Apple TV’s Brothers Review: True Detective Stars Drown in Toilet Humor
I don’t think anybody would argue against the notion that True Detective breathed a new life into the careers of actors Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. They just stepped into the roles of Rust and Marty like these characters were made for their darker selves, leaving an imprint on the small screen that just seemingly can’t be replicated by any other duo ever again.
Sadly, time goes on. That was twelve years ago. The hit anthology crime drama on HBO has had three more seasons in the meantime and it seems like we are just not going to hit that high again.
Those that were looking for any sort of team-up from these formidable stars were fortunately given a sliver of hope last year when the actors came together once more for a line of commercials promoting some kind of AI sales platform. I was never interested in that and I don’t think many others were either. Along came Brothers. An Apple TV original series which premiered on September 23rd that was directed by Trent O’Donnell, Jason Winer and Erin O’Malley (they each took on different episodes). McConaughey, Harrelson, Lee Eisenberg and David West Read all helped in creating this - well - bizarre meta-comedy drama.
The two headline actors play themselves - but with different families than the ones they have in real life (which makes sense). These clans intersect when Harrelson and his family establish themselves right on McConaughey’s front lawn in desert-land Texas (in a sort of retro RV). From here, lots of stories play out in the eight episode timeline . . . that sadly don’t really matter much at all. McConaughey and Harrelson attend a rodeo in the first episode, they go hunting in the second, two senior citizens attempt to kidnap Harrelson, the duo also turn into a two man Beatles-like band for an episode - needless to say, there’s a lot of filler here that just doesn’t keep your interest. The biggest sub-plot of the season is McConaughey running for governor and that doesn’t make much impact either.
The overarching mystery of this series, which involves Harrelson and McConaughey possibly being brothers, is just consistently and excruciatingly overshadowed by the surprisingly constant lowbrow attempts at humor. While treading McConaughey’s (the character) political journey and balancing the brother possibility, literally stepping through dog poop and funneling excess bathroom waste into the house also become major episodic plot points.
The show also finds a way to reference True Detective not once, but twice - which the writers probably thought would instill some sort of brownie point with the audience. This does not work (due to the quality of Brothers hanging so low). You’re then reminded of a simple question. Why did Harrelson and McConaughey stoop so low all of a sudden? Close locale? Easy payday? They can hang out together and film a show again? Some critics might say that this show is a delightful hodge podge of real life and fiction, but I truly feel otherwise.
Brothers is filmed in Texas but like mentioned above, the desert land of the main setting (McConaughey’s house) makes everything feel isolated . . . almost like they are all situated at the top of a hill on Mars. Holland Taylor as Ma Mac and Skyler Gisondo as one of Harrelson’s daughters’ ex-boyfriend make this feeling go away at times (because of their power to pull you into the comedic realism of the whole thing) but it’s not enough to shake off the oddness of the show. Don’t get me wrong, the sixth episode titled “Prom” could be watched over and over again but that’s because McConaughey really comes through with the vocal drawl we all know him for and the entire cast for that matter actually sends forth some chemistry with each other too.
Apple TV, Paramount Television Studios and Skydance knew that audiences were clamoring to see Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson grace our screens once more - and not in any sort of advertisement. They got that part right. But in saying that, you could also clearly see that they wanted to get the most from the duo in the cheapest and quickest way possible. While I can only speculate as to the reason why David West Read left the project seven months in, there is enough here to assume why that is. Brothers is literally Grown Ups meets Modern Family - but without any charm from the latter.
With a road trip down memory lane in the duo’s sights, the show does tease a second season. If they keep the theme song (the one constant saving grace), I’m in. Otherwise, this was a failed experiment towards fusing serious actors with a not so serious story.
I give Brothers a 2 out of 5.
The eight episode first season of Brothers is now available to stream on Apple TV.
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