Justified: City Primeval is a neo-Western crime drama miniseries that continues the story of Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshal who first appeared in the FX series Justified. The miniseries is based on the Elmore Leonard novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit and the short story Fire in the Hole. Timothy Olyphant returns to star as Raylan, who finds himself in Detroit after a chance encounter with a violent criminal known as Clement Mansell, played by Boyd Holbrook. The miniseries also features Aunjanue Ellis as Carolyn Wilder, a defense attorney who becomes Raylan’s love interest, and Paul Calderón as Raymond Cruz, a detective who reprises his role from the film Out of Sight, another adaptation of Leonard’s work.
The miniseries consists of eight episodes that are more action-packed, thrilling, and emotional than the original series. The miniseries deviates significantly from the source material, which may alienate some fans of the books, but also allows for more creative storytelling and surprises. The miniseries focuses more on the individual storylines of the younger cast, who shine in their roles and face new challenges and dangers. The miniseries also explores the darker aspects of the world and the characters, as well as their inner conflicts and doubts. The miniseries still suffers from some pacing issues, uneven tone, and lack of character development for some of the supporting roles.
