Brothers & Sisters – Episode 5-16 Review

Reviews, Shows

When Kitty extends her trip to D.C., Nora and Sarah decide to fly over and find out what secret she’s hiding. Justin’s faced with a recurring nightmare, while Olivia panics about a new school and meeting the rest of the Walker family.

Justin’s nightmare drama this episode leaves me…confused, more than anything else. The show spent the whole previous episode introducing viewers to Zach. But then this episode, Zach gets a job as a building maintenance man job and an apartment as a result, and declares that Justin doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. To me it just feels like writers missed a huge opportunity for drama with Zach. There could have been at least a few episodes where Justin helps Zach with past demons, tracking down family, maybe helping Zach through some kind of addiction. I always get annoyed that the writers seem to enjoy torturing Justin, and this turn of events proves my theory. Please, let the poor guy be happy for once!

While Sarah’s off spying on her sister, Luc must take care of Paige for the weekend. At least he mentions that Cooper is staying with his dad (I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever actually see Cooper again at this point). Paige is asked by a boy she’s been crushing on to the dance and demands $50 from Luc without telling him what it’s for. While Luc tries to figure out if he should call Sarah, who gets a call from Paige that the money’s for a bra, the drama becomes unimportant when Paige’s date cancels the day of the dance. Luc and Paige bond while she recovers from the heartache, especially when Luc suggests they egg the boy’s house. Though it’s not exactly a “good parent” move, I had to smile at the odd solution.

Official new parents Kevin and Scotty are faced with parenting challenge as well when Olivia builds a monstrous tent for her gecko in the living room. Since sharing her emotions doesn’t appear to be one of her strengths, the boys again must figure out what’s really bothering their daughter. They eventually realize that Olivia is using the fort to hide because she’s scared about starting a new school, and meeting the rest of the family. Which is perfectly understandable – I’d be scared out of my mind too if I was meeting the whole crazy Walker clan at once.

Speaking of crazy, Nora and Sarah decide to surprise Kitty with a visit so they can snoop around her house to find out what she’s been hiding. While Sarah thinks Kitty is having an affair with a married politician, Nora starts worrying that she’s losing her daughter to the CIA when they go through Kitty’s schedule and find several mysterious appointments. Nora acts ridiculous about the whole idea, but she’s hilariously entertaining when she starts suspecting that everything Kitty says is a lie (“Tea my ass, she’s probably off to assassinate Castro”). To be honest I’m secretly hoping Nora’s right just to liven up Kitty’s story this season with a new twist, but of course they tone down the crazy by revealing that Kitty left to get treatment for her bone marrow.

After the secret is revealed, Nora, Sarah and Kitty herself realize how frazzled the single mother is without anyone around to help her, so she decides to get back to California. Though mention of her cancer might be some cause for concern, to me it seems like a quick excuse for Kitty’s absence more so than a lead-in for more drama later in the season. But then again Kitty’s now open for new story lines, so who knows what might happen in this show.