Genre: TV Series
Grade: A-
Notable People: Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles, Jamey Hector, Dagmara Dominczyk, Wunmi Mosaku Created by: David Simon
Title: We Own This City
Review: A six-episode mini-series based on the book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, this is the less titillating and more factual follow up to Simon’s “The Wire”. Hector switches sides from his Gangsta turn in The Wire to play a troubled homicide cop here. Bernthal is the clear star as the wacked out and dirty-as –can –be detective who never saw a pound of powder or a roll of bails found in a bust that he did not think was rightfully his. The show, set in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray scandal, walks a line between drama and documentary so lacks the character development and nuance of The Wire, and frankly, is not all that pleasant but it will make your head explode in thinking about the state of policing in America and on the regression in race equity that we are facing. This is filthy, filthy shit.