In Justified, the environment is the show. The mountains, the coal mines, the forests and the streams are all really integral to making Justified what it is. The place is a character on the show, because it's a character in all of the (fictional) residents' lives.

Do we know what happened to any real-life undercover KGB operatives in the U.S. following the Soviet Union's collapse?

The show's been anywhere from very very good, to maybe-best-thing-on-TV since it started. And halfway through season 3, I'd argue this is the show's strongest run so far, and has somehow found another level to elevate to.

It also does poorly in the ratings with people over 35 … it does poorly in the ratings with everyone.

Greenwald and Sepinwall have both said they think it's a five-season show. Sepinwall about a month ago said there's a chance it's only four, but he expects five. FX is well aware the ratings are bad, but for them that critical cred that comes with it is valuable.

Yeah, I don't get why you wouldn't always opt for Netflix. Maybe short-term Prime pays your more, but long-term for the health of the show, pimping the shit out of your TV show on Netflix is 100% the way to go.

Yeah, Olyphant is really good but the degree of difficulty on Raylan Givens isn't quite as high as Don Draper.

This might end up being the best season of Justified, depending on how these last five weeks go. There's been no lull week so far, which is pretty remarkable.

Well, those shows are all trying to do different things. There's a distinction between "This show wasn't good," and "I don't like what this show is about."

Gotta throw a change-up if you wants those fastballs to come across as true scorchers.

Winona isn't bad, but she didn't ever need to be in all 13 episodes a season. She's great in short bursts – her rapport with Raylan is phenomenal, and she brings a great non-Marshal/criminal element to the show.

I don't think anyone watches Mad Men in the U.S. either. For how often it's mentioned in pop culture, it's ratings sure do suck. It's high is like 3.5 million people, according to IB Times.

From tidbits via Greenwald and Seppinwall, it sounds like The Americans is likely a five-season deal. They've both made it sound like a fourth season is a definite, and a fifth season is fairly likely – but beyond that is basically a no.

Ugh. The Americans has been great its entire run – really high highs, and lows that are still better than most anything else on TV.

Yeah, Howard Stark isn't that interesting. I always see people mention how he's so good to see around, and to me he's an utterly forgettable cutout of rich male floozy. And he doesn't have enough sheer charm to make that one note interesting. He just looks sleepy all the time.

Howard Stark would have been a lot more interesting if they actually crafted him as this semi-fraud who was revealed to be kind of a pathetic guy who's had some luck, rather than the dickisch-yet-charming eccentric inventor who messed up and wants to right his wrongs.

Not only was it Peggy's show, the writing (while admittedly never brilliant, but consistently serviceable) kind of dropped off in the last couple hours.

Listen, you don't have to explain it to me. I've always though that while Breaking Bad was admirably efficient and taut, it was too straightforward to really grab me. I get it, Walter's kind of shitty and it screws up everything around him … is that the whole point of this?

Yeah, in the same vein, this sounds weird but Mad Men is hilarious. A legitimately funny show.

I don't necessarily agree with the Justified > Breaking Bad argument here – but is Skinny Pete really the best example here for your point? I'd say a lot of Justified's supporting/guest characters easily surpass Skinny Pete in terms of being fleshed out with minimal screen time.