We Own This City is an HBO miniseries, by creator David Simon and is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by Justin Fenton.
With We Own This City, David Simon’s return to the world of drama after The Wire has been a spectacular one. Following in the footsteps of The Wire, its spiritual predecessor, Simon has created another street-level drama that takes place in Baltimore.
The HBO show has received almost universal acclaim for one of the most uncompromisingly bleak portrayals of contemporary police.
It is based on the true story of the infamous Gun Trace Task Force, a special unit of Baltimore police officers in charge of eradicating guns and drugs from the streets.
The tale of the task force is an intriguing one. After they got to work, it wasn’t long before the task force started extorting, bribing, and strong-arming its way to power.
Guns and drugs were confiscated from the streets, only to be sold back to the very gangs and peddlers from whom they were confiscated.
Eventually, following a secret internal investigation, several members of the crew ended up in prison, thereby bringing an end to the scandal.
Assuming creators Simon and Pelecanos have accomplished their goal of dramatizing the Gun Trace Task Force scandal as creatively as they could, maybe there won’t be much of a story to tell for Season 2.
Unlike its spiritual predecessor, We Own This City is somewhat rooted in reality. If there were to be a second season, it will be complicated to introduce brand-new characters or storylines, which was not a problem for The Wire because of its format.
More clues can be taken from David’s words at the show’s New York premiere. According to Simon, the series is a “coda” to The Wire, not a sequel. The writer noted that the task of a “coda” is to add to finished work and to provide closure. This provides some indication that We Own This City might be the end of Simon’s journey to Baltimore.
As Deadline reported in 2021, the initial plans for We Own This City were conceived as a miniseries. Due to the miniseries’ natural beginning and conclusion, compared to The Wire’s open-ended structure, We Own This City’s six episodes effectively wrap up the story of the book in one season.
That is to say, barring a major surprise, there probably won’t be a second season.
However, there might just be more to the story.
Although the “bad guys” of the show end up in prison in the end, the aim of We Own This City was to show that the market for drugs and other illicit items might never be eradicated easily because the institutions involved are themselves corrupt and inefficient, Ending the series on such a note goes against this message,
In spite of all the theories, it is unclear whether the show would return for another season. Fans might have to wait for an official announcement to know what’s next for the show.
About We Own This City
Based on the nonfiction book by investigative journalist Justin Fenton, We Own This City is a crime drama mini-series developed and written by George Pelecanos and David Simon.
The show follows the rise and collapse of the Baltimore Police Department amongst corruption, racial injustice, and systemic discrimination. The six-episode series premiered on HBO on April 25th, 2022.
Source: HBO
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