Brothers & Sisters

Today continues what I hope will be a summer-long journey through the first season of Brothers & Sisters, from our perspective here at the end of Season Two. As with our re-view of Episode 1, I’ll be looking for contradictions between where the Walkers were then and where they’re at now, and also commenting on how the episodes look in retrospect. I’ll time my observations to the playback of the DVD, for those who want to view along. Share your own reflections in the comments.

And now, Part 1 of Episode 2, “An Act of Will.”

0:54
As much as I love the dialog on this show, this funeral scene with no words and all music is just right. (According to closed-captioning, that’s KT Tunstall with “Throw Me a Rope.”)

1:16
How many speeches did Sarah give this season? I’m starting a count. I won’t count the toast from Episode 1 because everybody gave a toast, so we’ll mark this eulogy as #1. Even though we can’t hear what she’s saying, you know it’s touching and wise.

1:52
Saul goes to dispatch Holly. Nice body-language acting from Patricia Wettig and Ron Rifkin. I’m thinking that most of Holly’s scenes would be better with the sound turned off, how about you?

2:44
Kevin expositions “It’s only been three weeks.” And that’s a heck of an awkward post-funeral jump. (I still haven’t forgiven them for not showing a wake.)

3:38
Paige is such a diva. “I can’t be Hawaii without a grass skirt!”

3:59
Confirmation: Joe was always a jerk. Guilting your wife for working in the family business three weeks after her father died? Hmmpf.

4:25
Already, Nora is becoming more Nora-like, with her complaint about how everybody wants to know she’s busy after the funeral.

5:30
Nora thinks Justin’s turning over a new leaf. With many, many, many leaves left to turn.

5:50
Nora of Kitty: “She needs me.” Those are the magic words that break Nora out of the block of ice and turn her into a Real Mom.

6:10
Justin Junior Detective checks out Dad’s Rolodex for Holly’s address. Hey, kid, if you can find his laptop, there’s probably a Google Maps page with her house on it all ready for you.

6:16
Do most guys having affairs keep their mistress’s full name, address, and phone number neatly printed in their Rolodex? Just asking.

6:34
Dave Annable’s Troubled Face is getting a workout in this episode. I wonder if he needed, like, a facial massage afterwards.

7:45
Nice terse conversation between Holly and Justin, so much better than the chat over coffee in the scrapped episode.

8:45
Amazing how Saul is able to deflect outrage over his shady doings by making everybody else feel guilty. It’s a superpower!

9:40
“Bingo. He loved to chase things.” Wasn’t there a family dog referenced in “The Feast of the Epiphany”? Was it Bingo? If ABC hadn’t taken down all but a few Season Two episodes from its full episode player, I’d go check right now.

9:53
“This isn’t going to be like Bingo, is it?” This is the standard to which I am going to hold all Walker family trauma from here on out. Better or worse than Kevin having to tell Tommy Bingo got hit by a car.

10:10
Saul stays on as chief financial officer, per William’s will. But only because Saul killed him before he could change it! Sorry, I’m just going to go with my Columbo version of events here.

10:20
Yowch. Sarah is to be president of the company. And here is the root of all Sarah/Tommy evil right here. If only Sarah had said, “You know, that’s great, but I’m finding this job cuts significantly into my grass-skirt-buying time. I’m just going to go back to my old job with Noah.” How much pain and stress she’d spare herself!

10:56
Telling Tommy his dad didn’t want him to be president of the company: Not quite as bad as Bingo.
Telling Justin his dad didn’t trust him with his share of the inheritance: A little bit worse than Bingo.

11:22
Tommy to Justin: “Why don’t you go to hell, Stonehenge.” I’m going to start keeping track of their nicknames for each other. Right now, I’m thinking Tommy’s “Stonehenge” is not quite as good as Justin’s “Pantload.”

Continue on to Part 2.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, An Act of Will