TV on DVD: Magic City

Magic City is the latest show that I've completed watching on DVD. The series, which aired on Starz in 2012 had an eight episode first season, and another season scheduled to air later this year.  This entry summarizes what has happened in the story.

Magic City refers to the location of the program, which is Miami, Florida. The story begins on New Year's Eve in 1958, so it is a period drama. The main character is Isaac Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who goes by the name Ike. He owns the Miramar Playa, a fancy hotel on the beach. Ike got the land through his late wife Molly's family. He remarried to Vera (Olga Kurlenko), a dancer he met in Cuba, who isn't much older than his grown sons. Vera grew up in Europe during World War II in poverty and the Evans are her only family. While Ike loves Vera and is very physically attracted to her, he admits in the series that Molly was the love of his life. Ike has three children: Stevie (Steven Strait), Danny (Christian Cooke) and Lauren called Lo (Taylor Blackwell). Stevie and Danny are adults, while Lo turns 13 during the first season as she celebrates her Bat Mitzvah. Stevie, who has questionable morals, works at the Miramar Playa with Ike, while good guy Danny is studying to be a lawyer.

Ike has a silent business partner named Ben Diamond (Danny Huston), who is a mobster. Ben's wife Lily (Jessica Marais), who is a lot younger than Ben, and Stevie have an affair. Ben is a killer, and can make people's lives miserable. In one scene, Ben shot a barking dog dead, as it was disrupting his phone call. On New Year's Eve, a strike nearly puts the Miramar Playa out of action, Ike wants it to be stopped. Ben goes to far and has Ike's friend Mike (Leland Orser) killed. Ike just wanted to blackmail Mike to call off the strike, by setting him up with prostitute Judi (Elena Satine), but he ended up dead. Judi's life was in danger for the bulk of the series due to this situation as she witnessed the crime. During the last episode of the season, we find out that Lily isn't what she seems and Stevie may have to watch out for Mrs. Diamond.

The Miramar Playa was a playground with not only the prostitutes in the hotel, but the gambling. A bookie named Bel (Michael Rispoli) worked out of the hotel, and in one story Ben used his power to manipulate the betting lines for a fight. The situation in Cuba was another part of the backdrop of the show, as it had been taken over by the Communists. Danny's girlfriend Mercedes (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), and her father Victor, the hotel's general manager, (Yul Vazquez) were from Cuba. Mercedes, who was also called Mercy, was training to be a Pan Am stewardess, as she didn't want to be a maid her entire life. On the day of her graduation, she and Danny consummated their relationship in the shower (their first time), and later found out her mother died while trying to return to her family.

Eventually Ike got a new partner in the hotel, his former sister-in-law Meg (Kelly Lynch). He needed help paying off Ben and begged for her aid. Against the better judgement of her financial advisors, she gave Ben money. While this spared his life, it didn't solve his problems. The season ended with Ike in prison for killing an out-of-town hit man, who was trying to silence Judi. She was being tortured to get information and shared what Ike did, which was clearly self-defense. Jack Klein (Matt Ross), the state attorney wanted Ike to rat out Ben to gain his freedom.

Since the program is on Starz, there is language and nudity. This isn't a show for someone who can't handle violence due to the mob themes.   There really isn't a soap opera tie-in with Magic City, but I rather liked watching the show. It starts out a bit slow as it develops the universe, though by episode three or four I was hooked.