‘Boston’s Finest’ Premiere Recap: Donnie Wahlberg Introduces Us to Boston Police

Tim Stanton, Pat Rogers, and Jenn Penton of the Boston Police Department. (Image via Boston’s Finest/Facebook)

After a lot of promos and hype, we all had high expectations for Donnie Wahlberg’s new show about the Boston Police Department. Last night’s series premiere of Boston’s Finest on TNT mostly delivered.

While the docu-series follows a handful of BPD cops serving in units ranging from Night Gang to S.W.A.T., Boston’s Finest also follows the personal lives of these cops.

In the premiere episode, “Everything Is Personal,” we meet patrol officer Jenn Penton, who has a twin sister recovering from drug addiction, and as a result, Penton struggles between being sympathetic and critical toward her sister.

The episode also briefly touches on Penton’s struggles with sexism while on the job. “Being a female police officer comes with certain challenges and obstacles. There are people that just don’t respect a woman in a role of authority,” Penton said. “I’ve dealt with quite a few people that just cannot handle that it’s a female telling them what to do.”

Overall, the episode felt like an authentic portrait of the city. We saw familiar scenes of Boston, and locations were mapped out and identified by neighborhood and cross streets. Penton’s birthday gift to her nephew was a Tom Brady jersey, and the theme song is recognizably Dropkick Murphys.

There were a few parts of the episode that earned side glances. For example, when Officers Winston DeLeon and Greg Dankers of the Fugitive Unit debate over where to go for lunch, DeLeon pitches sushi … in the North End. Side glance. Or when also Penton’s casual delivery of the following line to a pedestrian: “Why do you think it’s OK to take your penis out of your pants on Hyde Park Avenue?” Side glance.

Wahlberg lends his voice to the series as the show’s narrator. Although he pledged that Boston’s Finest would not be Boston’s take on COPS, parts of the premiere episode still seemed very COPS-esque with dramatic traffic chases and crime scenes. Wahlberg, however, promised on Twitter that more drama is on the way:

Each #BostonsFinest episode will introduce new units, new officers & stay with the ones we already met. Much more action & emotion in store.

— Donnie Wahlberg (@DonnieWahlberg) February 28, 2013

While promoting Boston’s Finest, Wahlberg said, “When bullets are fired, everyone runs away. These police officers run to it. They really are a special group.”

And it’s true. By the end of the dramatic first episode, we can’t help but wonder, “Could I do what these people do every single day?”

Boston’s Finest airs on Wednesdays on TNT at 9 p.m. Missed the premiere? You can watch it here for free on TNTdrama.com.