Brothers & Sisters

Five questions from Sunday’s episode still rattling in my brain today.

1. Do the Walkers have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol? One hates to find Holly right about anything, but her comment about the Walkers + alcohol = trouble wasn’t far wrong. I’m not saying they’re alcoholics, but they pride themselves on drinking in excess when faced with stressful situations, and invariably make those situations worse because of it. After seeing Justin struggle with addiction, almost to the point of losing his life, could they not tone the wine-swilling down even a little bit? And if they can’t … well, maybe they all need to befriend Bill.

2. Did they really leave Rebecca home alone? If, as her own mother says, you don’t want Rebecca living in your house, you surely don’t want her there without supervision. Yet the family has apparently trusted their fabulous family home to an unstable almost-stranger while every last one of them leaves town. Yikes. Maybe the girl’s only interested in messing with their heads, and not their stuff. But she’ll certainly have ample time for vandalism, petty theft, serious snooping, or hard-core party-hosting.

3. Where did Joe buy his party outfit, Deluded Older Guys R Us? I guess he had a jacket with him, but the form-fitting long-sleeved T he was sporting looked like something a mime might wear. I know he’s a house-husband and all, entertaining tykes all day instead of business clients, but does he seriously not own anything button-down?

4. Did we know Calista Flockhart played impairment so well? I wasn’t an Ally McBeal watcher, so I don’t know if this is a proven schtick for her, but gads, she was adorable playing high on pain pills and wine. Whether it was all scripted and just well-played, or whether she ran with some basic bones of conversation, it was a virtuoso performance of goofiness.

5. Can we have a party every episode? Yeah, they’re soapy and inevitably disastrous, but Walker get-togethers always have the best sibling banter, and honestly, I could just sit and watch these actors play off each other in those alternately silly and bitchy and petulant and witty conversations for a whole hour without any bothersome plot lines having to poke in. What a great ensemble. Reports from the set seem to indicate that they all get along great offscreen, too, and I think it shows.

_{Photos: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Grapes of Wrath, commentary