Family Time

I have become addicted to ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters.” Besides the great cast, there is something about how the writers manage to combine humorous moments with serious and heartbreaking ones. In Sunday’s episode the show had some hysterical scenes, such as Kevin and Sarah both answering their phones at the same time and clearly, hearing the same news at the same time. Phone calls on television shows are often hard to pull off, but this show does it so well. It manages to capture the family dynamic of news traveling fast and family banter/squabbling perfectly. Another fabulous scene (again, involving phone calls) was Kitty, Nora, and Kevin listening to the conservative radio host bash them, cumulating with Kitty calling in to talk to him, moments after she had told her brother and mother to not do the very same thing. I loved how upset Kitty got when she realized Kevin had gone too far and called Abraham Lincoln gay. The best part, was at the end when two seconds after hanging up, Robert’s name came up on the caller ID – obviously calling to yell at Kitty for the situation she created.

On the flip side, there were some great serious moments worked into the episode. The scene with Joe telling Sarah he really wanted a divorce was so quiet and simple, but Rachel Griffith played it so well, that the scene was elevated to a much higher level. Obviously, the scenes with Justin coming home after his injury were also on the dramatic side. As soon as I realized Justin was injured I knew there was going to be a struggle with him trying to stay off painkillers because of his previous addiction. Judging by the closing scene of last night, this is going to be a challenge for him. I don’t want to spend weeks watching someone in pain, but I also don’t want Justin to fall off the wagon, so I am interested in where the writers take this.

The one downside of last night was that it appears as though Tommy is being set up to fall for the new office manager Lena. Tommy has never been my favorite character, for no reason other than he didn’t have a storyline until halfway through last season – when everyone else had already become so much more fleshed out. So, a more dramatic plot with adultery seems shoehorned in. However, the show didn’t introduce Lena, establish her as a friend of Rebecca’s, and hire her for the vineyard for no reason.