Brothers & Sisters

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 extended family and check on the stepkids (with apologies to Colleen — now Jason’s next).

Origins: When we first met Robert’s children from his first marriage, Sophie was giving Kitty a hard time at dinner, resentful of her dad’s attempt to insert a new blonde into their relationship. The fallout sparked the couple’s first fight.

Progress: We haven’t seen much of the senator’s spawn, but Sophie’s usually had something snarky to say to her soon-to-be stepmom. When she told her dad she wasn’t looking for any new half-siblings in the family, it added to the complication of Robert’s reaction to Kitty’s baby craze. Still, though they weren’t necessarily nuts about his remarriage, Sophie and Jack stood up with their father at his wedding (yes, they did, though many viewers seem to have thought they weren’t there at all).

Current Status: Confined together by the flu, Kitty and her stepkids seem to have come to something of an understanding, and Sophie actually managed to be a little nice to her. Courtney, Robert’s ex, will probably load the girl back up with resentment when Sophie gets back home.

Concerns: As with Paige and Cooper, the kiddie plots are never going to overtake the grown-ups, nor should they. But some consideration of this new generation of Walker sibs and half-sibs and step-sibs and young cousins should be part of the plot moving forward. I like the way the show’s definition of Brothers and Sisters has expanded beyond the five Walker siblings into the brother-sister bond of Nora and Saul; expanding the other way a little bit might be interesting, too. The ways that Sarah, Kitty, Tommy, Kevin and Justin interact as adults was formed to a large degree by the way they interacted as kids, and though flashing back that far would be silly, the ways in which the youngest Walkers form their relationships might have some resonance — particularly in the differences between five close-knit kids growing up in what was perceived as an unbroken home and the children of divorce and re-marriage and sometimes re-divorce they’re parenting now.

Prognosis: I’m still waiting for that meeting of Paige and Sophie. Those girls could get in some trouble together.

Second Opinions: Colleen’s suggesting a pool party for getting those girls together. Where would you like to see Sophie and Jack? Share your thoughts in the comments.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Sophie, Jack, Justine Dorsey, Max Burkholder