Brothers & Sisters

As a follow-up to yesterday’s recap, here are some memorable lines from the episode “Double Negative.” Did I miss one of your favorites? Share it in the comments.

Kevin: This is what you want, all alone in this big empty house?
Justin: Hello, I live here.
Kevin: Exactly.
Tommy: Let’s not get into your problems, all right?

Rebecca: Who’s Jamie?
Tommy: Mom’s interior designer.
Sarah: Yeah. When she turns up, it’s like a maternal distress call. When Kitty went to New York, within 24 hours, all the kitchen cabinetry — gutted.
Nora: Well, you know, the cabinetry was awful. It was dingy. It was maple.
Justin: When I enlisted in the army, all new wallpaper upstairs.
Kevin: How about when I came out? Most parents just cry. Mom rips out the entire backyard.
Sarah: Nothing but dirt, dumpsters and porta-potties for, like, two years.
Nora: Well, I thought Kevin would have a lot more pool parties. I was trying to be supportive.

Rebecca: Gosh, if it turns out I’m not a Walker, your mom’s gonna build a third floor. Not a bad deal, lose a sister, gain a ping-pong table.

Taylor: I think it’s time for Robert and I to bury the hatchet.
Kitty: I can think of a few places I’d like to bury the hatchet.

Taylor: All’s fair in politics.
Kitty: I think you mean “love and war.”
Taylor: Politics is love and war, at least when you do it right.

Taylor: Maggie, she loves it, all of it — the traveling, the rallies, the thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners, all the asses to kiss.
Kitty: I certainly don’t miss the asses.

Kitty: I’m drowning in his smugness and his aftershave.

Scotty: Tetanus shot, $25. Seven stitches, $2,500. Absence of health insurance, priceless.

(more…)

I’ve been wondering about that title, “Double Negative,” since I first watched the show Sunday night. It seems like it should mean something. When the title was originally announced by ABC, I feared it might mean that neither Rebecca nor Justin was a Walker, and happily we were spared that — thought that hasn’t kept many viewers from feeling doubly negative about Rebecca’s change of paternity.

Share your thoughts about the title’s significance in the comments; meanwhile, I’m going to go searching for double negativity in the recap.

Rebecca and the Paternity Test

The question, “Is Rebecca the daughter of William Walker” is answered in the negative when she receives a call from the lab. Immediately, she confronts David, who’s conveniently on hand since he has nothing to do but lay about Holly’s house all day. Rebecca wonders if he already knew, and he stammers about the timing being suspicious, and Holly saying there was a tiny chance, and the fact that when she was born, he was a mess, and not Daddy material. She’s furious with him for not immediately embracing her as his girl, and at Holly for letting her live with Nora and become part of the family. David reassures her that she can still be a Walker, and not long after he skips town — whether to facilitate her continued Walker-ness, or because the prospect of being screamed at on a daily basis by hysterical women makes living in a Manhattan rathole look appealing by comparison.

Holly’s confused about David suddenly leaving, since they’d just been planning a vacation together. He gives lots of excuses, none of them involving “And oh, by the way, Rebecca took a paternity test and found I’m her father, so heads-up on trauma ahead.” Rebecca’s also keeping the news on the down-low. When she sees Justin at his mother’s charity ball that night, she tells him the test was negative and they’re still semi-siblings. And when she sees her mother at home after the party, she doesn’t mention the test outcome to her either, even (or maybe especially) after she hears that David is gone.

Justin, meanwhile, does not seem as overjoyed that he still has a little sis as you might expect from their closeness. Perhaps he’s just dazed by the anvils of Romantic Attraction that have been beaning him on the noggin throughout the episode. There seems to be a higher percentage of moony looks, for one thing. When he was surfing with Tommy and Kevin, he was a little freaked out by a brotherly joke about seeing Rebecca naked. And the morning after the party, when he comes by early to take his now DNA-approved sister surfing, he lingers longer over Rebecca’s leg while hooking her up to a surfboard than seems entirely brotherly. Oh, the Greek tragedy of it all.

(more…)

Yep, they went there.

The paternity tests are in, and Rebecca’s de-Walkering has begun.

And yep, they’re going there.

The anvils of inappropriate sibling attraction between Justin and Rebecca were falling fast and furious.

So, okay.

We could spend a lot of time debating on it, and probably will. Personally, I spent my commercial breaks wondering whether somehow, the razor clippings could have been left over from William’s last shave, and not be the bearded David’s at all. But that’s just sad. It is what it is.

Sometimes the wave takes you soaring. And sometimes the wave crashes you into the beach. But you just have to ride it anyway.

So all I’ll say for that plot is … wow, Emily VanCamp did some fine acting in that scene with Ken Olin. And wow, David proved Holly right in disqualifying him from the paternity pool by slinking away into the night after hearing Rebecca’s news. I’m happy that we found out as soon as Rebecca got the call, and not sad that she lied to Justin about the results — that party was hardly the place for a big revelation, and the uncomfortableness of Justin’s now apparent-out-of-nowhere romantic feelings for her make it likely that the deception won’t last long.

Anyway, it’s done. No crying over spilled … whatever. Let’s celebrate that Robert’s political campaigning is also done for now, sparing us both more campaign scenes and more exposure to that awful Taylor. Good riddance.

Kevin and Scotty stayed true to tradition — was it for this same big fundraiser last year that Kevin got in trouble for offering to pay Scotty’s lost wages so he could go to the party? He sure does know how to sweet-talk. Scotty turned down the least-romantic domestic-partnership proposal ever, but it’s pretty sure we haven’t seen the end of that idea, or maybe that hand injury, given how much Scotty was wincing.

Poor Sarah. Girl doesn’t even get to take any satisfaction in being proven right! Sort of takes the fun out of “I told you so” when your company’s going down the toilet.

All in all, and despite the giant “Aw, no!” right in the middle, I enjoyed the episode. The show’s always been more than the sum of its individual plotlines, and that’s a good thing, because some of its individual plotlines have been terrible. It will at least be interesting to see just exactly how this one wipes out.

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Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Double Negative, commentary

There’s another new episode on tonight — hooray! — in which we, or at least Rebecca, will apparently discover the results of her paternity test — boo? hooray? hard to say. What does look like fun is the prospect of the Brothers Walker out surfing together. The sight of Kevin in a wetsuit on the beach seems as unlikely to me as the sight of Justin on a golf course, but this family’s full of surprises. Maybe too full.

At any rate, if you’re looking for some previews and promos to get you ready for tonight’s trip down Walker way, here’s what ABC has placed at your disposal:

+ A new Writer’s Room video, with David Marshall Grant and Molly Newman discussing “Separation Anxiety.” Sample revelation: Grant’s favorite quote from the episode was Isaac’s “Undecided voters tend to go with the incumbent”; Newman’s favorite was Justin’s “I live here, pant-load.”

+ The ABC B&S homepage also features two promos and a sneak peek. There’s also a silly little cross-promotional interview with Dave Annable and Chyler Leigh of Grey’s Anatomy, in which the two actors pretend to be interested in one another’s characters and experiences. Annable does come off as completely adorable, of course. As always.

+ The writer’s blog Bloggers and Sisters has a short preview of tonight’s episode, a long post about a set visit during the filming of the episode, and another long post about a table read for the first episode of next season.

+ The writers’ TV Guide blog and fake-paparazzi McCallister and Me blog … have not been updated since before the strike, actually. And I’m fine with that. Let the writers focus on writing episodes. (Would be nice if the music guide got an update, though. And the family tree, alas, may soon need one.)

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Remember that scene at the end of Separation Anxiety, when Nora admitted that she doesn’t feel that anything has actually happened to her until she tells her family about it, and Kitty opined that perhaps that’s why they’re all so bad at keeping secrets?

It makes you wonder: By that way of thinking, did William Walker even exist at all?

I mean, this guy was the Unknowable King, a master at not telling everything that happened to him. Many secrets have come out since his death, but not ’cause he told ‘em. He carried them to his grave, and apparently we haven’t dug everything up yet, because here’s the ABC’s press release for the season finale:

SARAH DISCOVERS ANOTHER DEVASTATING SECRET THAT WILLIAM WALKER HAS KEPT FROM THE FAMILY, ON THE SEASON FINALE OF ABC’S “BROTHERS & SISTERS” “Prior Commitments” - Kevin and Scotty make a commitment to be life partners, Saul finally deals with his identity in a public way, and the family discovers that William (guest starring Tom Skerritt) kept yet another painful secret from his family, on the season finale of “Brothers & Sisters,” SUNDAY, MAY 11 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET).

You know, there’s been talk of ABC pushing this show to skew younger, but I don’t know; seems more to me that they’re being pushed to be a better lead-out for Desperate Housewives, ’cause we’re just a Devastating Secret or two from moving Nora to Wisteria Lane.

My one faint hope is that this new Big Secret will take some of the pressure off Rebecca’s paternity reveal to be the biggest Big Secret, and so therefore she may squeak through and remain a Walker, while more novel outrages take the stage. That would be some consolation.

Still … is this going to be a pattern, that secrets about William keep being revealed once a season or so? Sooner or later, surely, they’re going to run out of good secrets and wind up revealing that he threw a Game Night with the Joneses one year to pay off a bad debt, say, or once got busted for smoking pot with Emily Craft. Writers, stop the madness now. Whatever secrets William has left, can’t he just be buried with them?

Girlfriend.

I’m glad you’re getting it on again after the divorce, truly I am.

And certainly, the new fella is a big step up in the grooming department from the ex-husband. Nice going.

I suppose I can understand why you’d like to turn down his business deal in a way that doesn’t make him think that you turned down his business deal, although he seemed to be a pretty good sport about it the last time.

But asking your uncle to cover your ass so you can keep getting naked with the help? Sweetie, that’s where you lose me.

Is it part of Saul’s job description or something that he has to micromanage the romantic indiscretions of the president of Ojai Foods? He certainly appears to have done service in that role for your father before you, but I think it’s expecting a lot to ask him to do that same thing for a second generation of his sister’s family.

But set aside that. Set aside the fact that he was strongly and even pushily in favor of this deal. Set aside the fact that your mother pretty much gave him carte blanche to feel no responsibility towards you, since you weren’t there for that conversation.

Consider only this: When have you found this guy to be sufficiently trustworthy to take on a task of this nature?

Was it when he tried to make you look bad for doubting him while he hid your father’s secrets?

Was it when you hated Holly and he dated her?

Was it when you agreed no one would tell Nora about Rebecca and then he did?

I mean, sure, he’s your uncle, he’s your family, you love him, you have to. But trust him to respect your wishes and protect your pride? That’s just naive, and it doesn’t become you.

That MBA you got. It didn’t come out of a Cracker Jack box, did it?

Ah, well, don’t listen to me. Something tells me you’re going to learn this lesson the hard way over the next couple of episodes. Might want to get some resumes ready.

Speaking only out of love,

Terri

P.S. Hey, remember when you figured out that Rebecca was your half-sister because your dad added her initial to your siblings’ in his computer password? Any chance William just realized that using your kids’ initials is about the lamest password there is, and threw in an extra letter to mix it up? Just asking.

_{Photos: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Separation Anxiety, commentary

Five questions about last Sunday’s episode — “Separation Anxiety” — still rattling around in my brain:

1. Was Saul confused about the time of the party? I sure was. In Sarah’s office at the start of the episode, after discussing the prospect of Nora going away with Isaac, Saul quite clearly asked about the birthday party tonight. It wasn’t just me — the closed-captioning heard it, too. It had me wondering for quite a bit of the episode whether this birthday party was going to be after the romantic dinner, and how that was going to work. I kept expecting the sibs to use it as an excuse for crashing the dinner, but then it became apparent that the party was the next night. I’d write it off to the scene getting moved and somebody not catching the continuity problem, except … Sarah and Saul’s conversation seemed clearly pre-Nora-declaration, with some wonkiness involving the timing of Graham’s proposal, too. Did anybody else get confused by this? Would have been funny to have Saul show up at the dinner saying truthfully that he thought the party was that night, and Nora not believe that he wasn’t being manipulative, too.

2. Where were all those needy kids after they drove their mother’s boyfriend away? Boy, make her feel guilty for abandoning you, and then when she decides not to go you leave her there to eat dinner alone? That’s cold. I suppose the point was that Nora has to start enjoying her own company, but for it to start on that night Isaac leaves made it look like her children don’t want to hang around with her, but they don’t want her going out and having a life of her own, either.

3. When Graham was talking about stocks changing hands in the business deal, was that Ojai stock being used to pay for something? It made me wonder if there was a hostile takeover of some sort coming up, and that’s what makes Holly (and her shares) their “last hope.” Personally, I can’t say I’d be all that disappointed if Ojai Foods just went away. I know we’re supposed to care about it as the bedrock family business, but the business plots are entirely uninteresting to me. And Sarah almost always seems to look bad in them.

(more…)

As a follow-up to yesterday’s recap, here are some memorable lines from the episode “Separation Anxiety.” Did I miss one of your favorites? Share it in the comments.

Julia: Why do Republicans have so many winner-take-all primaries?
Kevin: Because they hate weakness. Even if you come in a close second, you have to be culled from the herd. It’s so Darwinian for people who don’t believe in evolution.
Tommy: At least we’re decisive. You guys are so sensitive, you split your delegates so nobody gets their feelings hurt.

Sarah: Mom moving to Washington? That’ll never happen.
Kitty: Well, we never thought she’d get busted for smoking pot, either.

Sarah: Who would have the parties if Mom moved to Washington?

Sarah: You don’t think Mom would really leave Paige and Coop, do you?
Tommy: Hello, what about Elizabeth?
Kevin: Get a grip, she’d never leave me.

Kevin: She’s not moving. She doesn’t have any winter clothes.

Rebecca: She invited my mom over to bake. Can’t you stop this?

Nora: Tommy, what are you doing?
Kevin: Tommy’s here?
Tommy: (from kitchen) Uh, Sarah knocked a pot off the stove.
Nora: Sarah’s in there too?
Sarah: Hi, Mom!
Nora: (after a moment, annoyed) Kitty?
Kitty: Hello.
Nora: What is going on?
(Sarah, Kitty and Tommy come in from the kitchen, feigning surprise at seeing Nora’s candlelit dinner with Issac)
Nora: What is this, just some sort of colossal coincidence that you’re all here interrupting my romantic dinner?
(They all deny any bad intentions)
Tommy: That’s not true, I came to tell Isaac about golf. Kev, right?
Kevin: What golf?
Nora: Too bad Justin isn’t here, then I could tell everyone at once.
Justin: (from other room) Yo.

(more…)

Normally, I don’t do recaps in an as-it-happened fashion, but this time it’s called for in order to keep account of those anvils that kept dropping. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the episode immensely, but … if we’d made it a drinking game to down a beverage every time somebody made a portentous statement about Rebecca’s Walkerness, we’d have all passed out by the third commercial break.

So now, welcome to Super Tuesday, Walker style (which means, several months late).

The results are playing on the TV at Graham’s as Sarah comes over and quicky disrobes, because the only politics they’re interested in is sexual politics … and at Tommy and Julia’s, as they watch the results with Kevin and debate the difference between winner-take-all and splitting delegates … and at Holly’s, as Rebecca and Justin return with ice cream and find Holly and David making out on the sofa … and backstage somewhere on the campaign trail, as Isaac tells Robert that his opponent is waiting for him to make his speech. Oops, that doesn’t sound good. But Kitty’s proud of her man anyway. His concession speech is playing again, hours later, as Isaac comes into Nora’s bedroom, sits down, and lays his head on her shoulder very sweetly. She allows as how she hopes he can stay in California a while and not rush back to Washington, but he’s already fallen asleep.

And … it’s three months later! Just like that! The magic of TV, I tell ya.

Robert and Kitty are in a fertility clinic office, getting instructions on injecting hormones. Robert lets slip that Nora and Isaac are having a special dinner that night, and the ABC Music of Whimsy works very hard to alert us that there is Walker wackiness ahead.

Here’s the soon-to-be-dining couple now. Appears that Isaac’s been living with the Widow Walker for lo these three months, but now she’s found out he’s taking a professorship that will finally take him back to Washington. He says he’s hoping she’ll move there with him, and that was to be the topic of tonight’s dinner. He’s hoping she’ll say yes, but she doesn’t look too sure.

Back from commercial, and into another montage. Boy, it’s like they read my post about wanting more family in various conversations, ’cause it’s a regular Walker roundelay here. Kitty tells Sarah that Isaac’s asking mom to go to Washington, something Sarah swears will never happen. But then Sarah mentions it to Saul, and she’s the one doubting while Saul’s sure it will never happen. He also mentions something about Graham’s new proposal, and asks about the upcoming birthday party (which Sarah says is for “the new one,” Rebecca. If you’re keeping count, that’s Anvil #1.) We move on to Kevin giving Tommy some papers to sign (about the winery, apparently, because Holly needs to sign them too) and the phone rings so that Sarah can let these two know about the outlandish news. Tommy calls Justin, who hasn’t heard a word. The phone chain ends as Justin gets another call, from Rebecca, referencing her birthday that night. She wants no part of it, but Justin explains that no one stops Nora from having parties, so “welcome to being a Walker.” Anvil #2. Uh-oh.

(more…)

If ever there was an episode that proves my contention that I’ll forgive anything if I get enough family together time, “Separation Anxiety” would have to be it.

I could complain about the anvils constantly falling about Rebecca’s Walker-hood, culminating in Holly’s admission that when she said she was absolutely positively sure that William was her daughter’s father, what she really meant was sorta kinda mostly. I could complain about the way Sarah’s gone from being a sharp businesswoman to someone who’s all dithery about a deal because she’s hot for the consultant. I could complain about how quickly and blandly Robert’s presidential aspirations tanked, or about how this is the second big Walker romance that’s played out primarily during multi-month gaps in the storyline.

But I’m not complaining about a thing, nope, I’m happy as can be, because … could they have packed more Walker togetherness into that episode if they’d used a shoehorn? I just finished writing about how I wanted lots of mixed sibling scenes and spouses with family members scenes and wow, here they all were. A phone chain. A bad party. Siblings ganging up on Mom and Isaac in varying configurations. Kevin over at Tommy and Julia’s like they were all related or something. Julia hanging out in the kitchen with Nora and Kitty. Spouses and boyfriends high-tailing it out of the room when it became clear a Walker firefight would ensue. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. All that was missing was Scotty, but at least he was acknowledged by phone call.

It was otherwise a great showcase for the whole extended family. It was full of wonderful little scenes, like everybody debating Rebecca’s bangs or Kevin getting teary over store-bought lasagna. And it was a great showcase for Sally Field, who’s been reduced to advising the young-uns a lot lately and really got to shine here. I liked her with Isaac — the scene when he came in from the campaign and just rested his head on her shoulder was so sweet — and I don’t know why she couldn’t have at least had a little romantic D.C. vacation with him before they parted.

But I’m not complaining. Not even about the apparent headlong rush into the de-Walkerizing of Rebecca. Given all the annoying little hints that were being dropped all episode, I appreciated that, with Holly’s admission, we finally got the cards laid out on the table. And considering how heavily we’re being given to understand that David’s the true dad, I’m thinking there’s still a possibility it will turn out to be a bluff. It’s sort of too obvious at this point to not be misdirection.

Yeah, I’m probably just being willfully optimistic there. But I’m in a good mood. The Walkers are back! And the rest is just details.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Separation Anxiety, commentary

IT’S BAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Tonight, finally, after what seems like years, Brothers & Sisters is back in its 10:02 p.m. timeslot with the first of four new episodes. Let there be rejoicing!

(And trepidation, ’cause if you’ve seen this week’s Entertainment Weekly, there’s an article — which doesn’t yet seem to be online — that sure sounds like the powers that be are taking the alleged chemistry between Dave Annable and Emily VanCamp really, really seriously.)

But for tonight, rejoicing! Here’s the (not always dependable) ABC press release summary for tonight’s return and the next two episodes, but not yet for the finale.

“Separation Anxiety” - Kitty and Robert make a life altering decision when the Presidential race takes a dramatic turn. Meanwhile, the Walker siblings are shocked by Nora’s reaction to a surprise proposal from Isaac, and Rebecca further investigates the identity of her father, when “Brothers & Sisters” returns to ABC, SUNDAY, APRIL 20 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. … Guest starring are Ken Olin as David Caplan, Danny Glover as Isaac Marshall, Steven Weber as Graham Finch, Evie Peck as Gail and Bruno Oliver as the lab technician. “Separation Anxiety” was written by David Marshall Grant and Molly Newman and directed by Gloria Muzio.

“Double Negative” - Robert is seriously contemplating a future in politics, Kitty’s fertility treatments become increasingly more aggressive, Kevin has an epiphany about his relationship with Scotty and Rebecca reveals information about her paternity test. Meanwhile, contrary to Sarah’s direction, Saul makes a very risky business move that could affect the future of Ojai Foods, on “Brothers & Sisters,” SUNDAY, APRIL 27 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. Guest starring are Luke MacFarlane as Scotty Wandell, Steven Weber as Graham Finch, Ken Olin as David Caplan and Ken Howard as Boyd Taylor. Other guest cast TBD. “Double Negative” was written by Josh Reims and Liz Tigelaar and directed by Michael Schultz.

“Moral Hazard” - In a surprising twist of fate for the Walkers, Holly becomes the only saving grace for Ojai Foods after a major international business deal goes bad. Meanwhile, Justin delivers some heartbreaking news about a family member, Saul makes a stunning confession and Kevin and Scotty share a life-changing moment, on “Brothers & Sisters,” SUNDAY, MAY 4 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. Guest starring are Luke MacFarlane as Scotty Wandell, Justine Dorsey as Sophie McCallister, Max Burkholder as Jack McCallister, Matt Fletcher as the cashier, Tom Virtue as Dr. Bob Rosen and Paula Rhodes as the B-movie victim. “Moral Hazard” was written by Sherri Cooper-Landsman and Jason Wilborn and directed by Michael Morris.

Share your reactions to tonight’s episode here, and come back during the week for a review, recap, memorable lines, and five questions. Back to the old routine!

Brothers and Sisters, ABC

This past week’s posts have looked at what I’d like to see in the coming season-plus-a-few of Brothers & Sisters. Now, with the post-strike return only a day away, I’ll conclude all this check-upping and plot contriving on a cautionary note, with ten things I would not like to see. Some of these seem a little worrisome just now, but I have faith.

1. Any change of parentage for the Walkers as we know them. Too much work to erase a season-and-a-half of story from our brains.

2. A McCallister for Vice President campaign. Give it up. We know they’re not going to Washington.

3. More military service or drug problems for Justin. Been there, done that, come back twice.

4. The return of bitter, angry, workaholic Sarah. Karaoke Sarah’s more fun.

5. Inter-sibling dating. And siblings sharing a girlfriend.

6. Robert’s nanny coming back and suing him for sexual harassment. This isn’t Law & Order. No ripping from the headlines, even if Rob Lowe’s current scandal sounds like it could have been orchestrated by Courtney McCallister.

7. Saul continuing to balance at the entrance of the closet. Come on out if you’re going to!

8. Divorce, infidelity, or romantic dithering by committed couples. Give them a year, is all I’m sayin’.

9. Lena. Ever, ever again.

10. Another strike. Creative folk, have mercy!

What do you most fear seeing when the show returns tomorrow? Share your personal taboo list in the comments. And check out the preview scene in the widget in the right margin below, with perhaps a record-setting extended phone chain of siblings proclaiming, “Mom would never leave us! Right? Right?” So we know what they don’t want to see.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, commentary

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This week, with all the characters checked-up on, I’ve done some looking ahead to what I’d like to see more of in upcoming episodes of Brothers & Sisters — sometimes specific stories, sometimes general directions. And speaking of directions, I’d like to feel that the writers had some. My final wish for Brothers & Sisters is a coherent plan to get from here to the end of next season, as though we were going someplace and not just racing down every sidestreet that shows up.

I think even those of us who love the show and forgive it its flaws have to admit that it’s had an exceptionally difficult time finding its feet. The first pilot was scrapped and substantially re-cast. The first show-runner was ditched early on. For much of the first season, the tone swerved between dark secrets-of-a-suburban-family drama and snarky banter-filled comedy.

Things seemed to be settling out by the end of the first season, but then the show-runner changed again and the plot ran off in all directions, veering dangerously close to prime-time soap territory — brothers sharing a mistress! husband-and-wife affairs! unexpected pregnancy! paternity questions! — before running smack into the writer’s strike. Even then there was drama, with the very noisy ouster of creator Jon Robin Baitz and another shifting of show-runners. It’s enough chaos to make a Walker dinner party look sedate by comparison.

Enough of that now, don’t you think? We can write off the sophomore season to the strike, and hope that a lot of the questionable developments were due to the hurry of getting scripts done before pencils went down. They’re getting a nice jump now on Season 3, and may I respectfully, desperately suggest that somebody sit down and write an outline of the dang season before they start writing those scripts? Not that it has to be set in stone, but there should be a general sense of where the show is going and what stories are going to get told.

Like Justin, it’s time for the show to grow up a little.

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Brothers and Sisters, ABC

This week, with all the characters checked-up on, I’m doing some looking ahead to what I’d like to see more of in upcoming episodes of Brothers & Sisters — sometimes specific stories, sometimes general directions. We’ve talked about more sibling together time, spousal support, and work for Jamie Lee Curtis.

Today’s entry is pure selfishness on my part, because when the show does anything dealing with disabilities, I can blog about it on my special-needs parenting site. But I do think there are some good dramatic stories to be told on that subject, of the type that keep the focus on the family and not on external foes. Here are three possibilities; maybe you can think of something you like better.

Paige: The show has actually had a special-needs storyline already, but after an episode or two of trauma sort of let it drift. Paige was diagnosed with diabetes early in the first season, as part of the general beating-up that Sarah got for being such a workaholic mom. We haven’t heard much about it lately, though, other than maybe an occasional reference. But Paige is starting to be old enough to be more in charge of her own diabetes maintenance, and also to screw it up on purpose to get attention. Especially if it brings mom and dad together and focused on her instead of fighting.

Elizabeth: I’ve mentioned in Julia’s check-up that an autism storyline for Elizabeth could have lots of dramatic potential, and it’s certainly a high-profile disability right now. The situation many parents go through of feeling something’s not right but being unable to get a solid diagnosis — and dealing with differing opinions from relatives over whether the parents are responding too much or too little — could make for a nice story arc in this most overinvolved and opinionated of families. It would at any rate give Julia something to do, and does she ever need it.

Baby McCallister: Given Kitty’s age, genetic testing might reasonably be a part of impending parenthood for her and Robert. Terminating a pregnancy due to a suspected disability would be touchy territory for a Republican politician, I’d think, and even screening out embryos in IVF can present a moral quandary. I’m thinking about the way Robert responded to the news that his opponent hid a developmentally disabled son, and thinking that the candidate’s reluctance to make political hay off it might have been more than just a clean campaign pledge — maybe he doesn’t know if he could accept a child with a disability, and can relate to Adamson’s actions. If we’re hoping that the end of the presidential effort kicks off some soul-searching for Robert, this might further it along.

What sort of challengs would you like to see the Walkers face? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Brothers and Sisters, ABC, special needs

This week, with all the characters checked-up on, I’m doing some looking ahead to what I’d like to see more of in upcoming episodes of Brothers & Sisters — sometimes specific stories, sometimes general directions. Monday’s was a general longing for more sibling together time, and yesterday’s was a specific idea for a specific actress.

Today’s post is back to the general, and back to our familiar family members, with a wish for the Walker spouses to have some interaction beyond their particular sibling storylines.

Earlier this season, things were looking bad for Walker relationships. Sarah was divorcing, Tommy and Julia were on the rocks, Kevin and Jason were at least geographically far apart, and there seemed a possibility that differences in baby-wanting might split Robert and Kitty. Yet here we are, with Elizabeth’s parents back together, the McCallisters happily wed, and Kevin about to tie the knot with Scotty. Joe is still gone, but we stand to have a record number of in-laws on hand by the end of the season.

So let’s do something fun with them, okay?

If they’re part of the family, they’re part of the family. I look forward to seeing Julia, Robert, and Scotty interacting with each other and with their brothers- and sisters- and mother-in-law, not just their individual significant others. I think Rob Lowe, Sarah Jane Morris, and Luke MacFarlane (who apparently will be a regular next season) are up to the task of making those scenes worth our while. They’re regulars. We should see them regularly.

I’m thinking about that double-date dinner from “The Other Walker” where Sarah and Kitty keep breaking out in squabbles while Robert and Joe commiserate and then ditch out for a cigar. Or “Northern Exposure,” with Scotty getting pulled into the argument involving Tommy and Julia and Kevin. Or even the very early episodes where Joe and Julia kind of lurked around the edges of conversations, putting in a word of sanity every so often. More of that sort of thing would be nice. There’s no need for a character like Julia to go missing for weeks on end because there’s no couple plot going on. She could at least meet Sarah at the playground to snark about the meanie mommies.

They could find the extra time for these in-law scenes by ditching the business intrigue plots, and the doubts-about-parentage plots, and any further plots involving Justin and drugs. Tons and tons of time.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC