Justified: Cidade Primitiva

Sometimes you come across a show that's just perfect, and while it must be tempting to capitalize on its success, it would probably be better to let it be. Because how do you compete with perfection ?

I never bothered to watch "El Camino", because I didn't feel that "Breaking bad" needed a sequel, so maybe it was good or maybe not. I don't know and I'm never gonna find out.

But here we are. A new chapter in the Raylan Givens story.

As expected it doesn't in any way come close to the original. The strenght of "Justified" was grounded in the multitude of great characters surrounding Oliphant and Goggins, and that it took a cop show and turned it into an epic rural saga.

Goggins made his villain a man you despised and loved at the same time. A bad guy with a multilayered personality.

Sadly Damsell is no Boyd Crowder. He's just a bad guy to the bone, and "City Primeval" is just another regular " catch a killer" cop show.

That being said it's not bad. Raylan is still a cool guy and I actually couldn't help myself enjoying it.

But while I rated the original 10, this deserves only a 7.

Worth a watch though.

This series is a spinoff of the 2010 television show Justified, and follows titular character, U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens, who has been living in Florida, but after a road incident, he is reassigned to Detroit and while there must fight against corruption, take care of his rebellious 15 year-old daughter, build relationships, and hunt down a new dangerous serial killer. Overall due, to its signature comedy, action- packed shootouts/fights, and nostalgic moments, this show was a great return to this character and a good way to add to the story and even though there are sometimes too many side plots or characters that can take away from the main plot, it was an enjoyable experience that fans of the original show will love and hopefully eventually another full length feature can continue to build upon this short but sweet return.

I love all things Timothy Olyphant, the original Justified and I love the Raylan Givens character. What I can do without is the Willa character. I find her to be annoying and unnecessary. I know it's only 2 episodes in, but she's added nothing to the show at all, except teenage disobedience. This character is an obvious ploy and someone we're supposed to care about when she's abducted or otherwise harmed. Maybe the impetus for Raylan to break a law, become angrier, show vulnerability, etc. Either way she's irritating and the least the writers could've done was make her character likable. I'm still gonna watch because of Mr. Olyphant and the rest of the cast, but I really hope her character has less screen time.

I really wanted to like this series. But three episodes in, it feels like our modern-day Matt Dillon has been worm-holed into an alternate universe of lackluster writing, uninteresting supporting characters, and stodgy direction. No Elmore Leonard vibe this time... just the sort of flaccid storytelling more typical of network cop dramas. And, as a dad with three daughters and my fair share of parental challenges, I feel the whole father-daughter thread is unconvincing. Check out Bosch for some really good writing in that vein. Most of all, this new outing needs an intriguing and likable villain. Give me Boyd Crowder!

What used to make Justified great was the excellent and charismatic villains along with witty repartee dialogue between Raylan and said antagonists, with some good action and plot twists sprinkled in. This series has a less compelling villain who is quite obvious in his machinations and struts around in his white briefs far too often for my taste. He's hardly ever on screen with Raylan so the dialogue is minimal.

We also get some side characters who are inserted for little reason like his supposedly 15-year-old daughter Willa, played by Timothy Olyphant's real life daughter who is 20 and it shows. She can raise her voice an octave but we still have eyes. The writers do her no favors, she just plays the usual bratty and disobedient teen girl trope that is seemingly in every show now, and doesn't move the plot forward in any way but rather acts as a drag on it with distracting annoyance.

The love interest for Raylan is so far off from Ava Crowder or Winona Hawkins that it just doesn't come across as believable. Raylan is probably out of almost every woman's league but in this case it's really a bridge too far.

Neither the plot nor the dialogue are all that clever. Raylan gets in a few quips but it just seems like they stole the lines from the original Justified and repurposed them here. It's great to see Raylan on screen again and Sweety (Vondie Curtis-Hall) is also a lot of fun to watch so I still give this a 6, but when they're off screen it's a 3 or 4. Were they justified in making this show? Mostly not.