Top 40 TV Characters Part 7

And here's Part 7 of the list ....

6: Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) - Brothers And Sisters

Easily the best thing about the ABC family drama that ran for five seasons. Kevin was a breath of fresh air when it came to gay characters on television and his relationship with Scotty is one of the best TV pairings ever done, though I might be in a humble minority there. 

7: David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) - Six Feet Under

Okay, maybe a precursor to Kevin Walker and certainly a precursor to a certain other role that Michael C.Hall will end up playing in later years, but David Fisher was both a neurotic mess at times and an absolute joy to watch as well. The repeats on SkyAtlantic have certainly attested to that.

8: Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) - Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Oh, Tara - even ten years on since Warren shot you in the back has your death made me want to weep. Damn. The most level headed, compassionate character on TV deserved a better ending than that but for three out of the seven seasons of Buffy, Tara and Willow formed one of the most poignant relationships on television.

9: Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) - Glee

Okay, so the show may be in a hit and miss stage but even the most cynical of fans will have to admit that anything involving this fiery lady is ten times more interesting than the increasingly dullness of Finchel and this season we've had her dealing with her sexuality, ripping Will a new one over his lax teaching of her language and Brittany pointing out that being famous for nothing ain't good. Basically whatever the writers have chucked in Santana's direction, Naya Rivera has delivered with aplomb.

10: Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) - Downton Abbey

I had a hard time picking from this show, but in the end I realised that the sometimes cold Mary was actually my favourite of the bunch. Yes, she's not always likeable but she's always consistently interesting and now that the writers have progressed her relationship with Matthew, here's hoping there's more interesting place to take her in the upcoming third series.

Part 8 will be up during the week and there'll be an Honourable Mentions blog as well.

Brothers And Sisters - 20 Questions

With the UK release of the fifth and final season of Brothers And Sisters on DVD this month, I decided to do these 20 questions in relation to the series.

1. Favourite character?
Kevin Walker. Also IMO, the bestest gay character ever.

2. Second favourite character?
It's either Kitty or Scotty. Really do love both of those characters.

3. Least favourite character?
Holly Harper. Just couldn't sympathise with her and didn't find her the most interesting of antagonists either.

4. Favourite couple?
Kevin/Scotty. Beautifully realised, developed and the chemistry between Matthew and Luke was bloody sublime.

5. Second favourite couple?
Kitty/Robert. I might not have always liked Robert as a character but I always found him and Kitty to be a realistic pairing and again, great chemistry with Calista and Rob.

6. Least favourite couple?
Sarah/Luc. The actors lacked chemistry, the writing sucked and something about them as a couple never really gelled. Actually Sarah/Luc just lack a lot of substance.

7. Favourite season?
Its a toughie but I'm going with Season 1, which is a rare thing for me. After that, it would be Season 4, Season 2, Season 3 and ...

8. Least favourite season?
Season 5. It's got far too much going against it and if David Marshall Grant's comments on what a sixth year would've been like, maybe canning the show was the right thing for ABC to do after all.

9. Favourite friendship?
Nora/Emily. Man, the Walkers didn't seem to have any friends, did they?

10. Favourite sibling relationship?
I'm tempted to say all of them together but I quite like Kevin/Justin and Kevin/Kitty the best.

11. Favourite parent/child relationship?
I'm tempted to say Nora's with Kevin but I really dug the banter with Nora and Kitty the most at times.

12. What's one thing you wish never happened?
Only one? Okay, then I wish Scotty hadn't cheated because it served no damn purpose, plot wise. On a bigger scale, DeWalkering both Rebecca and Sarah was also pretty silly on the show's part.

13. Favourite quote?
“It’s not funny. You’ll give me a heart attack one day and I’ll die. Live with that.”

14. Funniest episode/scene?
Game Night, in particular Kevin's dinosaur impression.

15. Favourite wedding?
Kevin and Scotty. It's also my favourite finale as well, so go fig.

16. Favourite child?
Aw, again do I have to? Okay, I'll pick Evan then.

17. What's one thing you think should of happened that never did?
Hard to say, maybe we should've seen more of Kevin being a lawyer during Season 5 or got some continuity on that York fella.

18. Favourite actor?
Matthew Rhys but that kind of goes without saying.

19. Favourite actress?
I'm going with Calista Flockart to be honest.

20. Overall favourite thing about B&S?
Kevin/Scotty but also the family element of the show. You genuinely bought into the Walkers as a family, didn't you?

Season 5 is released on DVD from November 14th.

Top TV Pairings Part 8

And here's my final installment in the TV Pairings rundown. Hope you enjoyed it.

Doctor Who - The Doctor/TARDIS

The fun thing about having a series that's run for 32 seasons so far is that the amount of pairings to choose from are thankfully, plentiful. I thought about this long and hard and after rewatching The Doctor's Wife, I felt that the Doctor and his ship (TARDIS/Idris/Sexy/Blue Box) was the ultimate TV pairing. Seriously, the connection those two share easily outclasses everything else by miles and long may it reign - them being each other's constant.

Brothers And Sisters - Kevin Walker/Scotty Wandall

Anyone who's ever had read my blogs would know that Kevin/Scotty were always going to rank high in this list. A wonderful gay couple who got plenty of guy on guy action, proper storytelling and let's face it, the chemistry between Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane really does put everything on the show to shame, given how wonderful they are. I so need the Season 5 DVD like there's no freaking tomorrow.

Being Human - George Sands/Nina Pickering

Mitchell and Annie were fine and all that but for me, the heart of Being Human has become George and Nina's relationship and the two of them have gone through a lot (werewolf transformations, pregnancy, near death experiences, divided loyalties) and come out the other side each time. I can't wait to see how becoming parents works for them next season.

Six Feet Under - David Fisher/Keith Charles

A bit before Kevin/Scotty, the other most significant gay couple were David and Keith and while sometimes the show might have overdone the arguments between them, for me, these two always felt like a real couple. David and Keith were definitely landmark television in a way that Queer As Folk and Glee's gay pairings aren't necessarily. A classic couple if ever there was one.

True Blood - Jessica Hamby/Hoyt Fortenberry

Yeah, I know they've had a horrible breakup in Spellbound and there's a distinct possibility that a Jessica/Jason pairing is possible but damn it, I loved these two as a couple and even recent episodes can't mar that for me. Though I am eagerly looking forward to the inevitable Sookie/Alcide pairing too.

I might do a runner up blog or two on other pairings that I didn't catch in the previous blogs.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x22: "Walker Down The Aisle"

Written by David Marshall Grant And David Babcock
Directed by Ken Olin

Kevin: “I promise you, Paige is not pregnant.”
Sarah: “She’s got a boyfriend.”
Kevin: “You’re insane, breathe. You’re about to get married.”

And guess what – Kevin’s right about Paige not being pregnant but you could tell that if this show hadn’t the axe swung at it that would’ve been a future storyline for the series. Thank goodness for small mercies then.

Sarah’s wedding day has been long discussed and sub plotted in various episodes this season but the most amazing thing about the wedding in question is how it actually brought all the Walkers together and gave them plenty to do. I may never care about Sarah and Luc as a couple but I am grateful for that.

Kevin seemed to be mostly in his element as wedding planner, despite the little meltdowns he had with the missing cake but more importantly, we finally got a kiss between him and Scotty. Yes, it would’ve been nicer if it had been longer and it certainly doesn’t make up for the lack of affection between the pair of them this year but it’s still better than other kisses we’ve had this season, so there.

I loved the scene where Kevin was trying to initiate sex with Scotty on the couch, even if it didn’t work and I also liked the fact that Kevin was the first person Kitty spilled her pregnancy to as well. It was obvious that he got the wrong end of the stick when he was talking to Seth about it but I liked that he related his own parenting experiences into the matter.

As for Kitty and Seth becoming parents – this is definitely shades of Desperate Housewives with Lynette/Tom but it seems here that Seth’s fears are less to do with fatherhood and more to do with Kitty’s health. I get that Kitty’s excited to be pregnant but again if the show had not be axed, there would be some hard times ahead for her and Seth in relation to both Kitty and the baby’s health.

It was something that even Nora attempted to address and it’s a pity that Kitty didn’t listen to her. Kitty did however have the use for reassuring Sarah on a few occasions – on her relationship with Nora and the fact that Paige wasn’t with child and while I’ve had issues with Kitty not being so present this year, this was a nice use of her in the finale.

Speaking of nice uses, it was interesting that Brody’s youngest daughter would gatecrash the wedding to make herself known to Sarah. She seems like fun and a bit nuts at the same time. I wasn’t surprised that Brody had more kids out there apart from Sarah and I wasn’t surprised with the breakneck speed in which he and Sarah came to connecting with each other as well.

As for the wedding bit, apart from some stuff with Luc learning that his father was in financial crisis and Gabriella being more toned down, I liked the fact that it didn’t dominate proceedings. Sarah and Luc got married, we got the song and dance with the guys, which managed to be a lot less cringe inducing than I thought it would be and we didn’t get anything too sappy from Luc either. All in all, I’d say that was a result really.

As for everyone else, it was nice to see Tommy back into the mix as well. It’s kind of a shame that he didn’t have much to do overall in the episode but seeing him was what mattered. I don’t think this episode could’ve gotten away with not featuring him, given how important he was when the show first started.

Justin and Tyler – I liked the mature approach that he had with her marital status and it continued to cement his maturity but I also liked the fact that Tyler officially chose him. I never thought we’d see Tyler back on the show, but I’m glad she was brought back and ultimately, Justin is probably with the woman he was meant to be with all this time – no disrespect intended to Rebecca though.

And to cap it off, an engagement between Saul and Jonathan as well. Now that means the show has ended perfectly with everyone paired – Nora/Brody, Saul/Jonathan, Sarah/Luc, Kitty/Seth, Tommy/Rose, Kevin/Scotty and Justin/Tyler. It’s a little hard not to love that sense of happy ending to the mix, right?

Also in “Walker Down The Aisle”

Matthew Rhys and Sally Field are the only two actors to have appeared in every single episode of the series, which is funny considering they were the last to be cast.

Kitty: “It’s your wedding Sarah and I don’t want you to regret anything.”

As well as the song and dance number at the wedding, we also had Kitty and Kevin breaking into one when they decided to tease Sarah over her first boyfriend.

Sarah: “I can’t believe you’re here.”
Tommy: “You asked me to walk you down the aisle. Where’d you think I’d be?”

Saul: “I’ll tell you something, Kevin, I’m gonna call Sarah because you’re a wuss.”

Ken Olin directed the first ever episode for the series – “Patriarchy”, so it made a lot of sense that he would direct the last episode.

Kevin: “Okay, what’s going on with you?”
Kitty: “I’m pregnant.”
Kevin: “You’re pregnant?”

Sarah (to Nora, re Brody’s necklace): “This is it. This is my something old.”

Apart from Sarah, Brody has at least four other kids and possibly a grandchild from his youngest daughter.

Justin: “When did you become Jack Nicholson?”
Tommy: “I’m just your brother trying to help.”

Kevin (to Cooper): “It’s not funny. You’ll give me a heart attack one day and I’ll die. Live with that.”

Despite the fact that Paige, Cooper, Olivia, Daniel and Evan were all here, it’s a shame the show missed out on Elizabeth and we got one last phone tree as well in this episode.

Brody: “Your mom’s the love of my life you know.”
Sarah: “I’m literally having an out of body experience right now.”

Jonathan: “Oh for God’s sake, marry me Saul.”
Saul: “You don’t believe in marriage.”
Jonathan: “You do and I believe in you.”
Saul: “Don’t do this unless you mean business because I might say yes.”
Jonathan: “Then say it.”
Saul: “Yes.”

Standout music: Lots here to be honest – Honey Honey’s “LA River”, The Four Tops “Baby, I Need Your Loving”, Elton John’s “Mona Lisa And Mad Hatters” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”.

Nora (to herself): “I think of this wonderful quote by George Elliot. It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

Chronology: Around May 2012, I suppose but not long after “For Better Or For Worse”.

As a series finale goes, “Walker Down The Aisle” was actually a great way of ending the series. Much as a part of me would’ve loved to see this series last longer and even though I’ll miss my weekly doses of Kevin and Scotty, I think this show had come to it’s natural conclusion and this was the best way of ending it.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x21: "For Better Or For Worse"

Written by Stephen Tolkin And Matt Donnelly
Directed by Michael Morris

Nora (re Brody): “Saul, if I open that door, I don’t know if I can close it again.”

And when it comes to resistance, I think every single Walker would systematically fail within a minute and it certainly didn’t take Nora too long to fold with Brody as well. I’m not criticising her for it, but it’s noteworthy though.

Once again, Sarah was responsible for reintroducing Brody into her mother’s life. It made sense that she would face off with Brody and insist that he stayed out of her life after she told him that he was her father but did she really think Brody was going to go through with it? Come on, Sarah, you can’t be that naive.

It’s amazing – I’ve waited for ages for Sarah to get a storyline where she could have a legitimate reason to angst over something and now that it’s here, I can’t seem to take her side, even if I can understand her reactions throughout the episode.

The anger she displayed in relation to both Brody and William lying to her made sense and her meltdowns in front of Luc and Kitty both made sense but I still found myself wanting to snap some sense into her as well. The comment she made to Kitty about being a half-sister annoyed me to no end.

I loved that Kitty just didn’t take that one lying down and read Sarah the riot act there and then. It’s moments like this that made me Kitty in the last few episodes and it’s also moments like this where Sarah finally realised that she has a family who loves her, so the obvious making up scene with Kitty and Saul was a nice result.

Less nice was her attempts of emotional blackmail with Nora and Brody. I thought in this incident, Sarah was being selfish. Brody might have abandoned Nora once but it was clear over the last few weeks that he was trying to make up for it and it was stupid on Sarah’s part to try and put her own mother in a contest with her and Brody.

Then again, this was just history repeating itself with Nora and Brody. In flashbacks, William basically did the same thing as well, but he managed to really up the ante. I guess it was too much to hope that we could go a year where the writers didn’t continue to vilify William but apparently not.

In this one, he basically threatened to make Nora and Sarah homeless if Brody tried to fight him for the two important women in his life. I liked that we got (what I assume) are the last flashbacks this show will ever give us and it was also nice that it rounded off Nora and Brody’s complicated history as well.

But I’m not sure if I like the assertion that Nora just stayed with a man who continuously lied and cheated on her for the last forty years because the man she really loved didn’t fight for her. I might not be the biggest fan of William’s but until his introduction, it was always clear that Nora loved William during the marriage but now this episode pretty much seems to have retconned that all together.

I suppose in that respect then, I should be glad that Nora and Brody have finally found each other again and taking Sarah’s disapproval out of the mix, they’re making up for lost time. Everyone seems to be on the Nora and Brody love train in this episode and probably by next week, Sarah will succumb to it as well.

Speaking of love trains, aren’t I glad that the writers decided to bring back Tyler for this show? I don’t know why they did but I am so grateful for it. Out of the women Justin had been with, not only was Tyler the one he had the most chemistry with but she was also the one who was a stabilising influence as well as a lot of fun too.

I love the fact that the actors still have the same spark with each other and that Tyler didn’t initially just at the chance to hook up with Justin. I also liked that she admitted to him that she was separating from her husband too. Now this is definitely a love match I approve of.

Continuing with the lovers of the episode, why did this one have to deal with Olivia’s jealousy over Daniel when it could’ve been a romantic subplot for Kevin and Scotty? I suppose it was a story that needed telling and it was done effectively enough but with one more episode left in the series, it’s sad that Kevin and Scotty haven’t had much in the way of storylines and scenes that aren’t about parenting.

Also in “For Better Or For Worse”

It’s not just Gabriella – Luc’s cousins are annoying as well, but the show thankfully did not dwell on them or the bachelor party for too long.

Sarah: “You’re my father.”
Brody: “Sarah, it’s not that simple. I could be your father.”
Sarah: “No, you are.”

Great casting in the flashbacks with the actress playing the younger Nora looking like a ringer for Sally Field.

Kevin (to Kitty, re Daniel): “You know I thought I’d feel weird about not being his bio-dad but I totally feel like his father.”

Nora: “I don’t want to stand in the way of miracles.”
Brody: “No, I’m glad you came, slugger.”
Nora: “I hate it when you call me that.”

Seth was still in Boston with Evan, hence their lack of appearance in this episode and Kevin/Scotty’s singing to Daniel was pretty infectious.

Brody: “Maybe we were meant to run into each other. You know, destiny and that kind of stuff.”
Nora: “”Destiny my foot, it’s a random universe.”

Justin: “Is it that obvious I came to see you?”
Tyler: “It’s pretty obvious.”

Why did Sarah and Kitty have to try (and fail) to crash Luc’s bachelor party? Pasadena has to be big enough for them to amuse themselves?

Sarah (to Kitty): “Do you know what it’s like to wake up one morning and realise that your entire life is built on a lie? I think Dad knew I wasn’t his.”

Standout music: Ingrid Michaelson’s “Men Of Snow” played during the last few minutes of the episode.

Brody (to Nora): “We never had a chance. Bill had us both, puppets on a string.”

Chronology: A couple of days since the events of “Father Unknown”.

“For Better Or For Worse” wasn’t bad but we’ve had a slew of great episodes in this last few weeks and this one wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, especially considering that the next one is the series last. Here’s hoping it goes out on a high note.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x20: "Father Unknown"

Written by Molly Newman And Gina Lucita Monreal
Directed by Matthew Rhys

Olivia (to Kevin/Scotty/Justin, re Daniel): “Who’s baby is that?”

Why, it your new baby brother of course, Olivia. Seriously, it’s going to be interesting to see how Kevin and Scotty broach that topic with Olivia in next week’s episode. It’s amazing that they’ve gone from having no kids to two very different kids in the space of a season.

What’s been less amazing has been the pacing and overall storyline in how Kevin and Scotty have landed in their current predicament. Still, for all the issues I do have about this story, I bloody well cannot deny the acting in this one and I’m gonna work my way from good to amazing here.

First of all, Roxy Olin, you’re one of three people on The City who I didn’t want to punch but as an actress, you’re not exactly the most impressive this show has produced. You are however not actually awful either, so there’s something to be had with that. You just might not have been my first choice for Michelle, that’s all.

In terms of Michelle, I think there’s some grey area worth exploring here. I don’t believe for one second that she’s an evil person but what she did to Kevin and Scotty, letting them believe that their own child was dead is arguably the cruellest thing any character has done on this show and there’s not much competition if I’m being candid.

For that alone, I can see both Kevin and Scotty’s viewpoints when it came to Michelle this week. I can see that because of her past and their friendship, Scotty wanted to give her some benefit of the doubt and while he did appear too calm at first with Kevin over her actions, I liked that he actually had some anger towards Michelle because being totally compensating towards her, even I couldn’t see someone like Scotty being that way.

I also think that he had the right with Michelle – placate her a little in order to get Daniel and I understood his anger when Kevin more or less blundered his plan but if it had been me in this situation, I think my reaction would’ve been a lot closer to Kevin’s reaction rather than Scotty on this one.

Kevin had every right to go apeshit in this episode. Michelle stole his baby – worse than that – she pretended the child was dead and had somehow managed to play Kevin and Scotty off each other, even if that wasn’t her intent. Kevin might not have done the right thing by reading her the riot act but I definitely can’t hold it against him either.

Both Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane absolutely nailed this episode. By far, it’s one of their best episodes, both for their characters and for them as actors. I don’t enjoy seeing Kevin and Scotty fight but the acting between the two of them was absolutely riveting stuff. I am seriously going to miss these two as a couple on my TV screens.

However fighting aside and a wonderful scene between Kevin and Nora where they gave each other hope, the best part for this episode was the fact that Michelle did the right thing in the end and gave Justin baby Daniel (lovely name) back to Kevin and Scotty. Explaining it to Olivia aside, I’m glad they got their baby and while I’ve droned on about wanting storylines away from parenting, at least this one is finally resolved.

Another parenting storyline resolved in this episode was Sarah’s bio-dad. Of course it was going to turn out to be Brody and while I hate that this show has done the same damn plot again, there were some stuff in this episode surrounding the storyline I kind of enjoyed, almost against my will but there you have it.

I enjoyed the exasperated Justin exploding and getting Nora to see sense and tell Sarah about Brody and I also loved that Sarah decided not to let the reveal affect. Of course with Brody likely to resurface in the last two episodes of the series, I think it’s pretty obvious that she will let her feelings for her real father more than known and that’s probably something she didn’t inherit from Brody.

Keeping with Sarah, it’s interesting that an episode that centred on the identity of her father would also be the same one where she refused the idea of a prenuptial agreement between her and Luc. Maybe Saul was being pushy but I think he made a lot of sense and while I don’t believe Luc is a gold digger, it wouldn’t hurt Sarah to be financially sensible nonetheless.

If the episode had one flaw, story wise, it was probably down to some of Saul and Luc’s bickering over prenuptial agreements and song choices but even that was far less grating than Luc’s sulky behaviour in the previous episode. In terms of singing though, I think I prefer Saul’s voice rather than Luc’s.

Also in “Father Unknown”

Michelle named Daniel after her own father and Saul gave Sarah a handkerchief from William for her wedding.

Nora (re Brody): “Are you saying he’s Sarah’s father?”
Justin: “No, I’m not. I’m saying he might be Sarah’s father.”

I just noticed in the last few weeks that Justin has really become the glue that’s kept the Walkers from falling apart. I also think it’s why I’ve enjoyed his storylines a lot more recently too.

Luc (re song): “I like it, in a lullaby kind of way but I like it.”
Saul: “Lullaby? Lullaby? Okay, you want something different, kid, have at it.”

Scotty (re Michelle): “I don’t believe she’s an evil person, Kevin. Neither of us know what it’s like to carry a baby inside our bodies.”
Kevin: “I’m sorry, I can’t listen to this. We have a son, Scotty.”

Matthew Rhys made his fourth and final director credited episode here and it was his best one by far.

Nora (re prenuptial agreement): “You know about that?”
Sarah: “You know about that?”
Justin: “I’m so happy I don’t know about that.”

Michelle (re Daniel): “How do you know his name? Please, Scotty, tell me you did not go to the police?”
Scotty: “Michelle, did you honestly think we wouldn’t try to find you?”

Olivia was away on a camping trip with Cooper and Paige and Sarah was trying to get Nora to go to a Mexican cruise during the episode while Kitty and Seth are still in Boston.

Kevin: “Apparently you already had a meeting. Why didn’t you tell me you were negotiating with her?”
Scotty: “Because she called me.”
Kevin: “Scotty, he is my son too. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Scotty: “Because I knew you’d screw it up like you just did. I thought if I could show her a little understanding, she would bring him back safely. Now we may never find him.”
Kevin: “You are absolutely right, absolutely, so good luck living with that.”

Standout music: Allie Moss’s “Dig With Me” played towards the end of the episode.

Kevin: “Sarah gained a father, we lost a son.”
Nora: “Don’t say that, there’s always hope.”
Kevin: “Mom, I’ve been through this. I’m too scared to hope.”
Nora: “Well then, I’ll hope for you.”

Nora: “I need to tell you something.”
Sarah: “What? Mom, you’re scaring me.”
Nora: “Could you sit down please?”

Chronology: Three days since “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?”

I really should hate “Father Unknown” for the mishandling of one big storyline and the unnecessary rehashing of another but the performances in this episode were actually some of the best we’ve seen this season, so for that reason alone, this episode rates highly with me.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x19: "Wouldn't It Be Nice?"

Written by Michael J. Cinquemani And Michael Halsey
Directed by Ken Olin

Brody: “I couldn’t get your mother out of my mind.”
Justin: “You managed to for the last forty years.”

This episode might have been named after a cool Beach Boys song but sadly, it would’ve been nice if at least three of the main plotlines this week had been handled far better than they actually were to be honest.

Take Brody for example – I really do love him and Nora as a couple and I was relieved when it appeared that he wasn’t Sarah’s bio-dad after all but this episode had to blow that relief out of the water thanks to Justin’s burning curiosity.

I’m not gonna rant at Justin here – he thought he was doing the right thing when Brody was sweating in the kitchen during game night and I guess when you’re a Walker, it probably makes some kind of sense to investigate people who come into your life but at the same time – god damn it, show – why?

Why did you have to go and make Brody Sarah’s father? Wasn’t the fact that he was an old flame of Nora’s enough of a bloody hook? This storyline bombed back in the second season with Rebecca and David, so why repeat a storyline that previously failed for goodness sake?

Worse still while the scenes with Justin facing off with Brody were suitably dramatic and effective, the show also made sure that his taking off would affect Nora big time. Of course, she’d have to go and fall back in love with him and consider moving away with him as well, just so Brody could go and break her heart like that.

With three episodes, I’m going to presume that Sarah knowing who her father really is will be the fuel of the show’s final run along with her wedding but while I still like Brody as a character, I really wished the show hadn’t gone there, story-wise. Again, it just seems like a bad idea rehashing a plot that previously didn’t work in the show’s favour.

And while I’m on Sarah related storylines – I guess I should see Luc’s bout of childish sulking as reassurance that he’s not all that perfect after all but honestly, it just pissed me off to no end. So, Luc didn’t want Sarah to put her house up for sale – why couldn’t he have just said that at the start of the episode?

It would’ve been far better than watching him act like a spoiled brat when Sarah cleaned up his study and during his bloody art show as well. You know, it’s storylines like that make me understand a lot of people hate Sarah and Luc as a pairing. As a couple, they often lack depth and storylines like the one we had to endure in this episode sort of reinforced that fact.

Of course though, seeing as this is Sarah and Luc, they did eventually hash out their problems and made up but even that failed to move me in any way. Maybe Sarah should’ve consulted Luc about her moving plans but at the same time, Luc came across kind of badly in this episode for me.

Speaking of coming across badly, I’ve never been a massive fan of Michelle but I’ve never seen her as a horrible person. Flaky and vapid at her worst, yes, but not horrible. After this episode, I’m not sure how I should feel about her. I suppose I should reserve judgement until she explains herself properly next week.

In a plot more convoluted than the baby swap storyline in EastEnders, it turns out Michelle didn’t have a miscarriage. Nope, she had a healthy baby boy and when Scotty got up in her business a little too much, she decided to flee LA for New York again with baby in tow and ending this episode on a decent cliff hanger.

Kevin and Scotty’s shocked expressions aside, the one thing that Michelle’s return also addressed was Olivia’s own insecurities about Kevin and Scotty reasons for adopting her. I think both Kevin and Scotty took ages in this episode to reassure Olivia’s fears but I also saw where Olivia was coming from, character wise and it was consistent enough.

However, I can’t help but be disappointed by this storyline. If the writers wanted Kevin and Scotty to have a baby so much, why go about it in such a ridiculous, roundabout way? This season has been too dominated with them trying to be parents and I was hoping for a bit of a breather but with the discovery of a new baby, it’s not looking very likely. Bad move, show.

Also in “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?”

It sounds terrible but some of my least favourite episodes this season have opened with Sarah/Luc. It’s almost as if these two are a bad omen, episode wise.

Nora (re Brody): “How do you know he’s in love with me?”
Kevin: “Oh, come on.”
Justin: “Ma, he’s clearly in love with you.”

I liked the return of game night, even if it was just Nora, Brody, Justin and Kevin. At least Olivia and Scotty managed to escape with ice cream.

Scotty (re Michelle): “I wanna help her. She wasn’t just our surrogate, Kevin.”
Kevin: “I don’t think she wants you to help, Scotty. Michelle doesn’t want to go back there now. I know I don’t.”

Brody: “I can’t believe you caught a foul ball.”
Nora: “I can’t believe I ate three hotdogs.”

Scotty had some interesting moments to talk to Kevin about his history with Michelle. I’m going to reserve judgement until the next episode on her actions.

Sarah: “I think he’s really mad at me.”
Kevin: “Well if you’d cleaned my office, I’d kill you.”

Justin: “I think that’s the less crime now, don’t you? Are you Sarah’s father?”
Brody: “It’s possible.”
Justin: “You don’t know?”

Both Brody and William turned out to be Type B. I guess Sarah is Type B as well, right? Also both Kitty and Saul were absent in this one.

Justin (re Nora): “You do realise you’re gonna break her heart?”
Brody: “She has her family, she’ll be okay.”

Chronology: I guess maybe April 2012 and musically, this episode was named after the Beach Boys song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” and it’s the song used in it too.

I wanted to like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” more than I did because while it had some decent moments in it, the handling of the three main storylines bothered me more than it should’ve and it made me realise that this is probably why it’s been cancelled. Well that and ABC’s diabolical treatment of it as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x18: "Never Say Never"

Written by Sarah Kucserka And Veronica Becker
Directed by Bethany Rooney

Brody: “Is everything alright?”
Nora (re Ida): “She died this morning.”
Brody: “She died?”
Nora: “My mother died. I guess I have to plan a funeral now too.”

I figured at some point in this show the writers would actually go there and kill Ida Holden off and I have to admit that I’m surprised they waited as long as they did in order to do it but as death episodes go, this one worked pretty well to be honest and this is just after I’ve seen Glee do the same thing with Sue’s sister.

In terms of the reactions, I don’t think there was a single one that was over the top with the exception of Kevin’s. His intense opposition over Ida seemed a little forced considering that we never really saw her ‘disappointment’ with him on screen at all, so it didn’t entirely resonate here compared to everyone else’s.

Sarah was pretty distant about her grandmother’s death because as the episode emphasised a great deal, Ida hadn’t been the best of relatives to have in the Walker/Holden family but I have to admit that I found Justin’s reaction to Ida’s death the most interesting.

Having Justin empathise and understand his grandmother’s loneliness might not win points for subtlety but let’s be brutally honest – Ida wasn’t all that bad really. Yes, it’s easy to see why she drove Nora and Saul crazy but I do remember seeing some moments in the first season when she did admit that she was proud of her kids as well.

It’s just a shame that episode wise, we didn’t actually get to see Ida one last time on screen. A parting word to either of her elderly children would’ve been nice but the letter that she had written for Saul instead was a good gesture. I’m not surprised that she knew he was gay, especially considering when you think about that conversation Nora and Kevin had in “If You Bake It, He Will Come” and I thought it was sweet that she wanted Saul to be happy.

I also thought Saul’s anger towards his mother in this episode was believable as well and expertly played by Ron Rifkin. However, it was nice that the letter made him take stock of things and be more open about his relationship with Jonathan as well. Some viewers said it was rushed but considering this show doesn’t have long to go, I can deal with that.

As for Nora, I didn’t envy her having to go up and talk about Ida in front of her family and the few people that attended her mother’s funeral but it was another excellent moment for Sally Field as well. I also liked the fact that despite his unconventional approach, Brody really was a help to Nora in her hour of need as well.

The absences of Kitty and Tommy however were the only thing about the episode that felt a little off though. Like with “Safe At Home”, this episode should’ve featured both of them and it was really sloppy on the producers part not to have them factor into the overall episode but it’s only a small blemish in an otherwise wonderful episode.

Adding the return of Bertha into this episode also proved to be a triumph as well. The parallels between Bertha and Ida were also rather well done. Bertha’s disapproving but she’s not a bad person and her attempts of connecting with Olivia to try and repair her relationship with Scotty made narrative sense as well.

It’s also interesting how far along Bertha has come too as a character. Last time around, she barely talked to Kevin but in this episode she was able to open up to her fears about Scotty and actually listened to him as well. That’s a nice bit of progress with the character and I was actually quite pleased when she was at the Walker table for the Ida tribute as well.

Ida’s death wasn’t the only occasion in this episode as well – there was Justin’s 30th and it was interestingly handled too. I liked that list he had compiled and I certainly liked the scenes with him and Kevin throughout the episode. In fact, nearly everything with Justin over the last few episodes has been enjoyable to watch and this continued the trend, so nice work, show.

Last but not least – Sarah and Luc. It’s a relief at this point that Kevin got the role of wedding planner (hey, even I found his enthusiasm for cake testing amusing) because if I have to endure another episode of Sarah being dismissive of planning a wedding, I probably would die of boredom. I should mention however that I did side with Luc because Sarah, despite her logic was being a tad harsh with him. I can understand why the wedding is a big deal for Luc, considering that he’s a romantic guy and all.

Also in “Never Say Never”

Marion Ross apparently said in an interview that she wished she had been able to film Ida’s death.

Sarah (re Justin): “I can’t believe our little brother is turning 30.”
Kevin: “Yeah, I don’t think he can either.”

Even though I totally knew it was happening, ABC announced last Friday (the 13th of all days) the show wasn’t coming back for a sixth year.

Justin (re list): “Oh my God, I gave this to you?”
Kevin: “Isn’t it amazing? We’re gonna do every item on this list.”
Justin: “You know someone with a flying car?”
Kevin: “Every item that doesn’t require time travel.”

Scotty: “This isn’t anxiety, this is dread. There’s a big difference. She’s meeting Olivia for the first time.”
Saul: “And where’s Kevin?”
Scotty: “Hiding.”

I take it from the lack of dialogue that Bertha and Wally are still seperated at this point in the show.

Bertha: “Not to worry, I’m here now.”
Scotty: “I wasn’t worried, until now.”

Sarah (re Nora): “How’s she doing?”
Brody: “The woman’s a whirling dervish. She hasn’t stopped planning the funeral since she got the call yesterday.”

Kitty was away with Seth and Tommy was unable to get time off from his job, hence their reasons for not being at Ida’s funeral.

Nora: “My mother, my mother was ... the truth is, I can accept the things she was. It’s the things she wasn’t that breaks my heart. I can’t do this.”

Saul: “It’s my turn, mother, I’d like you to meet the love of my life – Jonathan.”

Chronology: A couple of weeks since “Olivia’s Choice”.

“Never Say Never” is a terrific episode in dealing with the departure of Ida and giving both Nora and Saul something interesting to do. The inclusions of Brody and Bertha in this episode also helped a lot too.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Brothers And Sisters - Cancelled

Now this is a spoiler I'm sure everyone's been aware of for the last two days and I would've reported it sooner but I got caught up in other stuff.

It comes with sadness (but resignation) to report that on Friday 13th this month, ABC officially announced that after five seasons and 109 episodes, Brothers And Sisters was no more. In fairness, I think most people saw it coming but while Season 5 was something of a mess in places, I think it's a shame the show's been canned, especially when worse ones are on that station.

Yes, the writers fudged a lot of storylines (unneeded time jumps, mishandling Kevin/Scotty's parenting storyline, Sarah's paternity) and god knows, ABC were awful in promoting this season (they couldn't even be arsed to do promos for the 100th episode or cast promos this year), I am still going to miss this show, in particular Kevin and Scotty, which still beat every other gay character on TV. It's been swell, show. Season 5 comes out on DVD in August for US buyers and September/October for UK ones. Needless to say, it'll be in my collection.

It's been nice knowing you show but I can't help but think if Jon Robin Baitz hadn't been pushed off his show, certain storylines wouldn't have happened. I mean the bad ones.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x17: "Olivia's Choice"

Written by Cliff Olin And Michael Morris
Directed by Michael Morris

Scotty: “We’re doing the right thing, right, fighting this?”
Kevin: “What do you mean?”
Scotty (re Olivia/Brian): “He’s her brother.”
Kevin: “Yeah, he’s her brother and we’re her fathers.”

I have to admit, I would’ve been incredibly surprised if this show had managed to avoid going down the route of Kevin/Scotty being threatened with losing Olivia. After all, the poor guys have lost two babies and this season has certainly piled angst on them more than usual but the handling of this storyline was pretty good if you ask me.

I’ll never understand or condone homophobia but given that this show isn’t as heavy with it as a lot of other LGBT themed shows tend to be, I wasn’t too shocked that Olivia’s brother, Brian would turn out to disapprove of his sister’s living arrangements because she now had two fathers.

There was even a point in the episode where Justin tried to reason with Brian in a civilised manner about his bigotry and Brian just gave him this comical evil look. I didn’t need Brian to be a homophobe to root for Kevin and Scotty to remain Olivia’s guardians but I guess the episode didn’t hurt from having it that way either though.

And while there are times when Nora’s interfering has been irritating to the nth degree, I absolutely loved her “meddling” in this episode. I never doubted for one second that she was on Kevin and Scotty’s side but her rationing about Olivia being the one to have a say in where she stays was absolutely right.

Yes, it’s a difficult decision for a child to make and one that shouldn’t be enforced on them but Olivia’s turmoil was nicely played and reasonably understandable. You can’t begrudge the child for wanting a relationship with her brother and you certainly couldn’t begrudge her for wanting to remain with Kevin and Scotty either, so in my book, any meddling Nora did in this episode was actually in everyone’s favour.

She didn’t vilify Brian either. Instead she made an effort for him to spend some time with Olivia and she also helped Olivia get to the hearing and make a rather nice if ham fisted speech about the Walkers and their penchant for taking in strays. Okay, it was extremely cheesy as hell but I’m going to let it slide because I liked the outcome.

Olivia got to stay with Kevin and Scotty and Brian had some sense to come around and visit his little sister at the end. I don’t know if he’ll ever accept Kevin and Scotty but I got the impression from the last scene that he realised they were the right people to be looking after his sister, so I guess that’s progress.

Olivia aside, it was actually nice to see Kevin being a lawyer again too. He managed to keep his composure when Brian was being bigoted and he certainly made his own arguments as well, which probably could’ve worked, even if Olivia hadn’t gotten to the judge either. Either way, I liked that Kevin and Scotty got to keep Olivia but now can we have some kissing between them already? It’s been seventeen episodes.

Unfortunately while the Kevin/Scotty/Olivia/Brian storyline was pretty good stuff, the rest of the episode itself kind of fell apart. I’m all for the Walkers being silly but Kitty and Sarah were a bit too immature in this episode for my tastes over the former’s attempts of winning Seth back, weren’t they?

The scenes at the restaurant which seem to largely involve finding ways to undermine and humiliate Berklee were just dumb rubbish and you know there’s something not right with the picture when you find yourself identifying with Luc’s exasperation over Kitty and Sarah’s daft plot as well.

Seth’s return was a nice point in the episode and while I’m glad that him and Kitty actually managed to cut through the bullshit in the end and get back together, I do hope that next time Kitty freaks out about her health, she does actually tell Seth about it. He is pretty mature, so don’t treat him like a child, Kitty.

As for Luc and Sarah going on about their wedding plans – why the stalling, Sarah? Well I know why – the wedding’s due to be the finale but it’s the only part of the episode I truly didn’t care. That being said though, congrats to Luc on getting some progress with his art career.

Last but not least – Nora taking in a stray dog that followed Lily home. Is she going to become a crazy dog lady now? I kid of course but as plots go, it was amusing, especially with Justin’s teasing her about Brody but also it was a little filler as well.

Also in “Olivia’s Choice”

Olivia’s the second character this season to get an episode named after her. I want a main character to have one named after them.

Kevin (re Lily): “Why are you indulging the spoiled bitch? Give her a bowl of kibbles.”
Sarah: “Kevin, I can’t believe you said that. I’m sorry that I called.”

Actually Kevin’s comments were direct at Lily, not Kitty. The price of answering two phones at once, eh?

Sarah (to Kitty. re Seth): “The only thing that man’s gonna be slamming against a wall is you.”

Kitty: “I thought of you every day.”
Seth: “Then didn’t you call?”
Kitty: “I don’t know. I guess I was lying to myself as much as I was lying to you. I wasn’t ready to accept what was happening to me and now I am finally accepting it, so here I am.”

This episode aired as a double with “Never Say Never” but More4 are airing the episodes separately.

Kitty: “No, no, Sarah, this is crazy, we can’t do this, we’re not in high school.”
Sarah: “No, we’re not but Seth practically is.”

Sarah: “Fun time is over, this is war. Just get her to join you at the bar?”
Luc: “Why me?”
Sarah: “Cos you’re my secret weapon.”

Standout music: Joss Stone’s “Free Me” during Kitty’s entrance into the restaurant.

Olivia: “Scotty is the best chef.”

Chronology: A few weeks since “Home Is Where The Fort Is” and there was no Saul and Jonathan in this episode either.

“Olivia’s Choice” is probably not the show at its best and despite some jarring moments here and there, we have had worse episodes this season and it’s nice that Kevin and Scotty have had more screen time in the last two episodes as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x16: "Home Is Where The Fort is"

Written by Geoffrey Nauffts And Brian Studler
Directed by Bethany Rooney

Kevin: “If the women of this family leave town and we fall apart – game over.”
Luc (re Sarah): “Speak of the devil.”

I did wonder for a second if this episode was going to turn into a ‘men are useless unsupervised’ turn but thankfully, while the male folk struggle at first with the children, they get there in the end without a female influence. It’s equality, right?

Take Luc for instance. He’s been with Sarah for long enough, is well in with her family and has a nice rapport with Paige and Cooper. So, an episode where Luc refused to give Paige 50 dollars because she wouldn’t tell him what she needed him for shouldn’t paint him in a bad light. He was smart to at least ask why a teenager needs that amount of cash.

Of course Paige’s reasons for needing 50 bucks came down to having to a buy a bra, so there was an organic reason for her not to tell Luc what she needed the cash for without turning her into a brat and though there’s a moment where it did look like Sarah was going to undermine Luc’s authority, at least Sarah managed to fill him in on what was really happening and Luc was a gentlemen in not embarrassing.

I’ll admit that I tend to be critical of Luc at times because he’s never presented as a character with flaws – something which is often associated with significant others of the Walkers but I really do like his rapport with Paige and I thought the two of them were really great in this episode, especially when Paige got jilted by a boy she liked.

Luc could’ve sugar coated the woes of heartbreak but he gave her an honest account of it instead and while encouraging Paige to egg Cody’s house might not have been the most responsible of things to do, I’m willing to give him a free pass for it. Also is it me or has Paige become a far more likeable character over the last few episodes this season?

Speaking of likeable, I might not be overly crazy about Kevin and Scotty’s storylines being parenting only but I do like Olivia and I really enjoyed her in this episode. Also, I understood where she was coming from this week too, even if the fort she built in the apartment was a little much.

It makes perfect sense for Olivia to have various hang ups, even if she finally does have full time parents in Kevin and Scotty and I liked that the both of them used their own brand of gentle coaxing to get her to tear the fort down. It was a smart move on their part and it’s stuff like that I can see why Kevin and Scotty really do have the knack of being great parents.

Parenting was something that was the big theme this week as even Kitty was in a tizzy over trying to get a decent birthday party for Evan and apparently store bought stuff didn’t cut the mustard. Like the Walkers need an excuse to swarm around each other but either way, the birthday party Evan did get at the end of the episode was rather nice.

However Kitty did have a better storyline this week that didn’t involve her son’s birthday. Following her mystery absence in the last three episodes, it was nice that we got some solid answers as to what was going on with Kitty. Shame they came after Nora and Sarah came to the wrong conclusions yet again.

Kitty having complications with her bone marrow made some sense I guess and her fears about Evan were thankfully countered by Sarah’s own promise to make sure the child was well looked after but more importantly, I actually loved that little scene where Kitty was telling Nora and Sarah that the cologne bottle was Robert’s and just having that onscreen acknowledge of Kitty’s grief for him was definitely welcomed.

As for Justin, the nightmare storyline – not bad. It made some sense that having Zach around would stir up some less fond memories but what I liked the most was how the episode exited Zach without him turning psycho or Justin being a jerk. Also I have to admit that Justin’s paramedic co-worker Danny is somewhat amusing. It’s nice to see him recur on the show.

Also in “Home Is Where The Fort Is”

Can the show please get rid of Patricia Wettig’s name in the opening credits? Holly’s been gone for the last four episodes now.

Sarah: “We want to know what’s going on here.”
Kitty: “Nothing. Nothing. The only thing that’s going on is I’m trying to get ready for my son’s birthday party, which is a very big deal.”

Shouldn’t Evan be three rather than four? After all, the show time jumped a year, not two.

Justin: “I don’t have PTSD, Zach.”
Zach: “Yeah that’s what I kept telling myself my first couple of nights on the street.”

Sarah (re Kitty): “See, she’s not in the CIA, she’s ruining a marriage.”
Nora: “Very funny.”

Actually, the man Kitty was talking to in the supermarket was a fella named Dale, who goes to the same sign language class as she does.

Kitty: “Why would I be in the CIA?”
Nora: “They’d be lucky to have you.”
Kitty: “I’m not in the CIA.”

Scotty (re Gecko Town): “What do you think we should do – tear it down?”
Kevin (re Olivia): “No, I think we should talk to her. Whatever it is, she needs to tell us but this fort isn’t the answer.”

We learned Olivia was born July 11th 2001 and this episode sadly did not feature Saul/Jonathan but it did briefly feature Lily.

Justin: “I’m trying to save everyone.”
Zach: “Well, do you?”
Justin: “No, that’s why I wake up screaming.”

Kevin (to Olivia): “I hated school. I used to put a thermometer up against the light bulb so I could fake a fever and stay home all day.”
Scotty: “Don’t tell her how to do that.”

Standout music: Drew Holcomb’s “Baby Tomorrow” at the end of the episode.

Kevin: “Are you alright?”
Kitty: “Yeah, we’ll go for a walk later and I’ll tell you everything.”
Kevin: “Okay.”

Chronology: About two weeks since the events of “Brody”.

I liked this one. “Home Is Where The Fort Is” does seem to be continuing a reasonably strong wave of good episodes. All of the storylines were nice and it was certainly nice having Kitty back on the show as well, so no complaints from me.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x15: "Brody"

Written by Molly Newman
Directed by Matthew Rhys

Nora: “Are you thrilled with how your life turned out?”
Brody: “It’s had its ups and downs but it’s not over yet.”

Maybe they should’ve changed the title of this episode to “Everybody Loves Brody” because it comes to making a first impression, Brody pretty much won everyone over that featured here and it’s easy to see why – Beau Bridges was just perfect casting.

In less than one episode, he made Brody into a far more engaging and nicely drawn character that even if they are plot holes and the foreboding sense of dread that he is actually Sarah’s father, it was pretty damn hard not to like him. He certainly deserves points for the cute dog and his uncanny knack of getting Nora flustered as well.

And this is why I want Brody not be a flash in the pan character. We already got our annual short lived relationship with Nora and Karl, so let Brody actually be the one that goes the distance, even if the show is retooling most of it’s continuity in order to solidify Brody’s overall importance to Nora’s past.

After all, he was the one who got away and according to Nora was deeply unreliable. Both of those issues are more or less hashed out here with Nora and Brody’s interactions but the fact that he left Lily the dog behind him in Nora’s care is a safe indicator that we at least have another appearance due shortly.

If Brody himself wasn’t likeable enough, then Lily the dog was definitely loved. Kevin couldn’t get enough of seeing her and Nora even allowed her to sleep on her bed and I was definitely relieved when she survived her operation as well, which was quite the feat given how Lily was supposed to be here.

Yes, even I’m a sucker for a dog and while it could’ve been seen as a rather convoluted way of trying to endear Brody, the episode highlighted his shortcoming as well without demonising. He wasn’t too sorry to learn that William had been a serial cheater (though he wasn’t a jackass about it either) and his commitment issues were definitely Nora’s main reason for not wanting to let her guard down with him.

It’s a fair point on Nora’s end but this episode then heavily suggested that if Brody hadn’t been so into his baseball, would Nora have actually ended up with William? Every year the show has made William look less and less good and this continued the trend but Brody himself was man enough to admit that things between him and Nota wouldn’t have worked out for them but now could be an option.

However the one thing I am unconvinced of with this episode is Sarah’s paternity. I really don’t want the show to go and change who her father is but it’s pretty likely that that’s exactly what will happen and silly as its sounds, it’s the only strike that Brody has going against him at the moment. Everything else is just muffins in comparison.

Speaking of muffins – poor Joaquin. Every little sack of flour that comes into the world will one day have a future in creating bread, cakes, pastries and of course, muffins but for Joaquin, that future came a little too soon. On paper, this storyline with Paige sounds so inane but on screen, it’s actually quite funny.

Paige desperately took taking care of a sack of flour as a baby by proxy way too seriously but when it came to getting lessons about pregnancy out of wedlock, all she had to do was learn about her grandmother being pregnant with her mother to really drill the point home. Still, Joaquin’s death wasn’t in vain. I hear the muffins he spawned were absolutely yummy. Just ignore Kevin’s reaction when consuming them though.

Paige wasn’t the only playing carer this week as Justin decided to take in a homeless, emotionally volatile army vet named Zach for his troubles. It was a nice thing for Justin to do and I like that he wanted to help Zach as best he could but he could be out of his depth. Still, points to him for being an all around gentleman this week.

As for Tommy and Rose’s departure/new job – eh, it was the weakest part of the episode but truth be told, maybe Tommy and Sarah just aren’t cut out to work with each other. Also I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last we see of them in the season and apart from one argument, Tommy’s exit went smoother than other ones.

Also in “Brody”

Brody is the second character to get an episode named after him, the first being Julia back in the third season, though Rebecca was referred to as “The Other Walker” during the first year.

Kevin (re Joaquin): “Right, so is it a boy or a girl?”
Paige: “Boy!”
Kevin: “How can you tell?”

Kevin playing with paper clips, dressing Joaquin up in a hoodie, his scenes with Lily/Brody and reaction to the muffins were comic gold from Matthew Rhys.

Tommy (to Sarah): “I don’t know what my job title is around here but it’s starting to feel like referee.”

Nora (re Sarah): “Your name came up in conversation.”
Brody: “That must have been one hell of a conversation. She wanted to know if I was her father. Where’d she get that idea?”

Brody had two marriages in the space of ten years and once spooked Ida when sneaking to see Nora. I liked his nickname for her – slugger.

Kevin (re Brody): “I like him.”
Nora: “You don’t like him. You just like watching me squirm.”

Nora: “I thought you said you had no agenda.”
Brody: “I don’t. Lily was sick to her stomach, so I let myself into the kitchen to make her a little rice to eat.”

Matthew Rhys directed this episode, making it his third in two seasons and he’s due to direct a later one as well.

Tommy: “I didn’t expect to see everybody here.”
Nora: “Evidently, Brody’s a big draw.”

One again, there was no Kitty in this episode but there was also no Luc, Saul or Scotty and I’m sure all of them would’ve loved Brody/Lily too.

Nora: “You have regrets?”
Brody: “Well, my baseball career didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped but if I had given up that dream and gotten married, I would’ve made your life miserable.”

Chronology: I’m going to assume it’s around February/March 2012, given when ABC aired this episode.

“Brody” was definitely an episode that felt like the show I fell in love with. The character interactions were spot, the humour flowed naturally and I couldn’t help but find myself warming to a Nora/Brody pairing but I guess it is early days and there’s more to him that needs to be uncovered.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x14: "The One That Got Away"

Written by Gina Lucita Monreal And David Babcock
Directed by Michael Morris

Kevin: “You know, people make mistakes, especially when it comes to love.”
Scotty: “Oh come on, do you really think that’s true?”
Kevin: “Yeah, in it’s own peculiar way. You should forgive him, Scotty.”
Scotty: “Well, people have forgiven me in the past.”

Now I would if the quote above was a massive indicator of how big Kevin and Scotty’s role was in this Valentine’s episode but the right kick in the nuts is that sadly, neither of them have big roles in this episode. They’re just supporting players but their only scene together is one of two scenes where this episode was bliss. The rest was fine but hardly riveting stuff though.

I’m going to rant here because I want to get it out of my system but if Saul and Jonathan can share a tender kiss on the lips (which was lovely), then why the heck can’t Kevin and Scotty anymore? Every other couple was allowed to have that bit of physical affection and it felt somewhat jarring that they couldn’t.

Still, at least their only scene together was sweet. It’s not the first time that Kevin’s made some perceptive comments on the nature of love and his joking at Scotty’s expense was funny without being nasty. Plus it was nice to have the pair of them have a scene where parenting wasn’t the topic of the day. Can we have more scenes like that, writers?

As for Saul – you’re in your seventies and a bit less flighty than the rest of your family. Next time, try not serving Jonathan something that he’s allergic to just because Frank N. Beans the food critic is getting a little frisky with your boyfriend. Those types of pranks are no longer funny on Desperate Housewives and you should know better.

However I’m surprised at Jonathan. He was foolish to try and make Saul jealous but he must really like him to have actually stayed with him at the end. Both Ron Rifkin and Richard Chamberlain played their scenes rather nicely and Kevin/Scotty grumbles aside, I thought it was nice that we got to see Saul/Jonathan kiss. I don’t imagine it’ll happen often but it was a nice move on the show’s part, so I’m gonna praise them there.

That being said with praise comes some deserved criticism as well – who’s the daddy? Remember back in the second season when the same plot with Rebecca and David pretty much blew up in the writers’ faces? I certainly remember it and I can’t for the life of me fathom out why the series would even think of venturing there with Sarah.

I defended Rose in my previous review but now, I really am struggling to understand why she opened up this can of worms. When it comes to the Walkers, secrets like this are usually best left alone and I didn’t need Justin’s snarky comment to Sarah to remind me of it but at the same time, I appreciated it.

I also found it rather funny that Tommy was hissy with Rose over her snooping but yet it was him who went and dropped the bomb on Sarah’s lap. I might have found her refusal to believe Nora a bit aggravating but I understood where she was coming from though. It’s not like Nora hasn’t lied to her children in the past, has it?

As for Brody potentially being Sarah’s father – I hope the show doesn’t actually go there but I’m convinced that they’re going. Otherwise, why even tease the possibility that Sarah might not be William or have her come face to face with Brody at the end of the episode as well? And that’s not even mentioning Nora’s pining for Brody in both her radio segments this week either.

Brody must be some guy to have Nora all flustered and quick to deny anything to Sarah. Here’s hoping that next week’s episode finally lays this issue to rest, because happy as I am for Sarah to have storylines that don’t centre on Luc, the radio station or her kids, I’m not sure this is the way to go.

Speaking of Luc, talk about going over the top? I get that he wanted to cook a nice meal for Sarah and get back in with her emotionally but why didn’t he just try something else? Maybe Justin’s advice on romance sounded a bit caveman like but I did think that he raised a good point. On the plus side, Justin and Luc’s scenes together was mostly harmless fun.

As for Tommy and Rose, I’m still not too bothered with them as a couple. Rose did learn a harsh lesson this week with her meddling but at the same time, I’m beginning to wonder what her motives are when it comes to the Walkers. She does seem overly interested in their business and private lives. Even Holly had more self-restraint – just about!

Also in “The One That Got Away”

Robert mentioned last season that he had the Walkers looked into when he met Kitty, so that has to mean that he might have known about Brody, right?

Nora: “Sarah, I was emoting, that’s what I get paid for.”
Sarah: “No, mom, you get paid to be the concerned but ever positive mother that none of us really have but we all need, especially on holidays.”

I couldn’t have been the only one who wasn’t surprised that Karl had left the station but I can see why his departure might have added to Sarah’s headaches.

Justin (to Luc/Scotty): “I get romance. I just don’t think you need shock and awe to prove it.”

Saul: “Let me ask you something – are you in love with him?”
Nora: “Well, you tell me – are you in love with Jonathan?”

Both Jonathan and Kevin are allergic to shrimp. For a moment at the end of the episode, I did think Kevin had eaten it before I realised he was messing with Scotty.

Sarah: “Tommy, it is exhausting letting you in and out of this family.”
Tommy: “At least I know I’m part of this family.”

Sarah: “What is this, my birth certificate? What are you, the FBI?”
Rose: “It’s so easy to find this stuff.”

William didn’t originally sign Sarah’s birth certificate, rousing Rose’s suspicions and Kevin got the charming new moniker of airport head.

Justin: “Sarah, you gotta let this go. I mean going all DNA in this family, trust me, don’t do it.”
Kevin: “The kid’s right, can we please?”
Sarah: “No, Kevin, I’m not gonna let you all jump on the mom bandwagon and put this under the rug.”

Rose: “I feel terrible.”
Nora: “Well, good.”
Rose: “I don’t know what to do.”
Nora: “Why don’t you do what we all do – have a glass of wine and wait for the dust to settle? And if you’re gonna be a part of this family, you need to get over it. Stop crying.”

Standout music: Keane’s “Hamburg Song” and yet again, there was no Kitty in this episode.

Jonathan: “Hard as it is to believe, you’re the one I’m interested in too.”
Saul: “Oh God, why didn’t you say anything?”
Jonathan: “Sorry but we’re all afraid of taking the first step.”

Kevin: “I’m glad I came home.”
Scotty: “Me too. Happy Valentine’s day.”
Kevin: “Happy Valentine’s day.”

Chronology: February 14th 2012 of course.

As Valentine’s day episodes go, “The One That Got Away” does the job nicely but I guess the lack of physical affection between Kevin and Scotty in this one slightly soured it more than most episodes as well as the dread I have over the Sarah plotline too.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x13: "Safe At Home

Written by Michael J. Cinquemani And John Kazlauskas
Directed by Richard Coad

Saul: “Nora, surprises are supposed to be fun.”
Nora: “Not in this family.”

That may be the case when it comes to the Walkers but for a 100th episode, is it me or could this episode have done with more surprises? I know, there’s Tommy with a new fiancée, Sarah and Luc setting a wedding date, Kevin and Scotty being fatherly with Olivia, a mystery with Brody, a failed relationship for Justin and no Kitty and yet somehow this didn’t feel like a landmark episode.

That’s probably down to the fact that all of the stuff I’ve mentioned in the first paragraph seemed rather standard and could be slotted into any episode in the past five years. 100th episodes are supposed to feel bigger but this didn’t and aside from my major issue with the exclusion of Kitty, I did actually like the episode.

Let’s talk about Tommy and his fiancée first – Rose. It was probably the second biggest hook of the episode. It’s been yonks since we’ve seen Tommy on screen and he seemed really happy with his new woman and wanted money from Sarah to help get a real estate scheme off the ground.

I don’t actually blame Sarah for being a bit put out by it. Tommy hadn’t contacted her in months and did spring it on her but at the same time, Sarah didn’t exactly give him or Rose a half decent chance to explain themselves before launching on the defensive, so in some ways, she was just as bad as Tommy.

Interestingly enough despite their squabbling ruining yet another Walker meal, it actually took them a far shorter time to make up with each other than usual. Hell, Sarah even caved in a little and gave Tommy a job at her media company and Rose showed zero qualms in relocating from Seattle to Pasadena either.

Now as for Rose – I kind of hope she’s harmless. I know the show could make her into a Holly Mark 2 and she certainly did seem to have too much of an interest in the Walkers family tree but she seem sincere enough in wanting to get to know the Walkers and with her lack of boundary issues, she might actually fit in with them pretty well too.

Plus in her defence, both Nora and Sarah were initially rather standoffish with her and that was she ended the episode by showing Tommy that Nora and William lied about when they were married. Maybe she was being harmless again or maybe she’s evil. I doubt we’ll have to wait long to get our answer though.

As for Nora and Brody – I know this show well enough that without Saul’s goading and Rose’s prying, I would’ve easily guessed that they were lovers. Significant ones too if Nora’s general evasiveness was anything to go by in this episode. I can also wisely deduce that it probably won’t be long before Brody re-enters Nora’s life as well, especially given the uncertainty of the show’s future at the minute.

Speaking of uncertainty, I liked the way that Kevin and Scotty are handling becoming parents. They might want to dial the pushiness with Olivia down a notch but both of them have their hearts in the right place and did make an effort to deal with Olivia’s dyslexia as well quite well.

The episode sort of highlighted Olivia’s difficulties well enough but not in a manner that was too patronising and although Nora’s eagerness to meet her was atypical, it was nice to see Olivia being introduced to her grandmother. Again, though I like seeing Kevin and Scotty as parents, I do want other storylines for them too.

Meanwhile I saw Justin and Annie’s break up coming a mile and to be fair, I can’t say I blame Annie for ending things. Justin let his jealousy of Rick get the better of him and Annie put the kibosh on their relationship. She did however do it in a rather nice way, so Justin should count himself lucky that Annie showed more maturity in this episode than he did.

Last but not least, Sarah and Luc were the sort of low point episode wise for me. I don’t hate them as a couple but I don’t care about their sex scenes and I wasn’t too bothered about them setting a date for their wedding. I did however enjoy Luc getting Justin to call Nora so he could spend some time with Sarah. That was pretty clever on his part but overall, their bits were the weaker point of the episode.

Also in “Safe At Home”

I know ABC’s promoting for this show is rubbish at best but they should’ve made an effort with this episode.

Saul: “Tell me why you are giving me this photo?”
Nora: “Because I think it’s a good picture of you.”
Saul: “That’s ridiculous, you keep this. You’re the one who’s obsessed with Brody.”

Actually it’s Nick Brody and it’s that picture of him with Saul and Nora that set Rose’s spidey senses off.

Nora (re Olivia): “Kevin, give her some space, don’t push.”
Kevin: “Hi pot, this is kettle, you’re black.”

Rose: “Tommy told me everything about you.”
Nora: “Well, that’s funny. He’s told me nothing about you.”
Tommy: “Surprise.”

Tommy and Rose have only been together for six months and they’re engaged. That is pretty fast, even for these impulsive people.

Rick: “Control yourself, Justin, I’m taking my shirt off.”
Justin: “I’ll try, she-hulk.”

Olivia (re supermarket sweep): “Do we have to play that game again?”
Scotty: “Was it lame?”
Olivia: “Kinda.”

What was the name of the gecko that Kevin and Scotty bought for Olivia? I can’t pronoun it, let alone spell it.

Tommy: “Are you serious?”
Sarah: “Come on, what could be more fun than fighting with you every day?”

Chronology: I think it was still January but I know that Nora/William was revealed to have married on June 15th 1967, rather than January like Tommy believed.

Rose: “What is his name?”
Nora: “Brody. His name was Brody.”

Standout music: The Weepies “Add My Efforts” during the start of the episode.

For a 100th episode, “Safe At Home” is rather charming but at the same time, it should’ve been bigger and more eventful and it should’ve featured Kitty as well. It just seemed so weird to celebrate a landmark episode and not have her in it.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x12: "Thanks For The Memories"

Written by Cliff Olin And Brian Studler

Directed by Michael Mayers

Nora: “I have an idea of how you can get rid of all this stuff.”
Holly: “I’m all ears.”

Who would thought that after 99 episodes in the show’s history that now would’ve been the one to have finally seen Holly go? I’m almost surprised that they didn’t wait for the 100th one but as exits go, this was something of an interesting departure of one of the most polarising characters on the show.

I’ve never been a big fan of Holly and there have been times when I would’ve happily seen any of the Walkers chuck her in front of the first truck to pass but for me to actually enjoy this episode and somewhat care a little that she’s finally decided to get away from LA and the Walkers is certainly something.

The episode started off with Holly having reservations about leaving with David to see Rebecca in New York and the second Nora suggested that Holly move in with her was the same one where my cynicism kicked in. Nora might not hate Holly but would she really want her to live with her either?

The comedy this season has been over the place. Some episodes, the antics were misguided (yes, the one with Gabriella), but here it was rather perfect. Even when she wasn’t trying to, Nora managed to drive Holly up the wall so much that I was more surprised that Holly didn’t punch her halfway through the episode. Instead Nora’s crazy antics served to remind Holly that it was time to move on.

Sure she was scared and sure it might have been a little cheesy that her and Nora got some therapy out of burning boxes of Holly’s life but I actually enjoyed both Sally Field and Patricia Wettig’s scenes together in this one. Even Holly’s last scene in her empty house with Nora, Saul, Sarah and Justin was somewhat effective but here’s the real kicker for me.

As well as Holly’s departure is handled in this episode, I actually think it’s for the best that she’s finally gone from the show. The writers were clearly struggling to keep her on this season and as exits go, this one is rather nice and understated.

However what I do find rather amusing about Holly’s departure is that she managed to inadvertently kick start another mystery and all because she happened to have an old photo of Nora that William must have left at one point for some strange reason. I mean what man is going to give his mistress a picture of his wife to have, right? But it did raise the mystery of William stalking Nora while she was dating a man named Brody.

It’s like every season, the writers have to come with newer ways to highlight how much of a jerk William Walker could be. More importantly, it doesn’t take a wild genius to assume that we’ll be meeting the mysterious Brody sometime soon. Otherwise why would such a fuss be made over him if we weren’t?

Speaking of fuss, I have to admit that Kevin and Scotty’s parenting storyline certainly had its pros and cons this week. The cons being how painfully clichéd the whole storyline involving Olivia was in general but the pros were that they got to learn some harsh lessons about Olivia through her stealing, Paige’s deceptiveness and Sarah’s mothering insight.

Weirdly, this was the best use for Sarah in a while. I like Luc a lot but this episode proves that Sarah is a far better character when she isn’t obsessing over the small details in their relationship and while she was a bit of a drill sergeant with Paige over sneaking a boy over, I do think she was on fine form with both Kevin and Scotty in relation to Olivia.

I don’t mind Olivia and I can understand her trust issues given what she’s been put through, so for the most part, I did enjoy this plot and it was nice to see Kevin and Scotty coming to grips with parenthood in a believable manner. I guess I’m pretty on this one for the time being.

Another storyline that I have hopes for is the one involving Saul and Jonathan. I think Ron Rifkin and Richard Chamberlain play off well with each other and I loved that Jonathan actually opened up to Saul and took some responsibility. Plus their flirting with each other was rather sweet as well. It’s nice to see Saul have a storyline, so here’s hoping the writers keep Jonathan around for the foreseeable future.

In a more worrying storyline - what the hell is up with Kitty? Her relationship with Seth came to an end, she acted evasive when Sarah quizzed her about going to DC and she handed Evan over to Courtney, which as Robert reminders went, worked for me but it’s still baffling though. Is she sick again or is it something less tragic? Either way, it’s certainly interesting though.

As for the subplot about Justin facing a lawsuit and Annie getting her ex-boyfriend/doctor friend, Rick to resolve, it wasn’t that interesting and very little time was spent on it. That being said, I think we’re meant to assume that Rick’s presence means something bad for Justin and Annie though.

Also in “Thanks For The Memories”

Patricia Wettig officially left the show after this episode aired. ABC did a press release confirming her departure the day after.

Nora: “How can I help?”
David (re Holly): “Well you can get her to move these boxes in the garage.”

It’s pretty appropriate that Patricia Wettig’s real life son, Cliff Olin co-wrote this episode but I’m surprised that Ken Olin himself didn’t direct it.

Nora: “I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
Holly: “No, you wanted to Nora Walker me into going to New York.”
Nora: “I had no idea I was a verb.”

Sarah (re Paige): “I thought she burned the restaurant down or something.” Kevin: “Well, sorry for overreacting.”

I thought it was interesting that the boy Sarah assumed was gay – Philip had a girlfriend but the one Sarah thought was interesting in Paige – Sean wasn’t.

Scotty: “There are so many things we’re gonna have to deal with as parents. Don’t obsess over something I can do.”
Kevin: “Fine.”

Jonathan: “But you’re right. I came here for forgiveness but that was still about me. I pride myself for being a better person than before but my behaviour has been so selfish as it ever was. I won’t bother you again. Take care, Saul.”

When did Saul start working at a shelter for gay and lesbians? It hadn’t been mentioned in previous episodes as far as I can recall.

Holly: “God, you are a cross between Martha Stewart and Joseph Stalin. Who gives a crap whether the gluten bind or not?”
Nora: “Once you taste that pasta, you’ll be glad you went the extra mile.”

Standout music: Augustana’s “Twenty Years”.

Kevin: “I think we’re gonna be fine.”
Olivia: “Thanks for the gummy bears.”

Chronology: Not too long since “Scandalized”.

“Thanks For The Memories” certainly had some cheesy moments but it was also one of the strongest episodes that the season has offered so far as well. Here’s hoping the 100th episode will be a blinder.

Rating: 9 out of 10.