Brothers & Sisters

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

1. What was that thing on Justin’s shirt? I’ll admit, I’m not up with the clothes the kids wear today, so maybe that target-like thing was some sort of logo with which I am unfamiliar. What it looked like to me was the CBS eye that gets superimposed in the corner of the screen during shows on that network, and it kept jolting me — wait! isn’t this ABC? oh, no, it’s just Justin’s shirt. Took me out of the story, is all.

2. Honestly, what ever happened to Julia? She was a presence in this episode. Her father-in-law wanted to talk with her about her job. She had an opinion on Justin. She and Joe had a little bit of outsider rapport, and a dishwashing gig. I generally like the new characters that were brought in over the course of the show, but it seems a shame to just totally waste an old one. The plot crumbs thrown her way throughout the season were just too few and far between to build up much sense of character or interest. Maybe that will change next season.

3. Do people really serve up engagement rings in food? Maybe they do. I saw a show about Disney weddings recently in which a guy had a ring put in a chocolate dessert, so I suppose it happens. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the point at which you hand a huge diamond to a stranger and expect to see it come back again. And then hope your sweetie doesn’t eat it, or recoil a little at a martini-wet ring. Maybe I’m just not such a romantic. The senator’s producing of a ring in a non-edible container about the size of a shoebox is more my speed.

4. How did William Walker, keeper of Big Dark Secrets, spawn such a brood of confidence-spillers? Even here, right from the beginning, we see secrets having the briefest of shelf-lives among these siblings. Maybe Rebecca got the secret gene — surely the affair with the teacher would have involved some subterfuge, and we’re not even sure yet that what she told Justin was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but. Still, under the influence of her newfound clan, she does seem to be getting more talkative. Apparently, secrets really did die with dad.

5. What’s the best Sarah smackdown ever? She’s sure had a lot of experience this season putting people in their places with sharp words. Holly’s been the victim most frequently, and there has been a lot of deliciousness in their exchanges for sure. But Sarah’s response to Saul in this episode, I loved. Quiet, to the point, and absolutely firm in sticking up for herself, to someone who is truly family and is not truly hated but is nonetheless out of line. The kind of thing most of us wish we could say to an older relative, whereas thankfully few of us have call to chasten a parent’s mistress.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Patriarchy, pilot, commentary