Character Check-Up: Robert
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 stay with Kitty’s family and look in on the senator.
Origins: When Robert met Kitty, she offered to stay away from sensitive questions about his divorce (and alleged affair with the nanny) in an interview if he could keep Justin from going to war. Robert refused, Kitty threw the interview anyway then confessed about it on the air, and Robert decided that the inability to keep a secret is exactly what he wanted in a communications director. It’s a Walker skill-set, to be sure.
Progress: As Robert went from being a senator to a presidential candidate, Kitty came along as communications director, then fiancee and finally wife. An unexpected pregnancy and miscarriage brought up the topic of children; Kitty wants some, but Robert, who has two from his first marriage, isn’t so sure.
Current Status: The senator survived a scandal in which his alleged wartime heroism was revealed to be less heroic than advertised, but it seems likely that his campaign will fall short of the White House.
Concerns: Has there been a more polarizing character on this show? Some folks hate Robert because he’s too perfect, and some love him because he’s Rob Lowe. He’s been accused of hijacking storylines, and credited with raising ratings. Personally, I’m not so much a fan of Rob Lowe as I am a fan of Sam Seaborn, and the fact that this role hits so many of the same notes makes him very easy for me to like. But I also — and I seem to be in the minority here — am really interested in the character of Robert McCallister. I don’t find him bland or boring or excessively perfect at all, though I do think there’s a directness to his personality that contrasts with the Walker neuroses in a way that makes him seem less complex. He’s kind of a control freak, though, and is unable to roll very well when events don’t match his vision. He’d rather keep up the facade and hope that things will work themselves out, as he did with the war story and, likely, the problems with his first marriage. Maybe what attracted him to Kitty was the way she confessed her journalistic dishonesty quickly, when she didn’t have to. And maybe what attracted Kitty to him is … well, hmm, do we know another powerful man in her life who was able to hold onto a facade of happiness and respectability while the truth was far from it?
Prognosis: The end of the campaign may offer an opportunity for Robert to come to terms with the conflict between his career and his character. He may realize that it’s not possible to be “the most ambitious man you will ever meet” and also have a family and an code of ethics. Losing that image of himself as made of ambition will be a hard but good thing. And judging by the kitchen scene in The Feast of the Epiphany, getting Robert more involved with the extended Walker clan will be a good thing, too.
Second Opinions: Colleen would like to get more of a look behind Robert’s control-freak facade. What are your thoughts on the senator? Share them in the comments.
Photo: ABC.com
Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Robert, Rob Lowe
March 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Does this means next it’s Jason’s turn? Yaaay!!
Back to Big Brother: I, too, would like to get more of a look behind the control-freak facade. When Courtney said, “NO ONE’s his partner,” she was bitter, but there was some truth in it.
Which is one reason I would like Jason to show up from time to time, since Robert lets down his guard a bit more with Jason. (Although I was unhappy with the way the brothers’ last scene was written: it needed more comic relief and more Jason calling Robert out on his ambition.)
March 12th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
My problem with Robert’s character is not that he lacks any flaws (he has them), but rather the writing is so pro-Robert that he never faces any consequences. Deceiving Kitty about his desire to have more children? It’s ok, dear, let’s just not take it totally off the table. The Gulf War scandal blowing up? Why, nothing a 10-minute town meeting can’t solve. Hiring the man who outed his brother 10 years ago, nearly destroying their relationship? Not to worry, Jason will get over his anger in 5 minutes.
While the writers explore the other characters’ flaws with depth and realism, I don’t find the same is true of Robert. And that’s why I think he has the reputation of being too perfect, because whenever we get a glimpse of a flaw, the writers back away before he could be seen as the slightest bit unsympathetic.
March 12th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
“… because whenever we get a glimpse of a flaw, the writers back away before he could be seen as the slightest bit unsympathetic.”
THAT is exactly what makes him unsympathetic to me. He bores me. I like the more conflicted ones like Kevin, Nora, Saul, Sarah. Hey, I even like Jason better, because he HAS issues and tries to own up to them and tries to deal with them. But Robert just smiles and for some reason all problems just..vanish? That makes any problem with him to have a predictable ending, the storyline falls flat and that kills a character.
But Rob Lowe is his gorgeous self and I do hope that for the episodes to come he can change too. Some of this Walker-insanity must rub of.
March 12th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I don’t know, it doesn’t seem to me that anybody faces consequences very much on this show. Would y’all feel better if people threw pasta at him?
March 12th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
But with Robert, it’s to an extreme degree and almost without exception. The other characters have all dealt with the fall-out of mistakes on their part (Justin and his addiction, Kevin and his relationship woes, Sarah telling Rebecca about her parentage, etc. etc.)
IMO, there is a reason why many viewers perceive him as perfect.