City on a Hill Review: Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah (Season 1 Episode 10)

The great game of chess is at play on City on a Hill Season 1 Episode 10, “Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah.” Everyone has moves, some blinding and some life-changing, but one thing is for certain: there are those who can escape anything.

Jackie Rohr and Jimmy Ryan are those people, able to wrench their way from any vice grip and live to see another day. Jackie’s so bulletproof, he’s able to survive car bombs (the impending doom of the scene giving a little bit of dark comedy as a punchline).

There’s a sense of confidence in the blind luck Jackie and Jimmy possess, as though even when caught, there’s always a way out. Everything is transaction-based and malleable to them both, both a match made in heaven that even Jackie is able to admit to.

Jackie’s car troubles and near-death experience appear to show Decourcy and Rachel aren’t the only ones in law enforcement with a grudge against him. It now becomes a question of whether the law will catch up to Jackie, or his luck comes to an end. Kevin Bacon collapsing, drunkenly laughing off the amateur car bomb, is one of his greatest moments on the show.

Jackie does enjoy the fireworks in court after the Kinicki reveal, commenting on Decourcy’s shock with humor. But all of it leads down to losing his one last lead to being relevant. Their final talk in the spot they shared on City on a Hill Season 1 Episode 1, “The Night Flynn Sent the Cops on the Ice,” is made of veiled threats and figuring one another out. There’s no friendship left between Jackie and Decourcy.

Jenny finally growing into the strength she needed is another one of the episode’s highlights. She’s been stepped on and blamed her whole life, and for her to claim it all back now is a greatly invigorating and motivational moment. It’s a lesson learned, taking things for yourself after a life of giving; there is a question of why Jenny is willing to accept Jackie back into her life. Is it loyalty, or leveraging his position?

One thing is for sure: Jenny is now in a place of power.

Taking the best deal can be devastating, as Decourcy learns. Jimmy admitting to Kinicki’s death (finally, we know about the whole ambiguous incident in the Ryan home!) is the mother of all blindsides, Aldis Hodge’s immense shock palpable once the truth is dropped in open court. The testimony from Mark O’Brien’s Jimmy is part pained and part gloating, this clever turn of knowing he’s safe and can talk away.

Cathy doesn’t take it too well, her beating on Tommy’s wife in front of her kids and Kick spitting at Jimmy as he drives past signs that the Ryan family won’t back down from who they are. Cathy appeared to be the brains of the operation, after all, and so she’s likely to land on her feet relatively quickly.

Her lesson to Kick is one that many learn on the show, including Decourcy through Jackie: doing the right thing over doing what’s necessary never works. Perhaps it’s a cynical view, but it’s about taking what’s yours where the real message comes. That can come in many forms, but it’s through finding your own way where it really matters most.

The lofty manner of the episode makes for a strong foundation. Much like HBO’s The Wire, City on a Hill is reaching for something bigger with its storytelling, to tell the human story of the streets and the law while giving the god’s eye view of the state of a city in the process. City on a Hill finds a lot of its power through the street level view, but there’s equal power in the bigger picture.

The question is what a second season looks like. Will it continue to follow the Ryan family and the fallout caused by the immunity deal for Jimmy and the guilty verdicts on Frankie, or will it be like The Wire and follow the law-based characters onto a new project to tackle? Perhaps it’s a happy medium, further pulling back to show an even larger picture.

City on a Hill Season 1 Episode 10, “Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah,” is a defining episode of the series. It brings the truth into harsh light while drawing the battle lines further. It’s through its brilliant cast and its precise writing that 90’s Boston is captured in all its flaws and beauty. There is a sense of both moving on and a bigger story ahead, which is a wonderful way to close out a season.

The moves ahead will require a careful hand, but unfortunately for Jackie, there are many hands that want to be the one to make it.

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

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

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

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