"Wow! Dinner and a show." With just five little words, Paul (an amusing, if too camp by half Dave Foley) summed up the weekly episode outline of Brothers & Sisters. And while, yeah, it’d be nice (and indeed a tad more realistic) if Nora and her kids could get through the occasional meal without some kind of full-scale drama explosion, there is something oddly comforting in watching the Walkers gossip and bicker and meddle by phone, in person, and through third-party stand-ins, as they prepare their meals and down their many, many glasses of wine.
Still, there was nothing warm and fuzzy about the week’s central arc — focusing on the finance and real-estate issues of Kevin and Scotty. Unfortunately, last week’s previews hinted at the fact that Kevin was going to give Scotty the gift that was going to keep on taking from the joint bank account they didn’t even have: A $750,000 mansion that Nora had been hoping to purchase as HQ for her new home-away-from-home for families of sick, hospitalized children.Now here’s the thing about Kevin: As a human being, he’s absolutely dreadful (most of the time). As a TV character who stirs up drama and makes for exciting television, he’s pretty great (almost all of the time). I could feel myself going into a full-body cringe when Kevin started to formulate the idea of stealing Nora’s high bid right out from under her, and making a massive financial and emotional commitment without even so much as a preliminary discussion with his lovely and way-too-forgiving partner.The fact that Kevin actually gave Scotty grief about his decision to storm out of the "Yay, Scotty!" party was off-the-charts self-centered, and so I was thrilled to see the up-and-coming chef call out his partner for being threatened by their shifting balance of income and power. (Side note: Anyone else think the show can’t afford both Luke Macfarlane’s Scotty and Sarah Jane Morris’s Julia in the same episode?)
Yet while it was nice to see Scotty call Kevin on his crap, wasn’t the whole conflict resolved too quickly, and just a little too smoothly? Kevin’s own mother was repulsed by his brash "bull in a china shop" behavior, so how come Scotty let his spouse off the hook with such stunning ease? I mean, it’s not like Kevin bought a new flatscreen TV, or even a car, without Scotty’s okay; he spent three-quarters of a million dollars. And yet, after five minutes of discussion, Kevin was coming to the realization "I didn’t realize how amazing I was" instead of being kicked to the couch where he belonged. I repeat: $750,000. It’s stressing me out to think about it even now.
At least Justin’s colossally unsuitable setup between Uncle Saul and his fellow NA-er Paul provided some comic relief from a pretty uncomfortable episode. The night’s funniest moment was a stern Sarah alerting her little brother that "You and I will be having words," after his pal arrived two hours early for her soiree. First and second runner-up prizes go to Paul’s comments to Justin ("Oh, Justin, I’m so flattered. But I’m afraid I’m way past my twink phase.") and Nora ("We have similar taste in men. I just go from one cheater to another!").
What did you think of this week’s episode? Were you as excited as me to hear someone acknowledge Justin’s lack of a job? Who else was happy to see Robert reluctantly (but nonetheless definitely) get pulled into a round of Walker scheming? And who else would have found it funnier if Kitty’s telenovela watching hadn’t been acknowledged by her sister, and instead been left as a hilarious background detail?
Although I think Kevin and Scotty resolved their issues way to fast, I was happy to see them make up at the end because they’re my favourite couple on the show. Also, I really enjoyed Robert having the phone call with the whole family. It was great to see him be less detatched from the Walkers.
Any episode even remotely adjacent to being Kevin/Scotty-centric is awesome!
Where’s the rest of the recap? No mention of the Robert/Kevin/Sarah/etc phone call that set operation Kitty into motion? That was classic!!! And what about Holly’s comment she was hoping the night would go bad for the family–why is she still on this show???? Recap isn’t bad, just missing a lot of fun!
Why is no one noticing that Nora said that she did NOT want the house and wanted to go home.
Honestly, Nora drains me. Why is it that every meal seems like Nora speech time? “Oh, all Walker men are just like their Dad, the country is crap, why won’t my children tell me anything???” No wonder William cheated on her… As much as I love Sally Feild, she brings down the show.
More siblings! More wine!
Nothing warm and fuzzy about the K/S storyline? Did you miss the happy and uplifting scene at the end when Kevin surprised Scotty with an appointment to open a joint account? Kevin did majorly overstep this episode, but his heart is usually in the right place (yes, it was partly driven from his need to be the breadwinner, but it was equally clear he had wanted to surprise his husband with something he’d love). And unlike other characters (::cough:: Robert), Kevin admits his faults and apologizes when he makes a mistake.
And you took line, “I didn’t realize how amazing I was” out of context. Kevin saying that was a compliment to Scotty, since Scotty had just said Kevin had made him the person who he was now. Kevin was saying that Scotty has really achieved a lot in a short space of time.
One of my favorite episode this season. It featured my favorite dynamics (Kevin/Scotty, Kevin/Nora, Sarah/Kitty) and a new one I really enjoyed (Justin/Saul).
And I must have been watching a different episode than the reviewer, because this episode was mostly comedic in tone (with a few notable exceptions).
Enough with the dinner parties! And Thanksgiving is coming so I fear another one…..
Bad episode from a really mediocre season. Thank God for the dynamic trio of Flockhart, Griffiths, and Field otherwise these ridiculous storylines would be unwatchable. The acting is so great on this show but the writing is horrible.
scotty is just so damn adorable, i wanna squeeze his charmin. he must really love kevin to put up with that man! and where’s the B&S love? give em a full tv watch, dammit!
Is it really unrealistic that the Walker family can’t get through a dinner together without a meltdown? My real-life family can’t seem to do so either (though we do better with outside guests than the Walkers). As for Scotty and Kevin, they have to resolve their conflicts or we’ll lose Scotty. He’s too cute/sweet, so that’s not acceptable.
Favorite part was definitely the dysfunctional conference call about Kitty.
I may not have given this show much of a chance but the few episodes I start to tune into I change the channel b/c I realize it’s just going to be the family getting into another tiff over dinner and after some dramatic argument someone realizes they were wrong and apologize and then the cycle starts all over again next Sunday…
I really do not understand why people are giving this season such a hard time. I have laughed and been just as engaged with this show this season as I have always been. Not many shows are this smart, witty and engaging. I love it. Reminds me of my family every Sunday.
$750,000 was nothing in the pre-crash California real estate market.
I’ve had enough kissing between Kevin and Scotty to last a lifetime. If you want to know why Prop 8 passed, just think of them.