In its first season, in 2010, Justified had the goods: its roots in Elmore Leonard's whip-crack crime writing, a mesmerizing lawman lead in Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens and the new-old-Appalachia setting of Harlan County, Kentucky. In its second season it explored something else: history. There was the history of its setting, where in the running story of the season the plots of a local pot-growing clan entwined with the business plans of a mining company. And there was the history of bad blood between said Bennett family and the Givens brood, all the childhood and generational resentments spilling out as Raylan lit on the trail of crafty gang mama Mags (Margo Martindale). Mags could be cold and ruthless but also compelling, as she laid out the story of Harlan's people, used for decades by miners and left with "the spoil," the sadly poetic name for the leavings of strip mining. Martindale's stunning perfomance was like Mags' trademark, poisoned "apple pie" moonshine: bracing, fiery, sweet and deadly. (FX)
The Top 10 Everything of 2011
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Business Blunders
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Consumer-Spending Trends
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Campaign-Debate Moments
- Top 10 Best Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Worst Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Trends
- Top 10 Marriage Stories
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Memes
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Worst Movies
- Top 10 Best Movies
- Top 10 New Findings in Parenting
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball-News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 People Not Running for President
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Protest Signs
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Smart-Phone Apps
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Space Moments
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Best Tweets
- Top 10 Worst Tweets
- Top 10 U.S.-News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Creative Videos
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 World-News Stories
- Top 10 Photos of the Year
In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months