City on a Hill Season 1: Crime in Boston
City on a Hill Season 1: Crime in Boston
Despite the potential for shows or films about Boston, its history, or even what the setting could do in a fictional sense, I’m surprised that much of the city’s representation in popular media is only recently coming to fruition. This goes from well-crafted, true-story films like Black Mass and Patriot’s Day to the city’s general representation in fiction (Godzilla: King of the Monsters comes to mind, but mostly because it’s recent and I enjoyed watching giant monsters pummel each other in a familiar location). The city’s recognition as an interesting place for fictional stories to take place in, however, appears to be cemented in Showtime’s 2019 crime drama City on a Hill.
Created by Chuck MacLean based on an idea crafted by him and Ben Affleck, City on a Hill’s first season takes place in the early 90’s, focusing on corrupt FBI agent Jackie Rohr—played by Kevin Bacon—and Assistant District Attorney DeCourcy Ward—played by Aldis Hodge. An unlikely pair, the duo end up crossing paths during the investigation of a series of armored car robberies in the city, most especially a case wherein the car vanished alongside three guards. The can of worms they open up leads to the investigation of a disappearance four years prior, as well as Jackie’s possible leads thanks to an informant that he’s in contact with. Contrasting this are a multitude of other plot threads involving Jackie’s home life, DeCourcy’s wife Siobhan’s involvement with the Genesis Coalition—addressing racism in Boston—alongside other investigators’ involvement in the case. On the other side of the coin is Frankie Ryan, a father who is willing to do anything to protect his wife and children. Including rob armored cars for extra money. City on a Hill follows the investigators and the perpetrators as the story unfolds in the streets of Boston.
What I enjoyed most about this show was how the characters were the most captivating aspect. Even during slow episodes where the plot didn’t move much, the characters remained the most intriguing aspect of the entire series. Kevin Bacon stands out as Jackie, his asshole behavior one of the most captivating parts of the series. You learn to love Jackie because you hate him so much, but also because of his conviction making it seem like he’s doing what he must do, even when not entirely necessary. Bacon’s portrayal is convincing to the point where you can’t help but hope everything works out okay for Jackie despite his conniving ways. DeCourcy acts as a contrast to Jackie, seeking to change Boston’s legal tune after the (very real and very horrifying) Chuck Stuart case in 1990, where Stuart killed his wife, blaming it on a non-existent black assailant, resulting in racial tension escalating in the city. His level-headed attitude is often challenged by those he works with who see him as a black man in an undeserved position of power, and by members of the Genesis Coalition that believe him to be a lapdog to the legal system. His ability to manage his seriousness, however, presents a strong man who truly wishes to do good in the world. The relationship between Jackie and DeCourcy is the backbone of entertainment in the show because of their differences.
The Ryan family is another central component. While Frankie is always trying to do good for his wife and children, his younger brother, Jimmy, acts as a foil to his attempts. While Frankie is robbing armored cars with a crew and working at a grocery store to make ends meet, Jimmy is always getting into drug or alcohol-related trouble Frankie is forced to bail him out of. Their tense relationship—alongside Jimmy’s escapades—make up the bulk of the character-driven entertainment in their parts of each episode. Jimmy especially is a standout character, his arc centering around his willingness to comply with Frankie’s attempts at keeping food on the table for his family, or to go his own way in order to ensure relative safety. This dynamic is interesting, and it makes for some good drama when the audience knows certain things about each character that the brothers don’t know about each other.
If I had to give this show some constructive criticism, however, I would have to talk about the overall plot. While there are a multitude of plot threads that inevitably come together because of the nature of the program, it is a very slow build to this point. It’s nice to see a series that would rather focus on its characters instead of rush headfirst into resolving everything set before it. However, it felt as though the 10-episode count could have been whittled down to as low as 8 or so while still retaining all the relevant plot and character details and maintaining a compelling story. This is especially due to the lack of real convergence between Jackie and DeCourcy’s investigation and Frankie’s plot thread. While this is understandable given that, if Jackie and DeCourcy know what’s going on the story pretty much ends, the two sides of the coin felt very disconnected from each other barring one shared attribute. This is not to criticize the story being told, but rather the presentation. I wish there was more involvement between all the characters because then I would have more of a reason to care about what transpired.
Even so, the slow pace of the plot manages to allow a lot of detail to flow in throughout the show’s 9-hour total runtime. Through this, the audience can garner an understanding of each character, with all of them feeling less like actors portraying fictional people and more like people themselves. Jackie’s wife, Jenny, and her struggles to keep her family in line while trying to find a purpose of her own felt human throughout, her frustrations, wins, and losses all feeling real. The same goes for DeCourcy’s frustration with the case and how he can garner viable evidence in different jurisdictions, contrasted with the near-perfect chemistry between him and Siobhan that eases the pain of his work life. Everyone interacts with one another as real people, and while that seems like it should be a given considering the show’s dedication to reality, it can sometimes be hard to find a perfect cast to make the script come to life. Here, however, it was done with every character involved, making it a well-performed story down to the last extra.
City on a Hill is a great show highlighting Boston’s legal department while also indicating the reasons for the crimes that are being investigated. Taking the approach of looking at things from both the investigators and the criminals’ perspectives—while also accounting for their lives outside of work—was a bold move that paid off. While I personally would have liked to see a plot that flowed a bit more with plot threads that weaved into what felt like one show, City on a Hill still did what it set out to do well. It’s well worth a watch, and I will be excited to write my thoughts on Season 2 later next week.
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