TVSquad

(S04E01) "William was a cheater. He had this bottle-blond tramp across town..." - Nora's mother to Holly

The dysfunctional Walker clan is back, and it didn't take long for the squabbling and worrying and break-ups and tragedies to surface. Things open right away with Nora's feeling of foreboding, and with this family, it's usually warranted. There's generally a nice mix of comedy and drama in Brothers & Sisters, and this episode followed suit.

Note to Rob Lowe: Stop looking so damn healthy. Signed: The powers that be at ABC.

Seriously, Brothers & Sisters' star Rob Lowe has been ordered to stop tanning. Apparently, the actor just looks too good -- bronze and healthy and full of that Kennedy-style of vigor for the role he's playing. ABC brass, the president of the network no less, has told him to stay out of the sun. According to Lowe, he was warned that he is getting too dark and has to mend his ways now.

So, if you saw the preview for last night's special two-hour Brothers & Sisters, you were anticipating that someone was going to die. Then, if you surfed the net, there were all kinds of rumors and spoilers that something life-altering was going to happen. Would it be Tommy? What about Kitty and Robert's newborn, coming via surrogate mom? Would Nora keel over from all that running in the hospital hallways? Maybe it was going to be something from left field, like Uncle Saul gagging on a wine cork and kicking the bucket?

Imagine my shock and surprise when all the build up turned out to be something unexpected. If you haven't watched it yet, I'll save it for after the jump.

Do you have those things on your favorite shows that just make you smile when they happen? It's not like it's the highlight of the show or anything; maybe it's just giving you those warm fuzzies inside. Maybe it's when Earl crosses something off his list on My Name is Earl. Or maybe it's as simple as when Penny sits in Sheldon's spot on The Big Bang Theory. Those familiar moments somehow make us feel like we're with old friends.

I get those. Most recently, I've been getting them when the Walkers of ABC's Brothers & Sisters are all on the phone together in some kind of mass speaker phone teleconferencing chain from hell. I'd say I don't normally watch these family soaps, but I've always liked Sally Field, and when she was recast as the matriarch of the Walkers, I found myself tuning in. This despite the fact that Ally McBeal's lips looked even puffier and she's still way too skinny. But then she married Rob Lowe and I've always liked him, too.

(Originally aired November 22, 2000)

Last year I picked The West Wing's "The Indians in the Lobby" episode as a standout episode of the series. It just so happens that we're blessed with two Thanksgiving episodes of the show that are standouts. This one is called "Shibboleth."

The plots: While President Bartlet has to figure out what to do with dozens of Chinese immigrants who have stowed away on a freighter, Toby tries to get Leo's controversial sister nominated for an education post, C.J. has to pick one of two turkeys who will get to be pardoned by the President, and Charlie goes shopping for the perfect carving knife for the President.

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