Brothers & Sisters

In a TV era where popular shows often take criticism from fans for the slow-movingness of their plotlines, can Brothers & Sisters maybe get a little love for having the fastest-moving storylines in show business? The amount of plot that gets burned on this show makes me hope that either the writers have very deep imaginations, or a very deep bench.

Watching the “Home Front” re-run last night really reinforced the notion that B&S works fast, maybe too fast. Let’s look at the key plot threads in this season premiere and see what’s happened in the ensuing nine episodes. (And if you didn’t watch last night, refresh your memory with my earlier review, recap, memorable lines and five questions.)

+ Justin, who was feared dead at the end of “Home Front,” was revealed to be wounded; brought back to the U.S.; brought home; resisted taking painkillers; got talked into taking painkillers; got addicted to painkillers; was confronted with a family intervention; kicked the painkillers; and had an affair with a woman who was, unbenknownst to him, his brother’s ex-mistress. He’s rested and ready now to kick Tommy’s ass over his infidelity.

+ Kevin professed his love to Jason at the end of the episode, but apparently the Reverend Boyfriend’s suggestion that Kevin should “have faith” should have included “even if I don’t call you for months on end.” While Jason was incommunicado, Kevin befriended Scotty, invited Scotty to stay at his place, slept with Scotty, broke up with Jason, and tried to overcome Scotty’s doubts about him being over Jason.

+ Tommy looked to be getting some normal family life back at the end of the episode as Julia finally came to the party. Nope. He fought with Julia’s parents when they came to visit; had Julia blame him for William’s death; saw Julia leave him, taking their daughter; had no contact with Julia for months (maybe she has the same lousy cell-phone plan as Jason); slept with Lena, the office manager; got caught by Holly and broke it off; slept with her again, and then again; got caught by Saul, and confessed to Kevin; broke it off again; had Julia come back, wanting things to go back to normal; learned Justin was sleeping with Lena; and fought with Justin when Rebecca spilled the beans. I think that’s more plot right there than the boy had in the entire season last year.

+ Kitty was looking for a wedding dress in this episode, and seemed to have found it when Nora passed on the one she wore when she married William. In the eight episodes that followed, Kitty found out she was pregnant; had a miscarriage; had a misunderstanding with Robert about whether children are something they both want; found a dress she liked better than mom’s; discovered a political scandal she thought she’d squashed was still alive; and, oh yeah, married Robert.

+ Sarah thought she was getting back with Joe when they had sex on the washing machine, then realized she wasn’t when he didn’t deny that he wanted a divorce. She’s since discovered that he was reunited with his ex-wife; battled him for shared custody; lost; got it back after Paige ran away; almost had a fling with a guy at a wedding she crashed with Nora and Kitty; and met a business consultant who’s a potential love interest.

+ Rebecca squabbled with Kitty and pined for Justin in this episode, and when Justin came home she played nursemaid and entertainment provider, which unfortunately included introducing him to her friend Lena. She caught on to his pill-popping and turned him in to the family, fleeing the intervention when he attacked her. She also caught on to his affair with Lena, and Tommy’s affair with Lena, and clued Justin in on the latter. She moved back in with her mother, but bonded with Walker siblings Kitty, who asked her to be a bridesmaid, and Sarah, to whom she also revealed Tommy’s secret.

+ Nora could think of nothing but Justin in this premiere, and that kept up for most of the following episodes as she smother-mothered her wounded boy; convinced him to take painkillers; failed to monitor that painkiller use very well; participated in an intervention but pushed to have him detox at home; stood up to him when begged her to let him leave; and let him know that he’d be making his own darn oatmeal from here on in. That done, she looked up an old high school boyfriend, Stan; went out with him a couple of times; and after he dumped her took up with Kitty’s old friend and Republican dirty-tricks advisor, Isaac.

Phew! That’s a lot of goings-on for less than half a season. And I guess it’s not that different from last season, when Kitty had a complete career change and two failed relationships in about the same amount of time, and the family business fiasco got wrapped up way more quickly than we could have hoped. The narrative rapidity of the show makes it frustrating when a particular plot — like Saul’s coming out — proceeds slowly. Even when he finally has a storyline, that character still seems like an afterthought, doesn’t he?

_{Photo: ABC.com}