One big, unhappy family on 'Brothers & Sisters'
When it's on its game, Brothers & Sisters is one of the more bracing dramas on TV, spiced with humor but also capable of finding real emotion in its outsized characters.
When it's not, though, the show has a tendency to get a little maudlin and play those emotional cards a little too loosely. Such was the case Sunday night.
(Spoilers right up ahead.)
To be sure, some important things happened: Justin finally consented to take painkillers, and Julia and the baby went away with her parents -- after she owned up to blaming Tommy for causing their son's death. But just about everyone was in a mopey or conflicted sort of mood, and that just doesn't make for the most entertaining hour of television.
Taking the story lines one by one:
Justin's recovery: Nora kept pushing, of course, for Justin to start taking pain meds to help his rehab along. Justin, of course, pushed right back, until an inadvertent assist from Rebecca turned things around. She took Justin out for a "field trip," hoping a glimpse of the outside world would make her Nora-endorsed pitch for the painkillers easier to take.
Of course, Justin's knee buckled, leading Nora to vent her anger and frustration on Rebecca (and also leading to one of the night's better scenes, where Justin confessed to feeling survivor's guilt). Finally, though, he relented and told his mother to get the prescription for the meds. "Already did. I just have to go pick it up," was the perfectly-Nora reply.
As Rebecca warned, Nora and Justin are now walking a very fine line toward getting him healthy and causing him to relapse. I suspect we'll see some of both before too long.
Tommy and Julia: The night's other major development came here, with Julia's parents -- her patronizing dad, especially -- getting deep under Tommy's skin with an unannounced (to Tommy, anyway) visit. After some chippy moments between father and son-in-law, Tommy finally discovers that Julia and the baby are going to live with her folks for a while, and more important, that she holds Tommy responsible for their son's death. Though he expresses just how he feels about the plan to her dad, Tommy does seem to take Saul's advice and let her have some time.
That said, though, my fears regarding new winery employee Lena haven't been calmed at all. This feels like a predictable road the show is heading down, and I hope I'm proven wrong.
Kitty and Robert: Relegated to C-story status this week, the would-be first couple spent their time dealing with the senator's ex-wife (Marin Hinkle, who seems to have carved out a niche for herself playing frosty exes). She's about to regale Larry King with tales of Robert's affair with the nanny (which he insists is a lie but is refusing to acknowledge for fear of being dragged into the gutter), until Kitty bluffs her by saying she's tracked down the nanny. Something tells me Hinkle's last line, about Robert not being anyone's partner, might come back to haunt Kitty, however.
Kevin: The return of Luke Macfarlane's Scotty provided the night's comic high point, as Kevin shredded the cop who arrested Scotty for DUI during a court hearing. Our favorite cater-waiter has gotten his life on a better track, landing an internship at a shmancy restaurant and treating Kevin to a meal in the kitchen. Even that, however, ends in an awkward place: Scotty leans in for a goodbye kiss and Kevin pulls away, explaining that he's in a relationship and can't they try being friends since they skipped that part?
If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned Sarah, it's because Rachel Griffiths appeared in all of one scene tonight. Ditto Patricia Wettig, and Ron Rifkin's Saul was on hand mostly to be Tommy's sounding board. Here's hoping Saul gets more to do in the near future; his character arc at the end of last season looked like it was headed in a fascinating direction, but it hasn't fully gotten started yet this year.
Your thoughts on this week's Brothers & Sisters? Too downbeat, or just to your dramatic taste?
The editing, which is usually something I don't notice, was a little weird tonight; some of the scenes were choppy.
I totally agree about tonight's show being overly-emotional. The previews for next week suggest that we have some wacky Walker women hijinks in store to make up for the downer of tonight's epi.
Choppy may have something to do with the commercial breaks which on this kind of supposed drama happen so frequently it seems that nothing happens in a segment and there we are taking another break. Sometimes It seems like we get 3 minutes of show... 5 minutes of commercial. I don't seem to mind it on Desparate Housewives because of the nature of the show... comedy. But it totaly ruins the story flow on Brother & Sisters.Too many snippets not enough time for any drama or hijinks to be fully developed!Its just as annoying if you record it and fast forward through the commercials... every few minutes there you are playing with the remote.
It doesn't say much for the writers if they can't hang 10 minutes of storyline together before its time for a break!
This is one of the most intimate, creative, truely powerful and honest shows I've seen on TV in years. The realism of family issues and heart-pounding moments palpitate my tears every time I watch. The stories and pure and honest and the characters are devine in p***ion. Thank god for Ken Olin bringing back what creative writing truely is - honest, pure and from the heart.
I like that Nora got mad and yelled at Rebecca because I don't think you're a Walker until Nora's yelled at you in a very caring way.
I also do hope that Lena girl doesn't after Tommy while his family is gone. I don't think I can take another divorce in this show, I love Sarah too much.
Call me romantic, but I'd still like to see Sarah & Joe work it out. And the Lena storyline looks pretty predictable, too.
When Nora kept saying she'd talked to this doctor and that expert and done research, I kept saying to the TV, "Call his sponsor!" My daughter is in AA, and I know a sponsor's word carries a lot more weight to the recoverer than a ton of experts. I was so glad to hear at the end of the show that she had done just that. Justin has demons to battle and it's all uphill. This show could actually do a lot of good out there with a realistic portrayal of recovering addicts.
CHAD: "palpitated [your] tears" ?!?!
I just want to tell you guys to have patience because the upcoming eps will blow you away! Don't fret all the storylines will come together :)
Thank goodness Justin has finally taken his pills. Hopefully, he'll stop with all this 'woe is me' business. I suspect he'll switch back to selfish addict mode for at least a little while though. Haha, laughed when my fellow countryman Becks got a shout out in the restaurant scene. "He's here??" lol
I kept wondering why someone didn't suggest acupuncture. In an episode of Private Practice, they used it in a c-section, and it worked great. But then I guess Justin couldn't get addicted to that?
I hope they ditch Tommy's wife because she's dull as dishwater (though I'm sure she's a nice woman in real life). They could really ****e things up by having Tommy ditch her for the blonde chick and be just like his father. That would result in some good histrionics.