“Brothers & Sisters” Episode 210 Recap: “Feast of the Epiphany”

Cut to mid dinner. Mumbles wants to make a “toasht.”

Mumbles: Bein on the road you ken hep but mish family but tonight hash been a shight for shore eyes. Thesis exackly like my dining rum table. Except that you’re all white.

Laughs all around. Har. Har.

Everyone wants to drink to that but Nora tells them to hold their glasses — she has a toast of her own. She wants to toast Robert’s campaign. She never thought she’d be saying that, but what he said at the town hall meeting “really got to her.”

Nora: It was so moving, and I’m sure a lot of people felt that way.
Justin: I sure did, bro.

Oh for God’s sake, are these people insane? Or is it just the writer/producers of Brothers & Sisters who are off their rockers? I mean are they trying sell us on Robert McAllister as some sort of Kennedy-esque hero? The guy is a total bland bore and I’m gonna come right out and say it — he’s ruining this show.

The more B&S starts revolving around Robert McAllister’s hooey-filled run for President, the less and less interesting the series becomes. I’d hoped the helicopter crash scandal would deep-six McAllister’s presidential aspirations and be a tidy way of getting B&S out of its downward spiral into West Wing-lite territory. But no, the show basically dismissed that storyline with one smarmy town hall meeting. If they were going to resolve it so easily why did they even waste our time with the helicopter scandal in the first place?

At this point, the very best thing Brothers & Sisters could do is make Robert McAllister some sort of villain. We should find out that he’s not the bland nice guy he’s been painted as. Then Kitty and the rest of the Walkers would at least have an antagonist to play against. But it’s looking more and more like that’s not going to happen, and we're gonna be stuck with McAllister and his White House run for the long haul. Booo!

Sorry, I seem to be ranting. Would love to hear recap readers' thoughts about the Robert McAllister character and storyline in the comments. For now, I’ll shut up and return to the episode recap already in progress.

Back at the Walker dinner table Nora complains aloud about Governor Adamson and how she wishes he would stop attacking McAllister in the press.

Kitty: Well, the truth is we could totally shut him down, but we’re not allowed to play by the same rules that he does.
Kevin: What is that supposed to mean?
McAllister: It means nothing.
Kevin: Do you have something on Adamson?
Nora: Come on you can tell us.
Kitty: Hypothetically, say you know the truth about something, but by saying it you could potentially seriously hurt someone. Would you do it?
Kevin: I knew it. Adamson’s gay.
Kitty: He is not gay. Not all Republicans are gay.

The dinner party discussion devolves into whether people should be honest with their romantic partners or whether they should keep some things secret. Justin and Sara are all for full disclosure — giving dirty looks to Tommy. But Tommy and Julia are all about keeping things quiet so as not to hurt the ones you love.

Kitty boasts that she and Robert believe in full disclosure.

Kitty: We never lie to one another, do we, Robert?
Robert: Um no. Unless I absolutely have to. Obviously you can have your convenient misunderstandings.
Kitty: What are you trying to say, Robert?

Kitty and McAllister go into the kitchen where he sheepishly admits that he doesn’t want to try to have a kid just now. She is shocked.