TV show · 2011 · Drama, War & Politics, Crime · English
Curator score: 6.9/10 (19K ratings)
Power consumes everyone.
Overview
Mayor Tom Kane sits like a spider at the center of Chicago's web of power; a web built on a covenant with the people. They want to be led, they want disputes settled, jobs dispensed, and loyalties rewarded. If he achieves all this through deception and immorality, so be it. As long as he gets the job done, they look the other way. Yet despite being the most effective mayor in recent history, a degenerative brain disorder is ripping everything away from him. He can't trust his memory, his closest allies, or even himself.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.9/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 7.2/10
Production
Lionsgate Television, Roya Productions, Old Friends Productions, Grammnet NH Productions, Small Wishes
Cast
Kelsey Grammer, Connie Nielsen, Hannah Ware, Jeff Hephner, Kathleen Robertson, Troy Garity, Rotimi, Jonathan Groff, Sanaa Lathan
Where to watch
Plex, Tubi TV
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, grim political drama with a strong central performance and a genuinely unsettling premise: a powerful Chicago mayor losing control of both the city and his own mind. It’s more intimate and ruthless than a broad civics saga, and the first season in particular is the essential run.
Best for
Viewers who like dark political power plays
Fans of prestige antihero dramas
People who enjoy morally corrosive, character-driven series
Anyone interested in a compact, high-stakes city-hall thriller
Skip if
You want an uplifting or hopeful political show
You prefer procedural pacing with clear heroes
You’re looking for a long-running series with a clean ending
You dislike bleak, emotionally cold dramas
Overview
Boss is a nasty, polished piece of political television built around control, decay, and the private cost of public power. Kelsey Grammer plays Mayor Tom Kane as a man who can command a room, crush an opponent, and still be terrified of the next lapse in memory. That central performance gives the series its bite, and the Chicago setting feels lived-in rather than decorative.
Worth noting
The show is at its best when it leans into backroom bargaining, loyalty tests, and the slow collapse of Kane’s authority. It has the mood of a prestige tragedy more than a conventional political thriller, with a cold, severe tone that fits the material. The first season is the strongest and most essential stretch; the second continues the story but doesn’t quite match the first season’s force or focus.
Bottom line
If you like your political dramas cynical, intimate, and morally bruising, this is an easy recommendation. It’s not broad, and it’s not especially warm, but it is tense, adult, and memorable in the way the best corruption stories are.
2010 · Curator 9.8/10 (218.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Max
A period power drama with corruption, patronage, and a central figure trying to control an unstable world.
Topics
prestige drama, political thriller, antihero, bleak tone, city politics, power struggle, character study, adult drama, corruption, psychological decline