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RSSTough love on 'Brothers & Sisters'
I'm at a loss this week, because the Walkers and Walker Satellites were acting like rational adults on "Brothers & Sisters." Sure, there was drama, conflict and a fair amount of angst, but they all (with a few exceptions) stepped up and took responsibility for themselves. I actually felt for these people this week. How am I supposed to snark on that?
Kitty, Robert and Kevin
Robert overhears Kitty talking furtively to someone, including the phrase "No, he hasn't left yet," and figures she's talking to Alec. He confronts the man in the park. Nope -- she was talking to Kevin, planning the surprise "Welcome back to work after recovering from your covered-up heart attack" party at the office.
Kevin can see that something is going on, and gets Robert to spill that Kitty may be having an affair. Kevin then talks to Kitty, who is defensive -- I never slept with Alec, and anyone else would have in my place, and besides, this is all just because I don't want to be like mom! "Doesn't having an affair make you more like dad?" Kevin asks. Ouch. Also, yep!
Some flashbacks about Papa Walker make Kitty realize what a schmuck he was and what a schmuck she's being, so she breaks it off with Alec. But this doesn't mean all our problems are solved, she tells Robert. We need some space to figure things out. You're asking for a separation? Robert asks. I guess I am, she replies.
Sarah and Holly
Ojai is throwing a Unity Party to reassure the masses that everything is shiny and happy and peaceful between the two Glorious Leaders. Holly proposes doing a musical number to make fun of themselves. Sarah has other things on her mind: Joe and his first wife are getting remarried. Ouch. She tells Holly. Why?
Ryan, Rebecca and Justin
Ryan apologizes for the mustache-twirling last episode and reassures Rebecca that everything is fine. As Rebecca has been avoiding him like the plague -- which takes some skill, as he's still staying at her house -- we're not so sure. But she does agree to go to the upcoming Ojai Unity Party with him. Why?!? Argh!
Meanwhile, Justin discovers he's been admitted to one of the medical programs he applied to, and he and Rebecca celebrate with sex. Looks like they're back together! Rebecca tells him about Ryan's theory about his mom committing suicide because of something William did to her, and that makes Justin ok with him. Will he be quite so ok when he hears that Ryan kisses Rebecca and thanks her for their "date?" Somehow I doubt it...
The Party
Justin confronts Ryan about the kiss, and Ryan mouths off -- we're on a date! She kissed me back! Justin tells him he's delusional, and says he knows about Ryan's antipathy toward the family and his deal with Holly. Sarah overhears that part, and then it's time for them to go on stage. This leads to a lovely little passive-aggressive duet, where Sarah purposely mangles "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." Heh. She and Holly retreat to the bar and have it out , not realizing they're still mic'd. Sarah calls Holly a borderline sociopath, and Holly calls Sarah lonely. Ryan storms back and is pissy, then stalks off.
The Aftermath
Kitty follows Ryan home and tells him that her flashbacks suggest that William probably was the impetus for his mom's suicide. The next day, Holly and Sarah discover that instead of quitting, Ryan showed up to work early. They won't have an easy time getting rid of him. Justin proposes to Rebecca, who accepts. You'd expect Nora to immediately start planning the wedding, but she's distracted. Robert used his connections (our tax dollars at work!) to track down Tommy, and she's traveled to the Mexican town where he's hiding out. Dun dun dun!
Walker Family Annoyance Index
Shockingly enough, most of the Walkers and quasi-Walkers actually behaved like reasonable adults this week. Is that legal? And what am I supposed to snark about when they act all rational?
Planning a surprise party for Robert: -1
Trying to justify her emotional affair by saying she doesn't want to become her mother: 1
Breaking things off with Alec once and for all: -1
Flashbacks give Tom Skerritt some work. Hi, Tom!: -1
Dissing her mom on air: 1
Giving Ryan impetus to stay by telling him about William: -1 for honesty, 1 for convincing the annoyance that is Ryan to stay
Talking frankly to Robert about how breaking things off with Alec doesn't solve their problems: -1
Total: -2. Negative annoyance from Kitty! Unprecedented!
Robert
Threatening Alec that he's "a very powerful man." Feh: 1
Freaking out quietly in the parking garage where he had his heart attack. Look, he is human!: -1
Having the good grace to look abashed when he realized he'd jumped to conclusions about Kitty: -1
Agreeing to help Nora without question: -1 for being there for family, 1 for diverting vital US intelligence assets to track down a schmuck:
Admitting to Kevin that he loves Kitty and wants to fix things: -1
"You know the tragedy? I miss those walker family meltdowns!" Ahhh! The heart attack affected his higher reasoning skills!: 1
Total: -1
Kevin
"Doesn't having an affair make you more like dad?": -1,000,000
Everything else he did: Who cares, because the above quote means he wins this week.
Total: -1,000,000
Nora
Quoting self-help books to Sarah: 1
Snapping out of it to diss Joe: -1
Refusing to go to the Unity Party because she was obsessed with Tommy: 1
Getting over it and going anyway: -1
Traveling to Mexico when she'd gotten Tommy's location: 1 -- way to let him figure out his own situation!
The kicky little intrepid-traveler hat -- so cute!: -1
Total: 0
Sarah
Lashing out at Justin because she was pissed about Joe: 1
Telling Holly about her personal problems: 1 for stupidity
Agreeing to make an ass out of herself for the good of the company: -1
Scuttling the song after she'd found out about Ryan: -1 Hee! Bitchy, but I liked it!
Forgetting to take off her mic while she argued with Holly: 1
Realizing that Holly had her sussed: "Busted by my nemesis, can you believe it?": -1
Banding together with Holly to address the threat that is Ryan: -1
Total: -1
Rebecca
Not kicking Ryan out of her house the minute she realized he was evil: 1
Agreeing to go to the party with Ryan: 1
Being there, and happy, for Justin as he found out he'd gotten into a med school program: -1
Telling Justin about Ryan's theory: -1
Not telling Ryan to back off as soon as he kissed her: 1
"Ryan are you ok?" Don't encourage him!: 1
Still, that was a nice thing to do: -1
Saying yes to Justin: -1
Total: 0
Justin
Social tone deafness about Joe: 1
Having sympathy for Ryan: -1
Despite said sympathy, being able to tell Ryan to back off: -1
The proposal -- "You make everything feel possible, you make ME possible." Swoon!: -1
Total: -1
Holly
Song and dance? Really?: 1
Denying and justifying about Ryan: 1
Having some insight into Sarah: -1
Apologizing that she had no idea Ryan was completely nutso: -1
Total: 0
Ryan
Being Ryan: 100,000
Ryan didn't do anything that was not annoying and/or creepy. He wins by a landslide!
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Okay - So in the big "oops you're still mic'd" argument it comes out that Ryan is a big giant schemer. So he runs to find the lady bosses and throws the "injured party" card. Um, WTF, mate? But, okay he's an evil, creepy dude. But why does EVERYBODY else chime in with "poor Ryan" sentiments? Where was the righteous Walker outrage at his creepy-stalker-stock-holding plot?!??!
Scotty's Sarah pick-me-up moment was lovely. I want an awesome brother-in-law like Scotty when I grow up. =)
And yes, Nora deserves negative points for the cute, bus-to-Mexico headwear!
(Robert/Alec) When Robert was at the park on last week's B&S, I still can't see how he knew that some random guy of which this random kid ran to after saying "Hi Evan" was or establish a connection between this random guy and Kitty. It's rather far fetched and didn't seem to make any sense. Another thing how is that Ben, Alec's son, easily recognized the baby this stranger was holding and he'd never seen before, was Evan. Robert might have asked this kid how do you know my son, or Evan, or something to that effect. Ben would have told Robert how he came to know Evan; And even after having that brief intro with Ben, there was no way Robert could make such a giant leap in his mind that Kitty and this random guy at the park with his kid, were "seeing" each other. After Kitty awoke and read Robert's note about going to the park, the shocked look on her face, I knew the next scene would be Robert in the park and there also would be Alec and the two would have a visual/physical encounter. Robert's going to the park was so random, no pre-set time/schedule, and him choosing the exact spot/bench in the park where Alec and Kitty congregate.
He recognized Alec by the burns on his arms from the airbags in the accident. He put 2 and 2 together from that.
*Jeff* Robert had no visual, no idea who this random guy in the park of which this kid ran to after greeting Evan was. Kitty never mentioned to Robert there's a parent in the park she'd been meeting there or having conversations with. Granted Robert could think this kid probably know of Evan via Kitty but that's the only leap I could see Robert making at that particular encounter. As a parent, and the parent who apparently has never taken Evan to "the" park, this was Robert's first outing, would have thought my wife has struck up conversations with other parents (mothers, fathers)and kids in the park and this little kid that said Hi to Evan probably knew Evan that way. Ben running towards Alec and then Alec picking him up in what for all intents and purposes, looked very fatherly, was just that. Alec having those burns on his arm would have nothing to do with Robert in his mind saying, oh, that guy was in the car with my wife when she had the accident. Robert had no way of knowing who this guy (Alec) was other than possibly being the parent of the kid who just greeted my son and they met Kitty and Evan in this park.
The only thing I could see that look liked real recognition, was the look on Alec's face when he noticed Robert. Robert is a senator and he's been on TV. Alec would have known that Kitty was married to Robert and just had this surprised look on his face when he saw Robert in the park and Robert just happened to be sitting same bench/spot where he and Kitty congregate. Besides too, Alec has read Kitty's book.
Another scene that might have played out in the park is after Alec recognized it was Senator McCallister, who just happened to be married to Kitty, would have walked over and greeted his senator, said hi, and yada yada. Perhaps just in p***ing conversation, Alec would have brought up the car accident ***uming Kitty might have mentioned it to Robert already.
Christopher:
Robert identified Alec two ways:
1 - His son ran up to Evan to say hi.
2 - When he lifted his son up, you could see the bandages on his arms, so he knew he was in the car.
Christopher, you are reading too much into this. It's called "intuition". Robert knew something was going on with Kitty that had to do with the park. He knew they were on rocky terms in their relationship. He's like a person who has only a couple letters in the Wheel of Fortune puzzle. He took a gamble by guessing, and hit the jackpot
Shouldn't Justin's final annoyance tally be -2, not -1? Also, I agree that Robert knew something was up at the park, heard Alec's son greet Evan, and then saw identical bandages on Alec to the one Kitty was sporting. Doesn't seem so implausible to me!
Yes I can agree that Robert's intuition/su****ion was in high gear and had thought Kitty could possibly be seeing someone else and possibly meeting this person in the park but that's about it. Kitty was hitting that park pretty regularly and Robert probably detected something different in Kitty's voice when she'd tell him I'm at the park, etc., and Kitty seeming not to want Robert there with her; probably the main reason why he just up and decided to take Evan to the park (still random). Ben saying Hi to Evan and then running off and then being gathered up in Alec's arm, just a random incident in the park of a previous encounter Ben had with Evan through Kitty. Still, Robert was just a man, a stranger in the park, sitting there with a baby that could have been to Ben just a white guy with a "brown baby" that reminded him of Kitty and Evan. I doubt seriously Ben knew who Robert was prior to and being that Robert didn't know Ben from Adam or Alec in this case, just some kid, would have said how do you know Evan or how do you know my son's name. That scene could just have been easily played out with Ben running towards a woman in the park and Robert would have been none the wiser - knowing who this woman was or in the case of Alec - who this man was. I believe Robert thought Kitty had been traveling with a woman or another woman was in the car at the time of the accident. I could be wrong there.