My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x09: "Get A Room"

Written by Marc Halsey And Matt Donnelly
Directed by Eli Craig

Kevin: “People like me do not deserve children. I should be behind bars. Scotty, I’m gonna turn myself.”

To be fair, Kevin I could think of far worse candidates for parenting that you and Scotty but really, why did I find this episode so funny? It has the same silly humour that last week’s did and that one drove me nuts. Oh right, two words – Matthew Rhys.

This season might be sleepwalking when it comes to plotting and characterisation this year but Matthew Rhys has managed to bag two episodes that highlighted his strengths. His dramatic turn in “An Ideal Husband” was terrific and similarly, his comedic skills in this episode were priceless.

I could totally buy into Kevin not being someone with a lot of drug experiences and the fallout of being high because Matthew Rhys sells it so well in this one. The idea of Kevin getting baked from a pot brownie shouldn’t have been funny but for this week, it certainly was and I couldn’t complain.

Narrative wise, Kevin accidentally ate the brownie that Scotty’s employee had because he was getting all antsy about the social worker and as a result we got a stoned Kevin who hears people in Spanish and needed Sarah to scare the crap out of him so he could focus once again. Also in the space of nine episodes, this was actually the best use of Sarah too. Funny that.

Kevin wanting to turn himself into the police was funny. My experiences with drugs are non existent but I’ve seen enough of these types of scenes on television and while some of them are largely hit and miss, I think this one was a hit. It was silly without being too silly and it gave a little bit of an info dump on Kevin that we previously didn’t know about.

More importantly, it’s also kick starting the parenting storyline back into focus and for some people, that’s probably another strength of the episode. Kevin’s got all the worries about being a parent that we’ve seen but the problem here was that we didn’t get similar worries with Scotty. Not that I wanted to see Scotty off his face either but Scotty once again fell into that familiar role of being voice of reason.

In terms of the parenting storyline, I’m divided about it. I do Kevin and Scotty to become parents but I also don’t want it to be the be all and end all for them storyline wise either. Last season was good at addressing a balance with the parenting storyline and others for them and I’m hoping this season maintains because aside from cheating the show hasn’t been awash with enough of them.

And this leads to another – nine episodes in and very little physical contact with the guys? I could understand during the last few episodes with the Marcus saga but I do hope that we do get more intimate stuff with them this season. Even Glee has been more out there with Kurt/Blaine and Brittany/Santana just of late.

Speaking of physicality, the sadist in me sort of enjoyed the fact that Sarah and Luc’s romantic surprise was largely ruined. If it wasn’t the Walkers doing their usual bout of interruptions, it was Sarah’s own accidental moments that involved Luc being put in certain degrees of pain and discomfort that sort of hindered their time together in this one.

I don’t know if that says a lot but given the amount of screen time they’ve been getting this season, I was actually enjoying all the interruptions and I’m pretty sure that once Luc gets back from Shanghai, there will be more antics with him and Sarah for certain people to look forward to/groan about.

However while I do have a habit of moaning about Luc, he does come in handy at times. While his attempts to get Sarah not to interfere with Karl went unheeded, he deserved points for at least trying to curb Sarah’s pesky interfering and I did like his speech about men being fools to Nora, even if it was a little cheesy though.

As for Nora and Karl, I’m not totally invested in their relationship because I just know that it won’t bloody last but the awkwardness with each other is rather endearing and I didn’t mind that Karl himself mentioned his own intimacy problems as well. At least it puts him and Nora on a similar page and while I expect him to be gone in the next episode or two, I do hope that him and Nora don’t part badly.

Elsewhere – it’s like déjà vu all over again. The writers clearly weren’t content with Sarah dating a younger man, now they have Kitty doing it but unlike Luc, at least Seth actually looks younger, which means that when the writers hark on about the age differences, there will be an actual point to it this time around.

Okay, sarcasm aside, I liked Seth in the scene we got here. He seemed like a genuinely nice bloke and while I’m all for Kitty having a little fun, I can’t help but wish this show would actually focus on her grief for Robert. It’s like we’re being denied a basic required plot point by them not addressing it. Still, I like Seth, so there’s something to be positive about.

Also in “Get A Room”

Was it a coincidence that nearly all the Walkers along with Luc, Scotty, Seth and Karl were in the same hotel? On this show – yeah, right!

Frank (re vitamin ad): “They asked for her on this one.”
Nora: “Why is that? Am I more senior than he is?”
Karl: “Hardly!”

For an episode where Kevin was stoned, I’m actually surprised that Justin didn’t feature, if only to provide more amusing commentary.

Kitty (re Seth): “The barista is totally hitting on me.”
Kevin: “Kit, I’m in a crisis here.”
Kitty: “Oh no you’re not and besides this is totally gonna take your mind off it.”

Sarah (re Karl): “Anything else.”
Nora: “No but that’s not so important right now.”
Sarah: “That’s not important. That’s why you’re making out in the studio.”

Sarah buying into the media company means she owns five radio stations with Nora’s being one of them.

Luc: “How is the menu?”
Sarah: “It’s very expensive. Hello, I’m Sarah. I’m your hostess for the day, this evening and tomorrow morning. Would you like to start with an appetiser? Anything below the waist is considered a tip.”

Kitty: “If you keep doing that, I might actually fall asleep.”
Seth: “That’s not what I had in mind.”

While Kitty was wowing Seth with presidential facts, we learned that Kevin was born on April 18th 1971, which seems to be consistent with “If You Bake It, He Will Come”.

Nora: “This is awkward.”
Karl: “I would understand if you were having second thoughts.”
Nora: “I’m not having second thoughts. Are you having second thoughts?”

Luc (to Nora, re Karl): “Men can be heartless. I know most of us act like fools, the better ones admit it. I think you should hear him out.”

Standout music: “Broken” by Chely Wright.

Scotty: “I can’t win with you. You’re nervous we won’t get a kid and you’re worried we will get a kid.”
Kevin: “I’m a nervous guy, okay.”

Chronology: Not long since “The Rhapsody Of The Flesh” and this episode didn’t feature Justin, Saul, Holly or David.

I liked this one. “Get A Room” isn’t a classic but it was a lot of fun and it was fun that I enjoyed. That being said, this show is clearly drifting at the moment and apart from the parenting storyline with Kevin/Scotty and Sarah/Luc’s engagement, not much else is actually happening for the series and that’s worrying.

Rating: 8 out of 10.