If you've ever watched The Town and wanted more of the same, but with a bit more going on, this is probably for you. At least, the first season is. We have the crooked FBI agent wheelin'-and-dealin' in a corrupt mid nineties Boston. Then a black D. A who is after Charlestown bank robbers who killed two guards. And finally, the perps themselves, who are trying to get away with it.

It is very much a crime drama, not so much a period piece as you'd expect. It's unabashedly political and it's a slow burn, methodically paced show. It culminates into a powder keg type situation each season. The first one is worth watching and absolutely the best foot forward.

The next two are a lot more muddy and a few of the minor characters take Center stage, but it's a lot more convoluted and it regresses to what you'd expect from a show like that rather than stick with the initial niche, which made it stand out. And that happens even further in season 3, which is by far the weakest. It's not all bad, there's always some redeeming qualities. There's some interesting stuff about trauma but it also feels contrived.

For instance the money, in particular, is wildly contrived. A woman sells two bricks of heroin and still acts like she made $200 or something. Jackie is on the take for who knows how long and he suddenly has money problems immediately in the third season. Suddenly a minor character has unresolved trauma when she already has present trauma she hasn't dealt with. Why? They keep trying to make the minor characters more interesting, but can't seem to do it without making it melodramatic and unhinge the pacing and the core plot. And how the hell does Jackie have all these quotes memorized when all he does is so drugs and drink and party? Makes 0 sense as an affection for his character imo.

It becomes about a billion B plots instead of a solid A plot. It's so far from what made it good by the end of season 3, it's really not worth watching unless you somehow didn't like season 1 and wanted something completely different... but kept watching it anyway in case that happened? The first season is a 8, the second and third are a 7 and a 6. I took the middle number.