We Own This City (2022)

We Own This City has been described as a spiritual sequel to The Wire, which ran from 2002-2008. David Simon is the great chronicler of the American city. Simon and George Pelecanos return to Baltimore to follow up on the state of the police and the effect the killing of Freddie Gray. had on our beloved city. It's a damning critique of the Baltimore Police Department as an institution and the War on Drugs that bred it. It may come off as preachy at times, but that's because they're willing to speak the hard truths that no one else will. And yes, sometimes they need to be said out loud. It manages to be both aggravating and absolutely devastating. It makes you feel defeated, that the problems we face in this country are just so insurmountable under the weight of our broken and corrupt institutions.

Jon Bernthal gives a career best performance as Wayne Jenkins. There's something about him that just screams dirty cop. He has the brashness and charisma and bro-eyness. It's spot on casting. And his bawlmer accent is excellent. The time jumping is a little confusing, but it allows all the angles to unfold at once: the police, the FBI investigation and the DOJ consent decree. We see the police stops happen in flashback, and then relive them as the FBI investigates them, and then again as the DOJ gathers evidence for its own work. You can't look away; the miniseries is transfixing.

The Deuce (2017-19)

Not as groundbreaking as the Wire, but every bit as astute, insightful and well made. David Simon remains our greatest chronicler of the American city, this time New York in the 70s and 80s around 42nd Street. The epilogue shows what it has transformed into now, a tourist trap, a far cry from the Taxi Driver-era. Simon is interested in the how; what are the socioeconomic and political drivers that cause a city to change? Ed Koch looms over the show though he is never shown on screen. The third season's coverage of the AIDS epidemic is especially poignant. In parallel, it's also about the pornography industry, in that window it enjoyed mainstream success. For that the story expands out to California. I'd say the third theme is the mafia, showing the audience how organized crime makes money in as much detail as The Sopranos. Simon treats his characters equally and with dignity, whether they are government officials, policemen, reporters, mobsters, pimps, prostitutes or pornographers.  They all have rich, thoughtful characterization with satisfying arcs. The stars are James Franco, who plays twins, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays a prostitute turned porn-director turned art house filmmaker. The rest of the cast is full of David Simon regulars who appear in his other works. He continues to cast them because they're good. Simple as that.