I’ve been watching FX’s new drama Justified starring Deadwood’s Timothy Olyphant recently. Think of the show as Olyphant’s Seth Bullock character from Deadwood, brought to the future and thrown into modern redneck Kentucky, and name him Raylan Givens and give him a Sheriff badge. It’s pretty awesome stuff. Other than seeing him perform as the bad guy in Die Hard 4.0, I’m used to Olyphant playing a good guy from Deadwood. In his dealings with the neighbourhood in Justified, his best friend’s father, is in prison. This guy, is played by M.C. Gainey.
But, on another channel, ABC, there’s a new show that has recently started – 2 episodes in. Happy Town, has the hallmarks of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, an early 90s mystery drama which caught the world by storm… or dare I say, had the world ‘wrapped in plastic’. Happy Town, or Haplin, the proper name for the quiet country town, where everyone knows your name. Your neighbour owns at least one shop in the main street. Everyone knows if you’re dating / sleeping with someone, but they keep a smile on their face and always gracious to say hello. But the town hides a secret – 7 years ago, 7 civilians disappeared completely, without a trace. The rumour is that the murderous “Magic Man” did the killings. However, the murderer, nor the bodies, have ever been found. The town never really healed, and continued their everyday lives with the murders on the back of the mind.
We’re introduced to one of the characters surrounding the mystery, Sheriff Griffin Conroy. Guess who that is played by? 
M.C. Gainey.
I love it when shows do this. Running nearly simultaneously, and the actors used play total opposites to each show. Both shows are great, by the way.
