MGM+ launched The Westies on Sunday. It is a new eight-episode gangster show set in the 1980s Hell's Kitchen. J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver play the top gang bosses. Watchers say the mob tale feels original. It blends fights and gallows humor . Critics call the script okay but not new . People keep discussing the show's quiet brutality . Some like the spin on crime sagas . Others say it echoes old crime hits . The series still fuels chats among fans after launch .