Justified: City Primeval Gives A Perfect Tip Of The Hat To The Original Series Finale

Contains spoilers for "Justified: City Primeval" Season 1, Episode 1 — "City Primeval"

Raylan Givens, as we live and breathe. We haven't seen Timothy Olyphant's stupendously cool U.S. Marshall in eight years. Now he's back, older, wiser, and with a hat with one less bullet hole, and we're so very glad. "Justified: City Primeval" is the sequel series to the two-time Emmy-winning show, "Justified," based on Elmore Leonard's novel "City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit." 

In the long-anticipated catch-up with the enigmatic law enforcer, "City Primeval" sees Givens on the case to hunt the killer of a court judge (Keith David) in Detroit while still trying to keep his frayed relationship with his teenage daughter intact. Dragging in wanted criminals is no bother at all, but handling the next generation of Givens'? Well, it's a tough job.

Thankfully, it shouldn't be too hard, particularly given that Willa is, in fact, played by Olyphant's own real-life daughter, Vivian Olyphant, in her television debut. Already boasting flawless chemistry (as you'd expect), the first episode takes great care in establishing that this isn't just some cash-in comeback, particularly given the small touches here and there to prove it that are already present. When we're first reunited with Givens, his prickly back and forth with his darling daughter is done over some ice cream. What makes the choice of pit stop break food is that it happens to be the very same thing that we last saw this loveable pair share in the series finale of "Justified."

Before he had what we believed to be his final conversation with a longtime frenemy, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), in prison, we finally saw what life looked like for Raylan Givens out of the office and with the daughter he never had the time for. Givens looked happy, content almost, as he sat with his darling young daughter and shared, you guessed it, some ice cream together. It makes perfect sense that our catchup with the Givens family is almost exactly the same, albeit with the two at slight odds with one another as opposed to the last time we saw them.

Adding this little detail, besides being a nod to the past, also does a great job of establishing what kind of relationship Givens has with his now teenage daughter. This could be a subtle nod highlighting Raylan's effort to cling to the past, not really noticing that he's losing Willa to the future. It happens. Kids grow up, ice cream melts, and wanted felons must be dragged in. It's the way of the world, unfortunately. We'll see how their relationship fares as Raylan continues to get up to his elbows in corruption, criminal activity, and walking down roads looking cool as "Justified: City Primeval" continues next week.