Justified why did winona leave

Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…. Well, they kiss three times but the last one is the best one — and it means something. The Charles and Rosa dynamic was also great. Username or Email Address. Remember Me. By using our website, you agree to the use of our cookies. Got it! Moment of Goodness. Kara Howland , February 21, Kara Howland. Related posts. Follow Us. Recaps What They Said. Heather M , July 19, Tina Charles , March 29, Heather M , March 6, Heather M , August 9, Heather M , August 7, Heather M , August 2, Heather M , June 27, And instead of attempting to change Raylan herself, Winona came to accept that he was who he was, at least until he'd dealt with the specters of his father and Harlan that had haunted him all his life.

While everyone watching at home was enamored with the charismatic lawman who was as quick with a quip as he was with his sidearm, Winona saw through him. And even though she loved him, she also chose to walk away while pregnant with his unborn child, which is not necessarily an easy thing to do.

It'd be awfully easy to paint Winona as the bad guy in this situation; it's unfortunately common to blame a woman for a man's faults if the man in question is deemed cool or interesting enough, and the show certainly did its part to glamorize Raylan.

But Raylan never blamed Winona for her actions, which included leaving him for their realtor. And if we let Raylan's and Boyd's many bloody transgressions slide but attempt to hold Winona accountable for things she's allegedly done wrong -- which mostly amount to not wanting Raylan to end up dead -- it only furthers the unfair standards women are held to. Winona actually had agency in a world where women traditionally have struggled to gain footing -- where they've been forced, with their backs up against a wall, to compromise who they are or give up pieces of themselves just to survive.

The character of Ava Crowder became an example of the ways in which a person's behavior is shaped by their surroundings, as she frequently turned to violence to solve her problems: a reflection of her compromised moral code as a result of her relationship with Boyd and her existence in a toxic, frequently misogynistic environment.

Winona, who existed mostly on the periphery of the violence of Harlan, always held the power in her relationship with Raylan. It was her decision to leave, and it was the right decision, both for the character and for the series. Of course it was unfortunate to lose Zea's presence halfway through the show -- Justified didn't have many female series regulars; with the exception of Ava and Rachel, the series usually had to settle for excellent actresses in even more excellent supporting roles, like Emmy winner Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett -- but seeing Winona choose to leave Raylan of her own accord was preferable to seeing her wither away into nothing while he continued in his stubborn ways.

It was also preferable to seeing her be put in the path of danger, the least exciting trope in the history of television. Now, Winona did eventually return to Harlan with their daughter in the final season, revealing she would rather live a life with Raylan -- and all the fear and uncertainty that came with it -- than one without him, a gesture that signaled she was willing to accept the man for all his faults.

Some viewers may have seen this as a mistake, while others might have even interpreted it as a sign of weakness on her part, but it actually felt like the natural progression of Winona and Raylan's relationship given that they never found real closure but still had a child together.

Her return also played into the theme of Season 6, which involved Raylan accepting it was time to move on from Harlan and the life that came with it. They owed it to themselves to give their romance another shot once Raylan had successfully vanquished most, if not all, of his demons.

Even though it was revealed in the series finale, which jumped forward four years, that the two had split once again and Winona was happily married to someone else but co-parenting Willa with Raylan, both parties appeared to be content with the status of their relationship. Was it a happy ending? I remember when [producer] Fred Golan saw the cut of the episode. And then it was a nice treat and really a sweet gesture from Jason Gedrick to agree to play the part of her new husband.

Ava drove the bulk of the action of the final season. Episodes frequently hinged on her decisions. When [Joelle Carter] came to visit, she brought cupcakes. So we just thought we owed her. We just thought it would be great to have her at the center of the whole thing, and she just did spectacular work this year, and she has throughout. What in your mind did he end up doing? So our belief is that he picked her up. He was lurking in the shadows when all this was going down.

He got her in the dog-grooming van and put her in the hidden compartment, and feel that a dog-grooming van would throw off any inspection — that the scents would just make it hard for [police dogs] to smell anyone in there. He got her out in exchange for the location of the money. Jere Burns was actually in Fiji over the Christmas break and I asked him to get footage on a GoPro of him surfing in case we wanted to throw that in at the end of the episode.

But that was always our fantasy. I would say that scene is one of those scenes we are most proud of in terms of doing something that is terrifying and exciting and funny and heartbreaking. I think you picked the right one, but it makes me realize that [it should had have] had Bob versus Yolo in there.

It was just a fight, but it still had elements of a showdown. It was a great run and we had a lot of fun doing it with a great group of people. Home Article 'Justified' showrunner explains that bittersweet series finale.