Description

Now ended after three relatively successful seasons in the US (airing alongside Dexter on Showtime) Brotherhood provides a drama as intriguing and as violent as the Sopranos. Setting it's narrative between the corrupt lives of two brothers it shows how at City Hall there are as many crooks as on skid row. Season one works well at establishing the lead characters and builds towards a startling series of revelations that run from the end of season 1 into season 2 and culminating in a satisfying fashion in season 3.

BROTHERHOOD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

Brotherhood tells the story of two brothers (one a gangster and the other a politician) who sometimes share a twisted sense of moral compromise--each with his own skewed, idealistic vision of what makes the American dream.

This riveting series puts a familial spin on Angels with Dirty Faces, the 1938 James Cagney-Pat O'Brien classic in which two childhood friends take divergent paths--one becomes a priest, and the other a hoodlum. In Brotherhood, Michael Caffee (Jason Clarke) is an idealistic and respectable Rhode Island state representative dedicated to the preservation of his close-knit lower-middle-class Irish neighbourhood, the Hill. His older brother, Michael (Jason Isaacs), is a gangster who returns home after a seven-year absence (one step ahead of a hit, two steps ahead of the Feds) to pick up where he left off. The stage is set for backroom skullduggery and mean streets thuggery, as both men pursue their visions of the American dream on opposite sides of the law. At the heart of this series is the conflict between the estranged brothers. With the exception of clueless matriarch MaryRose (Fionnula Flanagan), Michael is not exactly received with open arms. "You're a tornado," Tommy tells him early on. "You suck everything in and spit it out broken." Indeed, the man is a psychopath. When a henchman of neighbourhood mob boss Freddie Cork (Kevin Chapman) threatens a woman, Michael not only repeatedly bashes his head against a car, but for the coup de grace, cuts off his ear. In one gut-wrenching scene, he compels a woman to sell him her store by inducing her mentally challenged brother to play Russian Roulette. No wonder Tommy insists, "We're not the same in any way." But don't be too sure. Michael is a good man and devoted father and husband, but he isn't above (or beneath) using Michael's inside information to blackmail a stubborn colleague who won't vote his way on a freeway project that could destroy the Hill.

As the season unfolds, he will be forced to make more ethically challenged deals with the powers behind the scenes, one of whom has a mysterious connection with his mother. Brotherhood mines the clash between personal and professional lives to flesh out its characters. "The people's business" doesn't pay well, and Tommy is forced to moonlight as a real estate developer, and perform all home repairs. Eileen (Annabeth Gish), his picture-perfect politician's wife, smokes pot and is having an affair with a man she knew in high school. Declan Gigg (Ethan Embry) is a conflicted policeman who grew up with the Caffees. Comparisons with The Sopranos are inevitable, but Brotherhood quickly establishes its own unique voice, if not accent.

BROTHERHOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON
Set against the equally deadly worlds of politics and crime, Showtime's Brotherhood is television's new go-to series for gripping family drama in a post-Sopranos world. The violence can be sudden and shocking, but no less devastating are the words these conflicted characters wield at each other. "You are filth," compromised state representative Tommy Caffee (Jason Clarke) dismisses his dissatisfied wife, Eileen (Annabeth Gish), in the wake of learning about her narcotics-addled affair. The season ends with a confession by Tommy to his brother, Michael (Jason Isaacs), whose criminal actions have once again thwarted Tommy's political aspirations, that could be as near fatal as the beating Michael took at the end of season one. Michael begins this season in recovery and prone to seizures and blackouts. That doesnʼt stop him from lobbying local crime boss Freddie Cork (Kevin Chapman) to put him back to work. Meanwhile, sad-eyed Declan (Ethan Embry), a cop and childhood friend of the Caffees, is separated from his wife, Cassie (Georgie Lyman), on the outs at work, and in the grip of alcohol and narcotics abuse. Tommy and Eileen are a couple in appearances only, while their eldest daughter begins to display behavioral problems, from stabbing a classmate with a pencil ("Did it break the skin?" Tommy asks) to dabbling in marijuana. The Caffee family dynamic is perhaps best represented in the Thanksgiving episode, in which matriarch Rose (the venerable Fionnula Flanagan), abandons the family celebration for a hotel tryst, leaving the family members to scramble to make the holiday meal. Suffice to say, as one family member ruefully notes, "the Caffees donʼt do loving and supportive." A welcome addition to the excellent ensemble is Brian F. O'Byrne as Colin, a distant and not entirely trusted (by Rose) cousin from Ireland, who quickly becomes embroiled in the family's affairs on both sides of the law. Brotherhood's second season fulfills the promise of the first, ratcheting up the dysfunctional drama, political machinations, and crime complications (Michael runs afoul of the rival Italian mob after a truck hijacking goes awry). Every episode this season is named after a Bob Dylan song. Nothing is made of this. It's just a little something something that ensures our continued support for one of television's most compelling and addictive series.

BROTHERHOOD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON-
This 2-Disc set includes all 8 dramatic final season episodes of this critically acclaimed, superbly acted and explosive blue-collar drama. Will Tommy live up to his promise to leave The Hill? Or will Michael’s transgressions finally lead to their undoing? Can the Caffee family survive... or have they finally gone too far?

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