The Best New TV Show of the Spring.

For as much TV as I watch, I watch a surprisingly little amount of cable shows. I saw the first season of Breaking Bad, but haven't continued with it. I haven't gotten into Mad Men -- mostly because I learnt 'bout it too late and I hate picking things up mid-series. I've caught a few eps of The Riches on hulu, but I was never into The Shield, Rescue Me, or Nip/Tuck (I hate seeing plastic surgery -- even though I watch Cougartown). I did obsess over Battlestar Galactica because I'm a huge nerd, and I like Psych (even if it's gone downhill recently) and White Collar has its charms (Matt Bomer *teehee* is pretty). I don't watch The Closer, Damages, or Saving Grace. So yeah, take this recommendation with a hunk crystal of salt.

Justified stars Timothy Olyphant in all his grandest reticence and lanky physique as a U.S. Marshal with daddy issues and the type of sublimated anger that is far scarier than some in-your-face gangsta punching a hole through the wall every morning. He gets transferred from Miami to Kentucky, his home state, pending an investigation into his "justified" shooting of a criminal suspect. Hilarity ensues. Just kidding. What has ensued thus far is an easygoing mix of cowboy-movie austerity with modern day clashes of federal jurisdiction over local Kentucky flavor. The script is witty without being ironic. The action is slick without being predictable. And anything with Natalie Zea in it gets an automatic bump in the awesomeness meter.

One more thing: Olyphant's character is no off-the-reservation maverick like waaaaayyyy too many protagonists these days. The show chooses instead to allow the situations play out themselves. In a lot of ways, I think this is the dramatic counterpart to Cougartown -- the characters are written so well and their backstories, albeit still new, are sketched with such assurance that the show can just insert them into really interesting situations instead of contriving some random drama. In other words, just watch it. So I can have someone else to nerd out over the show with.