We Own This City Parts 1 -2 are the first two instalments of an American true crime drama miniseries based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton. The miniseries was developed and written by George Pelecanos and David Simon, who had previously collaborated on The Wire and Deuce. The premise involves the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) and the corruption surrounding it.
S P O I L E R S
We Own This City Parts 1 – 2 introduces us to the various players crucial to the story that unfolded in Baltimore about five years ago. There are the corrupt cops within the GTTF viz. Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal), Momodu “G-Money” Gondo (McKinley Belcher III), Daniel Hersl (Josh Charles); the Baltimore PD officers and FBI agents investigating the GTTF and Nicole Steele (Wunmi Mosako), an attorney with Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Quite a bit of set up ensures, with time jumps all over the place, but the writing is solid enough to keep the audience in the loop.
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Thematically, the miniseries is also highly relevant for the Black Lives Matters movement, providing a context to the police brutality that has cost many African-Americans their lives at the hands of the police sworn to serve and protect them. The miniseries also offers us the flip side of the coin, where police officers become unwilling to do their jobs properly due to the constant suspicion of wrong-doing and the incessant video-recording of their activities.
We Own This City Parts 1 – 2 demonstrate that this six-part miniseries will be worth the investment of time and emotion. Buckle up cuz it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
Now streaming on HBO Max.
… still there’s more …