Watching Showtime

Nothing stays fine for long on The Hill, and between softball games, bar-buying, garbage issues (forever and ever it seems) and the whole of the Caffee family finding themselves in job flux, this episode shows the downward slope of the family in a whole new light.

Tommy and Eileen take the girls to her parents’ house for a barbecue. While there, Tommy asks Eileen’s dad for a loan, as the condo deal hasn’t gone through yet. Later that week, while at his government office talking over his meeting schedule with his aide, the Speaker comes in and tells him the Governor has called, and wants to help Tommy advance his career, but by introducing a bill that will tear down two square blocks of row houses on The Hill to build a new garbage station. After being told this, he goes to meet with Judd to get his opinion. Judd tells him to introduce the bill, because someday he’ll need something from the speaker. Tommy tells Jimmy to form a new real estate company and buy five of the row houses that will be torn down by the new garbage spot, thus ensuring he’ll make a ton of money when the government wants to buy them from the owners and tear them down.

Micheal drops off his weekly “deposit” and while talking to Freddie, lets him know that although his bar’s softball team is favored 2 to 1 to win their latest tournament, certain bookies are giving people 6 to 1 odds. He tells Freddie he should place a bet on his team and make the money on the side, but also asks to be put on the team to ensure victory. He’s still seeing the college student, who is turning out to be dirtier and sluttier than I’d ever have imagined. She wants to go to his house, and laughs at him when he tells her they can’t because he lives at his mother’s house. While getting ice, she runs into Rose’s union rep, and asks him what he thinks of it. He says it probably means he’s lonely, and then goes back into his room, where ROSE IS!! Rose’s getting it on with some dude in secret!

Later that week Michael heads into another bar in town (Terry Mulligan’s bar), and offers the owner help him run out the riffraff if he starts up a softball team. Looks like he’s planning to screw over Freddie Cork, knowing he’ll be placing bets on his team on the side. Pete and Mikey beat the crap out of them with pool cues, kicking them and their drug running out of not only the bar but The Hill proper! Too bad they show up later that night with bats looking for Mike and Petey. Pete shoots one of them, but not before the pair argue over who else should be on their softball team. Priorities, ya know.

Rose is having huge trouble at the factory, as she’s been asked to fire 25 of the women that sew there everyday. Her boss has given her a list of women who are at or close to retirement, hoping that will lessen the blow as their pensions will be full or close to full. If they strike like they’re threatening to do, the plant will most likely close, everyone losing their jobs! When she stands up for her fellow co-workers, they fire 25 anyhow, including Rose for being so stubborn and non-compliant. Rose goes and meets with Jacob, the union rep, and breaks up with him when she finds out he knew all those people were getting fired (even if he didn’t know she was on the list of people to be fired).

Eileen, missing her clandestine affair, calls Carl back up and asks if he can meet her, even if it’s just to talk. The conversation doesn’t go well, as he clearly tells her to shove off, that he’s over it.

Jimmy starts going around to the row houses, offering money to buy the elderly people that live there out.

Michael compromises with his girlfriend and heads over to her house so they don’t have to fuck in a hotel. She doesn’t even have doors! Eileen (in the same montage) is huddled in the bathroom smoking pot as per usual, frustrated with her life.

Tommy goes to talk to the Speaker, tell him he’ll introduce the waste removal station bill that week. And then, with even more brilliance than I expected, tells the Speaker he wants to be sure the people whose houses will be bought will make a fair price, and suggests 10% more than the last five houses sold for. Which means he overpaid the five houses he bought, thus dragging the price up huge for all his constituents. He’ll make money, the people on The Hill will make money, and he’ll have the Speaker in his back pocket! The next day Tommy finds out Jimmy screwed him by buying three houses instead of five, as well as using his name when telling people he wanted to buy the homes.

With that huge screw up, Tommy tells Jimmy they’re through, he’s no longer going to work with him. This can’t stick very long with Rose around though, because she’s an even better manipulator than either of her boys. Michael runs into Jimmy and finds out about Jimmy’s firing. He gets him a little drunk and then offers him some work. Jimmy’s not so sure he wants to do that, but when Michael reminds him he’s got rent to pay and is married to his sister, he relents. Now Michael’s sucked another person into his shady dealings!

His first job? Drawing up papers to take the bar away from Terry Mulligan, under the guise of protecting him. And before they know what’s going on, he’s asking Jimmy to sign as the new owner.

Tommy’s been found out by the Speaker, and he tells him he’s got to switch the purchase prices the city has to pay back to market value, which screws Tommy out of a lot of money. When he introduces the bill, he adds an amendment to the bill requesting fair purchase price based on the last five home purchases in the area MINUS the three houses he bought. This throws the Speaker for a loop!

And how does this episode end? With Jimmy happy to be working for Michael despite what it will almost certainly eventually mean, Tommy trying desperately to keep his head above water, and drugs still flowing through Michael’s new bar … this time thanks to Freddie Cork. Oh, and Eileen? She didn’t come home because she’s too busy moving on from weed to harder drugs, bought from a teenage boy.

Catch up on previous episodes:
Mark 8:36 (ep 1)
Genesis 27:29 (ep 2)
Matthew 15:37 (ep 3)
Matthew 5:6 (ep 4)

Showtime, Brotherhood, Michael Caffee, Jason Isaacs, Thomas Caffee, Jason Clarke, Eileen Caffee, Annabeth Gish, Declan Giggs, Ethan Embry, Freddie Cook, Kevin Chapman, Rose Caffee, Fionnula Flanagan