Marshal Givens gets an up close and personal meeting with the man responsible for killing the judge and his assistant in the second episode of the FX series, “Justified: City Primeval.” What was supposed to be a 24-hour mission has turned into a double murder investigation. The episode gives a little backstory into Mansell before looking further into Givens and the Detroit Police Detective’s investigation into Mansell’s companion, Sandy.

This episode gives an even better representation of what makes Givens so terrifying if he’s hunting you down. Much like the first episode, he gets violent when his daughter is threatened. That makes sense, but the scenarios are different, setting up a bit of difference in his demeanor. In the first episode, it’s clear this is an impromptu attack on his car where his daughter just happened to be. He beats up the two assailants, but there’s no malice from Givens. It’s purely protective. However, when he sees Mansell near his daughter, there is a mixture of protection and malice. He wants to hurt this guy because this is a planned attack on him and using his daughter to do it.

This episode gives viewers a clue into just how sadistic Mansell can be. From his attack on drug dealers that led to his imprisonment to how he manipulates Sandy to do his bidding to his dinner with Willa to send a warning to Givens, Mansell is methodical and pure evil. This is a worthy foe for someone of Marshal Givens’ reputation, especially for those who have seen the original “Justified” television show.

This looks like it’s going to be an excellent battle between Marshal Raylan Givens and the Oklahoma Madman, Mansell. We know who is going to win, but it’s interesting to see how they will get to that point. These two actors are playing off each other extremely well, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Rating: 3.5 stars

What did you think of episode two of “Justified: City Primeval?”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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