I think I have agreed with 99.99%of all your posts on movies and tv......

Do you think its so absurd that the writers did not think once about having Raylan die? Do you think they never discussed the possibility (being "so absurd")?

someone may have floated the idea but there is almost no shot it was seriously considered.
just doesn't fit with the personality of the show.

raylan didn't need to die to be "redeemed", it would've literally served no purpose.

the finale was absolutely perfect in terms of what happened to the characters.

only gripe I have is they shouldn't have had tim take a shot at boyd on the mountain.
think that was the first time tim ever fired his weapon without hitting his target.

I also loved how yost gave the audience exactly what it wanted.
he knew we loved boyd and ava n raylan and spared all of them and gave them as happy an ending as was reasonable (boyd honestly looked the happiest he has in a long time in jail).

the darkest it got was ava n boyd parting on such bad terms.

and we still got the epic duel we needed but instead of raylan vs boyd we got raylan vs boon (which was so much more satisfying, I know I personally would've been sad to see boyd die as I said itt at start of season).

but it really was a great send off and thank you to the fans who have been loyal to the show and formed bonds with the characters.

it's def rare quality for a showrunner to be so in tune with both the show and the audience which is understandable as it must be difficult when you are so close to it.

while it doesn't have the gravitas of some of the other great dramas like BoB, the wire n sopranos, it is easily one of the most enjoyable shows of all time and I imagine I'll rewatch it more times than I'd like to admit.

Gotta agree with this one. And they even focused on it a bit longer too.

I was hoping it was because he knew Raylan wanted that kill. Just a little smirk or something.

hey I don't think Raylan should have died either, I just think there was a point there where the writers could have taken it that way. and I am sure they discussed it.

Its not like its was impossible, Raylan got shot in the head and Boyd got shot (I imagine close to the heart) from Ava....

I have watched the whole series twice now, and it still feels like they could have finished Raylan, not with a 1 v 1 showdown, but by some other means.

yeah Tim shoots to kill.

No.1 worst thing about this whole series, just the absolute worst, the explosion computer effects from the rpg into the church first ep.

If anyone has a screenshot of Duffy's get away truck it's very funny.

The correct line "it's not that kind of visitor"

What is the significance of The Friends of Eddie Cole book?

it was one of Elmore Leonard's favorite books, I think he said it was his biggest influence

Loved the cop telling Raylan to shut up or he's gonna put him in the trunk.

In a couple of Elmore Leonard novels, Raylan is on the giving end of this quip. Definitely a nod to the author.

Shootout Yost talks about that got cut from the show http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/04/pop-the...from-the-show/

He actually did this in one of the episodes.

Doesn't he say it to Dewey??

I think so, yes.

I think he actually put this loudmouth black guy in the trunk once.

from yost:

http://justified.wikia.com/wiki/Jody_Adair

Boyd getting out alive was kind of a big deal. I don't think the audience wanted him to die, but his run up this season was not good. He was deserving, but not more so or as much as anyone who got it. That's part of how expert the writing was. They wanted us to dislike Boyd's arc this season, so that we would be okay and prepared for his death even if it wasn't seriously on the table at any point.

Doesn't sound like the door is completely closed on some future Justified incarnation but seems very unlikely given the ratings and the quality of cast with their schedules.

Boyd kills 3 people and shoots a cop in the final 2 episodes. Wouldn't he be on death row?

he may have made a plea deal to avoid death penalty?
was there conclusive evidence for his murders (as it would be presented to a jury).

to be honest I was expecting boyd to die after he executed the dude in the truck who gave him a ride.

that seemed unnecessarily dark/cold blooded and seemed like they were trying to convince the audience he deserved to die.

maybe at last second yost decided he couldn't kill him (like at end of season 1, which incidentally is prolly the greatest decision any showrunner has made in the history of television) or more likely they wanted to preserve option of some future justified production.

Is it too late to start weeping?

Nope. Play this in the background while you shed tears.

It might be because it's so fresh in my mind but I think this is now my GOAT show.

I've rewatched the episode a couple of times now. By no stretch is it bad TV -- they're really good at making good shows now. But there was just so much that was foreshadowed, so many scenes I wanted to see. Things ended abruptly in many instances.

The shootout with Markham begins and ends in no time. We never see Duffy, despite serious air time given to his escape plan scene. Loretta is brought back but has such a minor role. It turns out Boyd really did want to kill Eva, despite "You don't know what's in my heart." Boon just turns out to be a bad shot?

More than one person has said maybe the episode should have been longer. But they spent 20 minutes on the last segment, which didn't really do much for me. They could have fleshed out some of this.

Anyways, what an amazing show.

Top 10 Justified showdowns. Fun.