The Westies is the surprise series of the summer.
The ’80s Irish-American crime drama, which airs Sundays on MGM+ (the premiere is streaming on Prime Video) follows the notorious New York City Irish gang the Westies who rule Hell’s Kitchen, battle the Italian mob, deal with the IRA and deal with interpersonal drama and post-Vietnam trauma.
The premiere episode “The Troubles” finds the leader of The Westies Eamon Sweeney (J.K. Simmons, Whiplash) trying to keep a tenuous peace between his people and the Italians led by John Gotti (Hamish Allan-Headly, Daredevil: Born Again) so they can make big money off the construction of the Javits Center. One of his top guys James “Jimmy” Roarke (Tom Brittney, Back in Action) is struggling with Sweeney’s plan, especially since it led to the death of Jimmy’s good friend … at Sweeney’s hands no less. Jimmy must also deal with his war-scarred best friend Mickey (Stanley Morgan) and his firebrand girlfriend (Sarah Bolger, Into the Badlands) who has a past with the IRA. Meanwhile, NYPD officer Glenn Keenan (Titus Welliver, Bosch: Legacy) must join the Gambino Task Force in order to help Sweeney and protect his estranged son.
On paper, this looks like yet another Guinness-soaked crime drama wrapped in hyper violence complete with a pub punk soundtrack and enough Irish charm. Yet, The Westies is not some superficial series cribbing from The Departed, or taking a generic crime drama and putting a plastic green hat on it like someone in a bar on Saint Patrick’s Day at the Jersey Shore.
The Westies succeeds because writer Chris Brancato (Narcos) and his Godfather of Harlem writing partner Michael Panes, have created a fully realized Hell’s Kitchen. It’s not the hip, bustling gentrified section of New York teaming with bars, restaurants and tourist traps. This version is a blue-collar Irish neighborhood grappling with the struggles in Ireland, and the struggles of their own. In fact, the story of The Westies and IRA – in this series – parallel each other. The Westies don’t have complete control of their neighborhood, they still have to answer to the Italians, who run New York City, much like the Northern Irish being under the control of the British. This struggle runs through every character and fuels their motivations – which come to a boil by end of the premiere episode.
JK Simmons and Titus Weliver are a great one-two punch in the series. Their lived-in performances of neighborhood guys who will do anything to protect what’s theirs feels like its ripped out of a dinnertime tale told by your relatives, rather than a TV series. These are character torn from the tapestry of a forgotten New York City, and both men deliver performances where that are loaded with enough Irish Catholic guilt and regret to fill up the first 20 pews at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Tom Brittney and Sarah Bolger are right there behind the two TV titans in terms of strong performances. They embody the Belfast and New York City dynamic of those two young people under the thumb of a ruling power, and how the world is pushing them to bring it all crumbling down.
The Westies is a fascinating, gripping and unflinching show about a time in New York City that is often forgotten to time, and buried under years of high rises and chain restaurants. It’s got terrific performances, and enough red-blooded action and intrigue to make you want to dive head first into an MGM+ sub in order to watch.
