Content Warning: the following article contains depictions of violence
Based on Elmore Leonard's terrifically entertaining series of novels/novellas focusing on U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, FX's Justified received acclaim throughout the majority of its six-year run. The show's ace in the hole was Timothy Olyphant in the role he was born for. Olyphant carries himself with the swagger described in Leonard's works and fleshes him out as more than a stock character by the end of episode one.
The show also benefitted from a realistic yet swiftly paced and infectiously entertaining look into eastern Kentucky crime. With crime drama comes intense moments and Justified was never for lack of intense moments.
Ice Picking A Fight - Season 3, Episode 1
While Quarles (Neal McDonough) is established as the season's heavy, Fletcher Nix (Desmond Harrington) owns the season's most intense scene.
A killer who has a tendency to allow his victims to reach for the very gun that will kill them, Nix slams an icepick down in his first victim of the episode's hand as he reaches for the gun. Then, Nix pulls the gun and shoots him dead.
When Nix tries this little game with Raylan towards the end of the episode, not only is Raylan familiar with this man's sadistic game, but he's quicker on the draw, and Nix gets nixed.
Miami Standoff - Season 1, Episode 1
U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, born and bred in Harlan, Kentucky, now works in Miami. Upon learning the location of criminal Tommy Bucks (in a scene directly lifted from Leonard's source material), he heads to the pool deck of a local, ritzy hotel.
The deal is this: leave town or go out old west style. Tommy Bucks pulls first but Raylan is faster and shoots him three times. Raylan cares about the law, and if it's served via uncouth methods, so be it.
Harlan Roulette - Season 3, Episode 3
Pruitt Taylor Vince has been one of Hollywood's go-to character actors since the mid-80s and this episode's eponymous moment is a perfect indication as to why. Just one of Justified's many great guest stars, Taylor Vince makes viewers believe he'll flip on a dime.
Oozing sleaze and menace, he forces an employee with a drug addiction to hold a revolver to his head and play "Harlan Roulette," which requires more than one pull of the trigger. The employee pulls the trigger three times only to find an empty chamber each time.
Uncle Zachariah Tries To Kill Boyd- Season 6, Episode 9
Ava's uncle, Zachariah, doesn't want her with a Crowder. As Boyd and Zachariah are down in the mine shaft, preparing an explosive, Zachariah whacks Boyd across the head with an iron bar. He then locks Boyd down in the mine to die in the explosion.
After being assisted in the nick of time, Boyd gains access to a pick and severs the chain. Boyd narrowly escapes the blast as well as the fireball flying through the tunnel. Walton Goggins always gives Boyd more than the intimidating aspect the character requires, and his frantic pleading here reveals the man behind the blank face.
Fire In The Hole - Season 1, Episode 1
The tensest moment of the debut episode, "Fire in the Hole," is not in Boyd Crowder's hollering of the phrase but rather the moment that follows. Walton Goggins' Boyd Crowder is a childhood friend of Raylan's, but he's also a demolitions expert and white supremacist. After yelling the eponymous phrase he sends a rocket into a Black church.
Fortunately, pedestrians are unharmed, but one of Boyd's team is having regrets. The audience Boyd was supposed to die at the end of episode one. But, after seeing Goggins' performance, he was kept in the entire series.
Baby In The Attic - Season 3, Episode 2
One of the series' stronger, likable starring cast who tend to get pushed to the sidelines, Rachel Brooks (Erica Tazel) is persistently motivated. While in the home of a witness, Rachel gets a call that a hit squad is on their way. She looks into the backyard and says, "they're already here."
A firefight rages within the home, leading to the second floor, leading further into the attic. Though, it doesn't end well for one hitman. As he ascends the attic stepladder, staring daggers at the witness as she holds her crying baby, Rachel pops up in his peripheral vision of the dark attic and fires.
Good For Her - Season 2, Episode 11
Helen was one of Justified's most endearing recurring characters. In more ways than one. This was never more apparent than when Mags' son, Dickie, enters the home of Helen (Raylan's aunt) and Arlo (his father). Arlo ripped Dickie off, and he's here to collect.
Instead, as Dickie rummages through the refrigerator, Helen walks into the kitchen with a shotgun. After a tense exchange about Arlo's whereabouts, they exchange fire, and only Dickie exits the home.
Loretta Wants Revenge - Season 2, Episode 13
Kaitlyn Dever would be Season 2's standout were it not for Margo Martindale. While an intense standoff between the Bennetts and Raylan occurs inside, the object of Raylan's search is right in the house with Mags.
Loretta (Dever) approaches maternal-figure Mags with a loaded gun, demanding answers on what really happened to her father. Once the rest of the Bennetts are dead or wounded, Raylan enters and barely talks Loretta down.
Mags' Speech Against Black Pike Mining - Season 2, Episode 8
The least violent intense moment of the series by a stretch, this scene is bolstered by the tremendous presence of Margo Martindale. Mags gives a speech to a crowded church. Though, they're not there for a sermon, but rather a deliberation on whether or not Black Pike mining should be allowed to buy up a substantial portion of land in Harlan.
Mags persuades the group that this executive is just like the other executives and Black Pike is just like other corporations that have come into counties just like Harlan to extract its resources and move on.
Coover Goes After Loretta - Season 2, Episode 9
The dumbest and meanest of Mags Bennet's three sons, Coover crosses a line when he goes after Loretta. Loretta runs from the house after learning not only that her father is dead, but that her surrogate family, the Bennetts, were responsible.
After strangling his brother to the edge of life, Coover gives chase. So does Raylan. The chase ends in the midst of the dark forest, where Raylan finds an unconscious Loretta. Coover leaps at him, and they fight to the death.