Practically each time Kevin Bacon will get to play the villain or the antihero in a film (any “Hole Man” followers in the home?) or TV present (see his lately cancelled Prime horror collection “The Bondsman”) is when he comes alive essentially the most. That is to not say he is not nice enjoying good guys — take a look at his poignant efficiency within the HBO struggle drama “Taking Likelihood” — but it surely’s arguably extra fascinating and entertaining to see him clench his tooth right into a scumbag (“Tremendous”) or morally corrupt character he normally portrays with gusto. He likes to play egotistic jerks and males with a god advanced, and considered one of his better of these on the small display was FBI veteran and champion sonuvabitch Jackie Rohr in Chuck MacLean’s Boston crime procedural, “Metropolis on a Hill.”
Regardless of being produced by Hollywood’s most well-known Bostonian duo, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and having a solid crammed with glorious character actors like Aldis Hodge, Jill Henessy, Matthew Del Negro, and John Doman, the Showtime collection was type of slept on when it aired for 3 seasons between 2019 and 2022. The vibe of a extra low-key and Boston-set model of “The Wire” (although not practically as advanced and painstakingly written as David Simon’s groundbreaking masterpiece) simply wasn’t clicking that broadly with audiences on the time. Certain sufficient, “Metropolis on a Hill” was removed from a straightforward watch on account of its dry plotting, sprawling roster, and the politically sophisticated dynamics that made up its core.
Metropolis on a Hill was underseen however not underrated
Showtime
Set within the seedy Nineties of Boston, Massachusetts, the present adopted Assistant District Lawyer Decourcy Ward (Hodge) and the amoral FBI agent Jackie Rohr (Bacon) as they navigated the town’s underbelly whereas chasing their particular person agendas. Whereas Ward primarily sought justice to get as many criminals behind bars as doable, Rohr was after satisfying his pleasures (reminiscent of consuming, drug use, and adultery) whereas making an attempt to take care of his highly effective (if disdained) place within the bureau and his position as husband and father in a dysfunctional marriage. The juicy bit was that these two — who shared a mutual hatred for one another — needed to type an undesirable alliance/partnership to get the outcomes they needed. After all, they knew completely effectively how the opposite might trick, mislead, or double-cross them at any flip, which offered simply essentially the most thrilling side in season 1 as they tried to catch an organized group of armored automotive robbers. Sadly, within the following seasons, the “pact” between the 2 was considerably dialed again and led to a murkier and less-rousing plot, focusing as a substitute on dime-a-dozen criminals and extra political figures. That is to not say seasons 2 and three had been terrible by any means, however a few of the spark that propelled the freshman season was actually misplaced amidst the person subplots.
Though critics nonetheless preferred the collection, the progressively declining viewership ultimately tanked its possibilities to proceed, and Showtime determined to cancel it in late 2022. In case you’re a faithful fan of gritty crime dramas just like the aforementioned “The Wire,” the criminally underseen “Brotherhood,” or the Jon Bernthal-led “We Personal This Metropolis,” you must undoubtedly give “Metropolis on a Hill” an opportunity in case you missed it again then, if for no different purpose than to look at a fierce and frenetic Kevin Bacon with a devilish smile on his face whereas he is deludedly making an attempt to run a metropolis that has left him behind.
