I finished watching it yesterday. I have some thoughts about the politics of it but to be honest I don’t have a leg to stand on because I know nothing about how majority black cities in America work.
On the non-political side, I really enjoyed the first two seasons. Season 2 in particular was the best one for me. Post that there was too much focus on politicking for my taste and I just wanted to it be over with. That Carcetti guy reminded me of Buttigieg and I found him really annoying. I knew he was gonna be a rat faced turncoat the moment I saw him. But I appreciated the focus on school aged male children even though it was depressing.
The ending was a bit disappointing for me because it essentially said nothing ever changes. The sobriety of it makes sense to me but it feels reductionist because it denies anyone the chance to make a tiny improvement and disregards qualitative changes.
Interested in hearing what you all think about it.
I think I stopped midway through season 3 but I liked it at the time, until I realized something. You picked up on it too, nothing changes. I ended up feeling like the show was taunting the viewer, saying “yeah these cops are corrupt bastards, but what are you gonna do about it?” Cedric Daniels (rip Lance Reddick) is a character in a show, you can’t really go riot in the streets against him, or prosecute him. He’s not real. But, as long as you watch the show (or any show), you are forced to watch him and others commit police crimes (in the first season he covers up police brutality against a Black youth).
Ultimately the message I got was this is the status quo and the status quo doesn’t change, and that cops can still be good people despite their personal flaws because they’re just people (which makes them complex characters), and I don’t agree with that message.