User Reviews

The whole cast is good. Writing is good. Story is good. Direction and editing are good. But Kevin Bacon steals the show. He pulls off a ridiculous over the top character and does it well. Maybe his best.

Im no damn hollywood critic so you really should watch yourself. I just came across this show last night and binged season 1. Great acting by everyone. Im just a few years younger then Kevin Bacon and have seen much of his work and he is so good at playing a sleazy FBI agent, yet he makes me actually like him. I see that season 2 starts next weekend and ill be watching and so should everyone.

City on a Hill is a gritty cop show that takes place in Boston in the early 90's. I love the way the storyline unfolds throughout each season. It has a feel of The Wire only that it takes place in Boston. The writing, directing, acting, cast, cinematography, etc are all top notch in this show. Love these type of shows/movies so I was really looking forward to it and it did not disappoint! The real stand out here is Kevin Bacon, he's been a wonderful actor most of his career but this is easily one of his best performances. Aldis Hodge also breaks out to show himself as a fine actor who holds his own here. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are executive producers and they grew up in Boston so they add so much authenticity to the city of Boston. If your looking for a good gritty cop show then give this a try. You won't be disappointed.

Bacon almost single handedly made this a must watch. Started off with a bang then lagged almost catching up at the end.

As the series has progressed, the unlikely relationship between completely opposite backgrounds of Bacon's and Hodge's characters has meshed with Rohr seemingly seeking some sort of redemption after a corrupt past, and assistant district attorney Ward bending away from the pure by the book straight arrow, has focused on finding justice in Boston's police problems of the 90's. The chemistry between the two main characters is the best part of the series.

Aldis Hodge was in Leverage and I was wondering when we'd get to see him again. Hodge and Bacon are excellent actors and play really well off each other. But all the characters in this show really pop. The show follows the efforts of a DA (Hodge) and crusty jaded FBI agent (Bacon) to clean up Boston in the 1990s of the ridiculous levels of crime.

There's a real nuance of layers in the story line. You tend to feel sorry for the criminals too, such a way of life has been ingrained in them and passed down in generations.

The first season was good. I thought the second season wouldn't be as good because J. Tucker wasn't coming back, but Kevin Bacon is superb.

He is so good as Jackie Rohr that I will forever see him as this character.

He makes the show fun to watch.

The rest of the cast is great, but he steals the show.

I think this show has a low profile because it doesn't have the insanity of shows like Ray Donovan or Ozark. It's more down to earth, more likely to actually occur in real life kinda stuff. Starts with heist going wrong and from there is built around the legal gymnastics of building a trail. There's little side stories and a lot of family drama thrown on top but very little action. Normally I wouldn't like this format but what makes it work is having the main character a villain, and on top of that, Kevin Bacon looking more like Gary Oldman does as amazing job playing a shady FBI agent. Supporting actors are great too. Gets a bit "wordy" at times but worth watching to the end. Keen for season 2.

City on a Hill is a gritty cop show that takes place in Boston. I love these type of shows/movies so I was really looking forward to it and it did not disappoint! The real stand out here is Kevin Bacon, he's been a wonderful actor most of his career but this is easily one of his best performances. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are executive producers and they grew up in Boston so they add so much authenticity to the city of Boston.

Watching the first episode, I was thinking the show is a 9. But it hasn't held up well. Bacon and a few of the other actors give great performances, but the show has stretched and padded the story out to forever. And at times I can't help but say "no way this would ever happen." And there are uninteresting characters that you just don't need to know about, and there's way too much just talking about stuff. Overall I'm disappointed, but I keep watching mainly just for Kevin Bacon. He's awesome in this.

Kevin Bacon channels James Woods circa 1988 (Cop/Boost) and purloins some of Bogie's sidemouthed wisecracks to deliver his best performance since Footloose. This is a hardboiled, true to Southie kind of show. I love that dirty water. Bravura performances from Mark O' Brien, Aldis Hodge (I'm King Kong!), and the luminously intoxicating Jill Hennessy (I love her just on a titular level) too. In fact, the entire cast of characters is well scripted, directed and developed. This show has a gritty, blue collar blues feel that will make you want to bathe in tomato juice after watching it to get all of the stink off of you. A tone poem of corruption, hard booze, harder floozies, booger sugar, bullet wounds, and paradoxical tenderness. It reminds me of something Bukowski would write.

I've looked at the other reviews and it seems that people either love or hate this series. I do like the show, but I'm more in the middle because I feel they've gone off in too many directions attempting to get too many sub stories in. What happens is they distract from the primary stories and it slows everything down too much

Good storyline for main plot, but sub-plots are weak. Moves too slow and borderline boring. Not untypical of many series that try to ssstttrreeettch it out.

Watched season one and quite enjoyed it. Watched five episodes of season two now and I'm really hooked.

It get's better and better.

Kevin Bacon is really, really good. Great acting.

Good story. Quite a lot of interesting characters.

Definately worthwile.

I wish more people would get into this show bc it is criminally underrated. I'm worried the show is going to be cancelled which would be a shame for the ones who know how much potential this show has. Keep it going showtime!

Gritty, no nonsense and brilliant acting. Love this show! Kevin Bacon is amazing and Aldis Hodge is my new favourite actor. Well written and the overall acting is timeless. Can't wait for season two

Too many subplots and characters dilute the main storyline which is otherwise captivating; unfortunately the other characters and stories aren't. The writers tease the audience so much you end up not caring about the series as a whole.

If you haven't watched seasons 1 and 2 do it now else these lives of the city in season 3 will mean very little. Bacon, Hennessy, Banks, Hodge excellent as always. It's not often you care about fictional charcters in an tv series but it's hard not to in this one.

I know 1st season is the testing ground for future seasons. I gave this an 8 because of all The snobby DeCourcy Ward & his 2 helpers Rachel & Hank scenes, got so boring I'd literary would pass out. Kevin Bacon"s Jackie character on the other hand could hold this show on his own.The Ryan brothers bring excitement to the show as well. Can't wait for Season 2 airing This Month.

The directing of ep. 1 was bizarre. The constant trailing shot, everywhere Bacon goes we go lost me. The key photographic elements in the show contradict themselves -- lost in script that lacks character depth. Characters felt as if they were inserted for the sake of a quota, and no TRUE internal mechanism of the characters were shown; entirely surface.

My reasoning for the 7/10 is simple -- the story is good, but in a pilot that failed to deliver in-depth characters and only a peek of story, the show will have to give me a good reason to stick around.

This is by far the best tv show I've seen this year. Kevin Bacon plays the role of a scumbag detective brilliantly! The story and the characters all play their parts really well. You've got the prosecution's side of the story. The FBI and throw in a family of armoured car robbers and you have the perfect show! Can't wait for season 2.

This was my favourite series this year until a disappointing penultimate and final episode with limited thought or excitement. Could have been stronger in the end

I, like many others, was ecstatic for this show to come out, it looked to have everything you could ask for; A gritty time period in an infamous city, violence, corruption, political intrigue... but whatever it pitched has definitely been diluted. Kevin Bacon carries the show as a flamboyant, larger-than-life corrupt FBI agent with a shadowy reputation preceding him and I wholeheartedly think the show should have focused on him from the jump. I've never seen Aldis Hodge in anything before and so far I'm not impressed, the way his character is made out to be this indomitable Messiah come to Boston to save it from itself is exhausting to watch, but with the one-liner that was thrown out in the recent courtroom scene I'm convinced he probably has a large hand in that characterization. Jonathan Tucker makes another appearance as 'Miscellaneous Irish Tough Guy', overall the show seems to be taking itself a little too seriously at times, with conversations that are meant to be philosophical coming off as bland and there definitely seems to be some familiar pandering that can be found in most run-of-the-mill shows nowadays - it's disappointing how the channel that brought us Black Monday could stoop to this

As a lifelong Bostonian, this show absolutely nails it. The first episode was amazing. I cannot wait to watch this season. It looks wicked pissah kid🍀