Brothers & Sisters

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?

Continuing on in a series of posts on the characters of Brothers & Sisters — where they’ve been, where they’re at, and where we’d like them to go — let’s pause to remember the Walker patriarch.

Origins: When we met William in the first episode of Brothers & Sisters, he was the beloved head of his family and his family business, but there were whispered phone conversations and mysterious blondes at the office to indicate that all was not as it seemed. Then, he dropped dead.

Progress: Being deceased didn’t keep the guy from driving plot, though. He turned up in flashbacks during the first season, and unraveling his embezzlement, infidelity, and illegitimate parenting moves kept his clan hopping. Even as his widow and mistress visited his grave on the first anniversary of his death, the thought entered their minds that there could be more women out there.

Current Status: Referenced occasionally this season, as Sarah runs the family business, Rebecca wonders if she’s somebody else’s illegitimate daughter, and Tommy follows in William’s unfaithful footsteps.

Concerns: The family has switched from a patriarchy to a matriarchy, and that’s as it should be. But for a guy whose presence was so heavily felt last year, even in death, he doesn’t seem to be thought of much anymore. Given the dominating force William was for this family, good and bad, I’d think it’d take more than a year to shake him off. Or maybe it’s just that I’d like to see Tom Skerritt again.

Prognosis: Aw, I’m not really proposing more flashbacks with bad Nora hair. But the legacy of duplicity and judgment William left his children with still has some dramatic juice in it. If we actually get a good strong storyline about Tommy’s marriage repair, his relationship with William should be part of that. Justin’s still got some daddy issues to resolve, and Kevin as well. If Rebecca does get confirmation that it’s really William, not David, who’s her dad, it would not be unrealistic for her to make a more thorough investigation of who and what he was than she’s done so far. And who knows — maybe the reason Saul never formed any meaningful relationships over the years is because he was secretly pining for his brother-in-law.

Second Opinions: Sylviane thinks we’re owed a scene between William and Kevin. Is there a William moment you’d like to flash back to? Share your thoughts on this character in the comments.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, William, Tom Skerritt

Did you see that letter from William Walker in Amy Dickinson’s “Ask Amy” advice column yesterday? Okay, it probably wasn’t really from William Walker, since he’s a) a fictional character and b) dead. But it’s sure the sort of thing the Walker patriarch should have been asking about before his unfortunate poolside demise. “Fleeting” writes, in part:

“I realize that life is fleeting, that death might happen at any moment. I could get hit by a car or struck by lightning. What happens when someone dies unexpectedly and those belongings that one would normally hide become discovered? … How do these discoveries by those family, friends and significant others clearing your personal belongings after you are gone change the way they think of you or are going to remember you?”

Well, quite a lot, there, as it turns out. When they find the photo of the illegitimate daughter in the summer house, when they find the deed to the cozy cottage your mistress lives in, when they find the embezzled bank account and the secret safe deposit box and the deed worth large amounts of money and the bequest to the mistress, their opinion changes significantly. (Okay, again, the letter writer was more concerned with a collection of Hustlers and a baggie of cocaine; William would probably have gotten off easy with those.)

Tonight’s fourth showing of “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″ deals with secrets being revealed all around. And tonight, a few new secrets have been added: Scenes from Season 2 are to be previewed. The episode’s flashbacks also offer a good opportunity to wish a “Happy Birthday” to Tom Skerritt, who portrays the not-so-dear departed William, and turned 74 yesterday. Hope he’s learned a lesson, and cleaned out his closets.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Mistakes Were Made Part 2, William Walker, Tom Skerritt

Good to know that wildly misleading promos aren’t exclusively the province of U.S. TV networks. Check out this promo for the upcoming Australian TV debut of a great new series starring Tom Skerritt. Well, hey, it’s true for the first episode, anyway. But you’d never guess there were any actual “brothers” involved, would you?

Entertainment Weekly has a funny look at “The TV Characters We Lost This Year,” bidding a final farewell to “obit players” from Mr. Eko to Denny Duquette. Among the tributes is this item on the Brothers & Sisters paterfamilias: “William Walker, head of California-based Ojai Foods, died in September after suffering a heart attack in his home. Survivors include his fierce wife, Nora, five neurotic (but telegenic) children — the Republican, the Earth Mother, the Gay, the Junkie, and the Other One — plus a long-standing mistress and a secret, illegitimate, yet-to-be-cast daughter from that relationship. He lives on in flashback episodes.”