The Westies: J.K. Simmons completely delivers with his MGM+ series

New shows. New energy. It’s a loaded series with Hollywood legend J.K. Simmons leading the way with a solid MGM+ ‘The Westies’ slated to premiere this summer.

A New York City-based setting? Oh yes. Completely tap in.

The Westies is a gritty and kinetic crime drama centering on New York City’s infamously violent Irish gang of the same name. The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall. Despite being outnumbered fifty-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente. But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia.