Justified: City Primeval (2024)

Justified: City Primeval is the limited series seventh season of Justified. It was announced in January 2022 and takes place eight years after the events of "The Promise". Justified: City Primeval debuted on FX on July 18, 2023 with its first two episodes: "City Primeval" and "The Oklahoma Wildman," with new episodes releasing weekly afterwards. Episodes will be made available the day after their premieres on the streaming service Hulu.

The new limited series is based loosely upon the events of Elmore Leonard's novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit. The series features the return of Justified star Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, but otherwise an entirely new cast. The only other returning character is that of Raylan Givens's daughter Willa Givens, now 15 years old and portrayed by Timothy Olyphant's real-life daughter Vivian Olyphant. Michael Dinner is slated to return as a director and showrunner for the series. The original City Primeval novel actually did not include the character of Raylan Givens. According to Michael Dinner, the series is intended as mashup of the character that viewers know with the book that Leonard wrote.^[1] Dave Andron has stated that while some old characters do show up, the fact that it's a mostly new cast is something that the audience will have to get their head around. "It's a new group of cops that are around him. It's cops in Detroit, not marshals in Kentucky, and it really is a standalone Raylan story, just with a few old friends sprinkled throughout."^[2]

While the program has been announced as an eight-episode limited series, Olyphant has stated that he would show up if future installments of the franchise were considered.

The new series is said not to be so much a sequel to the original as another look at the universe. Executive producer Sarah Timberman stated that it repeats what Justified did so well in terms of creating really detailed universes of people who are not good guys or bad guys, but in the gray areas.^[3] Michael Dinner was originally contacted by the son of Elmore Leonard, who asked if he would be interested in creating a television series based on City Primeval. He began developing the book as its own show, when he received call from Timothy Olyphant, who was at the time filming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Quentin Tarantino. The two considered the idea of turning City Primeval into a season of Justified, but it seemed unlikely due to a complicated rights situation. Ultimately, however, Dinner was able to sign a deal with FX that revived the notion, paving the way for the series.^[4]

Premise[]

Raylan Givens left Kentucky for Miami, where he continues working as a U.S. Marshal while helping raise his daughter. He soon finds himself in Detroit, pursuing The Oklahoma Wildman, Clement Mansell, who has been eluding the Detroit police force.

Production[]

Cast[]

Starring cast

• Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens
• Aunjanue Ellis as Carolyn Wilder
• Boyd Holbrook as Clement Mansell
• Adelaide Clemens as Sandy Stanton
• Vondie Curtis Hall as Marcus "Sweety" Sweeton
• Marin Ireland as Maureen Downey
• Norbert Leo Butz as Norbert Bryl
• Victor Williams as Wendell Robinson

Guest Starring

• Joseph Anthony Byrd as Trennell
• Keith David as Judge Alvin Guy
• Vivian Olyphant as Willa Givens
• Alexander Pobutsky as Skender Lulgjuraj

Co-Starring

• TBA

Crew[]

Producers

• Michael Dinner
• Sarah Timberman
• Graham Yost
• Walter Mosley
• Ingrid Escajeda
• Timothy Olyphant
• Peter Leonard
• Taylor Elmore
• Chris Provenzano
• VJ Boyd
• John LaBrucherie
• Chris Leanza
• Kate DiMento
• Eisa Davis
• Cami Patton
• James Sodini
• Vernon Davidson
• Will Halas
• Alonzo van Wilson

Writers

• Dave Andron
• VJ Boyd
• Elisa Davis
• Michael Dinner
• Taylor Elmore
• Chris Provenzano

Directors

• Jon Avnet
• Michael Dinner
• Gwyneth Horder-Payton
• Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Episodes[]

Reception[]

As of the evening of its premiere, July 18, 2023, Justified: City Primeval has a total of 22 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, 20 positive, for a 90% Certified Fresh rating. The site's Critics Consenus feature states that "Timothy Olyphant's quickdraw charm shows no signs of dulling in City Primeval, an introspective and very welcome return for Raylan Givens." Alex Maidy of JoBlo's Movie Network described the series as being "a worthwhile continuation of the original" and advised viewers to "Stick around for the final ten minutes of the finale. Trust me." Marcus Shorter of Consequence described it as being a "compelling story that felt necessary for the characters and the audience." Kaitlin Thomas of Paste Magazine, while not as positive as some of the other reviewers, nevertheless felt that "It turns out there was more to say about Raylan Givens, specifically about who he is as a father..." Verne Gay of Newsweek posted one of the two reviews not graded as Fresh to date. He gave the season an overall rating of 2.5/4 stars, but stated that "The story shambles at first, then picks up but never quite enough to place this among the better seasons of Justified."^[5]

Trivia[]

• Despite being set in Detroit, Michigan, the series itself was filmed almost entirely in Chicago, Illinois.^[6] However, certain scenes were also filmed in western Pennsylvania, for the first time since the original pilot, "Fire in the Hole."^[7]
• In advance of the premiere, FX is offering a sweepstakes for U.S. fans of the series to win a set of prizes, the main prize being a customized hat. The sweepstakes can be found here.
• This story is actually not the first to feature the character of Raylan Givens in Detroit, Michigan, as Peter Leonard, the son of Elmore Leonard, actually wrote novel titled Raylan Goes to Detroit featuring the Raylan Givens character. Peter Leonard serves as an executive producer on Justified: City Primeval, but the two stories are not connected, City Primeval being based on work by his father.
• Although Vivian Olyphant was announced as part of the show's main cast and even given a character poster, she is credited as a guest star for the episodes in which she appears.

Gallery[]

Character posters[]

Other[]

Trailer[]

Teasers[]

Other videos[]

External link[]

• Official FX website

References[]