"Brothers & Sisters" Episode 302 Recap: “Book Burning”

Justin says he doesn’t want sex advice; he wants relationship advice, which is why he went to a sistah instead of a bro. Sarah, less than pleased about being forced into this Dear Abby role, says that since Justin has had a self-destructive history with relationships, it’s obvious he’s afraid now of screwing it up with someone he really cares about. Oh, barf. Anyway, she suggests he take it slow.

McCallister Ranch. Kitty is surprised that Senator Prettyboy is home from D.C. a day earlier than expected. It seems that the well-oiled machine that is our Congress was able to just race through any number of propositions without argument or incident, enabling them to end the session ahead of schedule. In other news, the leprechauns and unicorns have finally reached a trade agreement.

Kitty, meanwhile, is in one of those Monica-Geller-like bouts of hyper-organization that you only see from characters on TV because no actual human being could ever function this way without blowing a gasket. She’s got a clipboard and a checklist and is madly babyproofing their home before the Social Worker comes to make a “safety check” on their house. Kitty’s also planning on having Nora cook up a big meal and have everybody over so the Social Worker can see what a “stable, loving family” the baby will be a part of. Robert’s not so sure this is a good idea, and I can’t say as I blame him, given how these family dinners tend to go.

I hear all this and I start groaning in anticipation of this dinner scene to come. Setting aside for the moment how completely unnecessary it is for Kitty to even involve her extended family in this meeting, not to mention how preposterous it is that a social worker would willingly stick around to suffer though a sit-down family dinner party, what really gets me groaning is how sit-commy this whole thing is. It’s like something from an old episode of Bewitched, where the Important Client is coming over to dinner and Darren is all worried that Sam’s family will somehow embarrass him, and then Paul Lynde shows up in a leisure suit and turns the Important Client’s Wife into a talking horse.

When Kitty starts worrying about what she’ll wear, Robert tries to calm her down by saying, “You could wear a muumuu and people are still gonna know you’re a good mom.” Umm, Robert, if Kitty were wearing a muumuu, I’m pretty certain it would take a group of explorers and possibly an electron microscope to even find her much less assess her parenting capabilities.

Robert mentions his own concern right now, something about a rumor he’s heard of someone on his staff writing a book about his campaign. Kitty looks all guilty, but Robert doesn’t seem to notice.

Ojai-Walker Foods-Landing. Holly enters Saul’s office claiming to bear gifts and hands over a Big Gulp-sized cup of coffee and a French cruller. It’s the gift that says, “Wake up you sleepy bastard and start hardening those arteries!”

She clearly wants something from him, and since the last time she tried to seduce him it basically wound up turning him gay, she’s opted for food bribes. She acts like she’s just trying to clear the air over firing Kevin, but he’s having none of it and knows she’s up to something. So she admits she’s curious what Saul remembers about this other woman who William had the nerve to cheat on his mistress with. Saul refuses to give her any intel, and it’s totally awesome …

Saul: This is driving you crazy, isn’t it? Good. Now you know how Nora felt when she found out about you.

Ha! Good one Uncle Saul. And buh-bye Uncle Saul. Have a good rest of the episode off, and call us when they figure out what to do with you.