Current Reading: “The City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit”, by Elmore Leonard

My favorite TV show for many years, perhaps still my favorite live action show, is “Justified”, a show about a U.S. Marshal from Harlan County, Kentucky named Raylan Givens, based off of the world and characters of Elmore Leonard, a western and crime novelist most famous for spawning so many shows and movies based on his work it’s basically its own sub-genre. Ever see either of the “3:10 to Yuma” films or “Jackie Brown”? You’ve seen an Elmore Leonard adaptation.

Of course, it was a fantastic show and really much more than a typical cop drama, but that’s for another time.

Recently they came out with a sequel series starring Raylan titled “Justified: City Primeval”, based on the Leonard novel “The City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit”.

The show itself was okay at best. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I actually disagree with a lot of the harsher criticisms, but it was also not even close to the original show in terms of quality. But it did make me go to the original book out of curiosity.

I am not done with it yet, but the thing I am most shocked about is just how much better it is than the show. It’s edgier, funnier, darker, and smarter. The characters are more interesting, the humor is drier and more biting, the dialogue is absolutely fantastic, and the story zips along at a fast pace despite taking more time than the show did to get into the heads of the characters.

To be clear, this is not something that is absolutely necessary when it comes to Leonard. Leonard is a good author, arguably even a great author, but there are absolutely adaptations of his work that stand up to the original in terms of quality. “Fire in the Hole”, the pilot episode of “Justified”, is a perfect example. It’s at least as good as the story it’s based on. So this is a genuine flaw of “Justified: City Primeval”.

What’s also striking is how the show completely changes the framing of the book, and for the worse, while keeping the same basic dialogue and plot beats. Here’s a great example:

At the beginning of the show Raylan is in court testifying when the Judge spots his daughter on her phone and sends her to jail as punishment for not taking the court seriously.

Raylan stands up for her, trades some barbs with the judge, and is forced to spend time in prison with her.

A similar incident is recalled in the “City Primeval” book with two key differences. First is the context- the incident is being recalled in the middle of a formal complaint against the judge. And the detective who defends the kid – Ray Cruz, the novel’s protagonist – is not defending his daughter, but a random twelve year old.

Do you see how the context changes things? The show version is meant to be a critique of Raylan, at least on some level. The book version is actually meant to make the JUDGE look bad, and to make Cruz look heroic.

That’s to say nothing of the ending. Yes, I skipped there, curious to see how it compared to the show, and oh boy. But that’s a can of worms to tackle another time.

Early in, I can tell you that the book, at least, is highly recommended.