Secrets, lies and revelations on 'Brothers & Sisters'
The
Walker kids have a lot going on these days -- divorce, marriage troubles,
physical ailments, being gay and not being given enough of a personal plotline
(can Kevin get a replacement boyfriend, please?). While all their predicaments
differ, the one thing they all had in common on this week's Brothers & Sisters was the maintenance or
revelation of secrets and lies.
The
idea of shrimp pizza horrifies me a little. Oh, and spoilers below.
Let's
start with the A-Plot shall we?
So,
Kitty's pregnant. This is, of course, happening at the worst time possible for
Robert's campaign which is why she tells Nora over the phone not to tell anyone else in the family if the
pregnancy test comes out positive. Justin walks in the kitchen and overhears
part of the conversation, sending Nora retreating into the pantry (a dead
giveaway). Kitty tells Nora that the test came out negative hoping to keep the
whole thing under wraps...it doesn't, but at least she tried. Because Justin is
the family gossip, he tells everyone else the second he sees them.
Kitty
makes a half-hearted attempt to tell Robert while he's meeting with Travis the
Jerkface Campaign Manager but chickens out. Unfortunately for her, Travis has
his suspicions. This sets up a big fight between Robert and Kitty later when
she tells him because he heard it from Travis first, not her. I understand how
this could blindside his campaign, but I think Robert overreacted. So what? So
Travis the Jerkface had his suspicions. That doesn't mean she was telling all
sorts of people except Robert. At least the fight ended up helping because the
next night during the debate, while Kitty watched with the family at Nora's
house, one of Robert's opponents named Clayton brings Kitty into it and Robert
defends her, saying to leave his loved ones out of it and used what she told
him earlier -- that running for President is hard, but so is being significant
other of the guy running for President. Consider that fight resolved. His
rebuttal helped him win the debate, according to the papers, and Kitty and
Robert announce to the staff that their expecting and immediately get everyone
working on how they're going to address the upcoming political backlash.
What
I find really interesting about Kitty and Robert is the way they speak to each
other. Even when they're really mad and fighting, there's a quality to their
tones and patterns that makes it seem like they're debating. Calista Flockhart
and Rob Lowe do an excellent job on maintaining this. Also, is Robert really
going to win the Republican Primary? I know they're setting him up to do well,
but I wonder if they'd really be able to maintain the storylines as effectively
if he does.
Sarah
and Joe's divorce was also heavily featured, so let's call it the Sub-A Plot. Because
they're meeting with their respective lawyers that afternoon to go over the
details of their divorce, Sarah had to reschedule a work meeting and asked Joe
at the last minute to take the kids to school. She, unfortunately, forgot to
give the kids their field trip permission slip. Both the favor and Sarah's
moment of memory loss turned out to be costly later as Joe and his lawyer
ambushes her and Kevin (who she has representing her) by requesting primary
custody as opposed to their previously agreed on joint arrangement. Kevin tells
her to get as many personal references from teachers, doctors, neighbors,
etcetera as possible...which should have been easy to do except Joe's already
contacted them all. He's been planning this for at least a month, a fact that
does not sit well with Sarah. And with good reason. When they meet the judge, Sarah makes an
impassioned plea that she not be punished for being a working mother. The judge
returns later and, stating his ruling is not intended to punish anyone but to
determine what's best for the children, awards Joe full temporary custody as he
was the primary caregiver. This was not a good episode for Joe. I kind of hate
his guts right now. Not that he's not entitled to want full custody, but I
really don't like the underhanded way he went about it. Nora was at the house
when he came to pick up the kids. Joe tells her that they'll be taken good care
of and she responds, "They always were." Sally Fields really stole
this sequence for me for the way she was looking at Joe. The slight contempt/disappointment/hurt/anger
that was all subtly there in her eyes was fantastic.
Tommy
and Justin's respective issues didn't get much spotlight, but the upcoming
fallout from what they're doing is going to be spectacular.
Tommy
calls Lena into her office and says that they can only have a professional
relationship. While expressing remorse for what could be, Lena says she
understands and it won't be an issue. Later on, Holly tells Lena to end
whatever relationship she has with Tommy because it's bad for the business. Lena
says it's already over, which was true until she calls Tommy that night to pick
her up from a bar because she's too drunk to drive and she kisses him. She
apologizes but he says not to worry about it and then he kisses her. Oh, Tommy.
Foolish, foolish Tommy.
As
for Justin, he's still sneaking pain pills. And by pills I mean pills. He poured a bunch in his hand and knocked them back without
water and I'm fairly sure it's not a good idea to be taking more than one of whatever
it is he's on at a time. Now won't Rebecca and Nora feel awful about pushing the issue?
Quote
of the Night: "Do you realize how I'm going to spoil that child? Then I'm
going to hand them back to you and criticize how you're raising them." Nora
to Kitty the morning after she confirms that she's pregnant to the family
Kevin will be getting his boyfriend back soon enough. Considering every storyline he's had in the past year has been about his relationships and how terrible he is at maintaining them, this is welcome relief. He can't screw everything up.
Joe is being portrayed as a cartoon villian which he wasn't before aand I guess it makes it easier to get rid of him. I never liked him anyway, but still.
As for Tommy, before he was just boring. Now he's a boring douchebag so that's progress of some sort I suppose.
Last night was one of the best episodes I have seen in a while. I agree that Kevin does need a new storyline although maybe not a replacement boyfriend I like the minister. Tommy's storyline makes sense to me, although I have this feeling that Lena is up to something. Not just getting Tommy but something else like maybe suing for sexual har***ment when it all blows up. I understand and hate his motivation for sleeping with her. His wife left and took his daughter he is obviously upset, notice that he kissed her after he got off the phone with Julia. I agree with ya that I am not sure how you can keep up a storyline if he gets the nomination at the convention. Also does it seem like he is always home at night, how likely is that for a guy running for President? Shouldn't he be travelling all over the country. Sure he goes on trips but he always seems to be home. The Joe/Sarah storyline in fairly typical of divorces on tv shows. The parent we care about always gets screwed during the custody battle, it makes for better drama. If she had won temporary custody there wouldn't have been that wonderful moment with Nora.
Why is this entire recap in italics? It makes it incredibly annoying to read.
I agree that Tommy is being an ***, but Julia ruined the marriage, and there is no going back. Lena is definitely using him. Joe's character has become completely unlikebale, and I guess that's one way to get rid of him, but it didn't have to end this way. About the shrimp pizza, shrimp with pesto on a thin crust is simply awesome.
Have you ever missed a few episodes of this show, and then tuned back in like I did last night? Wow! So much has happened, and there are so many of those blasted Walkers, it's hard to keep it all straight. I guess I'm glad it is a weekly, not a daily, serial; otherwise, I don't think I would have know anyone! (loved it though, and Sally Field is incredible. I was afraid that she was going to go on a self-rightous tirade when Joe was picking up the children, but the restraint was so visible, it was superb!)
Why can't Kitty and Robert just get married earlier than they planned instead of trying to find other presidential candidates who had children out of wedlock? Everyone must know they won't find any. They're just forcing a problem that isn't there for what?
I think the writers are trying to show how hard and problematic it is for a working woman who is also the breadwinner to be the primary caregiver. For that they had to make Joe be bad. This should be a warning to all working women cos they're still not getting it. I love that poor Sarah noticed that she's the one paying for Joe's high priced lawyer to deprive her of her children. She's also being way too sentimental and not ruthless enough about the whole thing, insisting on keeping Kevin on as her lawyer when she should have a pitbull family lawyer to attack Joe - he's the one who had an affair. He subtly condemns Sarah for neutering him whilst using her money to get what he wants. And Sarah really dropped the ball on not getting her oar in with the teachers if only as a backup. Her husband has gone back to his ex-wife a woman he said he hated that should have been a huge clue that he'd turned into a bastard. And now Joe's ex-wife is going to see more of her children than she is?! Oh Hewl no!
Yes, Nora's restraint towards Joe was superb. I, too, was waiting for her to nag him to death. I don't understand how Joe can support the kids, he doesn't even work. Rachel Griffiths was stellar in this episode, especially in the end when she just smiled when her kids were leaving and after the door closes she just sat and cried. I'm gonna say it, Joe is a b----.
As for Tommy, I am very surprised that his storyline has gone in this direction. I guess this is the only way he'll be more interesting.
Kitty and Robert were great as well. Although it's not an argument we normally have with our significant others, the way they argued was completely relatable.
Lastly, I do love how they cannot keep secrets in this family. Besides the yelling at each other, that's the second best part of this show!
What I find interesting is that Joe was there for the kids cuz Sarah was working, so now that they're divorced, won't Joe have to return to work, thereby, he won't have as much time for the kids. Does he have a trust fund we don't know about ?
As for Tommy, did the writers have to go for a plotline so cliche and unoriginal ? I know Tommy hasn't had as many exciting storylines as the other siblings, but making him an adulterer, how boring can you get ? And I'm sorry, you know Tommy was the first person Lena called. She's so one of "those" woman, no wonder she and Rebecca are friends.
Sarah will have to pay child support while Joe raises the kids. This seems to have confused everyone because it is the opposite of a standerd divorce, in which the mother gets primary custody and the father pays child support. Oh and there was no other way for Joe to go about this other than be sneaky, of course that doesn't mean I forgive him.
Oh and I don't really get the Tommy and Lena situation. Maybe there should have been more time with her supporting him during the fallout of the death of his son, but she doesn't seem to feel that sorry for cheating with a married man and he is acting like he was willing to screw the first thing in the door when his wife left and he doesn't care about Lena at all. I don't like this storyline in the least.
Oh and I love Justin. LOVE.
The judge's decision to grant custody to Joe for the sake of the "stability" of the kids has a loose end - wouldn't it be more stable for the kids to remain in the home they've - presumably - always known, rather than move into a new place with Dad? I think it would have made for a better storyline if Sarah had had to move out (and, say, move in with Nora and... Rebecca!), leaving not only Joe with the kids, but Joe with the house (insult to injury).