Major spoilers below for the season (or possibly series) finale of FX’s Justified: City Primeval, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!
Lo and behold, after seven episodes of pulpy crime drama that successfully and engagingly extended Timothy Olyphant’s TV lifeline as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, Justified: City Primeval did indeed bring out cameos from the two key Justified characters that audiences have most hoped to see again: Natalie Zea’s endlessly classy Winona Hawkins and Walton Goggins’ fan-favorite baddie Boyd Crowder. What’s more, the episode pulled off Boyd’s return in a way that makes me want a follow-up season more than any other TV project in the future. (Okay, except for maybe Mike Flanagan’s Dark Tower series.)
How Justified: City Primeval Brought Boyd Crowder Back
With most of the loose threads involving Clement Mansell getting tied up neatly in the first two acts, Justified: City Primeval's finale then delivered a whopper of a life choice for Raylan: he quit the Marshal service, and chose to make that decision to returning franchise vet Matt Craven's Dan Grant known during a boozy celebration. Leave it to Raylan to add complicated feelings to what should have been a joyous occasion. The news also shocked Winona once he let her know, and in a way that oozed, "Great timing there on the quitting, you good-looking schmuck."
After that bittersweet reunion, the story shifted to Kentucky, where the Bible-carrying Boyd Crowder was back in prison orange, and back to inspiring those around him with his orating skills, complete with an appearance from Luis Guzmán. Boyd voiced the notion that he was suffering from a potentially life-threatening impairment, but before a whole lot of worry could set in, it was revealed that he was actually partnered up with the female guard helping handle his transport to an unreached medical facility.
While Justified capped things off with Boyd settling into the mindset that he'd be behind bars for quite a while, City Primeval let the polecat out of the bag by putting the explosive-friendly thief back out in the free world as a smiling fugitive possibly heading to Mexico for mescal-sharing glee. That is, unless Raylan tracks him down first.
"The Question" concludes with a most brilliant cliffhanger of sorts for those who adore the cat-and-mouse relationship between Boyd and Raylan. The retiree is out with Willa on a boat that formerly belonged to a drug dealer — the perfect place for father-daughter bonding — when their conversation is interrupted by a newsbreak about Boyd's escape, followed immediately by the Marshal's office calling. But is he going to ignore the call and lean into his new life as an exclusively private citizen? Or will he be unable to stoke the flame that comes with knowing the Crowder family's blackest sheep has evaded justice once more? I can only hope for the latter to be the case.
Could Another Season Happen With Walton Goggins Back As Boyd?
At a time when nothing in Hollywood is certain amidst the WGA writers strike and the SAG-AFTRA actors strike, it's perhaps not the most ideal time to speculate about Justified's future. But in an ideal world where the industry is back on its feet and running strong, and all the stars are able to align properly, showrunner Michael Dinner seems optimistic about the idea of returning to this dangerous world, though with the understanding that it comes down to FX and how well Raylan's Detroit "vacation" did with viewers.
Speaking with TVLine, Dinner says the creative team purposefully avoided bringing Goggins' drawl-heavy Boyd back earlier in the season as a villainous mentor for Raylan, Silence of the Lambs-style. With that in mind, bringing him into the endgame made the most sense, as the most glorious TV punctuation mark possible. And the showrunner says that Goggins himself voiced the idea that a return could be a possibility, and that was before the scene was filmed. Which is a great move for a guy who totally squashed the notion that he'd be returning when asked about it. In Dinner's words:
We then sent it to Walton, and he loved it. He was actually the first one to say, ‘Welllll, you knowwww… if we have a good time… he’s out there in the world, isn’t he? We can always do another rodeo.' It was so great to have him back, and with both with him and Tim, I think their performances are fantastic. I feel with both of them that they’re 10 years down the road and that there’s a maturity in the characters, where it wasn’t just picking up where we left off.
If FX and Walton Goggins are down to reconnect for more Justified magic, one could only hope that the show's producers and writers would be back on board with the quickness, as led into action by Timothy Olyphant. I'm writing like a dozen letters to TV Santa this year. And at least half of the letters are also going to include the hope that the sequel will bring Raylan and Winona back together in some way. In all the ways. DO IT FOR WILLOW, GUYS!
For those who may have somehow not yet watched the entirety of Justified: City Primeval, all eight episodes are now streaming with a Hulu subscription, and since that’s the only way to make sure the continuation project gets another shot at delivering justice, make sure to watch it as many times as possible.
