"Brothers & Sisters" Episode 203 Recap: “History Repeating”

Notable casting alert: The mother-in-law is played by Tess Harper. You might remember, Harper was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for Crimes of the Heart. But she’s also made guest appearances on thirtysomething, Everwood and Jack & Bobby. (Clearly, if you’re an actor it helps to stay tight with Greg Berlanti and Ken Olin. Those guys will really keep you working.)

Cut to the Walker mansion. Nora goes into Tommy’s room to roll him over so he doesn’t get bedsores or anything. She wants to have the “take the pills” conversation yet again. God, seems like we’ve covered this ground enough already. But no, she wants to have it out yet again. Maybe Justin’s whimpering is keeping everyone up at night. He refuses to relent and consider taking painkillers. To demonstrate his will and independence, he hobbles out of the room. Probably to go retrieve that Wham CD.

Cut to an airport tarmac. Kitty is trying to keep up with the Senator, who is practically jogging to get to his Gulfstream 4. How did this guy earn all his millions, anyway? I don’t think we ever established that.

Anyhoo, the mysterious mogul slash Senator slash war hero slash tanning enthusiast is on his way to visit his ex-wife, Courtney. Kitty is giving him some last minute advice.

McAllister: I’m not going to beg my ex-wife not to discuss an affair that I never had.
Kitty: Fine. Don’t beg. Just draw that line in the sand…If you want to bring faith back to politics Robert, you’re gonna have to fight for your name.

Why not do what all the other Republican presidential candidates are doing vis a vis “faith in politics?” Go see Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition and tell him you’re pro-life and anti-gay. (Me, I think we’ve got entirely too much faith in politics at the moment.)

Cut to Kevin’s office. He’s waiting on his 4:00 appointment with a “Mr. Balanchine.”

Only when Balanchine comes “waltzing in,” we discover it is Scotty Wandell!

Kevin is confused. Why the “Mr. Balanchine” subterfuge?

Oh forget the subterfuge. Someone please explain to me that shirt/tie combo. Are they trying to make Scotty unattractive? The shirt mystery goes unanswered, but Scotty does explain why he pretended to be Mr. Balanchine to get an appointment.

Scotty: I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me after last time. And I’m in need of a lawyer, preferably one who is flexible with the payment.
Kevin: What happened? You get caught shoplifting mascara in a thong?

Oh Kevin. How many ways is that offensive. You’d think a comment like that would get Scotty’s back up but no, he doesn’t take the bait. Instead, he calmly explains he got a DUI. But only after a single glass of wine. The homophobic policeman that pulled him over was simply giving him a hard time.

Scotty: I was wearing pink shorts and an old queen t-shirt. And he smirked and put on gloves when he took my driver’s license. He acted like I had a disease.
Kevin: Did he? I may be able to get you out of an iffy ticket, but next time will you please take a cab. You know the thought of you in jail is pretty terrible, but the thought of someone hurt? That’s worse.

So are we to believe that Kevin, heavy drinker that he is, has been taking taxis to and from every family event he ever goes to? His Checkered Cab bills must be astronomical.

Cut to dinner at Tommy and Julia’s house. For the first time in a long while Julia actually seems happy. She and her mother make plans to visit the Huntington Gardens the next day. The windbag of a father-in-law turns to Tommy and suggests a boys' day out to ”get into some trouble.”

Tommy: Sign me up.

Either that means a golf outing, or they’re gonna hit some strip bars.