It’s the fourth of July 2003, and a girl is found shot in Central Park. There’s a bullet to her head with little physical evidence and no witnesses. The question lies: who did it? The answer can be found in City on Fire, Apple TV+’s new original show based on the book of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg. John Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who were both behind The O.C. and Gossip Girl, created the show, a mystery crime drama with an enticing start yet slow execution.
The show revolves around the attempted murder of Samantha Yeung, lovingly called “Sam” (Chase Sui Wonders), and how it affects a circle of other characters. There’s her best friend Charlie “Charles” Weisbarger (Wyatt Oleff), a timid boy who is in love with her, and the wealthy Hamilton Sweeneys consisting of Regan (Jemima Kirke) and her estranged brother William (Nico Tortorella). The cast also includes Regan’s husband Keith (Ashley Zukerman), William’s boyfriend Mercer (Xavier Clyde), and real estate mogul, Amory Gould (John Cameron Mitchell).
Within this cast of characters, Sam’s attempted murder causes a ripple effect. They are all connected to her through an entangled web. However, her being shot is only a catalyst for what happens after July 4th, 2003. There is a date change from the novel which was originally set in 1976, but the change doesn’t bring a lot of weight to the story. There’s a character that lost a family member to the events of 9/11 and the 2003 NYC blackout, but having this set within the original novel date wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
The soundtrack does what it can to have audiences remember it is the early 2000s and that bands are a primary interest of Sam’s. Most of the tracked music consists of songs from bands active around the time, as well as tunes by bands from the ’70s and ’80s. Though the tracks may cause some heads to bop, it doesn’t do a lot to remind the audience of the time frame of this series. The music does more to remind the audience of Sam’s love for music.
Despite Sam and her attempted murder being the catalyst for the series, she remains in the background throughout most of the show. She’s in a coma and mostly shown through flashbacks that provide little insight into her as a person. Sam is a mysterious, larger-than-life character who carries a lot of weight no one sees, but she is still not very compelling, even after more is revealed about her. She spends most of her screen time sharing her interests in photography, writing and music with Charles, who watches her with wide eyes. However, Wonders does give a heartfelt performance with the little screen time she has.
It can be argued that Charles, portrayed by It‘s Wyatt Oleff, is the true protagonist. After getting his start as one member in a larger ensemble cast, Oleff holds his own in this series as the lead. His innocent and somewhat naive performance works as Charles is thrown into this unfamiliar world of chaos. He depicts the character with a sense of excitement when he’s around Sam, but soon begins to harden when he takes it upon himself to find out who shot her.
The show does its best to juggle its ensemble cast, but certain characters are left on the sidelines with little exploration. Mercer, despite being the one who found Sam, is shown mostly consoling Will. Xavier Clyde does a good job with what he is given. Jemima Kirke also gives an emotional performance as Regan, a woman whose marriage is in turmoil while dealing with the family business and her estranged brother. Her character is one of the most compelling of the cast as she is featured through a lot of flashbacks. In contrast, the antagonist of the show comes off as almost laughable at times. Though it won’t be revealed who, their dialogue during their introduction gives it away quickly.
All eight episodes differ in runtime but never go over an hour, usually running between 47 to 58 minutes. For such long episodes, however, the plot takes a bit to move forward. It isn’t until about halfway through the show that things begin to pick up. Flashbacks are used to attempt exploring these characters and, though some provide some insight, most of the ones including Sam do not. The last two episodes become quite expository as a result.
For a show set in the backdrop of 9/11, as well as one revolving around the shooting of a young woman, City on Fire‘s attempts to thematically comment fall flat. Gentrification and racism are just two of the many topics the show tries to flesh out, but it begins and ends at a certain point. In a show consisting of eight episodes, each running close to an hour, not a lot happens until halfway through the series. Characters aren’t compelling enough, though they have the potential to be if given the time. City on Fire is a show with an interesting premise that could’ve served as an enticing mystery show, but its slow execution and surface-level characters fail to draw you in.
City On Fire premieres new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.
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