PBS' Philly D.A. is The Wire in a docuseries form

Vulture

"It’s a little surprising given the show’s acclaim and its TV-landscape-defining status, but prestige fictional TV never really figured out how to make copycats of The Wire," says Kathryn VanArendonk, in reviewing the eight-part PBS Independent Lens documentary series. "Oh sure, TV co-opted little bits and pieces here and there — the color palette, the commitment to big ensemble casts, the police drama turned serialized and grimy, the idea that Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan should be huge stars. But the core of the thing has remained relatively alone, off on an island to itself. The Wire (along with some of David Simon’s other work) is still one of the very few TV series about the collaboration and tension between individuals and big systems, about the promise and limitation of one individual attempting to exert pressure on a huge network. Philly D.A., a new docuseries about progressive lawyer Larry Krasner in his role as the district attorney of Philadelphia, is the only TV series I’ve seen that actually feels like watching another season of The Wire. It’s not at all the same, of course — these are real people’s lives being filmed, so the outcomes are messier, the arcs are less fitted to ideal narrative shapes, and, most crucially, the filmmakers don’t get to decide how this story turns out and whether this experimental political project they’re following will fail. The central idea of it, though, and the way Philly D.A. follows the story across a citywide web of interlocking problems and attempted solutions, is like watching a real-life Philadelphia spinoff of a Simon show playing out across eight hours of TV....The element of Philly D.A. that most contributes to that feeling is Krasner himself and the role he chose to take on with his election as district attorney."

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• Taken purely as television, Philly D.A. resembles less the serial docuseries that have taken the world by storm of late than it does a highly episodic CBS-style legal drama: "'Crusading Defense Attorney Becomes District Attorney to Change the System from Within' is a show I feel I might have already seen," says Robert Lloyd, adding: Krasner’s team is as colorful and distinct as if they had been written and not just recruited."
• Philly D.A. is, at its core, just a satisfying story of a leader who’s actually making changes, not just talking about them or getting mired in the system: "All of this makes for compulsively watchable television, and Philly D.A. is easily the best documentary series of 2021," says Andy Dehnart. "Important, consequential work and an in-depth examinations of social issues might not automatically make for great television, but issues and entertainment merge seamlessly here. And while far too many feature documentaries have been turned into series just to feed the Netflix algorithm, the four hour-long episodes I’ve watched so far have left me wanting more."
• Though it comes off as more supportive of Krasner’s agenda than the average American might be, the series isn’t propaganda: "The lack of narration allows viewers space to arrive at their own conclusions, and the directors include several sympathetic profiles of people who oppose the DA’s policies, such as the grieving family of a cop who died saving civilian lives," says Judy Berman. "Krasner’s flaws are apparent, too; he can be brusque, impatient, condescending. In an episode centered on a proposed safe injection site in the opioid-devastated neighborhood of Kensington, he shrugs off residents’ concern that this harm-reduction strategy might bring even more crime to their blocks. It takes an intervention from aides to get him to soften his message. Still, Krasner comes out looking more receptive to constructive criticism than plenty of politicians on the national stage."