This is looking pretty good. I couldn't find another thread on it.


Two decades ago, in June 2002, HBO premiered The Wire, a crime drama that would go on to include four more seasons, introduce TV audiences to some of today’s biggest actors (Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, to name a couple), and later be considered by many to be the greatest television show of all time.

Ahead of the 20th anniversary, HBO is once again returning to Baltimore—a coincidence, though, likely due to disruptions during Covid-19 than any nostalgic play by the network—with The Wire alumni David Simon (writer and creator) and George Pelecanos (writer and producer).

Based on the book “We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption” by former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, We Own This City finds a more modernized Baltimore police force than its fictional predecessor—a force now replete with all kinds of digital surveillance equipment—but one still facing the same administrative burdens, the same flawed policing tactics, the same incentives for everything less than superb police work. Whereas The Wire suggested police might overcome and improve these unhelpful strategies imposed by city-level decision makers, We Own the City comes away with a more cynical conclusion—that the system is itself so broken that it practically encourages exploitation; why work to improve the system when you can use it for your own ends?

The story unspools the corruption located in one particular unit, Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) lead by Sgt. Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal). In 2017, several officers in the unit, including Jenkins, were arrested and later charged with racketeering. We Own This City tracks the unit between 2015 and 2017, during which time many of their crimes took place.

Unlike The Wire, We Own This City will have a shorter run time, with only six episodes. Like its predecessor, however, the episodes will release weekly.

Here’s how to watch We Own This City.

When Does We Own This City Air on HBO?
Unlike recent HBO releases in the crime genre—like HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice, which followed a multiple episode release schedule—We Own This City will take HBO's classic one episode per week format.

The series will air on traditional HBO on Mondays at 9 P.M. and will be available to watch on HBO Max at the same time.

WATCH WE OWN THIS CITY HERE

Here’s the Complete Release Schedule for We Own This City
Episode 1 – April 25
Episode 2 – May 2
Episode 3 – May 9
Episode 4 – May 16
Episode 5 – May 23
Episode 6 – May 30

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I saw a snippet of it and thought they were bringing THE WIRE back. Looks interesting. I like the lead actor.

I forgot this started last night. Thanks for the reminder.

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checked out the first ep last night. So far so good. its got the right pacing to it, in line with when The Wire really found its stride. Nice to see a lot of the same folks being cast again in new roles, even if just for a scene. Might have to check out the book and events its based on. Simon and Pelacanos should be able to work some mastery with this source material

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'Your AT&T Universal Card has arrived'? Oh God, Kick-fucking-ass, I got a Master Card! I don't believe it, man. Life is kinda cool sometimes.

Agreed on your take, definitely a solid start. Hoping they have enough time with just 6 episodes to tell it all. Pleasant surprise to see Andrea Zuckerman get some screen time as the Federal prosecutor.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I really enjoyed the first episode, which felt like it very much inhabited the same world as The Wire.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Marlo play a cop.

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Got done with first episode. I love it. Lots of good acting.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Anyone keeping up with this one? I sort of forgot about it but now I am all caught up with the finale coming early next week. Been a solid program, hard to believe these guys were doing this stuff and getting away with it for so long. Certainly can see why a lot of people don't trust police. Bernthal has been better than advertised in this one. Really an underrated actor except for the people that have seen his work. I haven't seen everything he has done but ever since I discovered him in Walking Dead he has been good in everything I have seen. I'm sure there is a thread in here somewhere but did anyone check out his work on The Punisher series? Was it any good?

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

The show may be better than the Wire, and that is saying something. The fact that it is true makes it better. The acting is awesome.

I cannot see why people of color hate the police….absolutely inexcusable shit going on.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I don't know about better than The Wire, but I grew up knowing the very second floor interrogation room that Jon Burge and his cohorts used to beat confessions out of people who they thought were guilty. And I've had cops pull guns on me 3x and all I got was a ticket for 71 in a 65mph zone in '88. And the way they otherwise does business here is completely idiotic.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Wrapped this up the other day. Overall I thought it was very well done but like a lot of good shows, left me wanting more.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I had a black cop pull a weapon on me in 2000 on I-90 in Ohio. Frisked and put into the back of a squad car for "speeding". Guy tailgated me for miles so I sped up.

I had a black cop tell me to go back into my shattered and car after a truck side swiped me to look for an insurance card. This was while blood is dripping from my head.

I had a white cop tell me to get out of the car and frisk me to look for drugs for going 10 over in a speed trap when I was 17. He threatened to arrest my brother for "not having ID". He was 11.

There is no racial monopoly on the cops mistreating people.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Not even once I have had anything remotely close to this happen. The show is a true story. The cops were shaking down poor people, and yes they got some whites. But aggregate stats show the cops are going after blacks at a much higher rate.

And I will add this, it pisses me off. It is why I am a Libertarian- I have a natural distrust of government. These cops are supposed to protect folks. Little do they realize, they are eroding the trust of the community. Luckily, the show was very clear how Baltimore could not even find a jury pool because everyone hated the BPD.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Im 3 ep's in and love the cast from THE WIRE in this. Everyone all grown up! Dukie a cop and Marlo a detective! They look good too for 20+ years from The Wire.

And........as I write this......Herc shows up!

None of these guys age!

The reason more black people are "targeted" is that far more violent crimes happen in black neighborhoods. And if you think that issuing "justice" outside the jury system works there are a pile of bodies that would say otherwise. I would say those dead ignored kids is more of a reason to be pissed off than this dramatized "true story".

And I just told you what happened to me. I don't particularly like the police, but they sure beat the alternative.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

to denis's point, a friend of mine was arrested years ago and when he was brought back to the chicagoland suburb station, he was relentlessly harassed and threatened by the cops the entire time he was being processed. it was late, they were probably bored and here's a red-haired short guy they can bully. and they took full advantage. he told me "i'm not trying to equate myself, but i think i got a taste of what i think black people get on a regular basis".

i've known some real cool cops in my life as well, and they've said the same thing: we all have them in our precinct.

i do want to check this out, now that i can watch the entire season straight through.

it totally isn't because of a desire for laissez faire economic policies

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

My philosophy centers around the proper limited role of government and maximum freedom for the individual. So of course that parlays into capitalism, but also free speech, free exercise of religion, gun rights, due process, etc. I understand the need for a modest social safety net, checks on capitalism (anti trust rules for instance), investment in public education for all. It is a sad commentary on us all that we need civil rights laws, but we do.

I do not need purity of my political positions. I am nothing if not pragmatic.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

These are not mutually exclusive. You can be really upset about dead kids and pissed off about police shaking down citizens. Even a drug dealer has rights and protections, and the cops are not judge and jury. They were robbing people blind, and pulling them over for questionable violations.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

i may have told this story but I had a friend who worked for the California Highway Patrol and she just retired a few years ago. I talked to her around when Ferguson was happening and a few other police brutality incidents.

She told me that when she started out in the 80s, they had guidelines on who can and who cannot become a cop. You had to be a certain height, certain education, certain mental capacity and psychological profile, etc...

Then they threw a lot of those rules out.

One story she told me was about height : when they started hiring cops 5'8 and below. These short cops were probably picked on their whole lives, then when they suddenly get a gun and a badge, well it's time to take revenge on the world. They were the ones w/ the biggest complaints and often seen doing things against the guidelines.

So seems like the standards in police hiring have been thrown out the window. But I"m sure in certain cities this shit has been going on for decades.

Again, I've had the cops pull me over for questionable violations. I got a ticket for looking at the map on my phone at a stoplight when there was a car accident shutting down the route. Have you seen the inside of a cop car? They have four screens up. The idea that cops are only targeting black people is a myth that needs to go away or the cycle of dead kids and street justice is going to continue.

There is a black mayor, black chief of police, and black lead prosecutor in Chicago. The rank and file are majority minority. Cops might be bullies or corrupt, but it's not exclusive to any race .

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Cases like this happen all the time. It doesn't fit the narrative though. And there aren't no justice, no peace marches afterwards. Tony Timpa died in police custody. He didn't get a state funeral.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

i finished this yesterday. jon bernthal will definitely receive some awards love come golden globes/emmys time. his performance as wayne jenkins is extremely high powered. i also really liked the understated but powerful performance by jamie hector. it felt like these two characters were kind of the glue that held the storytelling. although, i think we could've delved deeper into their backstories and youth a little bit. there are a lot of cliches in character building that the show indulges in, which is a little disappointing.

also, there is way too much exposition. it completely dissolves the character of the civil rights lawyer nicole steele. she's basically a redundant reminder of what the show is telling you about the system.

david simon clearly was angry about the corruption that plagued the BPD and this has a tone that brings that out. it can be powerful at times. and then there are times where it gets a little full of itself, preachy, and biased.

but we also see that corruption goes beyond the police force. and there's definitely a message that maybe it goes beyond what the police force should be held accountable for. it's in the messy, convoluted politics that basically set these systems up to fail. that's been my problem with a lot of government programs that are meant to do good. they wind up being horribly handled and cynically executed.

overall this is worth watching, but it definitely had some weaknesses. i think it could've used a little more reflection on society as a whole rather than taking some easy pot shots at targets that are taking a lot of heat as it is.

out of

They may be easy targets, but it is a true story. There was a lot of jail time for the dirty cops. So it is not like this was a fiction where they unfairly targeted the BPD.

And yes it was a sad commentary on the entire system.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I’m not saying it’s unfair. It just couldn’t have had some more layers to it. I’m sure they took some liberties with some of the narrative like any other historical drama does.

The nice thing about David Simon's shows is that he touches on not only the corruption but also the fiscal realities that constrain larger cities today.

For whatever reasons.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

There is no shortage of our Federal government acting in a corrupt, counter-productive, and untrustworthy manner. Big government is dangerous because the government itself is a royal fuck-up. That transcends a desire for laissez faire economic policies.

MANY would trust the government a lot more if they showed in inkling of competence.

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