Justified's Timothy Olyphant, Others Tease a 'Different, Violent and Sad' Season Finale

Justified's Timothy Olyphant, Others Tease a 'Different, Violent and Sad' Season Finale

Justified nemeses Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder aren’t inclined to agree on much, but their portrayers do concur that the FX drama’s Season 3 finale (airing Tuesday at 10/9c) will be a bit different from previous cappers.

“It’s not like last year, that’s for sure,” Timothy Olyphant told TVLine at FX’s upfront party, upon hearing that Walton Goggins had described it to us as “different.” “And who wants it to be?” the series’ frontman posed. “It’s refreshing.”

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To recap: Justified wrapped its freshman run with a shootout involving Raylan, unexpectedly allied for the moment with Boyd, and members of a drug cartel, while Season 2 closed with an explosion, Dickie shooting Ava, Doyle Bennett’s well-deserved bullet-to-the-forehead and menacing matriarch Mags’ rather poetic suicide-by-cider. (Suicider?)
Now heading into Season 3′s final hour, we’ve got Neal McDonough’s Robert Quarles vanished and on the lam after surviving the bombing of his car, leaving Raylan hot to hunt down the Detroit mob flunkie as well as determine who gunned down state trooper Tom.

And that’s not to mention Boyd’s own agenda in the wake of almost losing his own life, and whatever strategic, self-serving move Mykelti Williamson’s Limehouse now has in mind.

All told, when asked for three words to sum up this week’s finale, Goggins after some thought offered, “Different. Violent. And sad.”

Having since screened the intense hour, TVLine can confirm that Season 3′s finale does have its own distinct tone, while among the aforementioned violence is a particular moment that is extremely vivid and memorable. We’ll also note that along the way, Jere Burns and Joelle Carter do some terrific work, as Wynn Duffy and Ava.

Teasing her increasingly fierce alter ego’s finale arc, Carter says, “Ava doesn’t allow the circumstances forced upon her to make her a victim, like she was last season.”

As for the “sad” element cited by Goggins… well, that is best left experienced firsthand by the viewer, with no prompts.

“I enjoyed it, how [the finale] worked out,” said Olyphant, who is also a producer on the series. “I don’t think it’s a big body count, but people are gonna die.”

Plus, there’s the one big thing it shares with previous season enders — the ability to satisfy, while also leave you wondering what lies ahead for your Harlan County’s favorites. Says Carter, “It’s just as powerful as ever for our main characters, who all end up at different crossroads.”

How do you think the Justified finale will shake out?


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