CITY ON FIRE -- A Realistic and Relatable Series With an Underrated but Stellar Cast

Review by Dan Skip Allen

Wyatt Oleff and Chase Sui Wonders in "City on Fire," premiering May 12, 2023 on Apple TV+.

Apple TV+ has been the home of many good shows since its inception in 2019, like Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, and so many more. Lately, the films and shows they've been releasing have been more cutting-edge and of great quality. One of the latest series they've put out is called City on Fire. It has a terrific story based in the '80s, but that can be applied to today's world.

Samantha Yeung (Chase Sui Wonders, Bupkis) is an NYU student with a free spirit and an interesting view of the city she lives in and the world. When she meets a boy, Charlie (Wyatt Oleff, It and It Chapter Two), her age in a bookstore, she tries to help him be more like her. He falls head over heels for her. When Sam ends up fighting for her life after being shot in Central Park, Charlie gets blamed, but there's more to this heinous crime than it appears.

Chase Sui Wonders is a young actress on the rise. She was in the hilarious yet surprising horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies and a new series on Peacock, Bupkis, with boyfriend Pete Davidson. She has a way of getting viewers to pay attention to her on screen. Her look and the roles she chooses make people care about her and them. The character she plays in this show is no exception. She just has a way about her that I couldn't stop watching. She is amazing in this series.

Alexandra Doke and Max Milner in "City on Fire," premiering May 12, 2023 on Apple TV+.

The series has many moving parts and characters involved in this story. Part of the story involves a family of privileged men and women who all have various motives for shooting this young woman. Their stories all intertwine, and each character gets more involved episode by episode. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage have crafted a story intricately woven with every episode that unfolds. 

The series is set in the '80s, as I mentioned, but the story can be used in a context of a future with similar issues like gentrification and terrorism. These types of issues are going on today all across the country and the globe. So this series is very reliable, I'm sure, for many people. It shows that — no matter what era you live in — the same things have been going on for decades. It is just how things are sometimes.

City on Fire is a show filled with good performances from its cast — mostly newer actors, but some established actors who've been in some big shows in their own right. The creators and writers of the series, Schwartz and Savage, have interwoven a layered deeply emotional story. It has a couple of very relatable topics intertwined in the story. Terrorism and gentrification are things that affect the country still today. This is a very good show. I'm sure a lot of people will watch it and tell their friends and family to watch it. Hopefully it catches on via word of mouth.

City on Fire streams on Apple TV+ beginning May 12.

​Rating: 4/5