One of the Things I Love About Brotherhood

We've been watching Showtime's new, exceptionally SFNE show Brotherhood (which you must admit is a catchier title than A Thinly Veiled Account of the Bulger Brothers Set in Providence Instead of Boston So We Can Fictionalize It More) and loving it.

There are many things to enjoy--complex characters, fairly accurate accents, and the fact that it's actually shot on location so it looks real. One of my favorite elements is that the main character, Tommy Caffey, a Rhode Island state rep from a run-down section of Providence, lives in an old rowhouse. And said old rowhouse has a problem: When you turn on a window-unit air conditioner at the same time you're running the dishwasher, the circuit blows. And upgrading the electrical will cost $10,000 he doesn't have. It's become a running plot point--fixing up the house.

A true New England plotline, especially in this heat. We've found in our old house that the circuit blows when you turn on the fourth window unit (the older, less energy-efficient one). That's with the washing machine, a load of portable fans, and the other three units running, however; I think we're in better shape than Tommy. For now.

So I won't be cutting any deals with a union to have "some boys come over and help out" with the problem any time soon. Though if I could, I'd probably consider it.