Warning: watching Brotherhood may cause bipolar disorder.
I wish a similar warning had popped up on the screen before I started watching Showtime's political/mob drama. There are moments when I so deeply adore the series and the newness of its ideas that I want to rearrange the furniture. There are other moments that I hate the show and its tired, trite story arcs so much that I want to shut it off and sleep for days.
Brotherhood and the epic story of the Caffee brothers can cause emotional distress. Plus, it has the added problem of being a heavy drama in the vein of Clint Eastwood's Mystic River. For drama fans that's a good thing, but you have to be a serious, serious fan.
The show follows Tom Caffee (Jason Clarke), Rhode Island State Legislator representing Providence's working-class, Irish-Catholic neighborhood of The Hill. He works hard for his district, making ethically questionable back room deals for the maximum benefit of The Hill. The party powers see him as the next JFK. And he could be. That is until his brother, mobster Michael Caffee (Jason Issacs), returns from exile.
Michael intentions for The Hill are similar, if self-serving. He wants to rid the neighborhood of union organizer and ruling mob guy Freddie Cork (Kevin Chapman). As the series progresses Michael actions start to affect Tom's political career, with a U.S. Attorney looking to bring down both Caffees and Cork. Worse, Tom's powerful political friends may not be able to stop the inevitable.
The above mentioned plot is the great part of the series, the one where I find myself leaning into the TV and waiting for the next episode. The storylines involving Tom's philandering, drug-addicted wife; an overbearing, Michael-obsessed mother; Cork's family issues; Michael's relationship problems and trouble with his help; and a conflicted cop, who just happens to be a lifelong Caffee friend fail to be as innovative or even as interesting as the rest of the series.
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