Mayor Tom Kane rules Chicago with a ruthless fist.   He brings down his wrath to anyone who gets in his way, but he must fight to control himself as he discovers he has an incurable brain disease called Lewy Body (aka Dementia with Lewy bodies or DLB) which is a degenerative neurological disease.   Kane gets medication off the books while keeping the truth about it from everyone (but he soon reveals the truth to his estranged daughter Emma).  Kane is trying to build his legacy and he uses State Treasurer Be Zajac as a puppet to run for the candidate spot for the next governor of Illinois.  

 

Many things come to a head as the side effects of the drugs slowly take their toll on Kane, his expansion of the O’Hare Airport expansion project hits a couple of snags (finding native graves and the moving of toxic waste (that Kane ordered buried there a couple of decades ago) is leaked to the press), and political maneuvering to get Kane out of office.   Ezra Stone (Kane’s chief advisor) and Kitty O’Neill (Kane’s personal aide) will do anything to make sure Kane stays in power, but they begin to notice Kane is losing his grip.   Ezra makes sure the political wheels stay greased as Kitty enters an affair with Zajac.  Meanwhile, Kane’s wife Meredith is dragged deeper into the political world her father built (the previous mayor of Chicago) and will know what it will cost her to make sure Kane stays in power.

 

BOSS is like Shakespeare done on the political stage.   You can see the parallels in the story to King Lear and other Shakespearean tragedies.   Kelsey Grammer is in the dramatic performance of his career as he shows a ruthless man who is coming to grips with DLP while trying to hide it and make sure he keeps his power over Chicago intact.   BOSS manages to weave several different plots and characters over the course of eight episodes and it doesn’t let up.  It is one of those shows not watched enough- one of the best dramas I have seen this year.   BOSS is a very intricate show where you need to watch it from the beginning and I often found myself watching 2 to 3 episodes at a time.

 

Be warned the show isn’t for the lighthearted due to the nudity and violence that are present in each episode.  BOSS holds nothing back in its look at the political corruption and the backstabbing that happens during the course of this fictional drama which it easily parallels the real political corruption that happens in the United States government in the past and present.

 

SPECIAL EFATURES:

Two audio commentaries which are OK which feature some behind-the-scenes production insights in addition to discussion on the story-

LISTEN by Executive Producer/ Creator Farhad Safina and Director of Photography Kasper Tuxen

CHOOSE by Executive Producer/ Creator Farhad Safina and Executive Producer Richard Levine

 

THE MAYOR AND HIS MAKER- actor Kelsey Grammer and creator Farhad Safina talk about the character of Chicago mayor Thomas Kane and the series.

 

I wish the set had more extras.  The only other flaw with the set is somehow the bookmarks got off track on disc 2 on my player and having the last two episodes being labeled as the wrong episodes in the bookmark section.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:   BOSS is a riveting and brutal political drama that takes an unflinching look at political corruption and what it takes to keep it going.   I’m not surprised on why government is in trouble when you see the deals and backstabbing that happens whether you see it in the news or watch it as a work of fiction.   Kelsey Grammer is awesome in his gritty portrayal of this fictional Chicago mayor with brain disease.    I can’t wait to see what happens in season 2.

 

This review is (c)7-24-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com