'City on a Hill' episode 10 review: The crime drama ends on a strong note and makes way for a fresher season 2
This review contains spoilers for 'City on a Hill' ep.10: 'Mayor Curly And The Last Hurrah'
'City on a Hill' gets a fitting end. Plain and simple. The addictive crime drama ties up a major chunk of its loose ends and leaves the audience with just one question. What would season 2 cover? When the crime drama began, it was a slow burner. The pilot episode went well over an hour and it took up to four episodes to establish the storyline, the characters and its footing.
And coming to the finale, it was more of a moral lesson— 'Tis' ain't the world for good men'. And definitely not a cliffhanger. "Mayor Curley And The Last Hurrah" sets up a tantalizing season 2. The upcoming installment may most definitely feature a new issue to be tackled, but we're pretty sure it will still continue to have plotlines of season 1 sprinkled throughout the season. For those of you who have followed 'City on a Hill' religiously, we split this review into a few points to better highlight the character arcs.
The Ryans: Jimmy's betrayal and it cost the family. Big time
It did. The episode begins with the Ryan brothers in custody following the botched heist in Fall River. Frankie Ryan (Jonathan Tucker) has realized that Jimmy (Mark O'Brien) was the rat. He arranges for his lawyer to set a trap for Jimmy. The name Kelly Kinicki has been this invisible ghost throughout the season and comes back to haunt them in the final episode. Frankie thinks Jimmy would lie about Kinicki's death, instead, he confesses to the murder in court. This meant Ward (Aldis Hodge) essentially gave "blanket immunity" to a killer who just put away the armored car robbers. Jimmy isn't yet. He refuses to divulge anything about Jackie Rohr (Kevin Bacon) that Ward could use to lock him in.
Jimmy's betrayal already has Cathy Ryan (Amanda Clayton) seething, disappointed and broken. After all, the family is now without a father to helm responsibility. However, she still shows she's got it in her to take on Frankie's responsibilities. Pity the way it ended.
Ward's moral compass misaligns. His victory denied.
Jimmy's trial and a win could have been a victory for Ward. Just that it doesn't happen. For starters, Rohr's intervention in the Boston Police Department's operation makes the case a federal one. This pulls that win away from Ward. His chances of earning a slice of victory look bright when Jimmy agrees to turn on his brother on the Fall River job and the dead guards from the Revere Beach robbery in exchange for blanket immunity. However, Jimmy turns the tables by confessing about Kinicki's murder and that dents Ward's conscious. Not just does he realize that he gave a killer immunity, the move also jeopardized his political ambitions.
It doesn't come as a surprise. Ward was a man on a mission. The show saw him make cleaning up Boston his life's work and now he's in dire straits. He's bogged down mentally with the weight of providing immunity to a killer and there's nothing he can do to get one over Rohr.
Rohr's good run continues. He and Jenny find common ground.
The sly b*****d gets away. The smug grin permanently etched on his face. Such is his good fortune that a car bomb planted to kill him doesn't explode. Given the absolute s***t he's been through, we think Bacon's Rohr may soften up a tad bit. Except, he just prattles on like the prick he's always been. He does try his best to resolve his wrongdoings though. For starters, he has a heart-to-heart with Jenny (Jill Hennessy) for the first time in ten episodes. On a rainy day, he walks side-by-side with Jenny and tells her that he would never be the man she married. The duo also finds solace in kicking her mother out of the house. To get into Ward's good books, he arranges to have the Ryans' case moved to Suffolk county.
The untied threads
Whatever happened to Michaela Freeda played by Samantha Soule?
Last we saw, she took a tumble down the stairs. Who did that? What happens to her next?
Will Rachel Benham continue to serve BPD?
Sarah Shahi essayed the role of PI to perfection. In the end, she just finds herself questioning how life could have come to this.
Who attempted to kill Jackie?
We don't know. It could have been one of his enemies. After all, he's got no dearth of people who'd just want to stab him in the heart and just move on.
Final say
Kudos to the writers. In 'City on a Hill', they gave us a series to look forward to every Sunday since its air date. In addition, the attention to detail, the tightly woven narrative, picking actors who brought their characters to life made it a show that was worth tuning into.
The end was just as we expected-strong and gives more room to find fresher ground in the upcoming season. 'City on a Hill' glues its audience right from the start and manages to keep them intrigued with its gripping tale till the very end. The show had its moments— big and small.
Gritty and intriguing, the crime drama was an impressive show and delivered exactly what it promised.
