'Justified: City Primeval' Slipped a 'Yellowstone' Nod Into Its Premiere—Here's the Hidden Meaning

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One of the most anticipated shows of the summer, FX's Justified: City Primeval, starring Timothy Olyphant, finally premiered on July 18. In the middle of the first episode, you might have caught a passing reference to Paramount's drama Yellowstone. Here's why it's such a clever Easter egg for fans.

The line comes about halfway through episode 1 when a Detroit prosecutor named Diane (Regina Taylor) is talking shop with defense attorney Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis) at a restaurant bar. Taking notice of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Olyphant) dining with his daughter across the room, Diane remarks, "Ever seen Yellowstone?" which she follows with a mature-audiences-only quip about what she would like to do with Kevin Costner.

On one level, it's simply a fun pop culture reference and a hat tip to a fellow gritty, modern western drama with a massive audience. In fact, the original Justified, which aired from 2010 to 2015, is on our list of shows to watch if you like Yellowstone. But if you go back to the book that this new season is based on — the 1980 novel City Primeval by the late Elmore Leonard — there's a lot more meaning to unpack.

Here's the connection: In addition to Costner's famous portrayal of John Dutton on Yellowstone, his expansive TV and film career includes a turn as Wyatt Earp, the real-life Western frontiersman and lawman who took on a gang of outlaws. This links directly to a conversation at the beginning of the novel.

In the book, a reporter tells the detective and protagonist (whose character Raylan replaces in the show) that he looks like he's trying to be "a young Wyatt Earp... the no-bullshit Old West lawman." She then goes on to tell him that he is playing a role, like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.

In this light, the Yellowstone reference in the show is about how the outside world sees Raylan, who is far from home and quite out of place wearing his cowboy hat in Detroit. He might be nice to look at, but as far as being taken seriously or his intentions being received as genuine, he has a lot to prove on this particular assignment.

If this connection seems like a stretch, keep in mind that when creating the original Justified series, also based on Elmore Leonard's novels, writers held fast to the guiding principle “What Would Elmore Do?" to interpret and expand Raylan's plot lines for the small screen. It seems likely that a similarity like this one is not a coincidence but rather a thoughtful adaptation for TV audiences in 2023.

Now, back to the book so that we can spot all the hidden layers of meaning in upcoming episodes. (We'll report back on that front.)

The first two of eight episodes of Justified: City Primeval premiered on FX on Tuesday, July 18. New episodes air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX and are available to stream the next day on Hulu. (Don't forget to catch up on all six seasons of the original Justified too.)

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