The Morning After: Boyz n the 'Hood

I also watched both seasons waiting for the greatness to kick in.
It never did.

All I got were flashes of compelling TV and a lot of mediocre characters that prevent real empathy or strong interest throughout the season.

It takes the worst elements of Sopranos (middle class white racism and self interest) and the Wire (hopelessness of overlooked parts of American society) and makes them less compelling.

They tried an Adrianna story last year where the fallen police officer was turned into a rat and was torn apart by his loyalties.
They tried the Tony Carmella thing where they both cheat and come back together.

Its all too familiar.

The parts do not equal the whole.

However the reason I think it won the peabody was because the dying white working class is not portrayed on TV and people love to

Didn't David Simon says he found it really interesting how much attention Season 2 of the Wire received?

Read between the lines...

I love Brotherhood. It feels very organic to me, a lot more realistic then most shows that cover similar topics. More gritty and not as polished as Sopranos or the Wire. I like the way it really mixes politics with local crime organizations. Politics was a part of the Wire, but it mostly ran a parallel track. There was no direct nexus between the criminals and the politicians except for some vague allegations against Clay Davis, which were never really explored or flushed out. Sopranos almost never touched on it except for the occasional "X politician is in our pocket." Maybe you're just offput by how non-epic it is. Sopranos and the Wire were both epic. Sopranos with its sprawling metaphors and meaty dialogue. The Wire with its labyrinthine cast of characters and storylines, touching upon important social issues of our time. Brotherhood is about a family and their inner circle, living on the edge and trying to make due with their lives on the roads they've pursued. The politics are local, neighborhood type stuff, and the criminals aren't members of sprawling organizations, just local thugs who have a fair amount of muscle and influence in their hood. There's no scene chewing dramatic heavyweights, indecipherable allegories, or extraordinarily complex plots. It probably wouldn't lend itself to a lengthy dissection like you like. I highly doubt any actor would get any award for it, but it's about the show as a whole. It's just a solid, somewhat subtle, show about people without any fluff and a fair amount of action.

Ditto to what rhys1882 said.

I recognize that Brotherhood is not as epic as The Sopranos, The Wire, or Mad Men, but that's actually what makes it work a little better as a slice-of-live drama. When Tony and Carmela had domestic issues, for example, you could never see those issues except through the lens of Tony being a powerful gangster and Carmela being complicit in that. Every little aspect of their lives, from donating money to Meadow's school to AJ's career choices was a reflection of the central theme of the show, and while it was well done, it could also get repetitive and ham-handed.

In contrast, the whole business about the dry cleaning last night wasn't about Tommy's politics, or Eileen's domestic angst - it was a completely realistic of the kind of regular, boring stuff that happens in everybody's lives, and as such, it made the actual plot of the show - the politics, the crime, the corruption - feel, as rhys1882 said, more organic, and more real.

I mean, yeah, it's not gonna be everybody's cuppa. But it's also one of the few shows on TV where I feel like it's all about the actual craft of writing and acting and directing, and not about plot twists or Serious Messages.

Count me in as a fan. rhys1882 and I singing in total harmony. There is little I could say without sounding superfluous to rhys's post, but a huge shout has to be given to Ethan Embry who brings a genuine humanity, guilt and sadness to the character of Declan Gigs.

One of the finest performances you'll ever see on the small screen in my humble opinion.