(S01E22) Oh, sorry. Give me a minute to stop crying after that episode. I was crying about William and then I saw the scenes for next week and that just made it worse. Are they allowed to make people cry this much in two episodes in a row, when one of them isn't even the season finale? Commenter Tomb100 told me last week that Brothers and Sisters had broken into the Top 20 TV shows two weeks ago. That is completely unsurprising to me because this show has gotten so strong. This episode was just excellent. They hit every note.
The ONLY quibble I have with this episode is the fact that the hospital staff didn't make Julia and Tommy wash their hands for at least three minutes before entering the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I have the dis/advantage of having had a child end up in a NICU unit when he was a baby, and I couldn't go near the entrance without washing my hands up to the elbows for at least three minutes. That is a long time to wash before you meet your new baby. I thought that would have intensified the moment if they had had to wash before rushing into say goodbye to William, but I totally forgive them for not doing it.
So many nice moments in this episode: Rebecca sharing tea with Nora; the Senator and Justin at the VA hospital; Kevin getting to show off his lawyer skills. Matthew Rhys is so excellent as Kevin. He has an incredible range, between catty gay man and tough, intelligent lawyer, not to mention the fact that he is actually Welsh and speaks with a flawless American accent every week. Other nice moments were Tommy and Julia sitting outside and naming their daughter, and then Saul outside talking to Tommy.
I did cry when William died, but I was so relieved that they didn't take the obvious dramatic route of choosing to perform the transplant surgery. Even though William died, it wasn't necessarily a no-brainer to donate one of Elizabeth's kidneys, especially with both of them being premies. I don't know what decision I would have made in that situation. What would you have done?
This was a huge episode in so many ways. In retrospect, I wonder if they tried to cram in too much. It was huge enough to have the twins in crisis, but simultaneously to have them dealing with blackmail, Sarah and Joe splitting up and Kitty and Senator McAllister getting engaged: On the one hand, I think they tend to tackle a lot of Really Big Issues on this show in general. Also, they are trying to wrap up this season, so they have to make things move quickly. But juxtapositions like this do happen in life, and it's not like the writers haven't been leading up to all of these things for months now. So, I am going to stick with being of two minds about it. However, the episode moved me, and it didn't feel disingenuous to me. I think, in spite of being of two minds, they pulled it off.
I particularly liked the fact that they were able to embrace Elizabeth at the end and welcome her. They didn't let their grief overwhelm their joy. It's a cliche - what Saul said to Tommy about time. But it was also absolutely true. 
I'm giving this episode, on a scale of 1 to 7, which 7 being highest, a
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-14-2007 @ 6:41AM
Bash said...
This is "Falcon Crest" all over again. I don't really want to explain similarities since then everyone could simply rip them apart but
- Head of family dies right at the beginning of the series
- vine = fruits
- large family with lots of children and lots of problems
- outsiders wanting in
- insiders wanting out
- drug abuse
What's missing at the moment is the big adversary trying to take over the company with the head of the family defending it. Obviously the role of Angela Channing has been taken over by one of the daughters with the mother playing something like the "mother hen" at the moment which is most certainly written that way because Sally Field plays the character and she defines the role I guess not the other way round - she played this role for a couple of years now and if you ask me since "Smokey and the Bandit" she hasn't done anything else than playing a totally irritating person who now and then is a drug addict (Forest Gump, ER et cetera).
Because of the stars in it I thought this would be a hit for at least five to seven years as long as they don't screw it up totally. What I miss is the Lance type with extremely hot girlfriends and expensive cars. The show lacks that a bit :-)
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5-14-2007 @ 10:43AM
lynn said...
I always enjoy the show. Last night, toward the end when they were saying goodbye to William, a portion of a wonderful song was played. I believe the words were something like, "These gifts of love, you give to me, I'll not forget". Any ideas on how I could figure out who wrote/performed it?
Thanks, Lynn
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5-14-2007 @ 11:59AM
Adrienne said...
I loved the episode and was in tears at the end. If you want to see what songs played on the show, visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/brothersandsisters/music.html.
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5-14-2007 @ 7:58PM
Tammy said...
I love this show more and more each week. I'm from a big family and I see glimpses of us in this show from time to time. I loved the scene with Kevin and Justin in the kitchen after their long day. This show is good at picking up on the little things that make a family tick.
I was crying at the end. When William died, I was so glad that wasn't the end of the episode. It was playing up like the end of a show and when they went to black I was expecting to see the credits. It was nice to know I had a few more minutes. I also enjoyed all of the music from this episode, thanks for the link.
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5-15-2007 @ 5:21PM
jen said...
sally field and tommy were talking about the babies and she said something about Tommy not being the babies' biological father. what did i miss?
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5-15-2007 @ 5:31PM
Libby said...
Tommy is sterile and both of his brothers donated sperm so his wife could get pregnant. We don't know who is the babies' father.
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5-15-2007 @ 5:33PM
Libby said...
sorry--we don't know which one is the babies' father. Maybe both--it is a soap.
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5-20-2007 @ 12:53AM
Dana said...
Favorite Son was my first episode to watch of Brother's and Sister's. What an amazing show. My brother actually plaid the part of the blackmailer. He had so many wonderful things to say about the entire cast especially the actor that plays Kevin. What a wonderful way to be introduced to this fabulous show while watching my brother.
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