Elmore Leonard, whose gift for penning memorable crime novels and pulpy Westerns, stories which became a sort of endless reservoir for Hollywood to make many adaptations of on the silver screen, has died at the age of 87 from complications of a stroke he recently suffered.

Leonard penned Get Shorty, which was made into a feature film starring John Travolta. The same with 3:10 to Yuma, the dark, noirish Western. He also wrote Rum Punch, which was adapted by Quentin Tarantino into his homage to blaxploitation films Jackie Brown. A most recent tie in to Leonard’s work is the FX program Justified, based on the American author’s short story, entitled Fire in the Hole.

Justified
Season 4 Catch-Up
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, and Walton Goggins.
Tuesdays at 10pm; FX Network

With Justified hitting its final stretch of episodes, William takes a look at the latter part of the season to see how the show has come together through the course of its fourth season.

“We just gotta figure out how to get out of Harlan alive.”

Justified
Season 4, Episode 3 – “Truth and Consequences”
Directed by Jon Avnet
Written by Benjamin Cavell
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Joe Mazzello, Lindsay Pulsipher, Ron Eldard, David Meunier, Jesse Luken and Jere Burns
Tuesdays at 10pm; FX Network

The truth really does hurt.

That old axiom has never been more true to a majority of the characters in this week’s episode of Justified. Aptly titled “Truth and Consequences,” the third episode of Justified‘s fourth season sees Raylan (Timothy Olyphant), Boyd (Walton Goggins), and Billy (Joe Mazzello) place gambles on situations, feeling that they have the upper hand, only to find out just how out of control things really have become.

Justified
Season 4, Episode 2 – “Where’s Waldo?”
Directed by Bill Johnson
Written by Dave Andron
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Erica Tazel, Jacob Pitts, Joe Mazzello, Lindsay Pulsipher, Patton Oswalt, Ron Eldard, Abby Miller and Jere Burns
Air Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 10pm ET/PT

“There ain’t no salvation for people like us.”

Salvation and sin have been consistent themes throughout Justified. With the arrival of Preacher Billy (Joe Mazzello), however, it’s looking like those themes are really coming home to roost. Ava’s (Joelle Carter) line about salvation (or lack thereof) drives it home: there’s not going to be salvation for the Crowders. They’ve fallen so far that it’s easy to understand why Boyd (Walton Goggins) would address himself as the Devil (it’s in jest — or is it?) when he appears at Preacher Billy’s in the back half of tonight’s episode.

Justified
Season 4, Episode 1 – “Hole in the Wall”
Directed by Michael Dinner
Written by Graham Yost
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Erica Tazel, Jacob Pitts, Joe Mazzello, Patton Oswalt, Ron Eldard, Abby Miller and Raymond J. Barry
Tuesdays at 10pm; FX Network

Justified began its fourth season tonight on FX and we’ve got a full review of the premiere, “Hole in the Wall,” here after the break.

Justified, to me at least, has always been a show about trying to outrun the sins of a parent and what kind of impact that can make on one’s life. Each season of the show has focused on that angle, albeit through different families (Season 1 was the Crowders, while Season 2 gave us the infamous Bennett Clan), but in the past season, Executive Producer Graham Yost decided to key in and show us a bit more history between our hero and his father.