Justified: City Primeval's Success Made It Clear The Show No Longer Needs Boyd Crowder

Justified: City Primeval premiered this July and made fans of the original Justified sigh with nostalgia. The beloved series was based on Elmore Leonard's novella Fire in the Hole, in which Stetson-wearing U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens travels back to his hometown to face his old coal-mining buddy Boyd Crowder.

Originally, Crowder's character was created only to be murdered at the end of the first episode. But after the pilot aired, Walton Goggins' performance as Boyd was so well-received by viewers that the writers decided to make him one of the main characters for the next season.

The love and appreciation of the fans just began to grow with each new episode. The thing is, with the brilliance of Goggins, his character went from being a regular villain to this charismatic, charming man who, despite being created as evil, was actually very likable.

So when it was confirmed that the sequel would be made without the main villain, the fans were a bit skeptical. But after the release of the new show, it became clear that the sequel can live its own life without relying on the "heroes" of the past.

In fact, the fandom argues that this lack of connection between Justified: City Primeval and its parent show is actually a good thing, because it gives people the opportunity to watch the new show without knowing anything about the first one.

But of course there are still some fans who are sure that the grass was greener back then.

“I’m enjoying the new series and I’ve watched the first one several times but there’s a huge difference in that the new bad guy is no Boyd Crowder. He has no charisma like Boyd and just kills to kill and never gets caught. Boyd at least had a reason to do what he did, even though he was a villain,” Redditor goku0020 said.

Well, maybe we just need to give the newcomer some time? Let's be patient and see what’ll happen. Justified: City Primeval final episode of the first season airs on FX on Tuesday, August 29.