It’s time to check in on U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens again. Justified: City Primeval picks up 10 years after Raylan Givens left Harlan County, KY behind for Florida. He’s focusing on being a parent when he’s pulled from his quiet domestic life to Detroit. After a series of unexpected events, he has to match wits with a cold-blooded killer. Let’s catch up with Raylan before the premiere of Justified: City Primeval on July 18th.
What happened to Raylan Givens in the Justified finale?
In the Justified finale "The Promise" that aired in 2015 Raylan’s complicated and often morally questionable relationships with the Crowder family are tested. Ava tries to outsmart Boyd and Avery and get away with Avery’s millions. But Boyd isn’t about to let her go. He also wants Avery’s money, which Ava has stolen. Avery wanted it back.
Ava had half the money and was trying to get up the mountain to get the rest when Avery’s men nabbed her. They brought her to Avery, who was going to torture her in the barn to get the location of the money from her. Boyd and Raylan both figure out where she’s being held and head to the barn for different reasons. Boyd wants Ava and the money. Raylan wants to stop Boyd and Avery from killing Ava. He’d also like to kill Boyd.
When Boyd arrives at the barn where Avery is holding Ava hostage he and Avery get into a shootout. Avery is killed. Raylan shows up and confronts Boyd. He wants Boyd to draw a weapon so that Raylan can kill him in self-defense. Boyd won’t do it. Raylan thinks about killing Boyd, but their long history holds him back. Instead, Boyd was arrested and sent to jail.
When Raylan was taking Ava back Boon tracked them down and rammed Raylan’s car. He forced Raylan into a true Western shoot-out in the street. Boon grazed Raylan’s head with a bullet but Raylan killed Boon. While Raylan was reeling from his injury Ava took off in Raylan’s car.
With the Crowder case as finished as possible Raylan went to Miami to be with Winona and Willa. There’s a short time jump of four years at the end of “The Promise” that reveals what life is like for Raylan in Miami. He’s co-parenting Willa with Winona, but they’re not together. Winona is married to Richard. It seems like an amicable arrangement between the three adults and Willa is thriving.
Where is Raylan Givens when Justified: City Primeval begins?
Justified: City Primeval begins 10 years after the events of the finale. Willa’s now a teenager. Raylan is still co-parenting with Winona. Willa has turned into a bit of a handful. Considering who her parents are that’s really to be expected. Raylan is taking Willa on a trip when a random encounter with some criminals in the Florida swamplands forces him and Willa to go to Detroit.
In Detroit he becomes an unwilling participant in a case that gets very complicated quickly. Raylan is drawn into the hunt for a mysterious and dangerous killer. The only way he can keep Willa safe and get her home is to solve the case and stop the killer.
What happened to the Crowders and other Justified characters?
"The Promise" reveals a little bit about what happened to several of the main characters after the fight for Avery’s money.
After the four-year time jump Raylan is still working as a U.S. Marshal. He’s sent an article from a newspaper that has a photo of a woman in a pumpkin patch attached to the story. The woman is Ava Crowder. She’s been living in California.
Raylan goes to California to see her. She’s terrified he’s going to arrest her. When she’s sure she can trust Raylan she reveals to him that she was pregnant with Boyd’s child when she fled. After seeing that she has a son, Zachariah, Raylan tells her that he’s not going to arrest her. Ava tells him Boyd can never know about Zachariah. If Boyd knows he won’t stop until he finds them both. Raylan’s long history with the Crowders compels him to protect Ava and her son.
Raylan also goes to prison to see Boyd. Raylan shows Boyd a death certificate for a name that Ava used as an alias. He tells Boyd that Ava was killed in a car crash. Boyd asks why Raylan came in person to tell him that.
They have a moment where their shared history and complicated relationship hangs in the air. That moment with Boyd finally puts Raylan’s complicated relationship with the hollers of Kentucky and the people there to rest.
But just because Raylan is done with Harlan County doesn’t mean Harlan County is done with him. Willa wants to take a road trip to Harlan County and learn more about both Raylan and Winona’s pasts there. That leaves the door wide open for future stories like City Primeval to take Raylan back to Appalachia.
Does that mean that familiar Justified characters like Ava or Boyd will return in City Primeval? The showrunners said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that some familiar faces will pop up, but they wouldn’t reveal who.
But, Justified: City Primeval is a whole new story so fans shouldn’t assume this is going to be like the original Justified. Along with a new setting the story will focus on new characters, new mysteries, and new threats.
