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
