The Justified we know and love, but it was still wonderful to see Tim back as Raylan. It was 100% jarring watching Raylan in Detroit and outside of Kentucky (especially right after finishing another rewatch of the original series), but I felt it was decent. This isn't the Justified we know. Raylan is in a new element - it was almost like culture shock because I've watched the OG series so much I'm used to the Southern accents, the brightness (the color tone of CP was dark which also threw me off), and the quirkiness and wit of the villains. In CP, the villains are true villains - nothing likable or redeeming about them (though Holbrook was fantastic in his role), which is a drastic change from Justified. We all loved Boyd and rooted for him while wanting him to get caught. All of that can be credited to Walt for bringing such vitality to a character that was only supposed to be in the OG series pilot. I missed the fun banter between Raylan and the bad guys - we didn't get that here. And I get why. We weren't supposed to. This was supposed to be different. And I see why a lot of fans were less than thrilled with City Primeval. I get it and they all have valid points as to why they didn't like this iteration and I agree with them. It was slow at times but in typical Justified fashion, once everything came together it picked up fast and hard. So that being said, I enjoyed it for what it was. I knew it would be different - no Art, Rachel, Tim, Winona, Boyd, Ava, Wynn, Vasquez. I knew it wouldn't be the Justified I loved. The OG series was a perfect show start to finish for me, with the series finale being THE best finale I've seen to date. That's why I appreciated CP a bit because they weren't trying to nor did they set out to make a Justified 2.0. Yes, there were a lot of things I was less than thrilled about. Yes, the format was different and the way everything played out was a bit...not confusing per say...maybe perplexing? Yeah, perplexing is the right word. You didn't know who you could trust. You didn't know who was clean and who was dirty. The actors were great, but like a lot of people said, this iteration was based on a book by Elmore Leonard that had nothing to do with Raylan and the creators of the show put him in anyway. Which makes sense because any version of Justified without Tim/Raylan isn't Justified. But, and hopefully you're still with me, in the end it's worth it. I swear and promise you that. In regards to a second "season", I'm torn. On one hand, hell yes after that ending (just can't use City Primeval as part of the title). If you watched you know why. But on the other hand, the OG series (like I said) ended in sheer and utter perfection with "Because we dug coal together" that I don't know if we really should have a second season. Why mess with perfection? Either way, I'd be happy because I do trust the creators, writers, and Tim. I'd say give it a shot, but go in with an open mind and try not to compare the two.
Review of Justified: City Primeval
