Saying Goodbye to Justified: Finale Predictions, Series Superlatives, and General Worship

After 78 episodes' worth of Southern poetry and Kentucky crime, Justified is signing off for good this week and ending Raylan Givens' storied run in Harlan County. We could sit around and cry all day over the loss of one of television's best dramas, but that wouldn't be as fun as looking back at our favorite parts of the series and making some predictions for what we think will happen in the finale. Grab a jug of moonshine (not Mags', though!) and let's get started.

Best Character: Boyd Crowder

There are really only two options here, and we're going with Walton Goggins' Boyd Crowder by a hair. Over the course of six seasons, Boyd evolved from a small-time criminal and bank robber to the multifaceted outlaw of Harlan County using little more than his innate charm, strong ambition, and intoxicating way with words. In contrast to Raylan, Boyd has always known who he is, and his earnest self-awareness, coupled with his cleverness, made him stand out from the rest of the bad guys who've surrounded him over the years. Often using 40 words when only four will do, he's the best kind of slippery, and in Goggins' expert hands, it's easy to forget that Boyd is supposed to be the villain of this story.

HONORABLE MENTION: Raylan Givens, obviously

Best Supporting Character: Dickie Bennett

It's no easy task to earn acclaim as one of Justified's best supporting characters since the series churns them out like its some sort of factory, but Dickie Bennett muscled his way through the crowd to scoop up this award. His hair, which looks like it lost a fight with a lawnmower, gives him an unfair advantage over others, but we'll credit Jeremy Davies' lively performance as the gesticulating hick and Dickie's sharp tongue in his verbal showdowns with Raylan as the real reason he's hair. Errr, we mean "here." See what we're saying about the guy's 'do?

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Wynn Duffy, Tim Gutterson

Best Character Pairing: Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder

Raylan and Tim may've had the funniest rapport of Justified's many complex duos, and Raylan's protective bond with Loretta McCready was often a bright spot in the morally gray landscape of Harlan County, but it was our hero's oppositional "bond" with Boyd—who served as a constant warning of who Raylan could have been—that takes the cake as the show's most dynamic and fruitful relationship. Some of Justified's most electrifying moments arose from instances in which the two had to work together to combat a common enemy, and their back-and-forth banter was smoother than the most expensive Kentucky bourbon money can buy. It tasted even better, too.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Raylan and Tim, Raylan and Art, Wynn Duffy and anyone

Best Villain: Mags Bennett

You can't toss an empty bottle of bourbon over your head without hitting a bad guy in Harlan, but Mags is the only one likely to catch it, take a bite out of it, and spit broken shards of glass in your face. Season 2's Big Bad fronted like a mother whose only aim was to protect her family and her hometown, but behind the scenes, she was also looking to line the Bennett coffers and was no stranger to punishing her children by smashing their hands with hammers. Plus, Margo Martindale's Emmy-winning performance as Mags might be the single best turn on this series full of strong performances.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Avery Markham, Robert Quarles

Best Idiot: Dewey Crowe

Harlan has known its fair share of dimwitted no-gooders, but none of them flexed their intellectual ineptitude like Dewey Crowe. In addition to falling for Raylan's Jedi mind tricks approximately one billion times (and that's a conservative estimate), he also spent an entire episode on a balls-out cash-grabbing spree after being convinced he was the victim of a kidney-napping. But Dewey's persistence and modest dreams (give him a blow-up pool and he's pretty happy) made him endearing until the end.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Coover Bennett, Choo-Choo

Best Episode: "Decoy" (S04E11)

You could toss a rock and hit a dozen Justified episodes worthy of high praise, but Season 4's "Decoy" was a well-rounded and methodically plotted example of the series at its best. Harlan County has always been the silent, unsung hero of Justified and it was on full display in an hour that featured a payoff to the season-long Drew Thompson mystery, a long-overdue spotlight on Tim, a well-placed sense of humor via Constable Bob, and Raylan and Boyd sparring like only two people who've known each other their whole lives can.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: "Brothers Keeper" (S02E09), "The Reckoning" (S02E12), "Bloody Harlan" (S02E13), "The Devil You Know" (S03E04), "Thick as Mud" (S03E05), "Outlaw" (S04E08), "Shot All to Hell" (S05E05), "Burned" (S06E09), "Fugitive Number One" (S06E11)

Best Season: Season 2/Season 6 (tie)

One of Justified's more unique aspects is the inconsistency between its seasons. Even though all of them were better than an average season of typical a cable drama, some were God tier. And we're having the damndest time choosing between the second and the currently airing final season in our effort to name one the "best." The Bennett clan, well represented in this here story, elevated Justified to its maximum potential in Season 2. But Season 6 has been a perfect example of what a final season should look like, and a solid series finale could push it to the top of the list.

Worst Season: Season 5

Something went awry in Season 5 as the Crowe family moved into Harlan and essentially posed as a redheaded version of the Bennetts. Darryl Crowe Jr. (Michael Rapaport) never became the meanie we needed him to be, Ava's extended prison sentence was a slog, and Edi Gathegi's sudden request to leave the show early interrupted the Haitian's story and sent writers scrambling.

Best Quote: Raylan Givens on the nature of assholes

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

"I love this shit. This shit gets me hard." —Tim Gutterson

"Alright, Raylan, alright, you win. You wanna find Dewey, here's what you do. First of all, go to a Gas'n'Go or whatever and get yourself a map of Kentucky. Follow Route 9 southbound with your finger, follow it way way down until you're pointing right at... your asshole, and then what you gonna do is you're gonna take your hand and just go ahead and cram it right up inside. You gotta make sure, Raylan, that you do it in a way so that the rest of you just keeps on following your hand right up your ass, right up inside all that shit you're so full of, Raylan. And then what you gonna do is you're just gonna [whistles] wink out of existence forever." —Dickie Bennett

Best Character We Wish Appeared in More Than Just One Episode: Fletcher "The Ice Pick" Nix

Justified has always been skilled at creating badass characters, and Nix, who you may recall as the antagonist of the Season 3 premiere, "The Gunfighter," seemed poised to be a rival of Raylan's for a long time. Nix was eerily similar to one of Harlan's most famous residents; the guy was icy cool, good with a gun, and a fan of memorable headwear... he was almost like a blackhat version of Raylan. Sadly, Raylan locked him up after pulling a nifty tablecloth trick, and Nix was never heard from again. At least he provided us with this sweet .GIF before he left.

Our Predictions for the Series Finale

TIM: Justified started with Raylan in Florida, and it will end with him in Florida. I expect Raylan to show up on Winona's doorstep holding a Costco-sized package of diapers and ready to try fatherhood (whether he's good at it will be left to our imagination). But before that happens, be prepared for lots of bloodshed, with Raylan gunning down Boyd in his last act as a U.S. Marshal. Coming in 2017: a Raylan-centric multi-camera comedy spin-off, Deputy Daddy!

KAITLIN: Justified is one of those classic stories where the hero gets his man, but I don't believe Raylan—who's actually grown very little over the course of six seasons—will suddenly change and become Daddy of the Year. He'll capture Boyd, who will live out his days in prison with a few new scars (okay I know Boyd will probably die, but I can't bear the thought of it; denial is a lovely place to live, FYI). In the end, Raylan will reunite with Winona and Willa in Florida, where he'll remain employed with the U.S. Marshal service. Ava's a goner, though. You only get one free pass when shooting a Crowder.

POLL: Who won't leave Harlan alive?

Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!