'Brothers & Sisters': Spring breakout

For a few minutes there on "Brothers & Sisters", it looked like Tommy Walker was turning into a responsible adult and a decent human being. Hah! Plus, Ryan continues to get his creep on, Kitty suffers new-mother syndrome, Robert is oblivious and Kevin gets more action than anyone.

The Walker boys go down Mexico way for some peace and quiet and sense-talking. Alas, they neglected to look at their calendar. "It's Spring Break, bitches!" one of the drunken co-eds yodels at them. Oh, joy. Of course Tommy thinks this is kismet -- after all, they came down here to help Justin get over Rebecca, right? Well, no -- that's just the excuse Kevin and Justin used to get Tommy to go with them, because god forbid Tommy would consent to doing anything related to impending felony charge. Le sigh.

After much screeching and drunkenness and a visit from the Shot Hottie, Justin loses it -- yes, I am completely broken up over Rebecca, and it's all your fault, Tommy! We're fighting because of your stupidity! Kevin finally admits that they came down to Baja so he could broach the idea of Tommy taking the plea -- I mean, you are guilty, and if you goes to trial, it will probably turn out badly. Tommy is pissed.

It takes Justin getting menaced by an entire drunken fraternity to make Tommy see the light -- you guys are right, I screwed up, let me take steps to fix it. Then he waxes rhapsodic about the state of grace of the drunken college students surrounding them. They haven't had time to screw up yet! What if we could just start over, have a clean slate? Which is why there's no way Justin and Kevin should have been surprised when they discover that Tommy has fled -- sure, it sounded like he said he was taking the plea, but what he really said was "I'm taking the see... as in see-ya!" Ah, Tommy. You were doing so well for a few minutes there!

Meanwhile, Kitty is dealing with both an infant and a big baby. Robert isn't taking his recuperation well, and he flatly rejects the idea of taking medication to deal with post-heart-attack depression. Kitty is too damn tired to argue with him -- and I know Robert is recuperating from a heart attack, but does that mean he's not physically capable of folding laundry?

Kitty ends up popping Evan in the car and driving out to Nora's -- ostensibly to meet Ryan, but in fact because she's at her wits' end. She puts on a brave face for a while, and even perks up a bit when she starts arguing politics with Ryan, but she eventually admits that she's exhausted and overwhelmed and misses having adult conversations and wonders if she'll ever get the chance to shower again. Nora FINALLY goes into nurturing mode and sends Kitty to bed. Sarah warns Robert that it looks like Kitty is giving up. When she fights, it means she cares. When she doesn't... well, that's not good. And indeed, when Kitty gets back the next day, she can't be bothered to argue with Robert. Uh-oh.

Finally, creepy Ryan creepily creeps around Rebecca. She asks if he's got a thing for her, and he denies it. After the political argument with Kitty brings up family values and a mother's love, Ryan goes back to Rebecca's and confesses that he thinks his mom killed herself, and that William Walker was somehow to blame. Dun dun DUN!

The Walker Family Annoyance Index

Tommy Walker wins, off course, but Sarah and Nora are a close second. Look, Sarah and Nora have both have had kids. They know how strung out and insane and exhausted you are when you've got an infant in the house. No way should they have been telling Kitty that she needs to ask for help. When there's an infant involved, you just assume that the mom needs help until she tells you to go away -- and you don't get offended by anything until about the third month, or until the parents have had at least four consecutive hours a sleep for at least three nights in a row. It's the law.

(And lest anyone cry sexism, hell yeah, I think the guys should have been just as involved. However, since they were sent to Mexico, I'm forced to let it slide. Next week, I expect to see them changing diapers!)