The best thing about FX’s limited series, Justified: City Primeval, is that Timothy Olyphant returns in his memorable role as Raylan Givens, the articulate, determined, and crack-shot U.S. Marshal who, with his “businessman’s Stetson,” embodies an Old West lawman rather than a modern-day crimefighter. Raylan is a creation of the late Elmore Leonard (3:10 to Yuma, Get Shorty). This year’s offering has Raylan inserted into Leonard’s 1980 novel, City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, where he faces down Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook), a wily and violent murderer who decisively, albeit selectively, commits acts of violence without remorse.
The original FX series, Justified, ran from 2010 to 2015, and was based on Leonard’s short story, “Fire in the Hole.” It opened with Raylan’s showdown with a cartel hitman, whom he gave twenty-four hours to leave town. Fed up with his unorthodox method of law enforcement (“He pulled first, I shot him”), the Marshals Service exiled Raylan to his Kentucky hometown. Almost immediately upon his return, he encountered an old-friend-turned-career-criminal, and initiated a feud that lasted throughout all six seasons.
Leonard’s novel was a natural choice to supplant Raylan as the protagonist. Like Raylan, Raymond Cruz is a tough detective with a seething temper under a cool veneer. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind, yet he carefully considers his strategy when pursuing violent criminals. He becomes conscious of a budding sense of Old West-style justice, and debates as to whether it has a place in modern-day Detroit. By now, we already know that Raylan has put that theory into practice.
Four episodes into the season’s eight, Justified: City Primeval is mostly faithful to the original novel, with the base storyline and much of the dialogue replicated on screen. To insert Raylan into a Detroit Police homicide case, the writers introduce us to Raylan’s 14-year-old daughter, played by Vivian, Timothy Olyphant’s daughter, and manufacture a scenario requiring a federal agent to support a joint task force with the Detroit Police Department. Once he’s there, he generally follows in Raymond Cruz’s footsteps until Episode Five, where the book and screenplay diverge widely. But none of this matters, because today, we’re here for Raylan.
Olyphant’s performance is as if the first series never ended, or rather, as if the character is inseparable from the actor. Of course, the creators, Dave Andron and Michael Dinner, both of whom were connected with the original version, ensured Leonard’s classic dialogue was front and center. For example, in Episode One, Raylan confronts a barricaded subject with a hostage, a not unfamiliar scenario:
“Just talk to me, Barry, come on. Face to face.”
“Give me one good reason I should do anything you say.”
“Because up until now no one has been hurt, except a Cadillac CT6. But some of the agents and officers up here, Barry, ‘specially the ones by the toaster oven, are a little hungry and a lot irritable, so if I was you, and I was sincerely interested in saving my ass, I’d open the door, talk this out, and end it while I’m still breathing.” (Pause.) “Come on Barry, what do you say? Head to the SUV out front, instead of the afterlife?”
What if you’re not familiar with the original series? Or the novel? Then what you get is a solid crime story told through well-rounded characters. Boyd Holbrook plays a convincing murderer and general all-around thug. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, as Mansell’s lawyer, holds her own against her evil client, her ex-husband, and the system that seems to attack her from all sides. Adelaide Clemens plays Mansell’s girlfriend and occasional co-conspirator who begins to sense that hanging around a dangerous man might not be such a hot idea. There is a host of supporting characters, too many to mention here, who give performances worthy of the lead actors. It shouldn’t surprise the viewer if this show generates a sequel.
While there is much to praise about this series, my only criticism lies in the romance between Raylan and Ellis-Taylor’s character. It’s possible this is due to my (at this point unfair) comparison to the book. In most circumstances, it’s unlikely for any defense attorney to woo the cop who’s trying to arrest her client. As performed on screen, the liaison seems to be borne less out of attraction and more out of opportunity. So far, this is a minor point in what is an engaging and action-packed performance.
Overall, the acting and the writing both deserve the highest marks, and if you’ve seen the finale, then you already know Andron and Dinner have plans for Raylan, which should excite Justified fans. If you haven’t seen it, you might think they’re considering an adaptation of another of Elmore Leonard’s novels. Split Images, Glitz, and Freaky Deaky all center on law enforcement officers who balance justice and just desserts. Without giving anything away, it’s safe to say that whatever they have in store for a subsequent season likely will be delayed by the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike. This might be a good time to binge the original show.
TELEVISION Justified: City Primeval
Created by: Dave Andron and Michael Dinner
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Boyd Holbrook, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Broadcast on FX, streaming on Hulu
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