Justified: City Primeval: The Oklahoma Wildman

July 20, 2023 11:00 AM - Season 1, Episode 2

Raylan hunts a killer. Carolyn takes on a former client. Willa makes a new friend.
posted by Frayed Knot (11 comments total)

Willa walking around made me so nervous. Liking this so far, even if it kind of seems like the clonestamped Raylan into a different crime saga.

What's great is that he always does what is most obvious and straightforward, like most of the time in earlier seasons. It got me when previously they were about to batter down the door and he just opened it. He's K.I.S.S. personified. I usually like cons and tricks and mind games and double crosses but the Raylan style acts as a kind of short circuit to that stuff — but his antagonist has the same style so I can see why they paired them up like this.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:52 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Is it still "crime of the week" show, or have they got a season-long arc this time?
posted by Paul Slade at 8:13 AM on July 21, 2023

Judging from the first two, it looks like it's going to be an 8-episode arc of a single story about Raylan and his daughter getting sucked into a complicated case of corruption and murder in Detroit.
posted by mediareport at 9:23 AM on July 21, 2023

(Though I'll be very surprised if the daughter sticks around after what happened in this episode. They'll have to do some very unrealistic plot wrangling for Raylan to keep her around any longer.)
posted by mediareport at 9:28 AM on July 21, 2023

Justified was only crime of the week for the first season - all the others have season long arcs and contribute to the overall storyline of the series. It's a way better show starting in season 2.

I'm confused about the brown notebook. Who carries something like that around with them all the time? Why would you tell anyone about it? I'm betting the info in there is fake.

I'll be disappointed if his daughter is sent away, I think she adds a lot.
posted by InfidelZombie at 10:44 AM on July 21, 2023

I'm confused about the brown notebook. Who carries something like that around with them all the time? Why would you tell anyone about it? I'm betting the info in there is fake.

I was confused by this too. He was gesturing with it when he met with the cops earlier. Maybe when I was saying "I know some shit" he was referring literally to the item in his hand. But yeah, what if you drop it and someone sees all the graft payments?

And yeah, daughter seems a little too prominent to just be a prop for the guy to threaten and then she disappears. But who knows. I haven't read the book.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:32 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

i love his daughter! i think she is a delight, both as a character and as a person/personal aspect. i hate the villain - and not in a good way. he is supposed to be charismatic but i find him repellent. (sorry, Boyd Holbrook - it's the character, not you.) the premiere ep seemed like it was trying too hard to be... i dunno, hip? cool? it seemed like overkill. the 2nd ep was better, so i am hoping this miniseries finds a good groove as it gets rolling.
as for the daughter going off on her own into abandoned buildings... sigh. i am pretty tired of the trope of "kids who don't listen" - especially females who wander into rapey situations. i know teenagers are willful folk, but for once i would like to see an offspring portrayed as not having the stupids. they did it in the original series. however, i do appreciate the stark irony that the real danger happened in the "safe space" of the hotel.
posted by lapolla at 6:50 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

"What if I want to go out?"
"When I suggest you get off your phone and go outside, I get rolled eyes, but NOW you wanna go out?"
"Teenage girls are complicated."
Also, why is she buying a fake Rolex for seven bucks?
Also, Willa, OF COURSE YOUR DAD OF ALL PEOPLE WILL PUT A BOLO OUT ON YOU.

Sandy is...not the best actress. Not in the same way Willa isn't, but her trying to brazen her way through, hoo boy. "What fender?" "......" "Uh....I don't know left and right...."

I don't think I've seen Raylan ever so facially freaked out as he was in that restaurant scene.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:26 PM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

i know teenagers are willful folk, but for once i would like to see an offspring portrayed as not having the stupids.

I mean, in all fairness - she’s the 15yo daughter of two of the most stubborn-ass characters portrayed on screen. Winona and Raylan’s apple hasn’t so much fallen from the tree as sauntered down the trunk and started diggin’
posted by coriolisdave at 10:28 PM on July 29, 2023 [5 favorites]

When we saw Boyd Holbrook going after the daughter, the hubby and I looked at each other and said, “Oh, shit, he does not know who Raylan is.” And then at the conclusion of the scene, we realize that Willa doesn’t know, either.
posted by BrashTech at 1:44 PM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]

Willa should be glad it's only eight episodes or she'd be facing off with a Cougar before she rejoined the main storyline.
posted by Gary at 8:32 PM on September 2, 2023