Brothers and Sisters feels like it’s treading water, waiting to figure out which direction it wants to go. The land deal that Tommy is orchestrating is going to blow up in his face like a land mine. Rebecca’s father has come back at the same time that Ryan is giving Nora mixed signals about his interest in the Walker plan.
I never know from one minute to the next about what is going on with Sarah’s company. Kitty’s marriage is a sham at the time she is expecting her first child. Justin had a lame, dead-end storyline with Chelsea, his pseudo sponsor. Nora puts energy into her cancer center only when she isn’t busy meddling with the family’s drama. And Kevin should have quit his position with Robert several episodes ago: What can possibly be in it for him to stay?
What is going on with the Walkers? Sure, life is messy and complicated. But the show just feels like it’s lurching in several different directions, lacking the sharp focus of the first two seasons. At least when the family was still reeling from William Walker’s death, the show flourished with multiple revelations: A mistress, embezzlement, a half-sibling! All of this was very compelling drama, but how many times can they recycle those storylines?
Tommy is an idiot, and Holly should send him to prison; Rebecca should have stayed a sibling; Kevin never should have gone to work for Robert. These are the things that need to be fixed, though I don’t know how they can go back and undo Rebecca’s DNA test. That would be gross anyway, considering her relationship with Justin. However, the show has made some massive missteps that they are going to have to recover from if they want to recoup the energy and sharpness and potential it showed us in its previous seasons.