Image Credit: Danny Feld/ABCThis show went off the rails last night during a two-hour episode that finally revealed what Dennis York was lording over Nora to get her to ask the kids to sell their shares in Ojai. We all know how amazing Sally Field came be in emotional scenes, but I just wanted to slap her when Nora had her freak out over Sarah not wanting to give up the family business. Partly because we all knew it was going to come out, so it just seemed melodramatic, and partly because there’s no way she could have thought behaving like that wouldn’t have made her kids even more determined to find out what she was hiding.
The show did do a nice fake-out by making us think that it was someone Tommy had paralyzed 25 years ago in a drunk driving accident that William and then Nora paid off over the years. But really, it was the friend 14-year-old Kevin had taken to Sarah’s Ojai kegger that night. The boy, Aaron, had tried to kiss Kevin, but since Kevin hadn’t come out yet (even to himself), he started a fight that ended with Aaron falling off the dock platform. William and Nora told Kevin that Aaron was fine, because they didn’t want to destroy his life — it was an accident. But Kevin isn’t ready to forgive Nora. He went to see Aaron, who, after much therapy, got past his anger and came to realize that Kevin was just behaving the way society at that time told him to — two boys shouldn’t kiss. Today, Aaron has a partner and a life and has moved on; now Kevin needs to as well. With the secret out, Holly somehow convinced Nora to start looking for Narrow Lake again. They went Thelma & Louse on Dennis York, with Nora keeping him entertained in the hotel bar talking about whether she regretted never leaving William for him while Holly went through his room looking for clues. Holly grabbed his valet card, and Nora said if there’s nothing in his room and the man doesn’t have an office, there must be something in his car (on his GPS). So they stole it. Funny, sure. But come on! You’re going to steal a man’s car? When your daughter is running for office? And your son is a senator? Everyone was way too calm about this, including Robert. But perhaps he always knew he’d just be able to bail them out so they could make a big family dinner at the Ojai house to celebrate Justin and Rebecca’s wedding. (I guess Holly finally looked at that lake house painting hanging in her home so she’d have a reason to go the courthouse with Rebecca and Justin and they’d see the marriage license office and get married.)
The episode ended with Thelma and Louise realizing that William didn’t sleep with Holly, the leggy blond Nora remembered him flirting with at a party in 1973, on a weekend he told her he was going to look for land. He brought her back a pressed penny like the one Rebecca made for Justin at the start of their Ojai honeymoon, so it must have been in that area. Justin made himself useful doing something with a map (and Kevin figured out Narrow Lake is an anagram for Nora Walker), and they pinpointed a location that Holly and Nora found. There’s nothing there — but their future, said Nora. Groan. I am so over this storyline I’m wishing Ryan would return.
What did you think of the episode and the way the pieces finally fit together? What was your favorite part of the ’80s flashback? Kevin coming out to a drunk Kitty was the only moment I care to remember, other than Tommy saying he’d take Kevin to see Platoon and Kevin saying, “I’d rather see Top Gun again.” Ha! Is there getting to be too much drama on Brothers & Sisters?
Too much drama on this show? That’s like saying there are too many gifts at Christmas or too much food at Thanksgiving dinner! The show is a drama-buffet. If I wanted realistic, subtle writing, I’d pop in my Mad Men DVDs, not tune into Brothers & Sisters.
Yes, there was melodrama but I thought this was the best two hours of Brothers and Sisters. Lots of wonderful moments between the siblings. I don’t care if Sally Field goes bonkers. It was fun to watch.
Agreed. That episode was amazing! In particular, I thought Kevin’s acting (Matthew Rhys’s) was unbelievable, definitely the best of this season, and some of his best ever. He is such a complex, intriguing, beautiful character; I really thought that storyline with the flashback and everything was amazing. The other “funny” storylines were not as strong, but definitely didn’t drag it down. It was overall absolutely the best episode of the season. I was getting worried with the last few episodes; they were too light and needed something heavier like this. Kevin coming out to Kitty was very moving. And you gotta love how the 1980s looked so much more perfectly glossy than it actually looked in reality! But that’s TV for you, especially with high tech cameras and such. All in all, it was wonderful, and reminded me why I love this show so much!
I totally agree. It was a great episode with an involving story, nice back-stories for all of the characters and even some laugh-out-loud humor. 2 hour “very special” episodes are usually torture to sit through (see every single season finale of Desperate Housewives) but this was a pleasure to watch. Sorry mandi, you missed the boat on this one.
oh i thought it was fun and great episode!
I like this show, but the adult Walker kids have always been too whiny. I don’t understand why Kevin is so mad at his mother. Nora did what ever mother does for their young children. Keep the dark stuff away. She protected him when he was 14 years old from a tradegy that could have been too much for a 14 year old to handle. All he does at 38 years old is yell like a baby & treat his mom like she was his enemy. Like Nora said, “when was the right time to tell you?” I absolutely loved Sally Fields freakout scene. (I feel she may get award nominations from that)
This show frustrates me , but I can’t stop watching.
Exactly. Why would Nora ever think this would ‘tear her family apart’? The family’s been through harder stuff already. I was expecting the secret to be something much bigger–example: Kevin was actually the son of one of William’s mistresses who met an untimely end. Actually, if they had made Aaron dead as a result of the accident (perhaps on Ojai’s roof?), that might have done it.
Totally agree with you. The story of why Nora thought it would rip the family apart was a little bit of a let down. I mean, it was clearly an accident. It might have ripped the family apart if it was infact Tommy’s drunk driving accident that caused it because none of the other siblings would be able to forgive Tommy for making another mistake, but this was Kevin…the good kid that everyone loves and who always does the right thing…the secret should have been something bigger…
I agree and disagree(And this is to strawberrycutie also).
I expected a MUCH different secret. I do think it should have been bigger and at first I thought Aaron had died. But if he had died how could they easily proceed with Kevin’s Character? That would have been 3rd degree murder!
She was afraid of what happened happening. Everyone is going to view their perfect mother different knowing what she covered up and Kevin would hate her for it. Just as it played out. She was worried of everyone hating Kevin but hating her I believe. I wish they would rid of Kevin’s character. He irritates the hell out of me! I do wish he would have killed Aaron. would have been a MUCH bigger twist.
I was completely convinced that Dennis would turn out to be the father of one of the kids (Tommy), so I was really happy that I was wrong and completely shocked by the reveal of what York was really hiding. Plus, it was a nice (yet sad) reminder to viewers about the kind of destruction that shame related to being gay can cause.
I was REALLY impressed with the casting of young Sarah – wow, was that actress ever similar to Rachel Griffiths. Tommy was a pretty close comparison too.
Question: they also cast younger kids and young William/Norah for flashbacks to 1973 – I assume those will come in to play as they determine the whole Narrow Lake thing right?
Loved the episode, despite my agreement that the stolen car thing was pretty crazy (wouldn’t Dennis have called the cops immediately, and had them pulled over within five minutes???). Also, it was a bit jarring to go from something so serious and sad to all of the levity and shenanigans of the second hour, but overall, I really enjoyed it.
I thought York was going to be the fatehr of one of the kids too!
Me too, but that is really a disgusting thought. Shudder!
I definitely thought for like a second that William was going to driv eup and see Kevin and Aaron kissing and HE was the one who paralyzed him. That would have torn the family apart had Nora covered it up. All in all, the story line was great, but there was just SOO much packed into this episode that it got to be a little ridiculous at the end, especially shifting the focus back on Kitty at the end with the “I don’t have cancer” thing. We get it, cancer is dramatic. It just took away from Justin and Rebecca, and then they tried to figure out more about Narrow Lake, shifting more attention away from Justin and Rebecca.
Great Episode!!! I thought the actor who played Kevin at 14 was Perfectly cast! He looked like his younger twin! This show is Amazing, I love it!!!
The young actor did a great job of getting all of adult Kevin’s mannerisms. The young Kitty was very poorly cast.
That’s ABC/Disney throwing it’s weight around. Former Disney actress (who has always been horrible) Kay Panabaker played young Kitty. Ugh! I’m sure they could’ve found someone else.
I thought the casting of the younger siblings (and their acting/mannerisms) was awesome EXCEPT for Kitty. She looked nothing like her and didn’t have any of her quirks.
Do you even really enjoy the show? Because if you did then you would no better to suggest Ryan EVER come back to the show, even in jest. He is a one-dimensional douchebag that doesn’t belong in the Walker clan.
Anyhoo, yes the show last night was a little contrived and drawn-out, but at least we FINALLY got somewhere regarding this mystery about Narrow Lake. Like Devin said above, I don’t watch this show for a reality check.
And also- Yay for Justin and Rebecca!
I know seriously. Can EW at least find someone who even likes the show a little bit to do a recap? Four paragraphs for a 2-hour episode?
There wasn’t any reason to go further into this episode. It was a hot mess per the usual. The first 40 minutes were great and then BLAMMO: lets get Justin & Rebecca married. Really?
They could’ve have done SO MUCH more with this episode, but crapped out about half-way through. It was kind of a disservice to Matthew Rhys, who was just as good – if not better than Sally Fields – last night.
I like that they got married–got that whole plotline out of the way, rather than waste a whole episode on cheesy matrimonials.
Are you kidding ? The show was awesome yesterday !! (by the way, what’s with the very late recap ??)
I don’t really like too much drama, but I love it when it’s in this family. I love them so much, it’s like I know them all personnally !! lol
I like that Justin and Rebecca are finally married (Shonda, did you watch that ??) even if it was without a big youpla !
The only thing that bothered me last night was the Kitty thingy with the cancer !! Ugh, did they really have to bring that back on those particularly two episodes ?? It certainly wasn’t necessary at that moment. Especially when at the end of the show when it used to be all about the new spouses and it shifted to be all about her. We get it, she’s the main character !
And one last thing, I almost started to hate Nora yesterday. The way she was pushing Sarah (the old, “after all I’ve done for you, can’t you do that tiny thing for me”), that was totally unfair. I would hate if my mother did that to me, and I would certainly make sure NOT to ask her anything after that, I’d rather pay a baby sitter or stay at home than ask her to watch my kids for me again.
this is the best show ever!! castle is my second!! sally field is wonderful just like the rest of the cast. the 2-hour movie was like 2 minutes!! super!
There is no way this show is better than Castle. DH, yes, but not Castle.
I thought the first hour was just horrible, SO melodramatic! What’s the dif between melodrama and drama? In melodrama, characters say EXACTLY what they’re thinking, it’s boring and on the nose soap opera writing; in drama, the writing is less obvious, like real life. The 2nd hour…m’eh. I miss the early days of this show!
Too bad you didn’t like it, Mandi. I thought it was fantastic. Sure, it was over the top, but so what? I was thoroughly entertained for two straight hours, because this ensemble is pretty terrific. And I have to give the casting director kudos for nailing most of the flashback players. Young Kevin is the only one who didn’t feel that much like the grown up Kevin, but he did a great job. This show is still one of the week’s best guilty pleasures for me. And I don’t even like the character of Nora. Love Sally Field. Nora? Not so much.
Good episode, I kept waiting for Sally Field to start yelling…You really really like me in one of her scenes
I’m with you. i adore this show and Sally Fields can do no wrong but I really hate this whole Dennis York storyline. It was all contrived in a way that kept reminding me how contrived it was. I was only sucked in at moments instead of during the entire show as I’m used to.
I agree. So much angst over this one issue for the past year or so and this is all we get, an accident and the guy that was hurt has moved on and all is ok? So all sibs hug and so “let’s all move on”, nothing to see here. And now this silly chase for the lake that does not exist. This show has become too much like a daytime soaper. Why didn’t ABC put Ugly Betty in this Sunday slot. It is (was) a much better show. Does Sally F own part of this show and that is why it stays on the air? Getting way too silly for me.
actually I thought it was funny when Holly and Nora were switching off the phone with Robert. However I do get where Kevin is coming from. He’ll eventually get passed it but he has 25 yrs of guilt now to suddenly deal with. Plus the inquiry as to how much his father knew about that fight was very telling about that anxiety.
Totally agree…the Nora/Holly/Robert phone call was adorable and really fun to watch. I also agree that Kevin’s reaction was very justified and his guilty and anxiety were very understandable. Overall, it was a good episode…I just expected the big ‘Dennis York secret’ to be a lot bigger and a lot worse than it actually was.
PS: to the PW’er who figured out that “Narrow Lake” was an anagram for “Nora Walker” about a month ago, I’m assigning you 10 cool points.
As soon as they started talking about playing word games at the Ojai house, I yelled at the TV: If you had read the ew.com recaps, you would have known that a month ago! LOL.