5. Just how many families does Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) have a bad past with on Justified?

Raylan's relationship, past and present, with childhood friend Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) was an unexpected surprise in the first season of FX's Emmy-worthy neo-Western. Intended to be dead by now, Boyd instead became Raylan's perfect nemesis, almost a mirror for the lawman to look into and judge who he might have become. The two being forced to work together in the first-season finale was brilliant.

Now the show is bringing aboard Lost's Jeremy Davies to play Dickie Bennett, a character that doesn't sound too different from Boyd. A character from Raylan's past? Check. From a family that's been mixed up with his family? Check. That has something to settle with Raylan? Check. The only difference, at least on paper, is that at least Raylan and Boyd were friends at some point.

It's true that Raylan left behind a lot of baggage when he blew out of Harlan. Other than Boyd, he has his criminal dad Arlo (Raymond J. Barry), not-so-ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea) and current love interest Ava (Joelle Carter) to deal with. That seems like enough, doesn't it? Surely not everyone has a past with Raylan Givens? He might not be Mr. Congeniality, but at the same time it would be overkill if we just kept finding more people who have connections to our favorite Marshal. It's not as if Raylan has any shortage of current enemies.

While I take a "wait and see" attitude with the new character, I can only hope that Dickie and Raylan's relationship doesn't ape the established one between Raylan and Boyd. Nor that it cuts into the time devoted to those two characters. Their constantly complicated dealings came to be at the core of Justified as it told a story about fathers and sons, and friends turned enemies. That was sheer brilliance, and I don't think it could or should be duplicated. Instead, I'm all for stealing the Actor and Supporting Actor Emmys, and giving them to Olyphant and Goggins for a job well done. (No offense to the winners, but I'll maintain forever that those two were robbed.)

Prognosis: Good. I can't imagine the writers of such an amazing show going back to the same well too many times. There are enough skeletons in Raylan's closet already for them to play with, so I wouldn't expect them to rely on making more of the same. We'll have to wait until February to see how the new character shapes up. Maybe Boyd can give Dickie some spiritual guidance and teach him to let go of his anger.

What do you think, fans? How would you like to see these five questions answered? Are there any other serial elements that have you waiting on pins and needles for their conclusions? Chat about it below.