Brothers & Sisters – Episode 5-3 Review

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While admittedly the writing could be better, Faking It is still enjoyable and laugh-out-loud hilarious. Of course there’s still the drama of Rebecca’s return and Holly’s inability to remember her, but the episode focuses on Nora and Kitty trying to reinvent themselves.

However, there is one glaring story error that bothered me throughout the entire episode. Nora deals with feeling like she looks her age, and worries that it will be hard for her to find romance, and another job better than the flower shop. Because of this, and an old friend who highly recommends it, she considers plastic surgery. What bothers me most about this is that the radio show job offer from the previous episode goes totally unmentioned – when one of the main story line points is that Nora worries she won’t be able to find a job because of her age. The entire time she’s unhappy at the flower shop, I feel like shouting, “Um, hello, you do have another option!” I was actually very surprised she was still at the flower shop dealing with her horrible boss when she could have another job. But the omission sticks out like a sore thumb at the end when Nora tells off her boss. While it’s a great, triumphant moment for Nora, I instantly wonder why in the world she doesn’t throw the producer’s offer in the woman’s face.

The only explanation I can think of is that, when she talked to the producer, she dismissed the idea of her own talk show as totally ridiculous and didn’t even consider it. Either that or she called the producer but he didn’t get back to her. While it’s not that big a deal in the long run, I do really want the writers to explain themselves in the next episode.

Another possible plot hole covered this episode is why we haven’t seen Rebecca at Holly and David’s house (you know, other than Emily VanCamp leaving the show). As it turns out, Rebecca hasn’t seen her mother at all in the past year because Holly not remembering her would be too painful for the both of them. But since Justin has been talking with Holly about Rebecca, David tells his daughter that he believes Holly’s memory is improving and is ready to see her. Meanwhile, Rebecca refuses to take Justin back, and he’s not dealing with the heartbreak very well. But when Rebecca finally sits down to talk with her mother, she realizes that Holly still has no idea who she is. The devastating realization sends her back into Justin’s arms…and Holly goes missing.

To be honest, I find myself caring less and less about Justin as a character, and you know my feelings on Rebecca. I’m only worried about what happened with Holly, and hope she’s okay.

Anyway, along with her mother, Sarah is also feeling old lately, especially since she thinks Luc believes she’s turning forty – three years less than her actual age. When she met Luc in France, she thought she would never see him again, so she didn’t see the harm in telling a little white lie. Now that they’re in a serious relationship, the harm is all too clear when she finds out from Kitty that he is planning to throw her a surprise family party at Scotty’s restaurant. Since age is her issue of the day, she goes with embarrassed Nora to the plastic surgeon for a consultation, also hoping to get some work done on her wrinkles. In the end, Scotty writes “Happy 40th” on her birthday cake, and because he’s not in on the lie, Justin blows the secret. Afterwards, Luc reveals he’s known the entire time because he glanced at her driver’s license. Humiliated Sarah accepts that Luc will love her no matter the age difference between them.

While this is a cute Sarah/Luc story, it is a little odd that she’d worry he’d leave her if he knew she was only three years older than she said she was at this point in their relationship. I guess I shouldn’t nitpick though, since Sarah/Luc story lines are bound to be scarce now that it appears the show wants to keep them as a happy couple. I’d imagine that most of the focus on Sarah this season will involve either the kids or whatever she eventually plans to do with Narrow Lake.

Finally, Kitty is still adjusting to country life. A very cute handyman named Jack who is fixing the sink makes some comments on how he hates politician renters, so Kitty takes on the identity of her house’s owner, Leslie. The new identity is a welcome change for her since she is trying to rediscover herself. But the situation becomes a little complicated when Kevin stops by and starts calling for Kitty. Making the excuse that it’s her neighbor looking for his cat, she rushes outside and gets Kevin to go along with the plan. But when Kevin gets Jack to come over for a dinner date with Kitty, she has a meltdown when her dinner is ruined, and she said that “Leslie” can cook. Jack later returns with pizza and offers to help her with her mission of finding out who she’s supposed to be.

By far one of the most hilarious scenes of this episode is Kevin trying to help with Kitty’s charade. His country accent and story about “Leslie” cooking a fish he caught had me laughing so hard. Overall though, even without a storyline of his own, he really is the comedy in this episode. Other hilarious moments include when he and Kitty call Sarah for her birthday, and of course when Sarah pulls his face in various directions to see how he would look with plastic surgery. If they keep Kevin’s humor consistent for the whole season, I’ll be happy.