Just in time for Election Day, “Brotherhood” returns with its infectiously bleak message: Politics is an inherently corrupt business, even for its most idealistic participants.
And the show offers an accompanying notion: Outlaws routinely wield power comparable to that of elected officeholders.
Back for its third season on Showtime, this splendid drama focuses on a working-class Irish-American family in Providence, R.I., where “good” brother Tommy Caffee (played by Jason Clarke) started out as an ambitious but idealistic state legislator.
“Bad” brother, Michael, a small-time mobster, continues to stake his claim with a fiercer approach — and continues to cause trouble for Tommy, who is scrambling to preserve his clean-cut image as a public servant and family man.
By now, Tommy is having difficulty keeping that identity intact — especially in his own mind.
“I’m a hack,” he told his wife mournfully in the season premiere, as he pledged to make a new start with her far away from Providence, before it’s too late.
Michael has his own problems, including a mortal enemy being released from jail who must be dealt with before it’s too late. His hair-trigger temper hasn’t been helped by the brain injuries he suffered in a beating at the end of the first season, and in this episode he erupts with a display that will put him at even greater risk.
But “Brotherhood” isn’t just a show about crime. Its array of vivid characters have ordinary, relatable concerns that are seldom addressed so well in any other drama — like the challenge of stretching a dollar.
What kind of ice cream to serve at the birthday party of family matriarch Rose? One idea: Ben &Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
Forget it. “Too expensive,” Rose’s daughter decides. “Stop &Shop’s got a nice strawberry.”
There’s high-rev conflict and violence in “Brotherhood,” and that keeps it exciting. But it’s grounded in realism any viewer will already know and recognize as truth. The Peabody Award-winning drama returns at 8 tonight.
Other shows to look out for:
“The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror”: By Sunday, Halloween may be a distant memory, but there’s one last step in the holiday ritual. You must finish off the remnants of the candy corn and Gummi Worms you were foisting on costumed youngsters two days earlier as you treat yourself to “The Simpsons,” airing its 19th annual “Treehouse of Horror.”
As usual, this half-hour episode breaks with the usual “Simpsons” format to present three macabre tales from the haunted town of Springfield.
First up: Bart buys Lisa a knockoff of a Malibu Stacy convertible for Christmas, but the toy car morphs into a robot, leading more devices to transform into robots of war.
Next, Homer accidentally kills Krusty the Clown, which presents him with a new career: offing celebrities to save money for advertisers who can then use the stars’ likenesses without forking out endorsement fees.
Finally, in a “Peanuts” sendup, Lisa accompanies Milhouse to a pumpkin patch to await the arrival of the Grand Pumpkin, who does appear. But he’s outraged at humanity for carving up his brother pumpkins just to make jack-o’-lanterns, and he means to take revenge.
Horror is guaranteed. It airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on Fox.
“Iconoclasts”: In its fourth season, “Iconoclasts” continues each week to pair innovators from different worlds for a meeting of the minds about their passions and creativity.
A good example airs this week as comedian Bill Maher is coupled with Clive Davis, music industry titan with a golden ear.
It would be hard for anyone of any generation not to connect with Davis, 76, whose career began with signing Janis Joplin and has stretched into the present with Alicia Keys, among other current hit artists.
In between, Davis wrote the history of pop music with names such as Aerosmith, Patti Smith, Barry Manilow, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.
Turns out Maher loves music, while Davis admires the rashly sensible humor of the 52-year-old Maher (who has supplemented his standup work with TV, formerly hosting “Politically Incorrect” and now HBO’s “Real Time,” as well as making his new documentary, “Religulous”).
The program airs at 10 p.m. Thursday on Sundance Channel.
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