Brotherhood

James 'Whitey' Bulger was murdered the other day in a prison in West Virginia. Good riddance. He was a scumbag who flooded South Boston with mayhem in the 70's and 80's and somehow had a reputation as a modern day Robin Hood even though he had a habit of murdering woman by strangulation. His reputation as a lovable criminal took a massive dent when it became known he was an FBI informant. Ratting out other criminals made the law turn a blind eye to his deeds while also letting him expand into the areas of those he had snitched on. He was an all around prick. His complexities made him interesting reading though. A vicious man who loved his mother Jean and brother William above all else. William was a Democratic politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate house and became it's president for nearly two decades. Both brother's were driven men who somehow ended up on either side of the law but it never tore them apart. It's a story that's truly stranger than fiction and it's this story that formed the basis of Brotherhood. The best TV that was watched by barely anyone.

Brotherhood is the story of Michael (Jason Isaacs) and Tommy Caffee (Jason Clarke). Two Irish American brothers in Providence, Rhode Island. Tommy is a local politician trying to climb the hierarchy of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Michael is a local loan shark/drug dealer/thief/murderer. Michael has been missing for years and in his absence Tommy has flourished. He's married to Eileen, they've 3 kids and he has a promising political career ahead of him. Michael's sudden return throws a spanner in the works big time. Their relationship is brilliantly drawn. Anyone lucky enough to have a brother will know all too well the feeling of love you have for him whilst at the same time wanting to punch him in the head. This is exactly what's shown here and it makes for both hilarious and upsetting viewing. It feels brutally real.

The show's secret weapon though is Rose Caffee (Fionnula Flanagan). A woman you'll love to hate. The quintessential Irish mother. In her eyes her sons can do no wrong especially Michael. He's her first born and to her he's a saint, even when he's flooding their neighbourhood with heroin and throwing rival drug dealers off roofs. She blindly looks past his deeds and blames "the foreigners" while hypocritically ignoring the fact that she's one of the foreigners too. She's a wagon. A force of nature who terrifies everyone around her. She'll make you hiss at the screen even when you're glued to her. Then there was Eileen (Annabeth Gish). A woman fiercely protective of her politician husband while at the same time doing things that could ruin him. Anything to fill that dark hole inside of her. A desperately self destructive character that you'll want to hate but you'll end up empathising with instead.

The show didn't do well at all. When it started The Sopranos juggernaut was still rolling on and that was casting a shadow on everything at the time which probably explains it. It was a massive pity it wasn't watched more though. In only 29 episodes it reached magnificent heights without any filler at all. It was hilarious in places. Pitch black in others. The supporting cast of characters were amazing. Eileen & Rose Caffee are still two of the most complex and layered female characters to have ever appeared on TV. Local criminal Freddie Cork, a person you should hate but somehow, some way you end up enjoying his every appearance, even when he's being a complete beast. Mary Kate, Tommy and Michael's sister who doesn't get much screentime but who'll break your heart when life lays it's disappointments on her. Moe, the scumbag henchman who is quite possibly the most stupid person to ever appear on TV. Declan Giggs, a Rhode Island detective torn between his job and his loyalty to the criminals he grew up yet. Characters that might sound cliched but they are anything but. Brilliantly drawn,full of depth, shades of grey all over the shop. 

The reason I loved it was because it offered something different to the usual gangster shows. The theme of ....well.....of brotherhood for one. A perspective a lot of us can relate to. The stuff Tommy & Michael go through would rip anyone else apart but that sibling connection ties them together at the most basic of levels. Two brothers on opposite sides of society but far more alike than Tommy wants to admit. Their love of their home. Tommy using political sway to care for Providence while Michael, in his own twisted way thinks he's protecting his hometown by murdering people who threaten the status quo. Then there's the tropes and cliches you'd expect of a gangster show, especially if you watched The Sopranos. They're there but in ways you wouldn't expect. Corruption, infidelity, guilt, scumminess are all present but the show always managed to zig where you'd expect it to zag. God it was great. It's other unique touch was it's blending of politics into the story. Politics at a local level. The kind of day to day minutiae involved in the running of a city that we rarely see on TV but at times it was as exciting as anything you'd see in the West Wing. And it showed political machinations as being as venal as anything in organised crime.

The show finished on the 21st of December 2008. Nearly 10 years ago. It's ripe for a revisit. Happily it got a proper ending too. A slightly rushed one maybe but a proper ending nonetheless. If you want something compelling and brilliantly acted you won't go wrong here. Sure it's scenes of political intrigue and corruption might look tame when juxtaposed against the shitshow that is 2018 America but that won't make it any less gripping.

Track it down. It's worth it.