Created by Dave Andron and Michael Dinner, Justified: City Primeval is a reboot of the neo-western crime drama that began in the year 2010. This time we see US Marshal Raylan Givens in Detroit instead of Kentucky, solving cases and going about his business with that same patented flair. We have to admit here that, not having watched the earlier seasons of the franchise, we didn’t have any benchmarks in mind and judged the narrative solely on its merit. The series is based on the works of Elmore Leonard, though the makers have taken a few creative liberties to elevate the narrative. So, let’s find out what Raylan Givens was up to and in which case he gets entangled next.
Spoilers Alert
Who Was Behind Judge Alvin Guy’s Car Bombing?
In the first episode of Justified: City Primeval, Raylan Givens is taking his daughter to a camp, which she refers to as a prison, where she would stay without a phone. The camp was supposed to be a place where she got a chance to contemplate her actions, as Willa had punched another student and broken her nose. On his way, Raylan is stopped by two thugs who happened to be history sheeters, though they had no clue what they were signing into. They were unaware of the reputation the US marshal had, and before they realized who he was, it was a bit too late.
Raylan Givens took Tyrone Power and his friend into custody, and he planned to take them directly to court to get arraigned. But the problem was that Raylan still had to drop off his daughter at the pickup location, from where an airboat was going to take them to the camp. They missed the boat, and Willa had no option but to hang around with his father while he went about his business. Tyrone Power was the son of a man named Sweety, who owned a bar and was well acquainted with quite a lot of influential people. Carolyn Wilder was fighting the case for Sweety’s son, and she was able to prove in the third circuit judicial court that the US Marshall had wrongfully held her client in his custody and done all sorts of chores before bringing him to court.
Judge Alvin Guy was presiding over the matter, and he acquitted Tyrone. He declared that the charges against the state of Michigan would stand, and he set the bail at $100,000. Raylan Givens knew that it was an unfair decision, but he couldn’t do anything about it now that the judgment had been passed. Chief Lou Whitman came to take out Raylan, who was kept in a holding cell, and he made him meet Detective Wendell Robinson and told him that they were going to work together on cases. Lou told Raylan that he would be a part of the Detroit Police Department task force that is looking into a very sensitive matter that involved Judge Alvin Guy. Earlier that day, before coming to the court, someone had blown up Judge Guy’s car, and the Detroit PD had found a potential lead. Raylan told Lou that he had a trip already planned with her daughter and that he just couldn’t stay back and work on the case, but Lou didn’t give him a choice. Raylan had to accept it eventually, and he met the task force that was being led by Maureen Downey and was about to conduct a crackdown at the house of the suspect. The two suspects, Barry and Jim, tried to escape, and the police were able to catch hold of one of them.
The police came to know that Judge Alvin Guy had a sexual relationship with Barry’s mother, Becky, and that is why he was after his life. Barry had been able to escape, and so the Detroit PD went to ask the judge, Alvin Guy if he could give them any more intel that could help them catch Barry. The Detroit PD was able to convince Becky to help them make her son surrender. Becky called Barry over, and as soon as he sat down to eat food, the entire task force entered and told him that he was under arrest. Barry got scared, and he took his mother and hid in the basement. Raylan convinced him to come out, and Barry also realized that he didn’t have any other option. The entire case made it clear that Judge Alvin Guy was not a very ethical man, and more often than, he took advantage of his position and didn’t hesitate to bend the rules if it came to that.
What Happened Between Clement And Judge Guy?
We are introduced to a history sheeter named Clement Mansell in the first episode of Justified: City Primeval, who goes to meet his girlfriend, Sandy Stanton. Sandy was working in a casino at that time, and together they were conspiring to rob a rich man. They were narrowing down probable targets and figuring out who out of the two probable rich fellows with whom Sandy was in touch would have more money. Clement also knew Sweety, the man whose son had been arrested by Raylan at the beginning of Justified: City Primeval episode 1, and he went to meet him as he wanted to take the gun that he had hidden in the restroom of the bar.
The plan was in motion, and Clement was confident that they would be able to pull it off, but in the end, his plans were spoiled as an unexpected situation arose, and he lost his cool and committed a blunder, though at that moment he didn’t understand the extent of damage he had done for no rhyme or reason. The plan was that Sandy would be with the target and try to woo him and go with him to his house, whereas Clement would follow them, and then they would rob his house. Clement was coming out of the parking lot and following the target, but a car in front of him wasn’t moving quickly, and Clement lost his temper. Coincidentally, it was Judge Guy’s car, and he was the one who was driving it, with his assistant sitting beside him.
Judge Alvin was also no less, and he took his own sweet time, which further enraged Clement, who had to follow the car in which Sandy was going with the target. Once Clement was out of the parking lot, he started chasing the target’s car, but Judge Alvin thought that he was coming after him. Clement lost sight of the target’s car, and in a fit of rage, he stopped Judge Alvin’s car and went and shot the man without thinking twice. He then took Alvin’s secretary with him and asked for the address of the man, but she tried to escape, and Clement shot her dead too. At the end of Justified: City Primeval Episode 1, we came to know that the secretary was working with the Detroit Police Department and was an undercover agent who was trying to dig some dirt on Judge Alvin and find evidence that could prove that he was involved in a lot of malpractices.
It would be interesting to know what happens between Raylan and lawyer Carolyn Wilder since he has already expressed that he is attracted to her. Also, Carolyn had an ex-husband named Jamal, whom she had met in Sweety’s bar. Jamal had defrauded the entire community and backstabbed his wife in the worst possible manner, and Carolyn was left to clean up his mess. It is possible that Jamal will have a role to play in the scheme of things. In the upcoming episodes, we will get to know how Raylan plans on catching this sociopath who had these impulsive and uncontrollable anger outbursts that turned out to be lethal for the poor victims.
