems too easily resolved and the added storyline of a surveillance job seems tacked on.
Whistle Past the Graveyard
Season 5 of Justified is often looked at as the show's low point. Being that it is such an excellent show, its low point is still quite fun. The unpopularity of the season could be due to the lackluster Crowe family as the villains, but some behind-the-scenes shifting also made things difficult.
This can be best seen in this episode in which Raylan joins Wendy Crowe on a search for her son Kendal, who has been kidnapped. The episode feels like something that was developed on the fly to fill time.
Riverbrook
This is another example of the early growing pains of the show. The second episode of the series does a great job establishing the tone and sets up some entertaining one-off characters, but it isn't as compelling as what comes later in the series.
The episode follows an older escaped convict who is trying to reunite with his ex-wife. The dialogue is sharp, there are some funny moments, but the overall story lacks the high-stakes that were presented in the pilot.
Fixer
Once again, the lowest-rated episode of Justified is still a perfectly enjoyable piece of television. It features all the previously mentioned issues of those earlier episodes but is still a thrilling crime story with some witty lines and interesting characters.
The episode centers on an informant working with the Marshal's service who is abducted. Raylan investigates and comes across a number of colorful characters in the process. Nothing particularly bad here, just not particularly special either.