"Brothers & Sisters" Recap #2.01 "Home Front"
A tumultuous year in the life of the Walkers of Ojai comes full circle with a very different celebration of Kitty's birthday. Relationships and marriages are broken up, and new bonds are formed. Bad news however threatens to overshadow a moment of family bliss.
I thought "Home Front" was a really strong start of the second season (luckily ratingswise as well as creativewise). The episode opens with a video message for Justin in which Nora tries to put on a happy face as she keeps her son updated with the latest dish from the Walker clan.
But Nora is a mother leaving in fear, scared of every knock on the door, always thinking it may be "them" to let her know that her son has died.
She asks her daughter Kitty to use her influence on her fiance Senator McCallister to find out where Justin is as he hasn't been in touch for three weeks, which Kitty is reluctant to do. A wedding dress boutique confrontation between mother and daughter ends up on YouTube.
Nora's feelings about the "stupid war" erupt at a Mexican restaurant where the family has gathered for a low-key celebration of Kitty's birthday.
Kevin and Jason (Eric Winter) are dating, but the joy is cut short when Jason is asked to go on a mission to Malaysia. Damn "Viva Laughlin" (Winter's CBS show)! Why can't Kevin ever be happy? Following initial frustration, even anger, Kevin vows to wait for Jason to return.
In other gay news, Uncle Saul's "good buddy" Milo brings back photographic memories of their trip to Key West.
Sara and Joe end one of their arguments with a passionate session of sex. She struggles to understands what Joe wants, but her brother Tommy whom she asks for help is too busy with his new wine business to even care for his own family. In the end, Joe tells a clearly disappointed Sara he stills wants a divorce.
Becca does her best to fit into the crazy Walker family and she and Nora become very good friends. But some members of the family, namely Kitty, are still giving her a cold shoulder despite her best efforts. She manages, however, to reconnect with her mother Holly, after Nora invites her over having met her at her husband's grave.
Finally, an impromptu but heartfelt celebration of Kitty's birthday takes a turn for the worse when Nora learns that following an attack on his unit, her son Justin may be injured or dead in Iraq. Rebecca ends the symmetric episode with a loving message to her brother Justin hoping and fearing for his safety.
Having seen this remarkable episode I have only been reaffirmed in my belief that Greg Berlanti, Jon Robin Baitz and their team of writers are amazing talents and I wish them many great years and hours of television to come.
Labels: Brothers and Sisters
posted by Justin Van De Kamp at
11:59 PM
11 Comments:
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I love this show Justin! I actually find it more engaging than DH, which no doubt has been steadily improving since the second disastrous season with the Applewhites. There is so much chemistry between the characters, especially between Sally Field and Patricia Wettig, their scenes together are classic! Poor Kevin, when will he finally find a boyfriend that actually sticks around? OMG, he gets the hunkiest parade of bfs though, life just ain't fair! :)
Free paris said...
WTF? Political. This show is the least preachy show. Nora cares about Justin because it's her son. They fight about being too conservative and too liberal but care most about family.
Forget JJ. I still say this was the best premiere ep I have seen this season. It had everything I loved about the show.
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I've been reading this blog for months now, jj since when did you become such a cynical SOB? You used to be such a fun loving poster and nowadays everything is bitchy, at least you could balance the negative with the positive sometimes, lets try to keep this light, Justins blog is so fun to read but you are casting a major black cloud on this site these days
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Somehow I feel as though JJ wouldn't label it "agenda pushing" if the show was hawkish in tone.
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I agree with Roland about the chemistry between Sally Field and Patricia Wettig. The moment at the graveyard was just as good as the foodfight in the winery. At the begining of this episode I was a bit disappointed and thought that it was lacking a bit of direction but the outstanding writing brought it back to its usual high standard by the end and proved that Sally Field throughly deserved her Emmy.
It is totally ironic and hypocritical of you jj to call the show agenda pushing when you yourself post nothing but nastiness when Justin has the "nerve" to post anything about Brother's and Sister's. You've obviously expressed your views on the show, why must you force your views on everyone else over and over again every time this show is updated? Seems like you have an agenda of your own. Why can't you just let your animosity for this show go. We get it, you don't like the show, you don't like their agenda. Get over it.
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