In 2017, civil rights and criminal justice reform Defense Attorney Larry Krasner chose to run for the Philadelphia Office of District Attorney, to the surprise of many who knew him. For a man who dedicated his life to freeing his clients, notably Black Lives Matter and Occupy Philadelphia activists, it struck even his closest friends as an odd career change. Krasner, of course, believed otherwise. He thought he could accomplish more by working on the inside rather than the outside. Namely, he wants reform. Advertisement Krasner won his election as part of a nationwide wave of progressive reformists entering prosecutorial positions. With activists sensing change on one side, and the establishment preparing for ruin by what they term a “social experiment” on the other, like most catalysts seeking to reshape the status quo Krasner discovers how delivering on the promise of systematic transformation is far more difficult than campaigning on it. “Philly DA,” the sprawling eight-hour, eight-episode docuseries constructed under PBS’ “Independent Lens” imprint hopes to take viewers behind the scenes of the criminal justice system. In the first three episodes granted for review, however, creators Yoni Brook, Ted Passon, and Nicole Salazar’s expansive exploration is never quite as immersive as promised, and at odds with a Krasner campaign pledge.