Tamal Kundu
In ‘Justified: City Primeval,’ the sequel limited series to FX’s ‘Justified,’ we meet an older and wiser Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), though as the series gradually reveals, he is as angry as ever. After being stuck in Detroit, Michigan, because of a judge’s orders, Raylan becomes embroiled in the investigation of the murder of the said judge. Raylan encounters defense attorney Carolyn Wilder (Carolyn Wilder) quite early in the series and quickly realizes he has finally met his match. Sparks fly, and potential romance is hinted at. If you are wondering whether Raylan and Carolyn will end up together in ‘Justified: City Primeval,’ we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Carolyn-Raylan: Tangled in Love
The original series is based on a series of books by Elmore Leonard, especially ‘Fire in the Hole.’ ‘Justified: City Primeval’ predominantly draws from ‘City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit,’ a 1980 novel in which Detroit detective Raymond Cruz is the protagonist. The series creators, Dave Andron and Michael Dinner, introduced Raylan to the story, relegating Cruz to a supporting role. What this does is that it creates a level of unpredictability in the narrative, even though the show is based on a source material.
The series creators wanted to stay true to the three-hander narrative of the book. The struggle is between three characters: the lawman, the criminal, and the lawyer caught between them. Raylan first encounters Carolyn at a court in Detroit. Raylan arrests two small-time criminals trying to steal his car and gets them to Detroit to be processed, but because he is late in arriving, he gets into trouble with the judge. Representing one of the criminals, Carolyn gets an inclination about what kind of a man Raylan is and uses it in favor of her client.
After the judge is killed by Clement Mansell, AKA The Oklahoma Wildman, Raylan becomes involved in the subsequent investigation, while Mansell hires Carolyn as his lawyer. As Mansell’s actions wreak havoc all over Detroit, Carolyn and Raylan find themselves trapped in a struggle where neither is willing to give an inch. This is a different dynamic from the one between Raylan and Mansell or between Mansell and Carolyn.
“They might both be playing with fire,” Olyphant told Men’s Health magazine. “I do want to say that working with Aunjanue Ellis was one of the great acting experiences of my life. That woman is a force of nature. I’m a better actor for having worked opposite her. It was just so great, being able to throw the ball back and forth with her. We were so lucky to get her on board.”
The actor continued, “That relationship is, for my money, one of the most interesting parts of the season. I mean, arguably, it’s enough of a reason to bring the show back, just to see Raylan and Carolyn together. I just dug that storyline and I thought that was so different from anything we’ve done before, and yet felt like the same old show. I don’t want to give anything away where it’s headed, but I love that the two of them have found some sort of common language.”
The unpredictability also raises questions about whether these characters will survive at the end of the series. The series creators have already warned that Raylan can die. Moreover, there are complexities to Carolyn as a character that are yet to be fully explored. Carolyn wants to be a judge, and when she learns about the dead judge’s secret notebook that supposedly contains the names of all the corrupt officials in the city, a part of her seems to be considering her options. If Raylan and Carolyn do get romantically close, and almost everything seems to indicate that they will, it will be a volatile relationship, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a bad one. And if they both survive by the end of the show, they can even have a happy ending.
Read More: Will Raylan Die in Justified: City Primeval? Theories
