In the pursuit of happiness

Okay, it's an official rule that anyone who uses Fray music at the end of an episode will guarantee at least a shimmer of a tear in my eye.

For those of you who caught last night's episode of Brothers and Sisters, how satisfying and yet sad an episode it was.  For me, it just felt good to see the writers wrap up a season of lack-luster storylines.  The Justin/Rebekah breakup was hogwash.  The Tommy departure: hogwash.  And Kitty's affair? Don't get me started.  At the same time, I don't think we've ever seen the Walkers so divided and weak.  Tommy is missing, Kitty is acting like her father in the worst possible way, and Ryan Lafferty is a black spot on the family sponging off Rebekah and playing them all until he cracks - and whammo!  I half expect him to strap himself with a bomb and blow up Ojai foods.  Or maybe he's just a Robert Pattison wannabe.

My biggest gripe: Kitty's affair.  Whether or not she slept with Alec, she was having a full-fledged affair.  Did the writers think we'd forget about that porch-swing kiss at the end of last season?  What happened?  She just decided to go home afterward?  I don't think so.  There is nothing that justifies what she did, not even Robert's unyielding ambition.   But isn't it funny that as soon as Kitty start acting out in her own way, Robert is back to being the family man we knew and loved?

It broke my heart in episdoe 318, "Taking Sides," when Robert breaks down crying in the bedroom after telling Kitty he's just "fine."  That, for me, was the climax of the season.  That's true character tension, and I wish they had explored this further.  Instead, we have this half-baked attempt to translate the conflict to Kitty, as she checks out of her marriage and checks into the Ken-doll at the park. It was too easy.  It was too typical.  Kitty was always smarter than that, and I think her fall from grace could have been handled less obvious ways.  The realization that she ended up being more like her father than her mother, in this episode, almost made up for it.   It boggles my mind how people manage to remember conversations their parents had years ago on the phone, when they weren't even really paying attention.  If I could think really hard and recall small details like that about random conversations my parents had years ago, I'm sure I'd be able to put the pieces together of old family secrets, too.  I can't even remember the name of my grocery guy (who I've already asked multiple times), but that's just me.

Then comes the whole Ryan Lafferty issue.  Okay, does anyone else find him incredibly creepy?  Maybe it's his Twilight'esque hair and complexion (i may not be a tween, but all that brooding is the opposite of hunky), or his delusional view that he's in a relationship with Rebekah - who, by the way, should be smarter than this.  Rebekah's been around the dating block or two, if I recall my first season correctly.  As if she didn't realize all the little hints that little brother has the hots for her.  Come on, that look of surprise on her face when he kissed her was entirely a waste of a spawn of Holly.   Combined with her father's warning about Ryan, and I have a sneaking suspicion that something dark lie-a-beneath this Ryan Lafferty.  If his mother could take such extreme measures in her despair, then perhaps he has the same tendencies - although this time, he'll take it out on someone else.  The sins of the parent revisiting the children is something we're definitely familiar with here at Walker Landing.

Finally, Sarah.  Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.  Traditionally one of my favourite characters, my heart almost broke for her as she admitted her loneliness.  I'm curious to see where this will take her, and am loathe to solve all her problems with that "soulmate" she longs for.  No, that's too convenient.  There is a deeper lesson her and I want the writers to explore it for her.  A juicy set-up for next season, perhaps?

As for Tommy, he only deserves a footnote on this post.  We found out, thanks for the LATimes, that Balthazar Getty's character wasn't receiving the permanent ax.  Norah's one-track-mind leading her straight to Mexico had me thinking on overdrive for the opening scene in next week's season finale: Norah Walker, sits on the side of a hospital bed, clasping her son's hand as he wakes up from his drowse.  That's right, Tommy Walker contracted the swine flu.  Ha.