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 Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 4, 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 5, “Date Night.”

1:10
Alright, this shadowy blue-lit shot of Jonathan is just creepy. He looks like a serial killer setting some poor schlub up for extinction. I believe this is the episode in which I finally started disliking the guy.

1:30
While I generally enjoy the use of phone calls on this show, fake phone sex between Kitty and Jonathan is just wrong.

2:03
Was Jonathan hiding in the infamous pantry? Man, that place gets a lot of action.

2:33
Nora never did get that Rottweiler, though it may yet come in handy.

2:38
Kitty lets Jonathan off with a kiss, but really, this is the third time he’s made a surprise visit. Enough already.

2:44
David! So at least Jonathan’s ambush of Kitty was good for one thing, bringing the handyman around to fix the broken shelf, and maybe the broken widow.

2:58
Wait, Nora’s blaming the breaking of the pantry shelf on Kitty’s fear of the wind, and not on the fact that her estranged boyfriend was hiding in her house? You don’t have to be afraid of the wind to be bowl-tossingly shocked out of your skin by an unexpected man in your pantry.

3:36
Aw, David thinks he’s heard all of Nora’s expletives over the years. Jonathan can go, but I do so wish David could have stayed around a lot longer than he did.

3:43
Having Jonathan stay at the house is a bad idea in so many ways, but if I was Kitty I’d be ticked that I didn’t get to stay with him in a suite at the Ritz. (As long as it’s not the one with the big stain on the rug.)

3:57
The moment Jonathan accepts Nora’s invitation despite Kitty shaking her head is the moment their relationship is doomed. No good can come of staying in that house, fella.

4:20
Is this the siblings’ first speakerphone conference? I believe so. A milestone!

4:40
And, true to form, the speakerphone conference starts small, and grows as more family members come in and must hear the story repeated. Jonathan! Staying in Mom’s house! Cooking dinner in Mom’s kitchen! Doomed. So doomed. He might as well go back to New York right now.

5:35
I do so like the way Kevin is not Super Lawyer, able to handle all sorts of cases without breaking a sweat, but someone who calls in the proper professional. Like now, to discuss the embezzlement mess.

5:51
Amber! Warren’s day just got 100 percent better. And Kitty’s, about that much worse.

6:40
Is it me, or does this lawyer look a lot like the doctor who diagnosed Paige’s diabetes? I looked it up and they’re different actresses, but … it’s freaking me out a little.

7:18
The lawyer says they have to find $12 million by the end of the year. Doesn’t Jonathan, like, have that in pocket change?

This re-view of Episode 5 will continue tomorrow.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Family Portrait