Doom hangs over the heads of the Donnelly brothers, four troubled young Irish Americans caught between the Irish and Italian mobs in the NBC drama The Black Donnellys. In every episode it seems as if there is no way the Donnellys can possibly survive another hour.
The same can be said about the series itself; this is the sort of intelligent, complex long-form drama that is almost invariably canceled after three or four episodes, and every week I expect the show, and the brothers, to expire.
It's sort of hard to describe the story of The Black Donnellys succinctly, because it's not a simple TV premise but an ongoing story that begins when Jimmy, the craziest Donnelly, kidnaps someone related to a mobster in the first episode. Tommy, the smart, artistic Donnelly who is the only one who seems able to make good, soon has to save his brother, and does so in a violent and surprising way. Each episode since has centered around Tommy trying to keep himself and his brothers alive, while the brothers often seem to be doing their best to get themselves all killed.
The show seems to be telling an epic tragedy of an essentially good guy who gives up the life he deserves and the girl he loves (the very fetching Olivia Wilde) because of an overwhelming devotion to his undeserving brothers. I say seems, because unlike other series, The Black Donnellys doesn't bother to spell out exactly what it's about; it just shows you what happens and leaves you wondering what will happen next.
The Donnelly story is told to a variety of cops and lawyers by Joey "Ice Cream," excellently played by Keith Noobs, a sleazily charming low-life who loves to talk. Joey's memory is shaky; at one point he describes an occurrence at a bar as taking place during a birthday party, and we see the people in party hats in a bar with balloons, then he says, oh wait, it was a wake, and we see the same bar with somber people in black. Joey is an amusing contrast to the darkness of the brothers' story, breezily tossing out comments like, "There are two things you have to know about the Irish. I forget the first."
Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
I've tried getting into this series, but the characters are just not grabbing me. I am all for smart television, but thisone just isn't doing it for me. I want Studio 60 back.
2 - Brent
The thing about Joey Ice Cream is that he is an unreliable narrator rather than an omnipotent one (like Mary Alice Young in "Desperate Housewives") so you really never know what part of his story is true, if indeed any of it is true.
Many reviewers have stated that this show isn't really a good fit for network TV and that it would be better on a network like Showtime. I can't help thinking that they might be right for a couple of reasons. First being on cable would give Paul Haggis a bit more liberty to make the series a bit more realistic when it comes to violence, language and nudity. Second, a cable network would be more likely to accept the smaller audience numbers that the show is getting than a broadcast network like NBC. That would give the show more time to develop than NBC is likely to give it before replacing it with another run of "1 vs 100" or something equally inane.
3 - Charles Herold
The weird thing is, the low ratings were completely predictable, yet the network decided to put on the show. I guess sometimes they actually do get sick of putting on game shows and just cross their fingers and put on something a little challenging.
And yeah, it probably would be a bit edgier if it were on cable, and it's rather surprising that's not where it is.