“Brothers & Sisters” Episode 122 Recap: "Favorite Son"

Kitty gets all righteous and indignant and tells him that continuing with the meeting is beneath the Senator’s dignity.

I don’t see how. McAllister’s not even in the room.

Kitty goes on to say she doesn’t believe Cole. How would he know what happened on that chopper? The only other witness was the co-pilot and he’s dead.

Cole: I heard the cockpit conversation between McAllister and the co-pilot from the base.

Ouch. It’s clear that Cole wants some sort of payoff to keep his mouth shut. Maybe Kitty can propose to him.

Cut to Julia’s Santa Barbara hospital room. Tommy and Nora are there when the doctor walks in.

Julia asks about the baby boy, who we learn has been named “William.”

Doctor: Right now he is on a ventilator, and he’s responding well. Except he needs dialysis – his kidneys are not responding.
Tommy: What are our options?
Doctor: If the situation becomes extreme and he doesn’t respond to dialysis, then the next step is a kidney transplant.
Nora: Can you even perform transplants on babies so young?

The doctor tells them it’s rare but baby William is a special case because his sister is a perfect match and could be the donor.

So the question is, if the dialysis doesn’t work (and you just know it won’t) do Tommy and Julia risk their healthy daughter’s life to try and save their son? It’s a moral dilemma. I’d make a joke or something, but sick babies are involved and I don’t want recap readers thinking I’m cruel and heartless. But then, that ship has probably already sailed.

Julia starts crying when she thinks about the choice they might have to make.

Julia: She doesn’t even have a name. We named him William. We’re asking her to sacrifice a kidney and she doesn’t even have a name.

Just call her “Spare Parts” Walker. And hey, don’t look to anyone else in the family to be the organ donor – trust me, the way they all drink, none of them can exactly spare a kidney.

Cut to Kevin Walker’s office. Kitty is there with an expensive bottle of liquor. Kevin can tell she’s there to ask a favor.

Kevin: 21 year old Highland scotch? This is a Senator-size favor isn’t it?

In that case, she should have brought a 21 year old Highlander (Nothing says please like a man in a kilt.)

 

Kitty gets Kevin to promise that this conversation will fall under attorney-client privilege. Then she tells him about the Senator’s helicopter incident and how Sergeant Cole is trying to blackmail the campaign to keep quiet.

Okay, brief aside but what the hell?!

Kitty knows how much Kevin dislikes the Senator, and here she’s telling him a secret that could end his political career. I don’t care how desperate she is, does she seriously think Kevin will honor attorney-client privilege? I mean, we’ve seen how good he is at keeping secrets. And just how good of a lawyer does she think her brother is? Remember the last time he tried to help someone out with a scandal? He attempted to browbeat the proprietor of a gossip website and it backfired badly against then-boyfriend Chad. Uncle Saul’s a lawyer too, right? If she needed someone to confide in, Saul would have been a far more believable confidante.

Kevin is surprised that Kitty came to him with this (though not as surprised as me apparently). He thinks she should come clean to the press-- even if it means ending the Senator’s Presidential bid and jeopardizing his Senate seat.

Kitty: You know, if the Senator shared your politics you’d be sharpening your lawyer claws right now.
Kevin: Yeah, but he doesn’t. Sorry.

Well, at least Kevin’s unwillingness to help seems believable.

Cut to Sarah’s house. She’s finally come home after spending the night at the hospital and then all day at Ojai Foods. Joe asks why she didn’t return any of his messages. Sarah says she was afraid of “this” – the relationship purgatory they are now in. Joe says his friend Bruce has a pull-out couch. He can stay there a few days.

Joe: Is that what you want?

Sarah doesn’t respond so, apparently, it’s what she wants. Poor Joe is being kicked to the curb.

Joe: I’ll go pack.