Brothers & Sisters

Today we continue our look for inconsistent or comment-worthy moments in the Brothers & Sisters first season with a look at the fourth part of Episode 3. Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 if you need to catch up, then dive right in here with Part 4.

23:50
Justin is having a meltdown over Holly’s presence at the party. “She’s out there drinking mojitos and wearing big jewelry!”

24:09
Justin is like the Sawyer of this show with the nicknames. Warren = “Cheesefest.”

24:27
Now here, I thought Kitty was in her slip, looking for something in her enormous closet to wear, and it turns out that’s actually her dress. Or else she’s so addleminded by secrets and Jonathan that she forgot to put one on.

24:36
I see no big jewelry on Holly. I was thinking maybe there was a chunky necklace or something, but no.

24:40
Alright, I guess the earrings are pretty hoopy and dangly, but not so obtrusively large that that’s the first thing Justin would have noticed.

24:49
Nora hopes Saul and Holly have bug spray on because there are pests. That is, beyond her own personal children.

24:55
Holly says Nora’s yard is “so full of life, so lovely, so alive.” Justin could have said she’s drinking mojitos and talking like an idiot.

25:07
Jonathan said earlier he was ready to move to L.A., and now Kitty’s talking about how they could totally meet in Chicago all the time, wouldn’t that be great? So even before she opens the door on Warren and shuts it again, he’s gotta know they’re doomed, right?

25:23
Whatever else you can say about Kitty’s taste in men, they all have great hair. Or perhaps, excellent hairpieces.

25:47
“Does anybody need a drink? I do,” says Kitty. Honey, isn’t that what got you into this mess with Warren in the first place?

26:23
This is the problem with running a family business: You can’t even go to a family pool party without your little brother challenging you on chain-of-command issues in front of your kid.

26:49
Scotty arrives bearing red velvet cupcakes. You really gotta appreciate this party for multitasking. It’s supposed to be all about Paige getting in the pool, but there’s also plenty of room for it to be about mistress outing, and inviting guys to annoy Kevin and Kitty.

27:24
Scotty declares himself to be “Scotty Wandell from Oxford, Mississippi, son of Wally and Bertha.” Yet neither he nor, ultimately, Wally and Bertha have what I’d expect to be a Mississippi accent. And speaking of hair, what is with Scotty’s here? I’m pretty sure his hairstyle wasn’t defying gravity when we saw him last episode.

27:39
Warren is concerned that Kitty thinks he’s “just some sort of sexual cynic with good hair.” And that’s what’s going on his tombstone.

27:54
Kitty tells Warren that there is so much going on in this house that she can’t deal with him now. They’ll have to wait until that cozy weekend in Ojai, when her brother is asking for sperm, her mother is romancing the contractor, and her sister is discovering lost siblings in the attic.

27:57
I bet being a bartender at a Walker party is one of the most highly sought-after catering jobs in all of Southern California.

28:31
Kitty tells Warren they’re not in the last ten minutes of a Julia Roberts movie. This would have to be more like the middle of the movie, when there’s still lots of romantic conflict.

29:08
Scotty says Kevin “can’t be faithful to anything until you know why you should.” Which I guess he finally figured out.

29:13
Pete Yorn’s “Ice Age” brings us out to Paige by the pool, displaying her own personal Troubled Look. It can’t quite compete with Justin’s, but she’s young yet.

30:01
Tommy starts a grand Walker tradition of jumping into the pool with your clothes on. Paige may be traumatized, but at least she knows that you’re supposed to wear a bathing suit, duh.

30:02
There are three anonymous party guests in the background when Tommy jumps in, and a couple more when Paige does. How many people did Nora invite to this thing?

30:52
Nora is laying it on thick with the ditzy housewife unknowingly buddying up to the mistress bit, presumably to give “Sauly” a heart attack.

31:11
And, of course, to drive her children insane, as she catches them huddling in the kitchen. Nice to see Kitty’s covered up at least the top of her slip with some kind of see-through sweater.

31:44
Everybody’s sitting down to eat, but unlike the traditional disastrous family dinners we’ll come to know and love, there are a number of unknowable extras at the table, too. Yet no sign of the children, no kiddie table, no sound of giggling in the distance. What have they done with the children?

31:50
Scotty would like some more mango peach salsa, please. Nobody moves to pass it, and the extra sitting next to him looks a little freaked that he broke the silence. Do all these anonymous partygoers know what’s going on here? The Walkers are the world’s worst secret-keepers! Or maybe the bartender.

32:32
Nora, after announcing that Holly had an affair with her husband, accuses her children of forgetting how to conduct themselves in social circumstances. Well hey, lady, you’re not exactly looking like a strong role model.

32:44
Holly loses the staring contest with Nora and flees from the table. Just moments, I’m thinking, before all of the anonymous party guests realize they left the oven on at home and really must get back. Hope they remember to pick up their children on the way out.

32:59
Is Scotty smiling because he finally got his salsa, or because he loves the drama? The extra next to him still looks pretty freaked out. Justin looks Troubled. And Tommy looks pretty calm considering he’s the only one who was left out of the secret chain. But maybe he knew already, despite swearing otherwise to Justin last episode.

This look at Episode 3 will conclude tomorrow.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Patriarchy