SnoopyStyle It's 1987 Yonkers, New York. Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) is a rookie Democratic councilman. He is the sacrificial lamb sent to run against a powerful incumbent mayor. Federal judge Sand had ruled against the city forcing it to built low income housing. This set off the electorate and Wasicsko surprises in an upset win. With the city facing bankruptcy by the judge's imposed fines, he tries to pass the housing laws enraging the voters and sending the town spiraling.At first, I didn't realize this is a true story about real people. It would have helped. Who knew that city council could be that exciting? It overshadows the stories from the black community. It's obvious where the intersection is going to be but those stories have a slower start. They are also two different pacing. Even Wasicsko's story has two very different tones. His story in the first three episodes are thrilling and harrowing. Then the last three episodes are more deliberate and melancholy. It's not the traditional pacing of a fictional story and it would help to know its docudrama nature. The acting is amazing. Oscar Isaac shows some of his best work but is only the tip of a vast compelling cast of characters. There are compelling emotional beats throughout.

Charles Herold (cherold) I had such high hopes for this show. Creator/director Paul Haggis is a brilliant guy who has created shows like Due South and The Black Donnellys. The show is written by the folks behind The Wire. The subject of the integration battles of the 1980s seems like a good subject for a series.Alas, I only made it through the first episode, which was remarkably slow moving. I kept thinking something would happen that would explain why I should care, but nothing did. A somewhat smarmy guy runs for mayor, boosted by his mild opposition towards a desegregation plan that has white folks up in arms. This is inter-cut with scenes of people of color in bad neighborhoods, but nothing in the first episode ties them to the main story in any way at all. I'm sure they connect eventually, but their stories aren't inherently interesting, so the entire episode has a "so what?" quality to it.The first episode of a mini-series needs to sell you on watching the rest of it, and this one in no way did that. I find the positive reviews for this inexplicable. Perhaps it gets better later, but I was given no reason to find out.

Red_Identity Just amazing. It's rather understated and procedural many of the times (but nothing unsurprising if one has seen David Simon's TV series). What it does in the six hours is amazing though. Its character development is exquisite, and by the time it's over it feels like it was a run of an actual television series. Of course, it could only be this long, but that doesn't stop me from wishing it WAS a longer series. Oscar Isaac is an amazing actor. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's doing things not many actors right now are (or even can). The amount of raw talent he has, as well as the amount of warmth he can convey is staggering. That's what makes the end of the series so heartbreaking. I really hope this wins the Miniseries Emmy next year, and that Isaac also takes home the trophy.

npassage Just watched the first two episodes, wow, unbelievable. I think I see where this is going and it's going to be fantastic. Oh dear, it's going to be so great, I can hardly wait. The feel of the thing, the shots in the city offices, people sitting around, the council meetings with people screaming, it so well done, it's scary, seeing those people yelling and screaming raises a lot of political, social issues, what is the right thing. Would I be screaming with them? What would you do? The mayor is pitch perfect, calm, controlled, when will he break? The old lady, what is she going to do next, everything depends on her, absolutely incredible.