What time is We Own This City on HBO Max?

Two decades ago, in June 2002, HBO premiered The Wire, a crime drama that would go on to include four more seasons, introduce TV audiences to some of today’s biggest actors (Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, to name a couple), and later be considered by many to be the greatest television show of all time.

Ahead of the 20th anniversary, HBO is once again returning to Baltimore—a coincidence, though, likely due to disruptions during Covid-19 than any nostalgic play by the network—with The Wire alumni David Simon (writer and creator) and George Pelecanos (writer and producer).

Based on the book “We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption” by former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, We Own This City finds a more modernized Baltimore police force than its fictional predecessor—a force now replete with all kinds of digital surveillance equipment—but one still facing the same administrative burdens, the same flawed policing tactics, the same incentives for everything less than superb police work. Whereas The Wire suggested police might overcome and improve these unhelpful strategies imposed by city-level decision makers, We Own the City comes away with a more cynical conclusion—that the system is itself so broken that it practically encourages exploitation; why work to improve the system when you can use it for your own ends?

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The story unspools the corruption located in one particular unit, Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) lead by Sgt. Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal). In 2017, several officers in the unit, including Jenkins, were arrested and later charged with racketeering. We Own This City tracks the unit between 2015 and 2017, during which time many of their crimes took place.

Unlike The Wire, We Own This City will have a shorter run time, with only six episodes. Like its predecessor, however, the episodes will release weekly.

Here’s how to watch We Own This City.

When Does We Own This City Air on HBO?

Unlike recent HBO releases in the crime genre—like HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice, which followed a multiple episode release schedule—We Own This City will take HBO's classic one episode per week format.

The series will air on traditional HBO on Mondays at 9 P.M. and will be available to watch on HBO Max at the same time.

WATCH WE OWN THIS CITY HERE

Here’s the Complete Release Schedule for We Own This City

Episode 1 – April 25

Episode 2 – May 2

Episode 3 – May 9

Episode 4 – May 16

Episode 5 – May 23

Episode 6 – May 30

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Executive produced by George Pelecanos (The Deuce) and David Simon (The Wire) -- and based on the book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton -- We Own This City is a six-hour, limited series chronicling the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force. It examines the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.

The cast includes Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Show Me a Hero), Josh Charles (The Good Wife, In Treatment), Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country), and Jamie Hector (BOSCH, The Wire), among many others. See the full cast here.

Pelecanos and Simon also serve as writers. Reinaldo Marcus Green directs and serves as executive producer. They are joined by longtime collaborators Nina K. Noble as executive producer, and Ed Burns as writer/executive producer. HBO alum Kary Antholis also serves as executive producer; Bill Zorzi as writer/co-executive producer, and D. Watkins as writer.

Featured Characters

Looking for more? See the full list of We Own This City cast and characters here.

We Own This City Podcast

The official podcast of the HBO Original Limited Series. Over six episodes, host D. Watkins will share his experiences in and out of the writers’ room and speak to the people who brought this story to the screen. Podcast episodes are available each week right after the latest episode.

LISTEN NOW

Dive Deeper

Celebrating 20 Years of The Wire

Created by David Simon, this seminal series explores the world of crime in Baltimore through the lenses of both civilians and law enforcement.

FIND OUT MORE

Community Partners

The presence of a local filmmaking community can have a positive impact on citizens and neighborhoods. HBO’s We Own This City Production team is proud to be working with many local Baltimore non-profits to create positive change in the communities where we filmed.

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