Brothers & Sisters (4.01) "The Road Ahead"

If parties stayed this convivial, ABC wouldn't have a show.

After a summer off to go to their room (in their fabulous beach front mansions) and Think About What They’ve Done to our favorite dysfunctional family, TPTB returned last night with a new episode of Brothers & Sisters. And like a mischievous twelve-year-old, they decided to screw with the audience by opening with an inexplicable in-episode cliffhanger of Justin and Rebecca maybe getting in a horrible car accident, then cutting to Saul and Nora picking out photographs. The pics might be for a wedding or a funeral, but we're pulling for the latter -- unless Kevin and Scotty were in the other car..

It takes a while to orient ourselves to the fact that Nora’s planning an engagement party for  non-siblings Justin and Rebecca. Though thanks to the example set by Mackenzie Phillips and her papa, perhaps the world would be ready for a sibling wedding. Just not a same-sex sibling wedding since that's exactly what those against same-sex marriage think will happen anyway.

But Nora isn't planning the part alonge. She's doing it with ... Holly. Which will turn out to be my favorite part of the show. Saul calls Holly Nora’s arch-nemesis, which typically only super heroes get.

Nora’s secret identity is Boniva, out to save seniors from calcium loss.

I kind of doze off as the Senator Pretty Boy and Kitty do an interview and it’s obvious their characters still don’t like being married to each other. The audience doesn’t like it either. Can we drop them off a cliff or something?

We cut to the one scene we’re getting with Sarah before she goes on maternity leave via a fabulous Parisian vacation. They have her try internet dating, and it’s suitably sad and pathetic enough to make you flee the country.

Sara's internet dates are fairly lame ... and cliche.

We then cut to our boys Scotty (Luke Macfarlane) and Kevin (Matthew Rhys) meeting with a surrogacy agency, leaving us to wonder how they got from missing scheduled appointments for sex, to deciding they have time to raise a child. On the other hand, if they're already not having sex, they're definitely ready for parenthood.

Kevin’s really into propagating, but Scotty seems to just want a brochure. Baby Walker? He’s just not that into you.