Brothers in arms
DeCourcy Ward and Jackie Rohr team-up again to fight the good fight in the new season of City On A Hill.
City On A Hill
Season 3 Mondays (from 7 November) M-Net (*101) 22:00
In the city of Boston, Massachusetts, things were done in a very different way in the early ’90s when violent crimes, corruption in law enforcement agencies and racism were rife. The authorities like FBI Agent John “Jackie” Rohr (Kevin Bacon) do as they please in drama series City On A Hill – and without fear of being questioned by anyone. Jackie cuts corners, takes bribes, uses excessive force to get information out of a suspect to close cases…
But he met his match in season 1 and now three instalments later, he and former rival Assistant District Attorney DeCourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge) are on better terms. For the moment, that is…
DeCourcy is continuing his quest to cleanse the city of corruption and dirty cops. He tries to do it the right way but knowing someone like Jackie doesn’t hurt. Season 1 was set in 1992 as they investigated a string of armed robberies in the city. For season 2, which was set in 1993, the murder of an innocent child during gang violence was the focal point, although Jackie’s personal problems were a close second as he struggled and was eventually forced into early retirement at the end of the season.
Season 3 picks up very close to the second season, with Jackie unable to move on with his life – he ends up working for a rich thug named Sinclair Dryden (Corbin Bernsen, Kyle Nevin in drama series The Resident) who pays him dirty money to ignore his secrets. DeCourcy has personal issues that send him to Brooklyn to look after his father, but soon he and Jackie will be teaming up again to fight the good fight, but in a dirty way…
DADDY DRAMA
The season starts off with DeCourcy visiting his sick father Franklin Ward (Ernie Hudson, Winston in the iconic Ghostbusters film franchise), who has pancreatic cancer. “This is a terrifying time for DeCourcy because his family isn’t what it should be. And to know that his father is dying hits him hard. He doesn’t know how he’s going to cope with this kind of loss,” explains Aldis. “There is one person that he can turn to for guidance and that’s Jackie, but Jackie isn’t in the best of places either right now.”
“This season is evolutionary,” says Aldis. “It’s a journey of evolution for many characters, their own personal lives and how they deal with one another. It’s going to be interesting because DeCourcy has always been work-oriented. He never takes time off and he likes to be in control. But with his father’s illness… he’s got absolutely no control. He can’t stop this monster (cancer) and save the day. He’s got to accept things and that’s going to be hard for him.”
As much as DeCourcy and Jackie have been at odds in the past, this time is different because they’re on personal terms and when things get personal, people get touchy. “There will be a bit or argy-bargy – they will definitely butt heads,” warns Aldis.