Forget ‘The Punisher,’ Jon Bernthal’s Best Crime Series Is Still a 10/10 Hit
Collider argues that Jon Bernthal’s strongest crime-drama performance is in HBO’s 2022 miniseries We Own This City, rather than in his better-known role as Marvel’s Punisher. The series dramatises corruption within Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force and the consequences of police officers being given extensive power with little accountability.
Bernthal plays Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, whose unit is investigated by the US Department of Justice amid allegations of violence, corruption and criminal conduct. Created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, the series received a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and features McKinley Belcher III, Dagmara Domińczyk, Josh Charles, David Corenswet and Wunmi Mosaku.
- We Own This City spotlights police corruption in Baltimore.
- Jon Bernthal plays task-force officer Wayne Jenkins.
- The HBO drama holds a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.
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We Own This City is a six-part HBO drama based on real events involving Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force, a police unit set up to tackle illegal guns and violent crime. The programme follows investigations into officers accused of abusing their powers, including allegations of theft, violence and falsifying evidence.
Jon Bernthal plays Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, the officer who led the task force. Other characters include fellow officers, lawyers and federal investigators seeking to establish what happened and how the unit was allowed to operate.
The series was made by David Simon and George Pelecanos, whose previous work has often examined policing and public institutions in Baltimore. Its story raises broader questions about police oversight, public trust and the effects of giving specialist units wide powers.