We Own This City

Sometimes you just know a show is going to be great. 5 minutes in, the dialogue rings clear, and you just know the cast has it. I had high expectations from this series and it did not disappoint.

Well, actually I live in a rural area in Baltimore County, but am very aware of the BCPD problems, corruption, and largely the lack of the SA (MM) input into the judicial system.

So far, (Epi 1) this is absolutely true what is being played in this 1st episode. Brutality and lack of; is the day to day 'exposed' problem that endures the lawlessness that occurs daily on the streets of Baltimore. Who REALLY owns the city? The criminals, the innocent, or the BCPD?

On top of this, you have a over zealous 'Gun Trace Task Force' that goes way beyond it's scope. Planting items, guns, drugs, to catch whoever is in their way.

You have good cops and bad cops. This has always been the case from the test of time. By in large we have police commissioners that are ineffective. How can they be? So many are here and gone before the sun sets. Heck, you can look at BC Mayor and that alone is enough to tell you that this city is ill. Just as many mayors have been corrupt, (Sheila Dixon, SRB, Catherine Pugh) gawd, the list goes on and on.

If you really want to see how Baltimore is, and other cities like NYC and Chicago, Philly, and Detroit look no further then this story. This is the story that needs to be told.

It's all there. Right in front of us.

... the editing and directing makes for a confusing story. It is very hard to follow. They flashback to 5 years ago, then ten years ago, than 20 years ago, and the timeline very hard to follow. I get it, they are trying to tell the story of how people got to where they are but it gets confusing the way they did it. At the same time you need to know all the names G-Money, Shropshire, Allers.

This is very poorly edited, and makes it hard to really care about the characters and story.

They should have kept it simple because the story is interesting and the actors are all amazing. Since this is just a mini series, I only hope they tie it up smoothly together in the coming episodes.

The shadow of "The Wire" looms large on this 2022 miniseries both in setting and in terms of creative and casting crossover. David Simon produces the series, based on the book by journalist Justin Fenton.

Two FBI agents, John Sieracki (Don Harvey) and Ericka Jensen (Dagmara Dominczyk) launch in investigations into the actions of the Gun Trace Task Force, a lauded Baltimore unit that is given wide remit to take guns and drugs off the street. The task force is led by Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal) a charismatic officer, and who believes firmly that his success rate will cover any sins. Faith in the Baltimore police department is at an all-time low, following the killing of Freddie Gray. Nicole Steele (Wunmi Mosaku) an attorney in the civil rights division tries to instigate change within the department as a whole and, though she finds support, comes up against a system seemingly designed to maintain the status quo.

Excellent, if mortally depressing, series with a number of fabulous performances, but anchored but a truly great one from Jon Bernthal. Jenkins is another in TV's long line of charismatic villains, whose insecurities push him to commit greater and greater crimes, whilst the overall corruption of the department, the legal system and the conflicting priorities of politicians empower him, as his arrest rate is so good. Two of the many "The Wire" alumni also give strong performances, Darrell Britt-Gibson and Jamie Hector play two cops, caught up in the investigation, to various degrees.

The time jumping and the conceit of the computer screen being filled out to explain when we are, can prove a little confusing at first but if you just let the wash over you in the first couple of episodes, by the end the timeline is laid out for you again and scenes are revisited and, for me, everything made sense.

It's not light-hearted escapism. It's hard not to come away with the idea that, Baltimore at least, is broken beyond repair and its not a unique story but it terms of quality, of performance and story, it's excellent stuff.

View this show as its own entity - despite it being as ambitious and involved as The Wire. The writing is spectacularly good and thankfully avoids cliches and so many other pitfalls that are the standard of network 'cop shows', which has also been creeping into non-network shows of late. And the acting talent meets the quality of the writing and direction. Hopefully people can just sit back and enjoy the show for what it is and not politicize it - taking sides, etc. Just the fact that it tackles a specific subject in a way that hasn't been done in this style is such a breath of fresh air and this show is worth watching.