Timothy Olyphant’s 6-Part Neo-Western Is So Good, It Even Changed This Character’s Fate in the Books

From its very first episode, Justified wowed audiences with its impressive dialogue, powerful characters, and full-bodied performances that set the stage for what a modern Western-inspired crime drama could accomplish. While Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens is certainly the leading man, the real star of the show is arguably Walton Goggins, who played notorious Kentucky outlaw Boyd Crowder. Of course, Elmore Leonard‘s “Fire in the Hole,” the direct inspiration for Justified, famously kills Boyd off in its closing moments, but the FX drama chose a different path.

Boyd Crowder Was Supposed to Die in the First Episode of ‘Justified’

Anyone familiar with the source material behind Justified probably knew where the series pilot was headed from the opening scene where Raylan shoots Tommy Bucks (Peter Greene). No, that moment isn’t actually in Leonard’s short story/novella, but it’s referenced enough times that it feels like it should be. Just about everything we see with Boyd, however, plays out according to plan. So, it won’t be surprising that originally, Justified intended for Raylan to follow the script and shoot and kill Boyd in the pilot — and that’s initially how it played out. Fortunately, before the pilot ever aired, the producers saw more potential in Boyd beyond being a one-and-done antagonist.

“We knew with Boyd, going in, that who we cast was critical for the success of the pilot, therefore getting it to become a series,” explained executive producer Graham Yost to TV Guide. “So Goggins’ casting was really instrumental. Without him, we wouldn’t be on the air.” Test audience reactions for Justified ultimately convinced Yost and company to reverse course, which led to Goggins’ character being loaded into an ambulance at the end of “Fire in the Hole,” becoming a recurring character throughout the first season and a series regular from then on.

“We already knew the series was a go [at that point], but getting [Walton] to come back, that gave us six years,” Yost later told the Television Academy. Everyone involved in the show believed there was yet more to do with the character, Goggins included, which made his return a no-brainer. Watching the series now, you would never know that the intention was to kill off Boyd, because although he misses a few episodes early on in Season 1, Justified tosses the character right back into the mix. Yost credits the decision to keep Goggins around as a reason why the FX series lasted six years, and it’s hard to argue with that. Boyd was not only one of the most consistently well-written characters on the show, but his dynamic with Raylan proved so pivotal that one can’t even imagine the series without his involvement. Those who can have likely seen Justified: City Primeval, and were no doubt disappointed that Boyd shows up only in the finale rather than being a major part of the controversial revival.

Boyd’s On-Screen Fate in ‘Justified’ Led to a Bigger Change in Elmore Leonard’s Books

Television wasn’t the only place where Boyd Crowder was resurrected. Although Leonard killed off the character in “Fire in the Hole,” his involvement with Justified (and the success of the series) prompted him to tackle another story in the form of his final novel, Raylan. Aside from using characters created originally for Justified, Leonard also resurrected Boyd, thus establishing the standalone novel outside the established continuity he had created, which also included the ’90s crime novels Pronto and Riding the Rap. (The plot of Raylan would later influence the Season 3 episode “Thick as Mud.”) It’s not often that the author behind the source material changes their own work to better emulate a popular adaptation (you’d never see Craig Johnson reworking his novels due to the popularity of Longmire, for example), but that’s exactly the kind of impact Boyd Crowder had on Justified.

His enduring influence didn’t end there. “Years after the series [wrapped], there was news about a coal strike in Harlan because they were shutting down a mine,” Yost told the Television Academy. It turns out, lawyers and other suits were getting paid before the miners themselves, which caused folks in Harlan to stop the coal from being distributed. “One of the calls that went out was ‘We need Boyd Crowder.’ I mean, they loved him down there. That could have been a plot line if the show was still on.” Perhaps after the mixed reactions to City Primeval, the creative minds behind Justified could find some clever way to bring Raylan and Boyd back together for another on-screen tussle. We’d certainly welcome their return.