I am – Hercules!!
It’s a Showtime drama about two Rhode Island brothers – a gangster and a politician - from a writer named Blake Masters. Numerous critics are stumbling over each other to sing its praises:
The Hollywood Reporter says:
Let's get it out the way right now, the blurb that will be quoted after this review is run: "If you see nothing else this summer, watch 'Brotherhood.'" While I never consciously try to arrange a review so that quotes can easily be lifted, "Brotherhood" deserves every boost it can get. It's that good. No, it's better. This new Showtime series has it all: fine acting, superb cinematography, nimble directing and a fascinating world full of ethical ambiguities and constantly shifting moral ground. …
Variety says:
…Aided by superb direction, lush cinematography and a slew of subplots that start paying off in the second episode, this character-driven family story is captivating on a multitude of levels. This is the jewel Showtime has sought for years. … the most duplicitous character is Tommy's wife, Eileen (Annabeth Gish), a dutiful mother who slips out for pot 'n' sex rendezvous with a postal worker. Gish has a steady toughness that's engaging, and she pivots from that center to varying degrees of soft and hard. As her husband's political life begins to take a few twists and turns, Eileen's reactions should be as interesting to watch as his maneuvering in an increasing complicated world.
TV Guide says:
… richly plotted and totally absorbing, one of summer TV's best surprises. … I've seen all 11 hours of Brotherhood, and I found myself hungry for 11 more. …
Newsweek says:
… “Brotherhood” revels in exposing hypocrisy, from pious politicians to ruthless mama’s boys, and much of the show’s fun comes from watching them twist their perverted moral codes to fit their appetites. None of this is exactly new—“The Sopranos” covers much the same ground, and with more psychological depth. But “Brotherhood” may be the darker show. Everyone in Providence is corrupted, even Tommy’s doting wife, Eileen (Annabeth Gish), becomes a lonely, philandering drug addict. That bleakness sometimes feels oppressive. After a while, you really want someone to root for, not to mention a sense that the world isn’t so dreadful. …
The Washington Post says:
… About the most that can be said for "Brotherhood," Showtime's new serialized drama, is that it's a first-rate secondhand "Sopranos." … The best things about the show are the location shooting in and around Providence -- a highly photographable area that until recently has been little seen in other movies and TV shows -- and Clarke's charismatic, multilayered performance as the "good" brother, Tommy, tireless in his attempts to upgrade the city and its image. From the first night of "The Sopranos," you knew you wanted to see more of these people, learn more about their motivations and relationships. That simply isn't true of "Brotherhood." It will take time to develop interest in the Providential population -- more time than many a viewer is willing to give.
The New York Times says:
… HBO, which recently brought "Six Feet Under" and "Oz" to a close and will soon let go of "The Sopranos," no longer has a monopoly on great television. "Entourage" and "Deadwood" are superb, but the rival premium cable channel is catching up: "Huff" and "Sleeper Cell" are exceptionally good. So is "Brotherhood," which has its premiere on Sunday. … "Brotherhood" revels in the kind of politics that are rarely seen on television shows: brass knuckle, not grass roots. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… It has a novelistic scope and pace, a fine sense of place, characters that are compelling without being ostentatiously extreme and whose reality the script does not betray for an easy effect or to make cultural or political points about things that have nothing to do with their lives. In a time when willful eccentricity, self-conscious style and pop-cultural knowingness dominate TV drama, it is refreshingly straightforward and unaffected, radical by virtue of being old-fashioned. In its emphasis on character over plot it reminds me of movies from the pre-Spielberg '70s, and is in so many ways what I want from television that I feel almost like phoning each of you personally to deliver the news. …
10 p.m. Sunday. Showtime.
