News & views: 'Justified' has made its mark

Letting go is seldom easy.

Yet that's the task facing Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, who remains driven and shaped by a past he claims to have left behind. And that's the task facing viewers Tuesday, as FX's Justified (10 ET/PT) ends its sublime six-season run.

There's little chance that run is going to end happily for all concerned in this series, created by Graham Yost from an Elmore Leonard novella. Raylan — played by Timothy Olyphant, whose masterfully complete immersion in the role seems to have masked the talent expended playing it — has spent much of this season succumbing to his demons, from his single-minded determination to bring Boyd Crowder (the equally magnificent Walton Goggins) to justice, to his hubristic certainty that his harsh methods are beyond reproach. Fortunately, Raylan seemed to take a step back last week, leading one to believe there's hope for him yet — and for those who want to see him ride happily into a Florida sunset.

Hope is far dimmer for Boyd, who had his own set of self-delusions: Namely, that his home-grown villainy was somehow better for his Kentucky neighbors than any imported variety. That illusion vanished, for us if not for him, in his homicidal pursuit of Ava (Joelle Carter) and the money they stole from Avery Markham (Sam Elliott, who's a big reason the show, which suffered a slump last season, is going out in high style).

Odds are this wonderfully enjoyable twist on an old Western will also go out with guns blazing — but the violence in Justified has always been matched by a laconic sense of humor and an interest in deeper themes. Like Mad Men, it's explored that desire we all sometimes have to reinvent ourselves. Like Breaking Bad, it's exposed the corrosive effects of criminality — and the foolishness of seeing Robin Hoods where only thugs exist.

It's also brought to vivid life a put-upon but resilient Appalachian community TV generally either ignores or insults, and filled it with as distinctive and diverse a set of characters as you'll find anywhere. And what an incredible array of performers, from the marshals played by Nick Searcy, Jacob Pitts and Erica Tazel, to the criminals played by Margo Martindale and Jeremy Davies, who won the show's only Emmys. (Which, in one of those weird quirks, are still two more acting Emmys than Mad Men has won.)

Despite those wins, Justified never quite received the accolades it deserved, perhaps because its devotion to old-school entertainment values such as wit and coherence, and a Leonard-like lack of pretense, hid the brilliant work done by Yost and his cast. All fans can do now is hope its reputation will grow as time goes by.

And then let go.