Justified: City Primeval episode 4 recap — the mob joins the party

Yosef Kasnetzkov and Timothy Olyphant in Justified: City Primeval
Yosef Kasnetzkov and Timothy Olyphant in Justified: City Primeval (Image credit: Chuck Hodes/FX)

NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Justified: City Primeval episode 4, "Kokomo."

A violent scene serves as a prelude to Justified: City Primeval episode 4. Still in the Skender's (Alexander Pobutsky) safe room, Mansell (Boyd Holbrook) is upset there's no cash, only guns. Mansell forces Skender to put his leg under the massive steel door of the safe room and has Sandy (Adelaide Clemens) close it, breaking his leg in several places.

Tick, tick, tick

Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) catches up with Norbert (Norbert Leo Butz) and Maureen (Marin Ireland) as they go to see Skender at the hospital, who needed extensive surgery to save his leg. They're not his only visitor, as a contingent of the Albanian mafia are there too. 

Raylan approaches Besnik Darke (Yosef Kasnetzkov), the senior mob representative in the room, to arrange a meeting with Skender’s uncle Toma Costia (Terry Kinney).  Toma heads the Albanian mob in the area. Raylan knows Toma will go after Mansell for hurting Skender and thinks he can work out a deal with Toma. Besnik arranges a meeting at the run-down old folks home the mob operates out of.  

Toma tells Raylan he understands they want Skender to identify the person who hurt him, but he's going to handle it himself to make sure justice is served. Raylan tells him to get in line. Toma warns Raylan better find Mansell quick if he wants to arrest him. The clock starts ticking for Raylan to get Mansell in custody before the Albanians take him out.  

The hunt begins

Besnik and his associate Agron (Evan Mulroney) try to get to Mansell by tracking down Sandy. They go to the casino, but Sandy isn't there. They lean on her boss Rick (Ravi Patel) to give up her address. He refuses. They wait in the parking lot and torture him, dangling him off the parking deck until he gives them Sandy's last known address.

Besnik and Agron bust in on Sandy's roommate, Hina (Jessika Van). The mobsters scare her into calling Sandy and telling her to come home because the apartment is flooding due to a burst pipe. Sandy agrees, saying she'll be there in an hour. Besnik tells Hina he's going to remove her teeth at intervals until Sandy shows up. 

A peace offering

Aunjanue Ellis in Justified: City Primeval

Aunjanue Ellis in Justified: City Primeval (Image credit: George Burns Jr/FX)

Raylan goes to see Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis) at her office. He asks if she's still representing Mansell. When she says yes he warns her that the Albanian mob is going after him and everyone connected to him. Carolyn isn't scared, she just reminds him to do his job and she'll do hers. Her hands are tied by her duty to defend Mansell, but if Raylan can catch him before the Albanians get him she will be safe. 

Later that night, when Carolyn is leaving her office, she is followed by Albanians. When she realizes she's in danger she pulls over in a public spot and calls Raylan. He comes to get her. 

Raylan tells the Albanians Carolyn is off limits. They leave. Raylan follows Carolyn home and gets ready to spend the night in his car watching her house. She comes out in her pajamas with a bottle, and they share a drink in his car and talk.

Sweety's change of heart

Sweety (Vondie Curtis-Hall) is still cleaning the bar after it was tossed by police. Mansell and Sandy come by, but Sweety is not happy to see them. He tells Mansell hid the gun. As an apology for the cops hitting his bar, Mansell offers to let Sweety in on his plan to contact the people in Judge Guy's notebook and extort them.

Later, Carolyn meets with Sweety and tells him she talked to someone in the DA's office. Her contact agreed to give him immunity for testifying against Mansell for both the Wrecking Crew murders and the murder of Judge Guy. Sweety turns her down. He decides to double down with Mansell to make some money from the notebook instead.

Sweety tells Carolyn about the book and tells her working with Mansell and using the notebook could be what she needs to get the judge appointment she wants.

Showdown

Timothy Olyphant in Justified: City Primeval

Timothy Olyphant in Justified: City Primeval (Image credit: Chuck Hodes/FX)

Norbert and Raylan pull up to Sandy's apartment. They see Besnik's car out front and assume he's waiting for Sandy as well. Norbert suggests they let the Albanians have Mansell and they just clean up the mess. Raylan, being Raylan, nixes that. 

Norbert goes to the front, Raylan to the back of the apartment. Hina screams inside as Besnik removes one of her teeth with pliers. Raylan and Norbert bust in, guns drawn. Besnik puts a gun to Hina's head as she is bleeding and crying. 

Raylan tries to defuse the situation. But as he's talking, Hina, tied to her chair, slams her body and the chair into Agron. He gets knocked back, then runs out the door tackling Norbert. Agron rushes out of the building and Norbert after him. Besnik faces off with Raylan. 

There's gunfire outside and Agron yells for Besnik. Raylan holds Besnik at gunpoint. He takes Besnik out of the building in handcuffs. Agron is dead in the street. Mansell and Sandy pull up. He waves to Raylan and makes a finger gun at him as he drives away.

New episodes of Justified: City Primeval air Tuesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on FX, then are available to stream the next day on Hulu.

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Sonya Iryna

Sonya has been writing professionally for more than a decade and has degrees in New Media and Philosophy. Her work has appeared in a diverse array of sites including ReGen, The Washington Post, Culturess, Undead Walking and Final Girl. As a lifelong nerd she loves sci-fi, fantasy and horror TV and movies, as well as cultural documentaries. She is particularly interested in representation of marginalized groups in nerd culture and writes reviews and analysis with an intersectional POV. Some of her favorite shows include Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Sandman.