‘Boston’s Finest’ Episode 2 Recap: The City They Call Home

Officers of the BPD Night Gang Unit (from left): Myles Lawton, Terrique Chambers, and Greg McCormick. (Photo via TNT)

Donnie Wahlberg promised more drama in this season of Boston’s Finest, and if the second episode is any indication, he’s proving to live up to that tall order. In the second episode of the docu-series, “The City They Call Home,” we’re introduced to the Boston Police Department’s Gang Unit and continue to follow the Fugitive Unit, which we met during the first episode.

This episode opens with a house break-in as several Day Gang Unit cops surround a Dorchester home prepared to invade. The story continues to jump back and forth between the Gang Units, both Day and Night, and the Fugitive Unit as both chase and attempt to arrest suspected criminals. 

We’re also introduced to Night Gang officers Greg McCormick, Myles Lawton, and Terrique Chambers, who try to save Boston’s “darkest corners” as narrator Wahlberg describes. “When we see gang members in particular areas that they have particular ‘beef’ with, it throws up all kinds of red flags,” says McCormick.

The Night Gang goes after a member of the Bedford Avenue gang, Mookie. After a chase in the middle of the night, the officers catch three of four gang members. The fourth, who fires shots at the officers, gets away. “If someone shoots at me, my colleague, it definitely becomes that much more personal, because this is your family,” Chambers says.

Day Gang officers “D” Araujo and Manny Canuto (introduced wearing an L.A. Dodgers cap, uh oh!) have been partners for eight years. Canuto also shares that he and Araujo were childhood friends and neighbors, growing up next door to each other through elementary school, middle school, and high school.

While the gang units go after Mookie, the Fugitive Unit, according to officer Dankers, goes after “the worst of the worst” suspects in the city, including murderers, rapists, and armed robbers. The BPD Fugitive Unit is considered one of the most elite Fugitive Units in the nation, having caught more than 150 murderers during the last 10 years. “Someone’s gotta catch the bad guys,” Dankers says. “So why not me?”

I’m sure the wives and girlfriends of the police officers would beg to differ with that statement—many of whom were introduced in this episode. Some of the women have formed their own bond as well and go out for a “ladies night” while the guys babysit their kids. Myles Lawton has quite the handful with six kids running around his house while his girlfriend sips on cocktails.

Jenn Penton from the premiere episode makes a second appearance with her partner and “best friend” Pat Rogers. In yesterday’s episode, they pull over an OG or “original gangster.” We also get to see Penton and Roger’s relationship both on and off the clock when they share a somewhat—ahem—intimate dinner at Jenn’s house.

Most of the episode centers on the Gang and Fugitive Units though, and Wahlberg sums up the episode sharply: “These cops don’t forget when someone fires a gun at them, and tonight is about the one that got away.”