Brothers & Sisters

Five questions from “An Act of Will” still rattling around in my brain:

1. What time do party stores close in L.A., anyway? And how few of them are there? Maybe I missed something, but it looked like it was still plenty light outside when Sarah ran from her coffee date with Noah to go get that grass skirt, but it was fully dark when she had her meltdown in front of the poor party-store kid. Even if darkness fell fast, how late could it have been for the store to be closing? I live on the East Coast, and party stores hereabouts are open to at least 9 p.m. on a school day. I can’t vouch for whether they keep their promise regarding the stocking of grass skirts, though.

2. Should Sarah have just asked Kevin to pick up the skirt? Unlike his hassled sis, he seems to have plenty of time for family business. Other than his meeting with Scotty, which quickly veered toward the personal anyway, he seemed to be the Walker Family Retainer throughout the episode, reading wills, giving business advice, bailing out little brothers, toting boxes. I bet under threat of legal action, that kid could have produced something hula-y.

3. Where’s this horrible Holly everyone remembers? Many B&S fans have been harsh on Holly as a pushy dame grasping to destroy the Walkers, but at least here at the beginning, she’s pretty discreet. She stands off to the side at the funeral and leaves quietly when asked, she tells Justin just as little as possible, and she takes her disinheritance with some understanding. It seems to me that she didn’t get pushy until Sarah specifically lied and tried to cheat her, but I’ll be tracking her behavior through these first few episodes to make sure.

4. How come Nora had no idea what was in the will? I guess we’re establishing her as being wholly apart from William’s business life, but she doesn’t seem like the quiet unopinionated little housewifey type. I can’t believe she wouldn’t have put her two cents in on how assets should be distributed to children after her death, or on the family succession aspects of the business. At least at this early point in the season, she’s so shrill and controlling that it’s odd she let her children’s future be all William’s doing.

5. What, no wake? After a season-full of Walker shenanigans now, I’m ticked in retrospect to have missed out on any opportunity to watch these folks party. Even on a sad occasion, I’ll bet the wine was flowing and the tongues were loose.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, An Act of Will, commentary