TVSquad

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Saturday Night Live now has a web site devoted to politics.
• Actually, maybe The CW is going to renew Reaper after all.
• Kathie Lee Gifford says she wants to be cremated.
• Ricky Gervais is filming a movie in Massachusetts with Tina Fey, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jason Bateman, John Hodgman, and Louis C.K and blogging about it.
• Marion Ross answers questions from Entertainment Weekly readers.
• Jeff Zucker wouldn't mind Katie Couric coming back to NBC.
• A look at the new CBS series Swingtown.
• Not only is the season one DVD set for Mad Men coming on July 1, there will also be a CD of music from the show released on June 24.

(S02E16) Rebecca: "I don't know what to do next."
Justin: "Me neither."

I cried twice during this episode. Maybe more. I cried when Nora told Kevin he deserved to have a beautiful wedding just as much as anybody else. And I also cried at two more points, but I'll talk about them below the jump. This was a beautiful episode of television. Even though I don't know that I have written about the music used in episodes, I thought the use of "Can't Find My Way Home" for the last two scenes was profoundly moving. Last year, I thought the season finale was a disaster because it ended with grand hijinks and everybody jumping into a pool. This year's season ended quietly on a beautiful sunny hillside, and it just about broke my heart. I am going to go out on a limb here and hope that this show wins an Emmy, because when they do it well, they really nail it.

(S02E15) "We should ask ourselves: 'What's the right thing to do?'" Holly Harper to Tommy Walker

So, what are we to think of Holly? Is she a pathological liar and a scheming manipulator? A greedy opportunist? Or is she genuinely trying to do the right thing as she sees it, affair with William Walker not withstanding? Honestly, I can't make up my mind, but I am leaning toward seeing her as a flawed person who is doing her best. Lord knows, she could have taken her inheritance from William Walker and kissed the entire clan goodbye. Perhaps some see her as unable to let go, unable to stop until she has revenge on the Walkers for having William in ways she couldn't. But that seems a rather extreme pathology. It's much more interesting to view her as a complicated human being, which has certainly been supported on the show.

[S02E136 "That was weird, wasn't it?" Justin Walker

I am starting to feel like Siskel and Ebert every week. Oh, that was a great episode! Oh, that episode sucked! It doesn't seem like there is any in between with me. Does that mean I'm too picky?

You know, it's funny because sometimes I don't even know how I feel about an episode, really, until I start writing about it, so my actual experience with watching it isn't necessarily negative, even if I write up a critical review. But tonight, I am pretty sure I know how I feel about it: That was a great episode.

Lots of things going on this week: Things are definitely heating up and charging down the runway toward May Sweeps and the end of the season, but they are things that have been set up for so long and so well that their very inevitability feels natural, unhurried, unforced, like a cart careening down a hill, picking up momentum, and heading into rush-hour traffic. And I'm not going to talk about it before the jump, so let's get going, shall we?

(S02E15) "I'm leaving to get away from all of you!" - Nora Walker to her darling children, about moving to Washington D.C. with Isaac.

Sometimes what I actually want to review is the scenes for next week's show, because it seems more interesting than the one I just watched. However, I know that many of you deliberately do not watch those clips, so we shall say no more on the subject. I am glad the Walkers are back, and I like how they have handled the time off due to the strike: they simply said, "Three months later," and picked up with events then.

Before that jump, though, we learned some important things: That Graham and Sarah are still dating, that Tommy and Julia are still happily together, and that Senator Robert McCallister loses the Republican Party's nomination for the Presidency, so Robert returns to the Senate.

Last week, Rob Lowe filed a lawsuit against three former employees. The star of Brothers and Sisters says that one of these former employees, former nanny Jessica Gibson, wanted $1.5 million to remain silent about allegations of abuse.

Gibson, who worked for Rob and Sheryl Lowe on and off for seven years, filed a claim in Santa Barbara yesterday. She claims that the actor sexually abused her on numerous occasions from September 2005 to January 2008. Why did she stay for so long? "I always thought it would be different when I went back, but it was not. I stayed as long as I did because of the children and because I needed a job," Gibson explained. Her lawyer added that if the Lowes think that sueing Gibson as a pre-emptive strike will intimidate her, "I can assure them it will not." Gibson's countersuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

(S02E14) "Do you think I'm uptight?" Kevin Walker to Sarah Walker.

"Yes." Sarah Walker to Kevin Walker

This was an immensely likable episode. If you have read my reviews from Season One in particular, you know that I tend to distinguish the episodes I like from the episodes I *really* like based on who wrote them. This episode was co-written by Cliff Olin, son of Patricia Wettig (Holly) and Ken Olin (David Caplan). Cliff has been writing for the show since its inception, and he is a young writer, barely in his mid-twenties. I have noticed an unevenness in his writings in past episodes, but I think he is finally starting to hit his stride.

(S02E11) "You're the translator?" Sarah Walker to Graham Finch

This episode was, at its heart, about trust: How do you figure out whether or not you can trust people? And once you have broken someone's trust, how do you (and should you) get it back? Lena has been at the heart of broken trust issues for awhile now, and she has sort of become the symbol of betrayal on the show. But Rebecca, Justin, and Sarah have all had their issues with trust as well--and everyone (except Sarah, really) has certainly been guilty of giving (betrayal) just as good as they get.

I'm not sure if Bravo has brought back their "West Wing Mondays" for good or if this is just an election year thing, but today the network is airing a marathon from 9am to 5pm.

And it's not just any season they're doing. The first episode is the fourth season opener, which means that most of these episodes are election-related, including the "20 Hours In America" two-parter, with Josh, Toby, and Donna trapped in a small town during a campaign swing; "Debate Camp," which shows the Bartlet campaign gearing up for the showdown with Governor Richie; and "Game On," the classic episode where Bartlet and Richie debate and Bartlet decides not to hold back and just creams the guy (more debates should be like this). You'll also see "Election Night" and "Process Stories," which were the start of Rob Lowe's exit from the show.

I wonder why they're not doing this next Tuesday, which is Super Tuesday? That would have been clever programming.

(S02E10) "You slept with someone else too?" Nora Walker to Julia Walker

Oh, Brothers and Sisters, how I've missed your hijinx! I was under the impression from some of the news I'd read about the WGA strike that filming had ceased on the show, so I was very happy to have a new episode (albeit, feeling a little guilty, because I support the writers...). Mostly, I was happy to see everyone again.

Gallery: Brothers and Sisters: Feast of the Epiphany

(S02E09) "We could wake up tomorrow, and it could all go to hell."-- Robert McAllister

I have to admit: I would have owed Tommy $100. But not for the same reasons as Kevin and Justin. I will get to that in a bit though. Was it just me, or did this episode have some editing glitches? One minute Kitty is telling Robert that it's bad luck to sleep with the groom on the night before the wedding and Justin and Lena seem to be talking about the wedding being that day, and then Kitty is in the Walker kitchen working on her vows and the wedding is still a day away. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal-- it just seemed a little incongruous for a bit.

(S02E08) "Well, I'm a democrat, and I lost my virginity to "She's Got Legs."-- Sarah Walker

Did everybody lose their virginity to a song? I don't remember whether I did or not, but if you want to share yours, feel free. I loved it when Robert walked in and Nora asked him what song was playing when he lost his. And then when she revealed that her first time wasn't with their father. And that is all very well and good, but I personally have never found Chevy Chase (Stan Harris) to be particularly attractive. However, I am willing to put that aside and say that I thought he did a wonderfully understated turn as Kitty's Nora's (thanks, Jamie) first love, Stan Harris.

"The Indians in the Lobby"
Originally aired on November 21, 2001

There are so many ridiculously great episodes of The West Wing, trying to pick one out is like trying to pick out the best note in a piece by Mozart. But since it's November, I figured I'd choose the best of the show's Thanksgiving Day episodes, "The Indians in the Lobby" (and yes, fans of "Shibboleth," I love that one too, but this one has just a little bit more.)

It's Thanksgiving, and President Bartlet is making the stuffing ...

When Kristin, Jen and I started to list the men currently on TV whom we thought were hot and sexy, all of us had one name in common: Rob Lowe. This is why Brothers & Sisters' Senator Robert McCallister is on top of our list!

(S02E07) "Well, who'd chain you the radiator and poke you with a stick?" Sarah, knitting.

Meh. This episode was fine. It wasn't special. It was just kind of... filler. And I don't mean to cast aspersions on the show at all: That is what shows do leading up to November sweeps. They can't have anything really important happen right now. I hesitate to say anything negative about the writing these days because I fully support the WGA strike. But this episode felt forced. They totally set it up a few weeks ago when Justin started taking pain killers again, and they gave themselves a convenient family "crisis" to deal with now.