Exclusive! Brothers & Sisters Gets Supersized Season Three, Surprising Twist
Season three is a go! That's what we've been told, but sources on the set of ABC's addictive drama Brothers & Sisters have even better news: The series pickup for the 2008-09 TV season is for—drumroll, please—24 episodes. Yes, that's the biggest episode order yet for our beloved Walker fam.
Oh, and speaking of that holy "W" moniker, I have a little inside intel on the upcoming storyline that will rock your world (at least it did mine!) when the show returns April 20. But before you read, heed this SPOILER ALERT! And don't read any further if you don't want to know…
From what I hear, producers are most definitely steaming up some kind of love connection between Rebecca "Walker" and Justin "Walker"…So clearly, one of those two gorgeous kids pictured above is actually not biologically linked to William or Nora. And even better? You don't have to wait very long to find out. I'm told the bio line is answered definitively in one of the first three episodes back—and the chemistry can't be missed. All together now: Gaaaaah!
[Bonus: We know these two have real chemistry, since Emily VanCamp (Rebecca) and Dave Annable (Justin) were dating each other in real life until recently.]
From everything else I hear, there will be lots of good juice when B&S returns this season for all the Walkers, including a deep love affair for Nora (yay!), wedding bells for another Walker and a reappearance of William Walker in episode 16.
So set your DVR for April 20, and post your Rebecca/Justin/Nora/William bio-twist theories below…
Send an ABC e-card for Mother’s Day
ABC offered a set of fun Valentine’s Day e-cards earlier this year, and they’re at it again with a more extensive set of Mother’s Day e-cards. More of my favorite ABC shows were let in on the fun this time, including Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Samantha Who?. Show Mom your love with a clever message from Lost’s Claire, Susan from Desperate Housewives, or Hilda from Ugly Betty.
The cards are one part of a “Guide to Motherhood” page on ABC’s website. You can watch clips from ABC’s hit shows based on four motherhood themes: New Moms, Nesting, Words of Wisdom, and Letting Go. It’s an amusing way to look back at some of the unconventional approaches to parenting taken in the last season.
My favorite video was from Brothers & Sisters. Nora gives bride-to-be Kitty some discouraging words of wisdom on the eve of her wedding. Most of the clips make any mother look good by comparison. Laughter and a sense of superiority are two of the best gifts that you can give someone, aren’t they?
Brothers and Sisters: Double Negative
[S02E136 “That was weird, wasn’t it?” Justin Walker
I am starting to feel like Siskel and Ebert every week. Oh, that was a great episode! Oh, that episode sucked! It doesn’t seem like there is any in between with me. Does that mean I’m too picky?
You know, it’s funny because sometimes I don’t even know how I feel about an episode, really, until I start writing about it, so my actual experience with watching it isn’t necessarily negative, even if I write up a critical review. But tonight, I am pretty sure I know how I feel about it: That was a great episode.
Lots of things going on this week: Things are definitely heating up and charging down the runway toward May Sweeps and the end of the season, but they are things that have been set up for so long and so well that their very inevitability feels natural, unhurried, unforced, like a cart careening down a hill, picking up momentum, and heading into rush-hour traffic. And I’m not going to talk about it before the jump, so let’s get going, shall we?
Nora
Poor Nora. Every time she thinks of a great idea for a charity or a foundation, it’s like the Pavlov’s dog for Ojai getting into major financial trouble. She was going to do something charitable right after William died, asked for money from the company, and Kevin ended up giving her money for the project because that was right around the time the clan discovered that William had been embezzling money. Whenever Nora’s romances go belly up, she decides to throw herself into charity (and I don’t mean to belittle the work she does, because she is always making them dress up to attend some fund-raiser or other, and I believe her instincts are genuine). But Nora clearly needs to decide what she wants to do when she grows up. Anytime now would be nice.
Kevin
Kevin’s instincts are good too: It’s just the execution the Walkers need a little help with. I understood why Scotty didn’t accept Kevin’s offer– but I think he should have. Scotty can have his romance later, when Kevin has time for it. But in the meantime, for crying out loud, if it walks like a domestic partner and talks like a domestic partner, then it’s a domestic partner and it should get health insurance. I know that is a practical rather than romantic way to look at things, but I also think that practicalities are okay. I happen to live in a state in which gays cannot get recognition for domestic partnerships, so they cannot provide health insurance for their partners. So turning down a chance to get health insurance just strikes me as ridiculous. But, there have to be constant little dramas keeping them apart, I suppose, now that Eric Winter (Jason) has jumped ship to go to Moonlight.
Kitty and Robert
Wow. Am I the only one who sort of wishes Kitty would stop being such a stick in the mud and just get on board with the whole campaign? She used to be so career-oriented, and I do understand her desire to be a mother, I really really get it, but her relationship with Robert was largely based on their joint love of politics. They had to know that it was a possibility to be offered the Vice Presidency– I can’t believe they would turn down eight years of free publicity before Robert would run again for the Presidency. Taylor may be an asshat, but he’s right: Someday, Robert is going to blame Kitty for his turning down the Vice Presidency. Of course, we are assuming Taylor will win. Let’s just hope he loses, so this will all be moot.
I don’t really know what to make of Kitty’s fertility troubles. It’s a very real issue and I hope it gets the due it deserves instead of tucked in between political conversations. These are two very huge storylines, so I’d like them to focus on ONE for awhile so we can get the emotional satisfaction we need from it, as viewers. It’s interesting that Robert asked Kitty if she were happy that he lost the nomination, when I can’t help feeling that he’d be happy if she didn’t end up getting pregnant…
Sarah
It turns out that all of the Walkers had good instincts in this episode. Way for the men to make out Sarah to be a harpy for being conservative about her company and her livelihood. Way to get out of the way and turn off your instincts as a balm for a man’s ego: Saul, if you were as good as you think you are, maybe William would have left the company to YOU. I hope this doesn’t mean the end of Graham though. I like him and I’d like to see even more of him. Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. That’s not what I meant.
Justin and Rebecca
It happened. Here we are right where I predicted we’d be the minute I saw Ken Olin (I mean David) on the screen. He’s Rebecca’s father. I have been dreading this, but I kind of loved how they handled it. This episode was beautifully acted. The scene between Rebecca and David and then David and Holly was very emotionally packed. I don’t see Holly as a villain or a compulsive liar. (Ahem: Pot? Meet Kettle). I see her as a flawed woman who has tried to do the best she could with her life, a woman who fell in love with the wrong man (aka William Walker). Granted, as commenter Blah Blah Blah pointed out last week, “Do you mean to tell me that they just accepted this on her word?” Yeah, way to make Kevin out to be some kind of criminal for wanting to do a DNA test to begin with. (Kevin=Instincts=good.)
The fact that Rebecca chose to lie about this in order to remain a Walker was, albeit wrong, entirely understandable. It wasn’t hurting anyone for her to continue any longer: They accepted her as family, and it would hurt everyone for her to be revealed as NOT their sister, because they have grown to love her, and also? It would be like taking a piece of William away. William used her as part of a password: He clearly thought she was his daughter. Of course, she only lied so there can be some dramatic sexual tension with Justin, but since that was inevitable anyway, I am enjoying the way they have set this up.
Can we just talk for a minute about how great Dave Annable was in this episode as Justin? His reaction to Rebecca telling him that she was still his sister, his pause and then shaking it off, was absolutely perfect. He contained a wealth of indecision, confusion, trepidation– in those moments, he showed everything the character must have been going through emotionally and intellectually. Again, on the beach, when he was strapping her ankle strap on, his hands on her leg, just acknowledging the tension there by laughing it off, “Boy, that was weird when we thought we might not be related…” Emily VanCamp was just great as well, but Annable was absolutely perfect.
Of course, David bailed. But I don’t think he did it for any other reason except to let Rebecca have a shot at continuing to be a Walker. She has to decide whether or not to accept him in her life. Maybe I’m wrong and he really is a creep who can’t commit, but I strongly suspect that he came back to find Holly because he knew he might be Rebecca’s father, and now he was ready to have a family relationship with them. I am perfectly willing to admit that I like Ken Olin, though, and that I am probably projecting my own wants onto this because of that and maybe he’s actually a creep.
I can hardly wait ’til next week!
Brothers and Sisters: The Feast of Epiphany
(S02E10) “You slept with someone else too?” Nora Walker to Julia Walker
Oh, Brothers and Sisters, how I’ve missed your hijinx! I was under the impression from some of the news I’d read about the WGA strike that filming had ceased on the show, so I was very happy to have a new episode (albeit, feeling a little guilty, because I support the writers…). Mostly, I was happy to see everyone again.
Of course, Nora had to cook up a big family dinner (no pun intended) to get everyone together for the big epiphanies. But it was a legitimate set up: It would probably seem forward and a little awkward to ask someone out if you were unsure of their feelings for you, especially if being back on the dating scene was still pretty new to you.
I was surprised to learn that Kevin and Scotty are still together. My impression after Nora and Robert’s wedding was that Scotty had broken up with Kevin. However, Kevin said in this episode, “Scotty almost broke up with me after the wedding because of Jason.” At another moment in th episode, though, when Kevin was sniping with Robert about Jason, Kevin said he was single and could do what he wanted about Jason coming back, including change his mind. Then Kevin called Scotty to tell him that he and Jason were going to have lunch, so I am a little confused. But I think time will work it all out. I think Kevin and Scotty are still together though, because Scotty made the joke about Kevin kicking him out if Jason came back… What do you think? Are they broken up but still living together? Hanging by a thread?
I wasn’t as impressed with Robert’s town hall meeting as the veterans seemed to be. I thought the hard-hitting veteran who said, “We can’t have a president who is going to freeze up,” was right. Robert had a good come back that he was very young at the time– but he can’t promise not to make that mistake again. Also, his silence for a long time was pretty damning. But I am still irritated with Robert for hedging about kids with Kitty. I knew (hoped) that issue would come up again, and I am glad it did so soon. Though, I think Robert is still lying to Kitty. I am not as sure that they won’t overcome this issue though. I think Robert loves her enough to have a child anyway, despite his reluctance. Stranger things have happened. But it’s probably good for them to have a source of conflict that isn’t solely the election. That might get old fast.
Speaking of the election, though, do you think Kitty was responsible for leaking the word about the other candidate’s disabled son? Or do you think it was Isaac? It had to be someone from Robert’s campaign… What if it was Robert? Do you think it could have been Robert? If Robert insisted to his staff that they couldn’t play dirty, he would have the plausible deniability, wouldn’t he?
This might sound lame, but I was actually happy that they resolved the issue of Tommy’s affair with Lena by giving Julia one of her own. It levels the playing field. And it actually makes Julia seem less like a meek mouse little victim. Sure, they both screwed up, and I am not excusing that. I am just saying it means that instead of one person being the complete villain, they both have something to forgive. Though, I have to admit that I am surprised by the reappearance of both Jason and Julia…
I like Sarah’s new beau. I have always been a sucker for Steven Weber, though, and I love his character so far. He is honest (well, so far as we know), down to earth, doesn’t come on too strong, and he makes his own vegetable soup. Knock wood for something good for Sarah.
Holly insisted to Rebecca that David isn’t her father. David seems to think he might be, whispering to Holly that Rebecca is wonderful. Holly has lied about this before– her track record isn’t very good. So, she could be lying this time– but why? William Walker is dead, and there isn’t an inheritance at stake. True, Rebecca now has a relationship with the Walkers. But it might be worth telling Rebecca, who has a tendency to go for older men, that David is her father just to keep her from getting involved with him. On the other hand, at face value, I am happy that that issue was addressed and dismissed early in David’s storyline, though I have absolutely no idea what else might be going on there.
I guess we’ll find out.