City on a Hill Review: High on the Looming Gallows Tree (Season 1 Episode 8)

Normally, truth is a good thing; truth is not a good thing on City on a Hill Season 1 Episode 8, “High on the Looming Gallows Tree.”

The truth leads to devastation. No one knows this more than Clay, getting blasted away for it, a sudden turn that the episode kicks into high gear when least expected. It’s likely Jackie entered that apartment knowing what comes next, but the rage in it, the suddenness of the execution, shows Jackie is a man of impulse now, and not of reason.

Plus, with the nosy neighbor always at the peephole and watching the comings and goings of his neighbors, Jackie is likely done for on this, ironically making his downfall his estranged family rather than his profession.

Of note is also how the episode allows women to be the charging force for better: Jenny is trying to do what’s right for Benny, Rachel is the lead of chasing down Jackie’s corruption, and Cathy is the voice of reason when the Ryan household is going off the rails. It’s the women who are actually in control of doing what’s right, when the men are engaged in competition with each other to show their strength.

For that, each character’s performance helps boost the episode.

Jill Hennessy has a great way of showing both compassion and frustration combating one another. Sarah Shahi is able to make Rachel this malleable persona, trying to find her place while also placing herself in various personas in the process to find the truth. Amanda Clayton is a force, starting to peel back the layer that she’s truly in charge, and not Frankie.

There’s a shared look near the end of the episode, as though Frankie is seeking Cathy’s approval for the new heist to get the go-ahead. She’s negotiating the new monetary terms for Sheehan’s wife, too, proving herself the one who doesn’t get her hands dirty, becoming the brains of the operation instead. The kids even know to quiet down once she returns home, as the real boss has returned.

The investigation closing in on the Ryan brothers has this air of finality. The next robbery is a sure thing, but it then becomes a question of whether or not it goes completely sideways and leads to some or all of the group on the run, or being caught in the act with a massive showdown?

City on a Hill has been taking down its lesser villains over time, to the point where goodness does appear to win out on the show in some form. But that’s not to say some of the worst impulses won’t find their way to see another day. No one is perfect on the show, allowing a complicated and rich viewpoint where there will always be similar crimes, and there will always be more Jackie Rohr’s.

Jackie’s outbursts are growing in frequency, no longer the somewhat levelheaded monster. He’s reaching the end of his rope, out of friends and cut off. With Jimmy now unveiled as Jackie’s informant, there’s going to be questions of whether or not he hampered with the investigation. He’s in for some more bad days ahead, especially with a crime of passion hanging over him now.

Decourcy spends so much of the episode on a high, with talk of his political career and capturing people in lies, that the sudden collapse with lying to Siobhan is a whiplash. Both are right: Decourcy owes Siobhan honesty while Siobhan owes Decourcy for doing what’s right, both choosing to do what’s right in the moment, not what’s right for their marriage. It’s been a recurring theme and fault of Decourcy.

City on a Hill Season 1 Episode 8, “High on the Looming Gallows Tree,” focuses on strong women characters, and is all the better for it. It shows that on a show dominated by male characters, there’s room for layered performances to shine over and tell the stories of injustices done on the women in their lives while they also seek out something of their own.

 

What did you think of this episode of City on a Hill? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

City on a Hill airs Sundays at 9/8c on Showtime.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

20 TV Shows Canceled Too Soon and 10 That Overstayed Their Welcome (2009-2019 Edition)