So Tommy came back from his Mexican meditation stint and so did his whiny energy. I couldn’t delight in it the way his siblings and mother did. (Maybe Mandi will have a different take when she returns next week). Even as he was being Zen Tommy, being supportive of Justin’s attempt to be a doctor and being all calm and stuff, I just knew he’d be back to his old ways, somehow blaming others for his bad behavior. This time Nora bore the brunt of it.When Nora found out that Tommy’s wife Julia wanted a divorce and wasn’t letting him see their daughter, she went to work pleading with him to not allow that. But instead he went on about how she needed to let him fix his own messes and stay out of his life. True, Nora specializes in butting into her kids’ lives but Tommy was really angry because he knew she was right and he needed to fight at least to be in his kid’s life. But it would take as special backyard talk with Kitty to drive that home. And first Norah had to have her own breakthrough realization that she had always given Tommy high expectations, at least behaviorally, because she needed him to always do the right thing while she dealt with her four other children.
In other news, Sarah’s daughter gave her mother’s boyfriend, yummy Frenchman Luc (Gilles Marini), the greenlight to stay in the guest bedroom. I still don’t think that’s a good idea, for a variety of reasons. Also, weaselly Ryan is really trying to stick it to the Walkers by selling them out to David Purdham but at least the newly broke Holly didn’t bite when he offered to buy out her stake in Ojai.
And Scotty and Kevin had a big fight over whether or not their friend/surrogate should sign a contract. Scotty was clearly wrong about going super-casual about it but they had to go through the whole arc of seeing Tommy’s troubles to appreciate that. And it was very sweet of Kevin to go and make nice with the seemingly flightly girl, and i’m sure he’s sincere that he wants her to work out, but I see more trouble between them in the future.
How about you guys? Where do you think Luc and Sarah are going? What’ll come of the Purdham/Holly story line? Were you happy to see Tommy again?
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It’s Ojai.
I could do without seeing Tommy for another year. And he can take Ryan with him.
Not to be pedantic, but it’s “Ojai” (as in the town in California), not “Ohi.”
Why is Ryan on this show? It is waiting time. Get rid of Ryan, Rebecca, Holly and her boyfriend.
Oh my, this recap was pointless. And full of misinformation.
First, it’s Ojai (not Ohi), like the city in California.
re: Ryan – I had read he was intended to be a regular this season, but (thankfully) he seems to be ‘recurring.’ I wonder if this has to do with fan dislike of him? On a tangential note, did anyone else think he looked 3 years older (and so red under the eyes I wondered if he was on drugs)? I’m not sure exactly how reckless his abandon is in giving info to the Walkers’ rival/ex-business colleague of William Walker, but he doesn’t seem cunning enough to know what’s important or not. I guess we’re setting him up to be the villain with Dennis York (played by Peter Gerety, not David Purdham!!!) and make Holly sympathetic, but it’s a double-edged sword. Less screen time for Ryan: yay! Not enough screen time to develop the story: boo!
The situation with Frenchy progressed as we knew it would — Sarah continued lying, Paige found out (and was cool with it). The other shoe is going to drop, and we have little idea what it is yet. He is perfect man still, and I am intrigued to start to see a second or third dimension from him. He’s cute-ish and charming, but so far that’s about it.
As Robert was MIA this episode, Kitty got to ignore her illness for the most part and act as Tommy’s reassurance system. She seemed very apt to say exactly the right thing at the right time — which is a little out of character for her — but we got good pay-off with the memory book she is creating for Evan.
Was there no residual anger from the clan for Tommy’s past deeds? All is forgiven since the charges were dropped? Wouldn’t Sal still be (a bit) pissed that Ojai is suffering as it is, mostly because of him? It seemed very smooth from all Walkers (even Nora, whose looks of disapproval stemmed from the fact that Tommy was being less of a man than the situation required, and not his past sins). I guess we should embrace this as the Walkers’ having found forgiveness 100%.
As for the surrogate situation, Scotty’s friend Michelle does seem flighty. Kevin’s concerns are 150% valid, and the contract was spot-on. (If they went through the agency, there would be contracts galore, I’m sure.) The fact that Scotty felt he “sprung” this is ridiculous — Scotty know’s he’s an uptight lawyer, no? Had Kevin just said a variation of his little speech to Michelle (we’ll get you a lawyer to help you understand it and can negotiate anything you don’t like) it would have been an open-and-shut case. Instead we planted the seeds for Scotty’s snipes at the family dinner — thankfully it did not devlove into a blowout between the two. I just would have liked a little more of a challenge — perhaps that Kevin and surrogate were okay with the contract, but the more she talked maybe Scotty got uncomfortable? Kevin’s jokes landing as jokes, but Scotty thinking hard about drinking/partying/what-have-you. (And am I the only one bothered by the fact that they have not mentioned much about her past relationship with Kevin’s ex, the at-the-moment bisexual Jason Lewis actor character?)
At least we got a break from the med school/wedding drama — which I think has been playing out realistically but was teetering on the edge of what I like to call “false drama” — real emotions played against situations that have been fabricated by writers, not the life of the characters. Nice to see Justin an Rebecca getting along! (Though from the previews — insinuation of pregnancy? — this may be a shortlived calm spot before the storm.)
Overall an okay episode. I’m glad there wasn’t major Tommy-related explosions, but the whole thing felt a little anticlimactic.
Thanks Aaron for your great review and I agree with all of your points! This is the second place that I have read that Michelle is the same as the Jason Lewis-character-girlfriend. Was this confirmed on the show and I missed it or is it the Olin’s daughter again and I just think that she looks different than before?
Yes this is Olin’s daughter, yet again. It’s absurd for Olin’s daughter to be re-introduced as another character. She is a terrible actress who tries to mimic her mother’s technique. Isn’t it enough that Olin acts and directs, his wife has a major role, their son is a writer and their daughter was on the show for a while? How embarrassing this must be for the fine cast of B&S to watch nepotism instead of talent define their show.
Thanks, Aaron. That was way better than Abby West’s anemic rendition.
Kudos on the great recap Aaron!!!
Aaron, please write next week’s recap. I missed most of the show on Sunday and your “review” helped to fill in the blanks! Thanks.
Yes, I was very happy to see Tommy. The show is not the same without him. I’d rather see him than Holly, Ryan, Robert, David, and surrogate girl.
Great scenes with the Walkers on the phone, the family dinner, Kitty and Tommy… and especially Tommy and Norah. She’s right to be worried about him, but she was wrong to bring it up at dinner. He has to fix his own mess. Norah is finally realizing her son is NOT perfect… and now she can see how “giving him away” to her philandering, embezzeling, blowhard husband might have affected Tommy. This boy grew up idolizing and pleasing his dad. Then he finds out dad was a total fake. Is it any wonder he’s having trouble adjusting? I honestly think Norah would be a lot more helpful if she just shut up and LISTENS to him. He didn’t come home for a lecture; he came to see his sick sister.
Anyway, great episode. I hope Tommy comes back soon.
“wrong to bring it up at dinner” — that is what this show is great at — the big, ugly family dinners that we all dread. The problem was this dinner did not have as much punch/surprise to it.
Seriously?? I waited all day for this?! The recaps on this site are getting to be PATHETIC!! I am continually disappointed!! Crucial plot points are attributed to the wrong characters (not in this recap but others), things are misspelled and it seems as if it’s the reviewers first time tuning into most of the shows!! Has EW forgotten that it used to be a respected magazine that employed people like editors and fact checkers? Can you hire people who know how to spell or at least use spellcheck?! PATHETIC!
AMEN
This is an opinion blog. They don’t go through the same editing process as articles. This is the was it works on the Internet. Start reading a newspaper if you’re looking for something different.
*way it works
I agree. TV Watch is Pathetic. It’s Even more pathetic that the editor Abby West used to be a fact checker for the magazine.
The only good recaps now are for DWTS and Project Runway.
Who in the world hired Abby West?!? Not only was this nothing more than a synopsis, it’s full of errors as well! Come on EW – you can certainly hire better writers than this!
Amen. I hear that time inc. planning layoffs. They should start with whoever hired Abby West
What a horrible recap….get your facts straight before something is printed. My favorite parts of last night’s episode were when Nora, Kitty and Luke holding hands thinking a prowler was in the house and the scene where they are all on their phones getting/giving the news that Tommy is home.
There’s another error in the recap no one has pointed out yet. Although you may want to saint him for being so hot, the name of the gorgeous actor who plays Luc is Gilles Marini, not Gilles St. Marini!
Don’t know if that’s better or worse than last week, when he was Gilles Marino.
Ha! Yeah, I don’t mean to be obnoxious, but it’s not my job to write about television and I could do a much better job than this. And, I would fact check my work before submitting it online.
Worst recap I’ve ever read. And I too waited all day for this. Hey EW…maybe you should hire “Aaron” to write for you
I hope the revenge plot Dennis has for the Walkers fizzles out soon. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. I’m guessing the plan will be foiled by Ryan or Holly.
@Aaron – thanks for the wonderful recap. It was much more informative than the writers.
I hope Mandi is back next week.
I always love the Walker’s doing their version of the phone tree. Cracks me up every time.
I would be happy if Tommy was on off camera character. Maybe he could send cute Christmas cards, and that would be all we’d hear of him. He is such a downer. And Ryan! I know we need conflict, but he’s so creepy-not fun creepy-but snotty, stupid creepy. I just can’t get behind the villains on the show. I liked that Holly was complex and a good/bad person with an ax to grind. But Ryan, the middle aged guy, and to an extent, Tommy aren’t much to shake your fist at. Still love the show. I love Kevin and Scotty. I can live with Kitty and her plastic husband. I like Sarah. There’s a lot to like, but they need to work on the bad guys.
Did not like Tommy before, and still do not like him or miss him at all. Really dislike Ryan, he is such a creep.
I always enjoy Scotty and Kevin. Sarah´s boyfriend is soo hot but I hope his character is developed further in future episodes. I think I am the only one that likes Robert so I did miss him!