Justified: City Primeval reaches new heights in Episode 4, "Kokomo." Directed by Sons of Anarchy alum Gwyneth Horder-Payton, with a magnificent script from Justified veteran Taylor Elmore (showrunner for Tulsa King Season 2), this week's installment is as eloquent, heady and propulsive a thriller you could ask for. The players start to fall into place as the Albanian mob enters the game, and Sweety and Carolyn concoct the ultimate checkmate.
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What's more, Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens is as smooth-talking as ever, but there's a change in his Deputy U.S. Marshal that wasn't apparent before this week. An intriguing new conflict between Raylan's lawman and outlaw ways proves that Justified: City Primeval is not just retreading the same ground its Emmy-winning forebear so memorably packed down. Where will that take Raylan Givens? Read on for a discussion of what we think the endgame of the 8-episode limited series is, now that we're at the halfway point.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Justified: City Primeval Episode 4.
Skender's Fate Is Revealed
Chuck Hodes/FX
Justified: City Primeval Episode 4 picks up amid the violence at Skender's (Daisy Jones & The Six's Alexander Pobutsky) panic room. Mansell (Boyd Holbrook) makes a horrified Sandy (Adelaide Clemens) lower the massive vault door on Skender's leg, crushing it. At the hospital the next morning, Skender refuses to name Mansell out of fear. He tells Detroit PD he fell down the stairs.
Raylan (Olyphant) and Detective Bryl (Norbert Leo Butz, The Girl from Plainville) meet with Skender's Albanian mob-boss uncle, Toma Costia (The Watcher's Terry Kinney). Toma has no interest in forcing his idiotic nephew to name names: "Justice is meted out in accordance with the action it remedies, and in this case, justice requires more than the law is willing or able to provide," he says. Sounds like something the old Raylan would agree with.
Bryl goes rogue and outright tells Toma that the man he's looking for is not some Russian heavy, but Oklahoma native Clement Mansell. Toma writes it down, and tells Raylan to find Mansell quickly, before he turns up dead by the Albanian mob's hand. Bryl figures the Albanians will do Detroit PD's dirty work for them, but Raylan wants Mansell behind bars, "forced to answer for his crimes, a long period of reflection in a tiny cell." The Albanians will go after everyone in Mansell's life, so Detroit PD puts eyes on the casino and Sandy's apartment.
The Albanian Mob Terrorize Sandy's Roommate
Sandy is a nervous wreck, constantly smoking weed and angry at Mansell for hurting Skender. "Skender lollygag ain't nothing. He ain't got nobody. You can forget about that now," Mansell assures her, either willfully ignoring Skender's Albanian mob ties or totally oblivious to them. He retrieves Judge Guy's all-important pocketbook from the toaster, where he hid it. (So that's why he wouldn't let Sandy toast her bagels.) They head to Sweety's (Vondie Curtis Hall), and Sandy comes clean about the pistol. She didn't throw it in the river like Mansell instructed; she hid it at the bar. Sweety confirms he has Mansell's murder weapon, and the Oklahoma Wildman hands him Judge Guy's ledger.
Raylan warns Carolyn (Aunjanue Ellis) that the Albanians will come after everyone in Mansell's life, including the man's defense attorney. So long as Mansell keeps paying the big bucks for her legal prowess, she's not budging. (What Raylan doesn't know is that Carolyn's trying to nab Mansell her own way.)
Toma's Albanian henchmen get Sandy's address out of her D-Town Casino boss by dangling him off the roof. They head to Sandy's apartment and force her roommate Hina (Jessika Van of Netflix's A Hollywood Christmas) to somehow lure Sandy back to the apartment. Mansell and Sandy are at dinner when Hina calls her, saying a pipe burst in their apartment and water is headed straight for Sandy's designer-filled closet.
Mansell and Sweety Form an Alliance
George Burns, Jr./FX
Carolyn spoke with the county prosecutor and guaranteed immunity for Sweety to safely turn in Mansell's pistol and testify as a witness to the 2017 Wrecking Crew killings. But Sweety doesn't like the idea of snitching. Besides, he now has a golden opportunity to make a payout and put Mansell away: Judge Guy's little black book, which he calls the "key to the city." There's enough dirt on the Detroit power players in that book to land Sweety a payday and promote Carolyn to judge.
Raylan and Bryl arrive at Sandy's apartment to find the Albanians extracting Hina's teeth. It's played for laughs, but it's seriously disturbing. One of the henchmen tries to flee, but Bryl shoots him dead on the sidewalk. Outside, Mansell and Sandy drive past (with the former waving at Raylan), having just missed the action. Maybe Bryl was right, and they should've waited until the Albanians got their hands on Mansell. Back at the penthouse, Sweety and Mansell form an alliance to go after every rich pig in Judge Guy's little black book, splitting the profits 50/50. (Sweety plans to double-cross him, as we know.)
Later that night, Carolyn sends Raylan an SOS when she spots some Albanians tailing her. He intercepts them and knocks on their car window with his badge: "Whatever you've been told, this particular lawyer is off-limits," he tells them, and they drive off. He decides to take the night watch on Carolyn's house, and they have a drink together in his car as allies.
Questions and Predictions
- Wait, what's in Judge Guy's secret pocketbook? The small ledger Mansell took from Judge Guy's coat after murdering him contains names and cash amounts. It's likely the judge took bribes from Detroit's finest, and recorded it all for blackmail purposes.
- How does Detroit PD know about the pocketbook? They were investigating the judge when he died. His murdered assistant Rose was actually Maureen's informant.
- What's Sweety and Carolyn's plan? Sweety means to double-cross Mansell: He'll work alongside him to blackmail the people in the judge's ledger into giving up their money. Then, he'll set Mansell up for the cops somehow, pressure Detroit's power players into appointing Carolyn as judge and take all the money for himself. Fat chance...
- Prediction: Mansell knows Sweety's game. Heck, he probably knew Sandy fudged the whole pistol thing, too. Is he a sociopathic mastermind? Or was his killing of Judge Guy actually just the result of road rage?
- Prediction: Some elements of Detroit PD don't want that pocketbook coming to light. In the series premiere, Judge Guy warned the task force that their "bosses" wouldn't be happy, should the contents of his special ledger get out. Given how cavalier (*cough* criminal) people like Detective Bryl are, I could see Raylan going up against Mansell and Detroit PD by series' end.
New episodes of Justified: City Primeval premiere Tuesdays on FX and Hulu.
