TV Eye: Justifiably gun-toting drama

Timothy Olyphant brings some Southern cool to 'Justified'; while Maggie Q is at the other end of the temperature scale in 'Nikita'. Photos / Supplied

Southern men are so dang sweet. The tipping of the cowboy hat, the "yes Ma'am" manners, the way they shoot men at point-blank range. It's satisfying to see such black and white values played out in TV One's new modern Western, Justified (Thursdays, 9.30pm). The series, based on Elmore Leonard's novels, is immediately likeable, even if it does constantly remind you you're watching a TV show. Deadwood and Damages actor Timothy Olyphant stars as US Marshal Raylan Givens, an old-school cop sent to his hometown of Kentucky against his wishes.

Despite having the most distractingly perfect teeth, he pulls off the sexy, not-to-be-messed-with-good-cop with aplomb. According to Raylan's ex, he's the angriest man she's ever known. This is why Olyphant is so good: his version of angry is a softly spoken, reasoned negotiation before he shoots a man over his spaghetti.

Justified did its doggone darndest in the pilot to create a dark and menacing world, a sort of modern-day Deadwood no doubt also influenced by The Sopranos.

It excels at something the crime procedurals aim for - a wry tone leavening dark subject matter. After the show's racist livewire villain, Boyd, dispatched a young recruit with a bullet through the brain, he was informed the dead man could be trusted, and only the briefest sheepish expression crossed his face. And when Raylan shows up unannounced at pretty widow Ava's house, she leans in to kiss him before telling him nonchalantly how she's killed
her no-good husband and is still working on getting the bloodstain out of the carpet. The dialogue is smart too.

"If I were you I'd give up this Nazi bullshit," Rylan told Boyd. "Go back to poaching 'gators, it's safer."

In other words, it's got everything you'd want from a blackly funny redneck drama: a gritty, pick-up truck setting, a couple of dimwit white supremacists, a seductive blonde who makes fried chicken and gravy. You could accuse it of being rife with cliches - but hey, the same could be said of Downton Abbey.

Most importantly, there's enough tension to fuel a relationships-driven plot. Especially now we know the former local has marginalised himself against his dangerous old mates, and that he has an outlaw for a daddy. And although Justified went out of its way to explain the title with a frequency that suggested Justin Timberlake might show up any moment, its fun tone made this easy to forgive.

If only the other new gun-toting TV show that debuted in the past week shared a similar sense of humour. Instead, Nikita, (Fridays, 9.30pm, TV2), the new remake of the Luc Besson film-turned 90s series La Femme Nikita takes itself very seriously. Particularly former ER actor Shane West, who looks alarmingly like Timothy Olyphant, only he gets to use terms like "counter-intell" while scowling.

That's not to say Nikita is bad, rather that it has room to improve. Emerging star Maggie Q plays the lead and is stunning to watch. The action sequences are slick and have McG's stamp all over them. It's just a pity about the dialogue.

"I broke one of their rules," Nikita said to her foster dad during a surprise visit. "I fell in love."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

I missed the answer as I was too busy thinking, "So the viewers at home can understand Nikita's backstory without having to listen to a narrator."

Why do we need another Nikita remake?

Well, kick-ass babes don't exactly populate the screens, and this takes a fresh perspective from the original, exploring what happens after Nikita's escape from the assassin-training compound.

There was a decent twist at the end when we found out that Alex, another young troubled recruit at Division, was acting as a mole, helping Nikita to get retribution for her ex's death from inside.

That was just enough to, ahem, justify tuning in again.