Timothy Olyphant’s 6-Season Neo-Western Thriller Is So Good, It Was Revived 8 Years Later

The neo-Western genre has become hugely successful on TV in recent years, thanks in no small part to Taylor Sheridan‘s hit franchise. Great as Yellowstoneis, though, real ones will definitely know that the genre has been around much longer on both big and small screens, and that one particular show played a key role in popularizing the neo-Western more than a decade ago. Starring Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, FX’s Justified was so good that it also helped strengthen his career, launch others, and was even brought back in 2023 for a revival, Justified: City Primeval, which, in turn, established a shared universe of its own.

‘Justified’ Was Brought Back With a Limited Series

The story of Justified begins when Raylan Givens is transferred back to his hometown in Harlan County, Kentucky, after shooting a mob boss on a crowded hotel rooftop in Miami. Over the following seasons, Justified follows Raylan as he is forced to confront his demons, since most of his cases are connected to people from his own past, including former friends and close relatives. The gritty, decaying setting of Harlan reflects Raylan’s own troubles, and his confronting this is part of what makes the original series so good.

Justified: City Primeval revolves around a similar premise, but takes a completely different route. This time, Raylan finds himself in Detroit alongside his now-teenage daughter Willa (Vivian Olyphant), where local authorities need his help to catch the Oklahoma Wildman, Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook). In many ways, Raylan and Mansell are opposite sides of the same coin; both are deeply angry, but while Raylan tries his hardest not to hurt everyone around him, Mansell indulges in it, becoming a hedonistic killing machine.

Unfortunately, there has been no news about another sequel following the end of Justified: City Primeval. It’s a shame, especially considering how the series ends on a cliffhanger that ties back to the original Justified. As we wait for Raylan Givens to be somehow rescued from this limbo, however, there are plenty of other stories set within the same universe, because Justified inadvertently started its own shared universe way back.

‘Justified’ Was a Part of the First Neo-Western Shared Universe on TV

Image via FX

A neo-Western shared universe isn’t anything new to Justified fans because the FX series isn’t an original story, but rather an adaptation of author Elmore Leonard‘s work. Leonard is widely regarded as one of the best crime novelists of the past century, and, in an incredibly serendipitous turn, his best characters all found their way into each other’s stories on TV, thanks to Justified.

Justified: City Primeval is pretty straightforward about its connections to other Leonard stories. Raylan himself isn’t the original protagonist of Leonard’s story City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, on which the miniseries is based; that’s Detective Raymond Cruz, who both appears in Justified: City Primeval and serves as a key character in Steven Soderbergh‘s 1998 movie Out of Sight — and is played by actor Paul Calderón in both instances.

The original Justified series has another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it connection to Out of Sight. One of the movie’s protagonists is Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez), a hot-headed U.S. Marshal who works closely with Cruz to catch bank robber Jack Foley (George Clooney). Later, in 2003, ABC gave the character her own series, Karen Sisco, starring Carla Gugino, and nearly a decade later, Gugino appeared in Justified as Karen Goodall, who is essentially the same character, due to rights issues.

‘Justified’s Revival Proves There Will Always Be a Demand for Raylan Givens

With so many connections, links, and nods amongst themselves, these screen adaptations of Leonard’s works represent the first neo-Western shared universe, way before Yellowstone even existed. Sadly, Justified: City Primeval didn’t get the ratings it deserved, but one thing the revival did perfectly was prove that there will always be a demand for more Justified, and the door has certainly been left open for more.

Justified‘s Raylan Givens isn’t Olyphant’s first time playing a lawman, as he first stepped into the role of Seth Bullock in HBO’s Deadwood. Luckily, the character type suits him; otherwise, Justified wouldn’t have become such a hit or gone on to earn a sequel series. Together, Justified and City Primeval tell the story of one of television’s best protagonists. Hopefully, it won’t be long until we see him again, because both series were successful in their own ways.