City on a Hill 2.3: Seismic Shift

I'm watching but not reviewing every episode of City on a Hill these days -- too much other writing to be done -- but episode 2.3 was impossible not to review, because [Spoilers follow ... ]

Well, the episode blurb on Showtime's page concludes with "Jimmy Ryan, meanwhile, faces problems far worse than a guilty conscience."  Yes, he does.  Problems from Cathy Ryan.  She has every reason to hold Jimmy responsible for what happened to Jimmy's brother, her husband Frankie.  And, now she has a monetary reason to shoot Jimmy to death.  Which she does.

And this signals a bigger shift in this series than just the killing of one man.  It signals something which was already beginning to happen last season, something which has been implicit in this narrative all along: women climbing right up there to the top of the hill with the men in this town.   Women claiming power.

Now, I'm no expert on the power allocations in Boston in the 1990s.  But I suspect that the ascendance of women in this narrative may be more fictional than truly historic.   Someone correct me if I'm wrong.  But would the real-life equivalent of Cathy Ryan have done what she did last night?

Meanwhile, it was good to see Jackie last night begin to tell at least a little of his family history to his daughter.  That brought home an important point, too.  As corrupt as Jackie is, he's still much better than his father and his grandfather and who knows how far back.  He's working, still working.  And maybe even doing some good, even if accidentally,

And, to conclude on a happy note, it's good to see DeCourcy's (great name) wife pregnant.  Will this make DeCourcy a little more willing to constructively compromise on important issues?  Certainly with his wife.  But I'm guessing in his professional relentlessness too.

See also City on a Hill 2.1: Big Dig

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative ... City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family ... City on a Hill 1.7: The Bodies ... City on a Hill 1.8: Personal Business and Its Accompaniment ... City on a Hill 1.9: Changes ... City on a Hill season finale: "You Ain't the Good, and I Ain't that Bad"

 

City on a Hill 2.1: Big Dig

City on a Hill is back with its second season on Showtime today, firing of all cylinders.  In the first minutes, we see DeCourcy denounced by a black cop in Boston as "Huxtable-looking," after DeCourcy tries to reprimand the cop for being too tough on a black kid, whose erudition reminds DeCourcy of himself.  And Jackie Rohr dumps a nearly-dead Holly Gunner at the front of a hospital after she ODs in his car.

And it gets even better from there -- or, rather, worse for the characters, which is better for the narrative. Jackie's new boss from the new Clinton administration  tells him the best thing he can for himself is retire.  DeCourcy's new case is an 11-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet in a drug gang-war.  Boston in 1993, where the Big Dig is in play, is even more edgy, more perilous, than it was in the first season of the show.

The personal relationships are tense, too.  This episode could have been titled "amends," given what Benedetta is trying to do with her parents.  Neither Jenny nor Jackie want to hear them from their daughter.  Is this something from Irish culture, or Boston culture?  I could tell you.  I'm not Irish and I'm a New Yorker.  But it makes for a good story.

The language is especially apt given the racism of our own real world in 2021.   You not only hear the N word, but anti-Asian slurs, courtesy of Jackie and his opinion of the FBI superior who tells him he would do well to resign.  All that's missing in terms of the attitudes and close-to-the-brink existences between City on a Hill and our world today is the pandemic.   I guess the lesson in that is life was rough even before the pandemic and Trump.

But it's good to see it in such gritty form on the screen, and I'll be back here with my review of the next episode next week.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative ... City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family ... City on a Hill 1.7: The Bodies ... City on a Hill 1.8: Personal Business and Its Accompaniment ... City on a Hill 1.9: Changes ... City on a Hill season finale: "You Ain't the Good, and I Ain't that Bad"

 

City on a Hill Season 1 Finale: "You Ain't that Good, and I Ain't that Bad"

"You ain't that good, and I ain't that bad," Jackie says in the Season 1 finale of City on a Hill last night.   It was the best line in an excellent hour, and it doesn't matter who the "you" is, because it's actually all of us in the audience, and it captures the essence of the series.  Jackie cuts corners all the time, even murders people.  But, somehow, most of his actions are on the side of the good. And, the murdered - certainly Clay - though they should have been tried and convicted, deserved what they got.  And so while DeCourcy and Benham are right to take umbrage at a lot of what Jackie does, they're not right, certainly not completely right, to want to destroy him.  Because, he ain't that bad and they ain't that good.

And, significantly, Jenny sees this, too.  I knew she wouldn't leave him.  And her staying with Jackie is not an act of weakness.  It's an act of strength and love.   There's a path between leaving Jackie and just accepting what he does.  Jenny has chosen that path.  And it was good to see her finally tell off her mother, who clearly is the worst person in that family.  Jackie ain't that bad.  Jill's mother is.

Speaking of strength, Cathy has become one of my favorite characters, and she was never better than she was last night.  She's the bond that will hold her family together.   Frankie was unable to say no to his rat brother Jimmy.  But Cathy won't be.  And with Jimmy out and about and Frankie behind bars, Cathy will sooner or later come into big conflict with Jimmy, and I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out next season.

My sense of the series is that it has picked up power and intensity with each episode.  I very glad to see it's been renewed, and I'll be back here next year with more reviews.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative ... City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family ... City on a Hill 1.7: The Bodies ... City on a Hill 1.8: Personal Business and Its Accompaniment ... City on a Hill 1.9: Changes

 

City on a Hill 1.9: Changes

With only one episode to go this season, on next week, City on a Hill pulled out all the stops tonight in 1.9.   In a nutshell -

Frankie and Jimmy go ahead with the Brinks job in Fall River, but it doesn't succeed, since Jimmy has told law enforcement exactly what's going to happen.  But, although the heist is stopped, there's all kinds of significant damage, expected and unexpected, including -

• Hank gets killed (which makes the second major character with a badge to be killed on this show, the first being J. R. Minogue).
• Frankie sees the way Jimmy and Jackie are looking at each other, and realizes Jimmy is the rat.
• DeCourcy wanted to stop this robbery without Jackie's help.  But Jackie of course shows up, plays a major role in getting the bad guys - he rams their car - and DeCourcy is furious.  I gotta say, though, that it's not right to say Jackie stole the glory.  He, after all, earned some of it, by ramming the getaway car, right?

Those three developments change everything - well, certainly the second and third, since Hank was not that big a character.   But next week's season one finale won't be enough time to work all this out.  Good thing there's a second season.

In either that second season, or in next week's finale, Frankie may well kill Jimmy.  And I predict that DeCourcy will actually reconcile with Jackie - unless Rachel comes up with some damning evidence, like proof that Jackie killed Clay.  Hey, that's why it'll good to see next week's season finale, rather than relying on my predictions.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative ... City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family ... City on a Hill 1.7: The Bodies ... City on a Hill 1.8: Personal Business and Its Accompaniment

 

City on a Hill 1.8: Personal Business and Its Accompaniment

The last scene of City on a Hill 1.8 settled our impression of Jackie, if we had any doubt before.  His swagger, his braggadocio, is much more than that.  When he tells his wife he'll kill the guy who assaulted Benny and landed her in the hospital, he was more than blowing off steam.  City on a Hill specializes in a punch-in-a-gut last few minutes.  Jackie does more than punch this guy, Clay.  He pulls his gun and shatters him.

In other words, Jackie is exactly who he says he is.  He's beyond and above the law.  He not only cuts whatever corners he needs to get the bad guys, he's not above using his gun to settle a personal score.  For better or worse, he's genuinely someone to be reckoned with.   Someone, to return to an earlier episode, who may well have pushed that reporter down the stairs.

The song that accompanies this scene makes it all the more memorable.  It's Jackie DeShannon's "Put A Little Love in Your Heart".   We hear it earlier as accompaniment when Jimmy gets the stuffing beat out of him.  That was effective enough.  But its reprise when Jackie takes care of personal business is creme de la creme.  Jackie accompanying Jackie.

Not only that.  I have to say, Jackie De Shannon sounds a lot like Jenny Rohr.   Jill Hennessy, who plays Jenny flawlessly, is also a singer.   It occurred to me that she could've been singing the song.  You never know. 

City on a Hill has been renewed for a second season.   I hope they have more Jackie DeShannon songs.  I'd recommend "When You Walk In the Room" or "Bette Davis Eyes".

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative ... City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family ... City on a Hill 1.7: The Bodies

 

City on a Hill 1.7: The Bodies

Jackie continues to get his way in City on a Hill 1.7, squeezing Jimmy to reveal the locations of the bodies from the heist, essential to DeCourcy making a case.

That was the end of the episode.  The beginning also had a body, but one which just managed to survive.  That would Michaela, who winds up at the bottom of a steep flight on Boston stairs, barely alive.   Did Jackie have something to with this, as well?

We know that Michaela's been investigating Jackie.  Did he push her, or have her pushed, down that flight of stairs?   The medical assessment is she fell - but we know how out of touch with reality those can be.   Well, one thing's for sure.  It's not likely Bonnie from Big Little Lies did it.   She's presumably still in California.

But the serious question about Jackie remains.  Would he actually kill someone to protect his vital interests?  I would say if the person was a dangerous criminal, yes.  But a reporter, investigating him?  On balance, I'd say no.  Jackie's sense of morality may not be the strongest, but it's there.  And as a practical matter, killing a reporter could well only invite further investigation.

Even with Michaela surviving, it already has.  Rachel has now taken up Michaela's investigation.  And, as an insider, she has a lot more at her command than does/did Michaela.  In fact, Rachel looks to be the most serious opponent Jackie may encounter on City on the Hill this season.

Which makes it eminently worth watching.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative ... City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family

 

City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family

I didn't get a chance to review City on a Hill (1.5) last week.  Actually, I was so upset that Kevin Chapman's quintessential cop character was killed that I didn't feel like writing a review - only kidding, I was unhappy the Chapman's character was killed, but I just got caught up in too many other things (like seeing and reviewing Jeff Lynne's concert in New Jersey).

But there's no way I could let episode 1.6 go by without a review, however busy I was.  It was the best episode of the series so far, in many ways.  Even Jenny's mother put in a notable appearance, showing she's in all of this for herself.  She's more than willing to help Jackie get back with Jenny, if Jackie can help his mother-in-law get back her license (she hit a school bus).  She's the most reminiscent I've of Tony Soprano's mother, in lo these many years.

Dean Winters also had a good spot, nice to see after his Law and Order SVU sojourn and his All State Insurance commercials as Mayhem.  In City on a Hill, he's the vehicle for Jackie being a  self-described "piece of shit" - but it's for a worthy cause, getting the AK-47 that was used in the killing of three guards in the right hands, i.e., the killer's.   But even this was set-up for the big event of the hour: as Jackie finally gets the bad guys within prosecutorial range, he receives news that his daughter is missing.

Jackie may not be that good to his wife, but he loves his daughter.  (I think he loves his wife, too, but that's another story.)  It was a great to see Jackie galvanized into action to find his daughter - including his well-taken brush-off of that annoying reporter - and although the result is not quite he and Jenny back together, it was a step in the right direction to see them under the same roof again, after her throwing him out in the same episode.

And episode 1.6 was firing on other cylinders, too.  Frankie's in need of cash to pay his mother's medical bills - robbers didn't easily get insurance back in those cruel 90s - and this puts in motion the beginning of another heist, great for the series if likely not Frankie.  And DeCourcy has an excellent night, too, standing up to a smack on the face by the sleazy priest.

The series has now really come into its own, and I'll see you here next week.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative

 

City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative

City on a Hill 1.4 chugged along with no great surprises but a bunch of significant developments.  My favorite, this time, was DeCourcy with the grand jury.  Not that anything too exciting happened here, either, but you don't see grand jury proceedings too much in TV drama, and it was fun to see this one.

Otherwise, Jenny and Father Doyle got to the next predictable step - he invites her to do volunteer work in the church, so he can be close to her - but that doesn't get beyond the first minute, due to Jackie's intervention, i.e., carrot and stick with Doyle.  I'm still holding out hope of seeing Jenny and Doyle in bed together.

Cathy Ryan (well played by Amanda Clayton) had a strong role in at least two ways in this episode.  She puts her foot down on her daughter seeing a shrink (never a good idea when the family is involved in crime) and knows just what to do when one of the gang is thrown in jail for physically going after DeCourcy at the grand jury.  Again, we've seen this all before, but it's nonetheless enjoyable to see it so well played.

But while I'm in a complaining mood, I heard someone mention Richard Nixon.  Sheesh, this is 1992, no one was talking about Nixon anymore by then.  And, unlike JFK, Nixon had no intrinsic connection to Boston.

In sum, City on a Hill is derivative to a fault.  I wish it had something more.  But I'll keep watching because I'm hoping it does and it's still fun to watch if it doesn't.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos

 

City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos

What better day to review City on a Hill and its Boston story than July 3?  Well, maybe tomorrow, July 4, but I'll be spending most of that day in Cape Cod Bay, and likely won't be writing many reviews.  As for City, of its three primary interlocking stories lines - police Jackie, DA DeCourcy, and heister Frankie - I continue to find Jackie's the most powerful, in particular the story of Jackie and his wife Jenny.

In 1.3, Jenny, like the mostly good Catholic she is, seeks the advice of her priest in dealing with her frustrating lack of sexual relationship with her husband.  The priest's counsel is, unsurprisingly, not very helpful.  But note the handsome young priest who is also sitting in on the conversation.  Jackie certainly did, though she kept it to herself in the conversation.  The audience certainly did.   It whispered a revisiting one of the most memorable interludes on The Sopranos.

Carmela Soprano had, well, not an explicit sexual relationship with Father Phil, but there was erotic energy in every plate of food she made for him.  Jenny is not quite there yet with Father Doyle, but his paying Jenny a visit at her home later in the episode is a big step in the right direction.  Carmela never got beyond the food surrogate.   Maybe that was because, let's face it, Tony might well have killed Phil if his relationship with Carmela went any further.  But Jackie's not a killer - at least, not that kind of killer - so that leaves more room for Jenny and Doyle to sooner or later end up in bed.  Add to that the fact that Jenny is far more motivated than Carmela - Jenny's been sex-deprived for how many years? - and I'd say it's a very good bet that the comfort they'll share will be more than food.

Hey, enjoy the 4th and the food and the family, and I'll see you here next week.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror

 

City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror

City on a Hill 1.2 continued to develop Jackie's connection to the Kennedys.  He joined the FBI, we learned, back in the 1960s, when RFK was Attorney General, and Jackie wanted to be part of his team.   He lost his faith in politics after voting once for Jimmy Carter.  And as a political marker of when the series is taking place, in 1992, we see a bit from Bill Clinton's "come-back kid" speech in New Hampshire.   (Speaking today, when I watched this, our past Presidents all look like angels compared to what we've got now in the White House.)

I like the way Jackie's character is developing.  His mother-in-law gets the call from the docs, telling her that Jackie has no venereal disease.  She lies to him and tells him the docs said that he does.  This forces Jackie to decline his wife's invitation to have sex that evening.  With Jill Hennessy playing Jackie's wife Jenny, that really showed commendable restraint on Jackie's part.  Jenny, not knowing why Jackie said no, thinking she's unwanted, is left upset and crying.   Altogether one powerful scene.

Decourcy has a strong night, too.  He admits he never knew MLK.   He also admits that he lost his eye to cancer not his father.  His no-compromise stance is actually reminiscent, in a way, of RFK.

No big action from the heist men in 1.2.  Instead, we see the screws continuing to tighten on them.  It's not easy being on the wrong side of the law, even in Boston in 1992.   City on a Hill is roughly based on real Boston history.  But I'm not looking on Wikipedia, because I want to be surprised.

Sterling acting, as I mentioned in my review of 1.1.  I liked the second episode better than the first, always a good sign.   Count on me, for what it's worth, to watch the entire season, and report back here with reviews of every episode.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities

 

City on a Hill: Possibilities

I saw the first episode of City on a Hill on Showtime.  I'll probably keep watching - mainly because its story and characters are nothing we haven't seen before, in movies and on TV, but very well paced and acted.

Kevin Bacon is back playing another FBI man, this time a seasoned and cynical agent in Boston in the 1990s.   He forms an unlikely alliance with a gung-ho DA in Boston by way of Brooklyn, played by Aldis Hodge, last seen by me in Turn.   (The two B's always did have a lot in common, though less so since the Brooklyn Dodgers decamped to LA in the late 1950s.)  As I said, the narrative is well acted.  Another Kevin - Chapman - who has played a cop or detective well in countless television shows, is back doing the same again.

The antagonists are a family of bank robbers (actually, armored car, to be more precise), who, like most of these Boston capers, aren't exactly Brinks robbery calibre.  But it's good to see a Boston crime family again, in full Boston accents, replete with leaders, dummies, and traitors.

The 1990s setting is the most original element in the series, and good to see.   But I thought the commentary was a bit too obvious.  I don't recall anyone especially talking about JFK in the 1990s, even in Boston.   On the other hand, yeah, it is Boston, so if he was talked about anywhere in the 1990s, that would be where it was.   And he did give the famous "City on a Hill" speech there as President-elect in 1961.

There's a great twist at the end of the episode, which of course I'm not going to tell you about.   But it was enough to get me off the fence and decide to watch at least the next episode.  Hey, I'm on Cape Cod right now, in almost shouting distance from Boston, and that's the least I can do.