“Justified” has always been laid-back in its core essence, in a way that can only be described as wickedly cool. Raylan, whose sole motive is to enforce justice, also needs to grapple with his personal demons amid the perpetual murders and shootouts. Most of the series followed a crime-of-the-week format — however, this formulaic approach never felt hackneyed due to the show’s consistent ability to showcase dynamic characters. The dialogue still remains endlessly quotable and packed with sass, as evidenced by Raylan saying things like, “If you wanted me to shoot you in the front, you should’ve run toward me” to an especially whiny criminal.
Seeing as “Justified” ended with Raylan working in a Miami outpost and antagonist Boyd Crowder (Walter Goggins) in jail, what will the sequel series be about? “Justified: City Primeval” will take place eight years after the events of the original season finale, with Raylan in Detroit. Raylan will be spending a lot of time with his daughter Willa (Vivian Olyphant) while juggling his duties as marshal, which leads to an encounter with the dangerous Mansell (Boyd Holbrook). Using his razor-sharp perception, Raylan is forced to catch this serial killer before it’s too late.
While “Justified” was an amalgamation of several stories featuring Raylan Givens, “Justified: City Primeval” will be primarily based on Elmore Leonard’s novel “City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit.” Dave Andron and Michael Dinner are currently attached as showrunners, and the series is expected to premiere sometime in mid-2023. Although it is unclear exactly what kind of tone “City Primeval” will be adopting, here’s hoping that it retains the effortlessly cool neo-Western aura of the original.