Brotherhood

Strong words, I know, but they're true; "Brotherhood" is the one most brilliant, well-written, intelligent shows you will ever see in your entire life. Sadly, it is also one of the most underrated shows you will ever see, so much so you'll spend hours pondering why. It's a show that SHOULD have been as big as "The Sopranos", as talked about and raved as much as "Breaking Bad" was, and followed as closely as "Sons of Anarchy" and other anti-hero shows were. But alas, it was not. Was it due to poor marketing? Charges of being a Sopranos rip-off? Who knows, but what I do know is the show was nowhere near being a carbon copy of "The Sopranos".

"Brotherhood" is a match up of politics and crime, centering around two Irish-American brothers in a Providence, Rhode Island neighborhood called The Hill. We have Tommy Caffee (Jason Clarke), the young, handsome state Rep. from the Hill, and his older brother, Michael (Jason Isaacs), the charming but underneath brutal gangster, who's just returned from a seven year exile after a mobster he had a beef with is murdered. Surrounding them is a mix of family, friends, and associates: Rose Caffee (Fionnula Flanagan), the strong-willed matriarch of the family who is the one who really pulls the strings behind the scenes; Eileen Caffee (Annabeth Gish), Tom's seemly devoted wife who harbors forbidden desires of her own; Mary Kate Martinson, Tom's sister who must bear with the shenanigans of her family as well as the pain of not being able to have children; Freddie Cork (Kevin Chapman), boss of the Irish Mob in Providence, who must balance his suspicion of Michael with Michael's ability to bring in a lot of money; Kath Perry (Tina Benko), Michael's old girlfriend and married mother; Declan "Decko" Griggs (Ethan Embry), a state police detective from the old neighborhood who finds that doing what is right and doing what is necessary isn't really the same thing, and a whole slew of gangsters, politicians, and characters who I don't have the space for.

As we follow the two brothers in the respective world, we begin to ask ourselves some troubling questions, such as who is more ruthless, the gangster in the street or the guy in elected office? Is there really much of a difference between the world of crime and politics or between the world of politics and crime? All of this is established through strong acting on the part of Jason Clarke and Jason Isaacs. Jason Clarke is masterful of playing Tommy Caffee, a man who seems to really want to help his district but also desires more power in the world of state politics. How much of his soul is willing to sacrifice to make that a reality and is there anyone or anything he won't sacrifice to make it happen? Then there's Jason Isaacs's portrayal of Michael, the gangster who's returned from exile who must deal with a changing neighborhood while trying to re-establish his power in the rackets. With his steel eyes and cold demeanor, Isaacs more than easily plays the gangster role to the hilt. Of course, none of this would be possible without the intelligent writing of show creator Blake Masters and his crew, who masterfully blend two seemly different worlds until we realize the awful truth; there are no differences between the two, with the final moments of the series finale showing more about the reality of politics than anything else I have ever seen. Despite its short life and somewhat rushed ending, "Brotherhood" is a must see show for those looking for good story-telling and intelligent writing. Whatever you do, don't let this gem of a show pass you by.

Reminds me of one of the best real life crime novels I have ever read, The Brothers Bulger. As it is clearly the filmed version of the book, just a few changes on the surface and it is a thing of beauty on it's own version

I am late here, but I just started using my Amazon Prime account as Netflix and Hulu aren't currently doing it for me. This show was great. I have no idea why people keep comparing it to the Sopranos. The Sopranos dealt wit the family of a crime boss. that saw a shrink.

I loved every character and felt sorry for them all. they all seemed so trapped and tormented. I will never look at Providence, Rhode Island the same.

There was over the top violence, sure - but those things do happen. The only thing Im mad about is that this is a show no one knew about - and so it was canceled. However, the ending was wrapped up pretty neatly. Cool that it ended the way it did..At one point it did remind me of the godfather (1)...but in no way like the Sopranos.

Sopranos had humor. Brotherhood? anything you laughed at made you check yourself for being so enveloped in the darkness that you thought it was funny.. great show.

Brotherhood is one of my new (and third) favorite television series. My other two favorites are Sopranos and The Wire. This series is similar in its genre to "Sopranos" and "The Wire" but it is MUCH DARKER. I highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys dark (in a violent, not funny, kind of way) films. In fact its one of the darkest depictions of the human condition I've ever seen on any screen. What separates this show from other gangster series (such as the Sopranos) is that it is almost impossible to find a character to like; unless of course you like bad guys (Michael is my favorite character). Rule #1 of Brotherhood is that there are NO GOOD GUYS; that is to say this series depicts the evil side of nearly every character in the series, including the women and children, hardly ever showing anyone in a positive light. The mothers are bad, the daughters are bad, the politicians are bad, and the gangsters are bad (but not much worse than the politicians by contrast; which I believe is one of the major themes of the show.) In Sopranos some of the gangsters are at least a slight bit likable but not in Brotherhood.

For those of you who don't already know, the story is based on the true life of James J. "Whitey" Bulger, the second longest running guy who is currently of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List. You can read about on Wikipedia (WARNING: reading about Whitey might spoil some of the upcoming events in the series as many of them are similar to events in his real life.) A lot of the details are changed like the time frame (Bulger reigned during the 80s) and the location (Bulger was in Boston, Michael is in Rhode Island). And yes, Whitey Bulger did has a brother who was into politics, going from President of the State Senate in Massachusetts to the President of UMASS, where he was working until his brother was added to FBI's Top Ten.

Overall the writing, acting (especially Michael), and directing are fantastic. I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in this genre, or in the Irish Mafia. I would not recommend it to children or sensitive adults simply because it's such a dark series, it is so well made it can even be depressing at times.

I do believe this is the best series I've ever watched. As far as its authenticities go concerning accents and mannerisms, I can not attest to this. I can say however that the casting job was wonderful. The way this show is written allows the series to make a statement about how politics and organized crime (even at a small level) are very similar. Michael Caffee shows up in town after several years away to find his family where he left them. His Brother tommy is a politician and though they have chosen completely different lives, they seem to have the kind of bond that is missing in America today. Right off the back we find in the series how connected the whole town is based on their roots and having grown up together. All the gangsters, politicians, and everyone else seem to be quite intertwined in the general plots in the first series, but the most impressive character to me is Michael Caffee. I don't think I've ever seen a better casting job, and the strength in his face when he looks at the camera is truly exactly what you see in a street guys face. But as I said they are all perfectly cast. I cant imagine how the show could be better except I think there could be a bit more about what michaels doing sometimes because some gaps need to be filled. On the other hand I cant say that the more political episodes weren't good as they lay the ground for much of the general plot lines in the series and would if this were real life affect their lives more than Michaels entanglements. In a way this kind of sums up the two brothers personalities where michael being more in charge of his own life stays in the shadows, while Tommy's public life forces him to be more slippery and therefore is harder to control. In summation It is the best gangster show I've seen and only hope that unlike the sopranos it doesn't drift off the main focus. The only way this could happen i think is if they loose the balance of showing all the characters which happened very much in the sopranos.