Justified: City Primeval: The Question
August 30, 2023 3:05 PM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe
Raylan and Carolyn cross the line; Raylan attempts to make it out of Detroit alive.
Yeah, as much as I don’t want Justified to only be about Raylan’s relationship to Boyd—and I got tired of Boyd in the original—it absolutely felt like this show finally had some sense of what it wanted to be and some momentum. (Doesn’t hurt to have Luis Guzman guesting, either. ) I guess they’re setting it up for “they reeled me back in” and I’d be okay with it if it’s as decent as the last part.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 6:25 PM on August 30, 2023
posted by kitten kaboodle at 6:25 PM on August 30, 2023
I enjoyed the conclusion and I appreciated that Raylan ultimately couldn't live with the idea of Mansell being left to slowly starve to death instead of facing justice. Granted, I would also wager Raylan knew that the likelihood of Mansell making it to the courtroom over making it to the morgue was not extremely likely, given Mansell's propensity for violence. Their last interaction in Carolyn's kitchen was interesting for a number of reasons:
1) It seemed like Mansell legitimately did not expect Raylan to drop him, and that must have reflected Mansell's somewhat lackadaisical approach to violence and the perception he had that his interactions with Raylan were almost like a performance or a game. Mind you, Mansell played his audition tape for Sweetie about a heart beat before he shot him in cold blood, so just because Mansell went for his demo tape instead of a pistol doesn't mean violence was not on his mind depending on how Raylan responded.
2) I'm not sure how I feel about Raylan's response to shooting Mansell and discovering the guy was pulling out said tape. The look on Raylan's face seemed a mix of confusion and almost horror, but I can't believe Raylan would have been extremely upset that he shot someone who wasn't pulling a weapon. In everything that lead up to that moment, the relentless killing, the lack of light in the kitchen, Raylan wouldn't second guess his own action. I could see the character being angry, growling, "Damn it, Mansell, why did you go and do that?!" But it was just weird how it was presented in the moment.
3) If it seemed at all connected to his retirement, not really a fan of that for the above mentioned reasons. That said, it's always a moment of wonder and surprise when Raylan breaks out the quickdraw.
Raylan's decision to retire, I reckon, was motivated by his daughter, given that we had the lead up of his fellow marshal talking about his daughter at the retirement party for the chief. It also made sense from the perspective of how the show opened with him choosing his duty over her (or at least how she saw it) back in episode two or three. It went without mentioning whether Raylan's 24 hour reflection on leaving Mansell in the safe room might have also played a role in it, and I'd like to think it did. He felt himself slipping and didn't like what he saw.
Final thoughts:
I enjoyed Raylan's trip to Detroit, or heck, he could have spent the entire time surviving a trip to Disneyland, and I think it would have been just as fun. Timothy Olyphant just creates a character that you simply enjoy having around. I never felt there was much chemistry between Raylan and Carolyn, which was probably the most disappointing aspect of the series. There was one moment at the Chinese restaurant where it started to form, but then got cut off by her ex-husband showing up. There weren't enough moments like that to really sell the attraction that was supposed to begin with the somewhat forced drink by Raylan's daughter in the first episode. It should've been something that developed over a longer period of time in a longer season.
The decision to end with Boyd breaking out, well, it was fun. The phone ringing was definitely the Justified version of a spinning top, waiting for the viewer to decide what would happen next. Guzman definitely was a tip off that something more than normal was going to happen because you don't just bring Guzman in for nothing, I mean, you can, he's wonderful, but he's there to do something gosh darn it. I can't imagine Raylan's relationship with his daughter will survive unless he takes her with him to run Boyd down. That said, Boyd wouldn't hurt her, either. He's not that type of villain and probably would see Willa as something of a niece in some weird way.
Ultimately, I'm always here for more Justified, I just can't quit it.
It was fun seeing Winona at the end.
posted by Atreides at 7:01 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
1) It seemed like Mansell legitimately did not expect Raylan to drop him, and that must have reflected Mansell's somewhat lackadaisical approach to violence and the perception he had that his interactions with Raylan were almost like a performance or a game. Mind you, Mansell played his audition tape for Sweetie about a heart beat before he shot him in cold blood, so just because Mansell went for his demo tape instead of a pistol doesn't mean violence was not on his mind depending on how Raylan responded.
2) I'm not sure how I feel about Raylan's response to shooting Mansell and discovering the guy was pulling out said tape. The look on Raylan's face seemed a mix of confusion and almost horror, but I can't believe Raylan would have been extremely upset that he shot someone who wasn't pulling a weapon. In everything that lead up to that moment, the relentless killing, the lack of light in the kitchen, Raylan wouldn't second guess his own action. I could see the character being angry, growling, "Damn it, Mansell, why did you go and do that?!" But it was just weird how it was presented in the moment.
3) If it seemed at all connected to his retirement, not really a fan of that for the above mentioned reasons. That said, it's always a moment of wonder and surprise when Raylan breaks out the quickdraw.
Raylan's decision to retire, I reckon, was motivated by his daughter, given that we had the lead up of his fellow marshal talking about his daughter at the retirement party for the chief. It also made sense from the perspective of how the show opened with him choosing his duty over her (or at least how she saw it) back in episode two or three. It went without mentioning whether Raylan's 24 hour reflection on leaving Mansell in the safe room might have also played a role in it, and I'd like to think it did. He felt himself slipping and didn't like what he saw.
Final thoughts:
I enjoyed Raylan's trip to Detroit, or heck, he could have spent the entire time surviving a trip to Disneyland, and I think it would have been just as fun. Timothy Olyphant just creates a character that you simply enjoy having around. I never felt there was much chemistry between Raylan and Carolyn, which was probably the most disappointing aspect of the series. There was one moment at the Chinese restaurant where it started to form, but then got cut off by her ex-husband showing up. There weren't enough moments like that to really sell the attraction that was supposed to begin with the somewhat forced drink by Raylan's daughter in the first episode. It should've been something that developed over a longer period of time in a longer season.
The decision to end with Boyd breaking out, well, it was fun. The phone ringing was definitely the Justified version of a spinning top, waiting for the viewer to decide what would happen next. Guzman definitely was a tip off that something more than normal was going to happen because you don't just bring Guzman in for nothing, I mean, you can, he's wonderful, but he's there to do something gosh darn it. I can't imagine Raylan's relationship with his daughter will survive unless he takes her with him to run Boyd down. That said, Boyd wouldn't hurt her, either. He's not that type of villain and probably would see Willa as something of a niece in some weird way.
Ultimately, I'm always here for more Justified, I just can't quit it.
It was fun seeing Winona at the end.
posted by Atreides at 7:01 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Needs more Wynn Duffy.
posted by kbanas at 8:39 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by kbanas at 8:39 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
I never felt there was much chemistry between Raylan and Carolyn, which was probably the most disappointing aspect of the series.
GOD YES THANK YOU. Every time they were together in what should have been a sexy way just completely took me out of the story because the chemistry was not there.
posted by cooker girl at 3:31 PM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
GOD YES THANK YOU. Every time they were together in what should have been a sexy way just completely took me out of the story because the chemistry was not there.
posted by cooker girl at 3:31 PM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
Needs more Wynn Duffy.
Quoted for mf truth
posted by coriolisdave at 3:34 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Quoted for mf truth
posted by coriolisdave at 3:34 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
so the albanians just have like zero security of any kind? you can just walk right in and kill the crime boss of detroit if you want to?
really looking forward to the return of kentucky raylan
posted by dis_integration at 7:55 PM on August 31, 2023
really looking forward to the return of kentucky raylan
posted by dis_integration at 7:55 PM on August 31, 2023
really looking forward to the return of kentucky raylan
iunno, if Boyd has buggered off to Mexico... Mexican Raylan! With Luis Guzman as sidekick!
posted by coriolisdave at 8:09 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
iunno, if Boyd has buggered off to Mexico... Mexican Raylan! With Luis Guzman as sidekick!
posted by coriolisdave at 8:09 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I feel like more people might've liked the show if it had been more bingeable. Having to wait a week (old school!) between episodes gave people time to think about plot holes, participate in online conversations, and maybe exaggerated the delay between events in the storyline. (For example, having to wait 2 episodes between the Albanians showing up would be less noticeable in a binge context.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM on August 31, 2023
Needs more Wynn Duffy.
This is the way.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
This is the way.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Oh, great, Willa's back. Yaaaaaaay. Not.
Really, it's kinda like 'why did they do this, just should have had more Boyd," I suppose.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:04 PM on September 1, 2023
Really, it's kinda like 'why did they do this, just should have had more Boyd," I suppose.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:04 PM on September 1, 2023
This article about sums up my feelings about the series:
Justified: City Primeval turned Justified’s dark humor into plain old darkness
When we got to the end I turned to my husband and said “Like, we couldn’t have skipped all that and just started with this part?”
I do hope this ending was a jump off into another series that captures that dark humour again.
posted by eekernohan at 5:36 AM on September 3, 2023
Justified: City Primeval turned Justified’s dark humor into plain old darkness
When we got to the end I turned to my husband and said “Like, we couldn’t have skipped all that and just started with this part?”
I do hope this ending was a jump off into another series that captures that dark humour again.
posted by eekernohan at 5:36 AM on September 3, 2023
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posted by coriolisdave at 3:06 PM on August 30, 2023 [3 favorites]