• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 6 hours ago

Mafia documentaries have clogged the airwaves for decades, but a new one coming to Netflix on Wednesday sets a new standard.

Multiple docuseries, generally seen on basic cable, have traditionally covered two gangland subjects -- the rise and fall of New York’s so-called Five families, and the Chicago heyday of Al Capone.

Netflix had a series of its own on the New York mob in 2020 -- “Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia.” 

But this new three-part Netflix series travels 99 miles south of New York to Philadelphia where mafia mob wars were particularly vicious in the 1980s and ’90s.

Bruce Springsteen even referenced one of Philadelphia’s most notorious mob killings in the opening lyrics of his 1982 song “Atlantic City” on his “Nebraska” album -- the nail-bomb murder of mob boss Philip “Chicken Man” Testa in 1981.

The new Netflix series -- titled “Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia” -- focuses mainly on a new round of mob violence that exploded on the streets of Philadelphia starting in 1990, and the efforts of a newly formed FBI task force to finally stop the violence and if possible, destroy the Philadelphia mob once and for all.

At the head of the FBI unit was Charlotte Lang (seen in a present-day photo above from the series) who was assigned to run the task force.

She is interviewed extensively in the show, along with other interview subjects from both sides of this Philadelphia war between good and evil.

Most notable among the interview subjects are a series of former mobsters and various hangers-on who wistfully share warm memories of years in which they were honored to be mob members or associates. 

Some of them even refer to specific Philadelphia mob figures from the era as “great guys” and “family men,’ while at the same time, the show is describing some of these bosses and underbosses as straight-up psychopaths and homicidal maniacs, for which the show provides ample evidence.

One thing common to these interview subjects is any sign of remorse over their participation in organized crime. 

Nor is there any evidence that any of them are mourning the deaths or incarcerations of their associates, most of whom they had known since their childhoods growing up in the close-knit neighborhood of South Philadelphia.

One exception is John Veasey, an interview subject who committed murders for the mob and struggles to remember exactly how many.

Despite all his crimes, in 1994, he enrolled in the Federal Witness Protection Program to avoid prison and became a star witness for the prosecution.

In “Mob War,” Veasey talks matter-of-factly about his career in the mafia, but he also expresses regret for the life he chose.

“Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia” is surprisingly suspenseful and frightening in a way that these kinds of documentaries never are.

Never mind what the nostalgic wise guys say about their glorious past. As this show reveals, life in the Philadelphia mob was anything but glorious.

“Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia” starts streaming on Wednesday (October 22) on Netflix.