Brothers and Sisters – I feel like a quail at a shoot

(Season 3, Episode 13 – “It’s Not Easy Being Green” )

All right. I admit it. I fell for it. When I saw the previews for this week, I did indeed think that Nora had slept with Roger, Sarah had slept with Ethan, and Rebecca had slept with Kyle. It never occurred to me that in every single situation the sex would fall through.

I have to admit, I was more surprised by the idea of Rebecca cheating on Justin than I was surprised by her faithfulness. Let me unpack that statement a bit: When Rebecca first arrived on the show and tangled with Sarah’s husband Joe, she didn’t seem like the most trustworthy girl. I think she has grown up a lot, though, and her commitment to Justin demonstrates a new-found maturity, as does her new job.

Now, watch, she’ll completely contradict that statement in the next episode….

Although I did enjoy the party and watching Nora and Roger dance around attraction, paired with their mutual devotion to constructing Nora’s Cancer Center, the part of the episode that intrigued me the most was Kevin’s confrontation with Gordon and Wade at the quail shoot. For one thing, I love the fact that the word “asshat,” which formerly I only heard on blogs, has made its way into the mainstream vernacular by showing up on Brothers and Sisters. It almost makes up for the fact that Matthew Rhys and Rob Lowe were so heavily made up with rouge and lipstick before their hunt that they looked like they were going to take the stage in drag rather than go charging through the woods.

But I was impressed with Kevin for standing up for himself, just because he’s usually a bit more passive/aggressive. I was glad, though, that the show didn’t go toward the cliche of the Republicans suddenly liking Kevin for being a crack shot or for standing up for himself (at least not in a public declaration). The whole dynamic of the way Robert treats Kevin is both interesting and disturbing. Robert initiated Kevin’s coming to work for him, yet he treats him badly oftentimes, reminding him of what Kevin’s obligations to him are. What about his obligations to Kevin, as his employer?

I am very curious about why Kevin persists in working for Robert. Surely it’s not about the money. So, maybe Kevin was right. Maybe his work for Robert is about trying to win his father’s approval in some way. Or, perhaps it’s some sort of way to keep an eye on both Robert and the Republican party. There simply must be some other reason than that it makes it easier to write dialogue between characters if they are all already working together anyway.

I just hope the show starts to show what that reason is, so I don’t have to keep trying to find it….

Clacked by Jen Creer
on Jan 19, 2009 @ 13:30 EST5EDT