Even Boyd Holbrook Can't Save Justified: City Primeval Sad Lack of Direction

City Primeval, a sequel to the original Justified starring Timothy Olyphant, was one of the most anticipated neo-Western series of this year, especially considering that the finale of Yellowstone is still months away.

However, fans are not too happy about what has become of the once-favorite show about an old-school sheriff. The problem seems to be that the writers don't have a clear idea about the course of the plot, and this lack of direction can't be saved by even Boyd Holbrook playing the season's main villain.

'The bad guy has been doing and basically saying the same s--t for 3 episodes. We get it, he acts cool and smiles a lot even though he's ruthless. Can we move to the next phase?' a fan complained on Reddit.

In the story, Olyphant's Raylan Givens is assigned to work with the Detroit Police Department to solve the murder of a Wayne County judge. Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook), also known as the 'Oklahoma Wildman,' and his accomplices are the suspects in the case, but every time the protagonist follows their trail, he is thwarted by lawyer Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis), who has powerful connections.

Despite the charisma of Boyd Holbrook, known for his colorful roles as DEA agent Steve Murphy in Narcos and the Corinthian in The Sandman, it can't fix the terribly dragged-out story. According to some viewers, all three episodes repeat the same thing, while the plot doesn't move at all and Rayland has little to no involvement in what's going on.

'If Timothy Olyphant was Clint Eastwood-old, then perhaps it would have made sense to show a Raylan content to grimace, sit in police cruisers, and basically wait for things to happen,' another person pointed out. Clearly, fans expect the protagonist to get more involved in the case in the remaining five episodes of the season.

In the original Justified, Givens himself was a much more ruthless character who needed no special reason or police order to deal with the troublemakers terrorizing Kentucky. Now he plays by the rules as much as possible, relying on a less-than-competent police force, and his only decisive action was to beat up Mansell when he approached his daughter.

Hopefully, the remaining episodes will show us more of Raylan's resolve, and Mansell will prove to be more of a dangerous criminal than a chatty boy. The next episode airs tonight, August 1.

Source: Reddit.