• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, June 26, 2023

Is the return of Raylan Givens justified?

The answer to that depends on the quality of “Justified: City Primeval,” a limited sequel series to “Justified” coming next month to FX and Hulu. 

The original series starred Timothy Olyphant, now 55 (and pictured above in the new show) as Givens, a laconic U.S. Marshal battling bad guys in Appalachia.

“Justified:” City Primeval” premieres July 18 on FX, the network that aired the original “Justified” for six seasons -- 78 episodes -- from 2010 to 2015. 

Episodes of the new show will be available on Hulu the day after they premiere on FX.

The primeval city of the title is Detroit, where Marshall Givens goes in pursuit of a very dangerous fugitive, Clement Mansell (played by Boyd Holbrook) -- also known as The Oklahoma Wildman.

The original “Justified” was adapted from the novel Fire in the Hole and other Raylan Givens stories written by the late Elmore Leonard, who died in 2013 at age 87.

The eight-episode “Justified: City Primeval” is based on a 1980 Leonard novel, City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit.

The novel has been adapted as a Raylan Givens story, but in the original book, the hero was a Detroit homicide detective named Raymond Cruz.

In “Justified: City Primeval,” the time frame is 15 years since Marshal Givens concluded his business in Harlan County, Kentucky, even though it has been only eight years since the original “Justified” ended its run.

In Kentucky, Raylan fought a family involved in local organized crime. The case was at least partly personal: He happened to have been born and raised in Harlan County.

At the time, he was officially assigned to the U.S. Marshal’s service in Miami, and the Kentucky assignment was one that he did not want.

But since then, he has been back in Miami, still a U.S. Marshal and raising a 15-year-old daughter. 

FX has imposed an embargo on reviews of the new “Justified” until closer to its premiere date, but the TV Blog sees no reason why the new show won’t measure up to the original.