Episodes

 Pilot: Welcome to Brighton Beach

Screen Presence: same for everyone

In the pilot episode we are introduced to a group of immigrant Russians, mostly criminals, who are soon to become known as "the Potato Bag Gang". Several of them work for a mobster who has broken away from the Organizatsiya, the Jewish-Russian mob in America. The setting is Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, 1990.

Misha (an immigrant cab driver with a few months of assimilation under his belt) and his friend Grisha (a war veteran with an eye-patch) are tasked with picking up Vyacheslav Lyubarksy, a jewel thief who owed their boss money from gambling debts. Lyubarsky was under the protection of the mainline Organizatsiya, so they had to recover him, which involved a conflict with a couple of thugs and a beating for Grisha out in front of Gastronom Odessa. Once they eventually laid hands on Lyubarksy, he persuaded them to trade some uncut stones for his life - he knew their boss would cap him. Where does he keep his stones? With his good friend Lavrov, of course. Meeting over tea in Lavrov's house, they negotiated for Lyubarksy's life. Misha and Grisha ended up giving their boss the stones, letting Lyubarsky go, and having Lavrov (who has a great reputation) smooth things over.

Meanwhile, Yakov and Ilya are tapped to assist the gang's scariest enforcer, Emile Puzyretsky, by guarding a door behind which he performed some mysterious beat-down. They were jumped by rival hooligans, were overwhelmed and were run off, leaving Puzyretsky to his fate. This was especially bad for them because he'd given his own gun, a gaudy gold-plated .45 - to Ilya, who had none. So they abandoned him to die and ran off.

At this point Oleg, who was selling Soviet trinkets on a blanket somewhere, encountered Emile Puzyretsky hobbling along, a bullet wound in his thigh. The enforcer tossed him a wad of hundred dollar bills and told him to get him to a hospital. Various conflicts later Puzyretsky had decided Oleg was his fast friend, and was going to set him up as a made man, much to Oleg's consternation. But how does one refuse a guy who has killed 100 men and disarticulates corpses with a linoleum knife in his tub?

The final scene was Emile Puzyretsky tracking down the guys who cut him loose, which ended up with all the protagonists (except the old man, Lavrov) in the back room of Chicken Masters restaurant in Coney Island. There was discussion about how Emile would be repaid for their failure, and Yakov, the good soldier, ended up assuming all the blame. Forced to name his own punishment, he decided to tattoo COWARD across his own hand.

Next Week:

 Episode One: Thieves in Law

Screen Presence: Misha, Yakov/Ilya, Grisha/Oleg/Vassili

Next Week:

 Episode Two:

Screen Presence: Ilya and Grisha spotlight

Next Week:

 Episode Three:

Screen Presence:

Next Week:

 Episode Four:

Screen Presence:

Next Week:

 Season Finale: Perestroika

Screen Presence: Same for everyone

With the first snows of Winter, Yakov returns from Moscow to deliver Monya's message at the Rasputin. Porotsky is there, reveling in his new position of authority. lavrov is also there, old and weak, taking Porotsky's abuse. When Porotsky announces a party and ushers in a group of prostitutes, Lavrov begs his leave. Porotsky turns his attention to Grisha, and laughingly tells how Ilya tried to convince him that they are all plotting to kill him. Grisha assures him that this isn't true, and wins Porotsky's trust, and Emile Puzretsky's golden pistol as a gift for his loyalty.

At the Manhattan Detention Complex, Misha asks for Emile's help against the Aryan 88, who he says have threatened him. Emile promises his help, one Vor to another. The set up begins as expected, but when Emile realizes Misha has betrayed him, he savagely overcomes his attackers and turns on his comrade, demanding to know who ordered it. Misha, his heart never in the betrayal, reveals the plot against Igor Porotsky.

Meanwhile, Ilya has arranged a meeting with District Attorney Pavlik. They talk in her car in the alley behind her father's store, Friendly Cleaners, and Ilya agrees to wear a wire and get evidence against Porotsky in exchange for protection.

Next we see Lavrov sitting in Chicken Masters, remembering long-gone days when he stood with Ilya's parents at the boy's circumcision. Monya Elson was also there, and had agreed to be Ilya's godfather at Lavrov's request. In the midst of these thoughts, Lavrov was suprised to see Ilya enter Chicken Masters. They talk and Ilya tells him of Grisha and Yakov's plans to betray Porotsky and make Lavrov the boss. Lavrov tries to convince Ilya to get away and save himself, and the two make amends.

Misha and Yakov visit Officer Turner of the 60th precinct, to see if he would accept Porotsky as the fall guy for the recent unpleasantness. Turner violently objects, refusing to bite the hand that feeds him his payoff money. He asks for Lavrov instead. A short time later, at the Odessa, Lavrov comes to them incensed at their plans. Yakov tells him that his old friend Monya has abandoned the code of the Vor and that only Lavrov can lead them now.

Grisha and Yakov, angry at Ilya's troublemaking, go to find him at Chicken Masters. They argue and struggle, and in doing so find the wire. They throw him in the car and head for New Jersey, with the police not far behind. Driving through the woods, Yakov interrogates Ilya and threatens his aunt Marfa, which causes Ilya to grab the wheel and wreck the car. leaping out, he grabs an AK-47 from the trunk. In the snowy wilderness, Grisha and Ilya face off against each other- they shoot, Ilya falls dead and Grisha is badly wounded.

Meanwhile Lavrov, tired and sad, visits Misha in jail. They talk of the plot, and how everything has fallen apart. Why should they go on doing what they do? They talk about how all of them are guilty of violating the code, and that it's not just about the money. In the end, Misha shows Lavrov that it's about honor, and that the old man is the only one capable of showing everyone how to run the Organizatsiya with honor.

The next evening, at the Rasputin, Lavrov comes to Porotsky. Lavrov is reinvigorated, resolved to set things right. He tells Porotsky that they both know he is not fit to lead, and that he will stand tall for the good of the Organizatsiya. Porotsky starts to get angry, but sees the cold in Lavrov's eyes and crumbles. Lavrov then sends Yakov to deal with Zilber and the bodyguard, Yuri. Yakov strangles Yuri, but begins to feel a darkness growing within him.

In the closing scenes, we see someone approaching an industrial dryer at Friendly Cleaners, tumbling steadily with Ilya's body inside. And at the airport, a private plane touches down and Monya Elson exits, finally arriving at the Big Store.