If you missed the first wham-bam-thank-you-m'am episode of the third season of Justified, you missed a doozy. I won't reveal too much here other than this: ice pick, prison, Dickie, rotting weed, the return of Jere Burns, a new ruthless villain, the above-mentioned "wham-bam," and watch out for that frying pan. It picked up just where season 2 left off and I couldn't be happier.
When episode 2 premieres tonight at 10:00 on FX, a mysterious fellow marshal from Raylan's past comes to Lexington. She's played by Carla Cugino and her name is Karen Goodall, but you may know her better as another of Elmore Leonard's memorable literary characters, Karen Sisco. First played by Jennifer Lopez--in her only watchable role--in the movie Out of Sight, Gugino starred as the character in a short-lived (10 episodes) series on ABC in 2003-2004. And while the producers of Justified are being cagey, and not admitting that it's the same Karen, we all know it is. And even if it isn't, I'm going to say it is. She just got married sometime in the past few years...
Leonard's new book, Raylan, also debuted last week on what we call around these parts "Justified Tuesday." I bought the e-book version, but looking through the actual printed book last week, it's slim to say the least, more of a novella. I'm uncertain of the history of this project. It contains characters we're familiar with from the TV series, including Dickie and Coover Bennett, but as Dickie and Coover Pervis. Their father--not their mother, Mags--is the pot king of Harlan County. And Loretta and her dad, the doomed Walt McCready, also make an appearance, so it's a bit fuzzy as to what came first: season 2 of Justified or Leonard's book. I'm guessing the latter and the producers of the TV show got an advance look, since there are scenes in it that are right out of the show.
I must confess to loving Elmore Leonard's work when it's done right on film or TV. The aforementioned Out of Sight--along with Get Shorty--are two of my favorite movies. Justified is great, as was Karen Sisco, and I enjoyed Beau Bridges years ago (1998)--also on ABC, which seems to greenlight Leonard series only to kill them quickly--as Maximum Bob. But I've always had a hard time trying to read the original novels by Leonard. I tried with both Out of Sight and Get Shorty, thinking I'd have an edge there since I liked the (mostly-faithful, from what I know) adaptations. No go, tho. I'm having a bit of a hard time with the Raylan book, too. There's just something about Leonard's use of dialogue to mainly advance the story that gets me. But I love the characters from the TV show so much that it's an interesting-enough read, even though it seems to take place in an alternate universe. And any window into the adventures of US Marshal Raylan Givens is a welcome one to escape through at any time.
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