The sixth and final season of the American

neo-Western The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...

television series '' Justified'' premiered on January 20, 2015, on FX, and concluded on April 14, 2015, consisting of 13 episodes. The series was developed by

Graham Yost Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films ''Speed'', '' Broken Arrow'', and '' Hard Rain'' and the TV series '' Justified''. Early life, family and education Yo ...

based on

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thri ...

's novels ''Pronto'' and ''

Riding the Rap ''Riding the Rap'' is a 1995 crime fiction novel by Elmore Leonard. It is the sequel to Leonard's ''Pronto'', released in 1993. Synopsis Like ''Pronto'', ''Riding the Rap'' centers around Harry Arno, World War II veteran and bookie, now 67 yea ...

'' and his short story "Fire in the Hole". Its main character is

Raylan Givens Raylan Givens is a fictional character created by American novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard. Givens is a Deputy U.S. Marshal and initially appeared in the novels ''Pronto'' and ''Riding the Rap''. (''Pronto'' was adapted as a TV movie in ...

, a deputy

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

Timothy Olyphant Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...

portrays Givens, a tough federal lawman, enforcing his own brand of justice in his Kentucky hometown. The series is set in the city of

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, and the hill country of

eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

, specifically in and around

Harlan Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname *Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive *Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver *Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician *Byron G ...

. The sixth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on June 2, 2015. A sequel series, titled '' Justified: City Primeval'', premiered on FX on July 18, 2023.

Cast and characters

Main

, a suave deputy

U.S. marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

who takes on both his nemesis and a dangerous kingpin at the same time. *

Nick Searcy Nicholas Alan Searcy (born March 7, 1959) is an American character actor best known for portraying Chief Deputy United States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's '' Justified''. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks–produced miniseries ''From the ...

as Art Mullen, the

chief deputy Chief Deputy is a rank/title used in American/Canadian law enforcement. The position of chief deputy is primarily found within sheriff's offices throughout the United States, and also exists for marshals’ police departments as well as constables� ...

of Lexington's marshals office who is on leave after being shot. *

Jere Burns Jere Eugene Burns II (; born October 15, 1954) is an American actor who has appeared in theatre productions and on television. He played the roles of ladies' man Kirk Morris on the television series '' Dear John'', DIA psychiatrist Anson Fullert ...

as Wynn Duffy, a volatile and dangerous

Dixie Mafia The Dixie Mafia or Dixie Mob is an American criminal organization composed mainly of white Southerners and based in Biloxi, Mississippi, operating primarily throughout the Southern United States since at least the late 1960s. The group's activitie ...

enforcer whose life is put at risk after a dangerous secret is exposed. *

Joelle Carter Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''. Early life Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

for the marshals. *

Jacob Pitts Jacob Rives Pitts (born November 20, 1979) is an American television, film and stage actor. His most notable performances were as Cooper Harris in the film '' EuroTrip'' (2004), as Bill "Hoosier" Smith in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'' (2010 ...

as Tim Gutterson, a Lexington deputy marshal. *

Erica Tazel Erica Tazel (born 1977) is an American theatre and television actress best known for the role of US Deputy Marshall Rachel Brooks in the FX television series '' Justified'' (2010–2015). Life and career Tazel holds a B.A. from Spelman College a ...

as Rachel Brooks, the acting chief deputy of Lexington's marshals office. *

Walton Goggins Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in a number of television series, including ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), '' Justified'' (2010–2015), ''Vice Principals'' (2016–2017), ''The Righteous ...

as Boyd Crowder, Raylan's intelligent nemesis who plots to rob a dangerous kingpin.

Recurring

Guest

Production

On January 14, 2014, it was announced that ''Justified'' was renewed for a sixth season, which is the final season based on a decision by executive producer

and lead actor

. Filming for the season began in September 2014. Also in September 2014,

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

and

Garret Dillahunt Garret Lee Dillahunt (born November 24, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom ''Raising Hope'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Aw ...

(who previously starred with Olyphant on '' Deadwood''), were cast in recurring roles for the final season. In November 2014,

Jeff Fahey Jeffrey David Fahey (, born November 29, 1952) is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series ''Lost'' and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on ''The Marshal''. Early life and ...

was cast in a recurring role. In January 2015, it was announced that

Jonathan Tucker Jonathan Moss Tucker (born May 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1999), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), ''Hostage'' (2005), ''In the Valley of Elah'' (2007), '' The Ruins'' (20 ...

signed on to play Boon for the final five episodes.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The sixth season has received critical acclaim from television critics, and has a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

rating of 89 out of 100 based on 11 reviews. It currently holds a 100% "Certified Fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

with an average rating of 9 out of 10 based on 25 reviews with a critics consensus stating, "''Justified'' returns to form for its endgame, rebounding with crisp storytelling and colorful characters who never take themselves too seriously."

Accolades

For the

5th Critics' Choice Television Awards The 5th Critics' Choice Television Awards ceremony, presented by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), honored the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015, and was held on May 31, 2015, at The ...

, it was nominated for Best Drama Series and received four acting nominations–

for Best Actor in a Drama Series,

for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,

Joelle Carter Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''. Early life Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

won for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series. For the

31st TCA Awards The 31st TCA Awards were held on August 8, 2015, in a ceremony hosted by James Corden at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The nominees were announced by the Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is ...

, the series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Drama.

References

External links

* {{JustifiedTV 06 2015 American television seasons