Newark is a strange and tragic city : Brick City

The Sundance series "Brick City" is pretty good, based on first episode, but not as good as it could be or ought to be, unless it picks up quickly. I am really interested in this topic and will watch it through no matter what - as an Old Newark hand and a big fan of Cory Booker. Newark is such a strange and tragic city and carries to many memories for me, so I've really looked forward to seeing this. So far, it is a very good portrait of Booker, but its attempt to tell the story of the city through several characters is not well established in the first episode - only one other character, the ex-gang member Jayda, comes to anywhere near the level of interest of Booker. The series seems a little controlled and selective, as if we're not quite getting the full story of Jayda (though I think her role will be bigger in the next episode) and we're certainly getting an unabashedly heroic view of Booker. OK, maybe he is a hero plain and simple - but at times this seems almost like a campaign video. It would help if the style were more simple and focused - few if any scenes are allowed to unfold and develop, as there's a great deal of snappy editing showing different Newark scenes, and maybe there's too much material on Booker and not enough on other aspects? Personally, I find the musical score to be a big mistake - again, making this series seem like an infomercial at times and less like a documentary, which it is. This technique defies the conventions of most contemporary documentaries, but with little overall benefit.