The neo-Western has always been a slippery genre to define. It’s a space where cowboy codes meet modern-day cynicism, where lone gunslingers trade horses for cars and dusty towns for small cities. However, the opening minutes of Justified ’s pilot episode, “Fire in the Hole,” pin it down better than any critic or scholar ever could.

The show would go on to earn a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, and within minutes, it’s obvious exactly why. Although Justified is set in Kentucky , its story begins far from the Appalachian hills. The pilot’s unforgettable opener unfolds nearly a thousand miles away in the sweltering heat of Miami.

It’s an odd choice at first glance, a tropical detour that seems disconnected from the show’s core, but this is where U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy

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