Posted in: FX, Hulu, Preview, TV | Tagged: boyd crowder, justified, preview, raylan givens, walton goggins

Justified Star Walton Goggins on Boyd's Affection for Raylan & More

Justified star Walton Goggins on Boyd Crowder's affection for Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens; a look back at Boyd's "City Primeval" return.

Over the past week, we've had a chance to hear from Justified: City Primeval creators Dave Andron & Michael Dinner and star Timothy Olyphant (Raylan Givens) about that big twist/return in the season finale. Pulling a con involving a fake terminal illness with his prison guard accomplice, Walton Goggins' Boyd Crowder turns a prison transfer into a successful bid for freedom. And it didn't take long for Raylan to learn what went down, with the news coming on over his phone – just as the season finale credits kicked in. Now, we're getting a chance to check out the moment frame by frame, thanks to FX Networks releasing the scene online. But first, we have a look back at some insight that Goggins shared regarding the affection that Boyd has for Raylan and how that affection impacts their dynamic.

"Yeah, and you know he's always loved Raylan. He loves him. Deeply. Sometimes I think more than probably Raylan loves him or Raylan would ever admit," Goggins shared during an interview with Time shortly after the original run of the series wrapped. "Boyd's the dude who wears his emotions on his sleeve for the most part. He's a buttoned-down guy, but he will tell you how he feels and where you stand: 'If you cross me, I'm going to kill you.' That's it. But if you are an intellectual equal, and we have dug coal together, and we've had all these life experiences—then there's a real affection there."

The actor continued, "There's a levity, a lightness to Boyd that I did not anticipate when we sat down to do that last day in the chapel and then our last scene together. I realized that morning when I was getting my stuff on, and I was walking in to rehearse, that it is through incarceration, through being at the whims of another person's schedule and another person dictating the rhythms of Boyd's day that he had probably more freedom than he's had in a very long time. I would imagine he slept for the first two years and then finally kind of came out of this dark, morose hole and only to really be able to look at what he did and to atone for it."

And that affection that Boyd has for Raylan proved to be unwavering – even when learning the news about ex Ava's (Joelle Carter) death. "Even with the revelation of Ava's death—at least to him— and the sadness that came from that news, he didn't want Raylan to leave, and when he asks, 'You have to go?' we know Boyd didn't want him to go," Goggins explained. "And Raylan gives Boyd the only things that he ever really wanted from Raylan, which is an acknowledgment that Boyd loved Ava and that our friendship wasn't just adversarial, but that it was rooted in the life experiences that we had growing up, all going back to working in the mines. Then Raylan says, 'Because we dug coal together.' That is a metaphor for the life that they had led."

Boyd Crowder Return a "Big Swing"; Olyphant "Super Excited"

In a pre-SAF-AFTRA strike with Rolling Stone, Olyphant discusses hearing about Andron & Dinner's plans to end the season's run with Boyd on the loose – and the word of caution Olyphant had for the two if they were going to go down that road.

Olyphant on Learning About THAT Phone Call: "I heard that idea from [showrunners Dave Andron and Michael Dinner] before we started shooting. In fact, that idea of the phone call at the very end, is he gonna pick up? None of this was my idea. The only thing I can pat myself on the back for was knowing it was a good idea when I heard it. 'That's a good ending. We can work toward that.'"

Olyphant to Andron & Dinner: Make It Worth It: "I was also cautioning Dave and Michael, 'Guys, if you bring Walt back at the very end of this story, you better fucking deliver on the first seven.' Because the worst thing that can happen is the audience feels, when they see Walt, 'Man, you guys put us through all this just to get to that?' So it was such a big swing, such a bold idea. I was super excited about it, and I knew Walt [Walton Goggins] was interested. So I was thrilled by it. And it just made us dig deeper on every episode prior. I said, 'You can't end it like it feels like a layup, like we're apologizing for something, right?' Having now seen it all, I feel like if we were so lucky to come back in some way, I am just as excited to bring back characters from the original show as I am characters from this incarnation. I feel like the writers did an amazing job of making everybody feel like they're part of the same world."

Justified: City Primeval Creators on Boyd Crowder Return & More

"The Joker is out there," Dinner shared regarding Boyd's escape during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "It creates danger in the world because somewhere in California, he has a kid he doesn't know about" – with Ava and the child sure to be a focal point of Boyd's "return." In the following highlights, the series creators discuss bringing Boyd back at the right time – and for the right reason – and how they wanted to be respectful to the original's classic "final" exchange between Raylan and Boyd.

Dinner: Boyd's Return Discussed From Start of "Justified: City Primeval": "When we first started talking, a lot of the talk was about, 'Let's not feel compelled to bring anybody back,' because we didn't want to do an adaptation that leaned too much on the past. But from the very beginning, Dave said, 'What about Walton?' My first instinct was: We can't do the cheesy version, which is episode five, when Raylan's having a tough time with Clement, he goes into the prison and says to Hannibal Lecter, 'I don't understand this guy.' But it was the elephant in the room. Fans of the show who want to consider this Justified are going to be asking, 'Where's Boyd Crowder?' It was a dangerous idea of bringing him in at the end."

Andron Believes Author Elmore Leonard Would Approve: "It feels like an Elmore Leonard ending. I think people will have a big smile on their faces. You get to go on this journey with Raylan, then you get to have this moment in time with Boyd. It did feel to me that if you were going to go into the world and you don't want to be cheesy about bringing people back, this is how you do it. Where is Boyd? What's he like now? Did he change at all, or is he the same? It felt okay to go and pick him up a little bit."

Andron on Respecting "We Dug Coal Together" Raylan/Boyd Moment: "We were very cognizant of ending it well and taking the plane back up. For me, it was thinking about Elmore and thinking about the dance, the connection between these guys, [and] the satisfying feeling of Raylan and Boyd. 'We dug coal together' felt very satisfying. It encapsulated everything we had done. I hope that even though this leaves a lot on the table, it still feels satisfying. Even if Raylan doesn't chase him, even if he feels like it's someone else's problem — and part of that is maybe the connection they have, and he doesn't want to have to gun him down — that maybe there's still a connection there and Boyd gets to have his life, too. He doesn't have to die in his cell as an old man. He gets to go back out there and try to right some wrongs."

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