‘Justified: City Primeval’ Episode 6 Sees Things Go from Bad to Worse — Spoilers
[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “Justified: City Primeval” Episode 6, “Adios.” Read preview episode reviews here.]
“There was something fishy about that particular kerfuffle.”
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Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) is perplexed. Sitting in his partner’s car, driving away from their thwarted attempt to ensnare Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook), the Floridian Marshal (by way of Kentucky) can’t put his finger on what, exactly, is going on in Detroit. He knows what’s been done and who did it. He knows where to find the man he’s looking for. And yet, try as he might, Raylan can’t seem to keep the cuffs on his bounty.
“I wonder if anybody’s that lucky,” Raylan says. “I wonder if some combination of this dead judge and this alleged book and this particular shitbird are making people act in ways they otherwise wouldn’t. And I feel like I do when I’m being played a fool.”
Wendell (Victor Williams) may want no part of what Raylan’s implying, but that doesn’t make the inference unfair. Is someone working behind the scenes to protect Clement? Or, more likely, is someone working behind the scenes to keep Judge Guy’s little black book from becoming public property? In this instance, it doesn’t appear so. The Oklahoma Wildman just lucks out. He’s cautious enough (or confident enough) to show up without a weapon, and his recent “bad run of folks trying to rip me off” is all the reason he needs to leave the prized book elsewhere. No gun + no book = no arrest, even if he did threaten violence against County Prosecutor Diane Rogers (Regina Taylor). That’s more good luck for Clement, but more bad luck for Raylan, who must be wondering, now more than ever, if the Wildman is actually right — about one thing, at least.
Maybe the only way to lasso this bull is with a noose.
“Wouldn’t it be something if we had ourselves a little shootout?” Clement says, back in the park, face to face with Raylan, who doesn’t take the bait. But taht only hurts Clement’s feelings. “Jesus Christ, just when I thought we was getting some place. What difference does it make why? We’re standing here sizing each other up, aren’t we? What’s this got to do with the judge or some dumb little girl or anything else?”
Raylan wants to understand. He wants order, as well as justice. But what Clement represents is chaos. While we, the audience, have been privy to what he’s done and how he’s gotten away with it thus far, to Raylan, Clement is an anomaly. He doesn’t fit the Marshal’s typical equation, and no matter how hard Raylan tries to make it all add up, he may have to learn to live with a few nagging remainders and put this case behind him, however he can.
The question now is how to do that. When Raylan returns to Carolyn (Aunjanue Ellis) at the end of Episode 6, “Adios,” he tells her he wants “more” — more answers, more leverage, more of whatever it takes to keep things from getting worse. After all, she did get something out of the day’s sting, despite its unfortunate ending for everyone else. Diane is out of the picture. Carolyn ousted her competition for the judgeship and did so without drawing any attention to herself. The little black book is already working for her, and she doesn’t even have it. Will her career boost be worth it when she finds out what happened to Sweety (Vondie Curtis Hall)? Of course not. But at least she tried to keep him out of it. (And come on, Sweety — there’s simply no way a guy like Lonnie is going to be able to take out the Wildman. You gotta know better than that.)
Poor Sweety. Although his death felt inevitable as soon as he teamed back up with Mansell, that didn’t take the sting out of his untimely departure — or the look in his boyfriend’s eyes when Trennell (Joseph Anthony Byrd) sees the flames engulfing their bar. Sweety saw his shot, took it, and missed. But, aside from relying on Lonnie, it wasn’t a bad plan. He didn’t send Clement to meet Diane. He let him come up with the idea himself. Then, not knowing the cops set up the sting, he hired an assassin to drop Clement before the Wildman even knew something was wrong. If Detective Downey (Marin Ireland) had waited another minute, the plan might’ve worked, too. Sure, Lonnie would’ve been arrested for killing Clement, but maybe Carolyn helps keep Sweety from taking the rap for the hit. At least he’s out from under the bad man’s thumb.
Twas not to be. Another stroke of luck — good or bad, depending on who’s asking. Another outlier to keep Raylan up at night. Another nudge toward chaos. Standing outside her house, it’s unclear whether Carolyn is willing to give Raylan the “more” he’s asking for, but whatever comes next may circle back to another moment they shared this episode, this one outside Raylan’s hotel room. Referencing, I believe, the 1963 arrest and subsequent beating of Fannie Lou Hamer, June Johnson, Annell Ponder, and Lawrence Guyout by Mississippi police officers — after the students sat at a whites-only lunch counter — Carolyn says, “They were arrested because what they did was not legal, but it was just. There are things that I want to do with that book and none of them have a damn thing to do with what’s legal but everything, everything, to do with what’s just.”
To stop Clement, will Raylan only do what’s legal? Or will he settle for what’s just, even if it smells fishy?
Grade: B+
“Justified: City Primeval” releases new episodes Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX. They’re available the next day on Hulu.
El(More) Leanings:
Keeping with the theme of Raylan’s sleeping patterns, Episode 6 opens with the Marshall laying in bed, staring at a blinking smoke alarm. His continued restlessness would be reason enough to start there, but the intro also dovetails nicely with the episode’s ending, when Sweety’s bar goes up in… smoke.
“Justified” has long loved casting comedic actors in more serious roles (Patton Oswalt, Mike O’Malley, Michael Rapoport, Jere Burns, etc.), and this line, delivered by David Cross, illustrates exactly why the habit reflects more than just a personal preference: “You see, Lonnie, I’m not just The Bulldozer, I’m an art collector.” On paper, that’s not funny. On its feet, it’s hilarious. Cross’ entire proposition brings levity to the episode (as does his presumed last line, “Oh fuck. It’s time to go to the Bahamas.”), but it’s the pivot from a crass nickname to imagined prestige that really gets me.
Sandy, played exquisitely by Adelaide Clemens, is again denied adequate screentime, but damn, if she doesn’t shine in her brief spotlight. “I have some questions about art,” Sandy says, awkwardly strolling into a gallery carrying a painting wrapped in plastic. First off, what a line. Second, look at her makeup! And her dress! She’s selling “rich bimbo” and I think she might get away with it, except by the time she stammers out a limp excuse for why she’s selling it — “my mother… her medical bills… health care in this country is a sin, pure and simple” — Sandy’s half-assed plan for a quick buck (and to ditch evidence) is all but busted. Keep trying, though, Sandy. You can lead our march for universal healthcare any time you like.
“He’s late.”
“Five minutes ain’t late.”
Or as Raylan would say, “There’s no such thing as on time. You’re either early, or you’re late.”“What’s not to like? It’s a pretty day. There’s an ice cream truck.”
“How does ice cream help?”
“Little treat, for when we’re done.”
Raylan, he’s just like us.
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