Brothers and Sisters

Having spent the whole day yesterday playing catch-up, I am finally ready to review Brothers & Sisters. A few of you out there might know what I'm talking about so this is for the benefit of those who I have yet to transform into B&S addicts! Now this hidden treasure premiered last September and even before its premiere, there were already plenty of grumblings and gossip about the show. Nevertheless the producers went ahead..so here we go. The premise of the show is about the on-going saga of a well-to-do but down-to-earth (as well as constant bickering) California family (the Walkers) of diverse personalities and how all their lives change after the death of a patriarch including a troubled family business and a long-term secret affair. I bet you're thinking "The Bold & The Beautiful" and "Hikmah".. We have: Sarah (played by the lovely Rachel Griffiths formerly from Six Feet Under), the corporate VP struggling to balance motherhood with a career; Tommy (Balthazar Getty), the loyal yet 'normal' son and seeming heir of the family business; Kevin (played by Brit actor Matthew Ryhs) is the gay brother cautiously learning about love; Kitty (none other than Calista Flockhart), a right-wing radio host turned TV pundit who has always been Daddy's little girl; and Justin (Dave Annable), the youngest of the Walker clan, grappling with the trauma of war and addiction.

Then we have the parents - Tom Walker (played by TV vet Tom Skerritt) as patriarch of the Walker family and president of the family business and Nora Walker (brilliantly played by Sally Field) as the opinionated wife and mother of the five Walker siblings. Do all the cast names sound delicious and tempting enough? There's more..we also have Uncle Saul (Ron Rifkin whom you might remember was Sloan in Alias) as Nora's brother and second-in-command at the company; Joe (John Pyper-Ferguson) as Sarah's husband; Julia (Sarah Jane Morris) as Tommy's wife; Holly (Patricia Wettig) as the 'other' woman and finally, Rebecca (Emily VanCamp) as Holly's daughter and the other Walker sibling (which now makes her, not Justin, the baby of the family).

And how could I forget Rob Lowe....who plays Kitty's boss cum fiance (Senator MacAllister) *sigh*

Ok so what's so great about this show...? Everything really ranging from the family's discovery of Tom's secrets (including a mistress, secret fund and embezzlement) to Nora's hilarious friendship with her best friend (played by Margot Kidder) to game night with a rival family to Kitty's drunken confession to Kevin about her botched attempt to propose to her bf. And how I love that this family can NEVER keep secrets long enough from one another..Kitty calls Sarah to tell her that she'd slept with the Senator and in between Kevin calls followed by Nora..now that's you call "hot off the press" eh? Then there's the strong family bond which always shines through..even if the siblings disagree with each other...and Sally Field..she IS Nora Walker..the epitome of a wife and mother who has strength and ability to forgive and love unconditionally despite all the hurt and betrayal. One of my favourite scenes was when she told rival Holly after a bitchin' cat/food fight that she has moved on with her life.

Like other shows such as Grey's Anatomy, ER and House, Brothers & Sisters generally casts exceptional guest stars...Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg anyone?), Marion Ross (as Nora's mother), Margot Kidder (who plays Nora's looney BFF), Treat Williams, Jason Lewis (he was also Jason in Sex and The City), Joel Grey (who was also in House as that sick professor who wanted to die!) and Eric Winter (who plays the Senator's gay brother *yummmmmy*)

In the finale, Justin is days away from returning to active duty in the army and readying himself to go to war in Iraq (I'm still wondering why americans tend to say "Eye-raq" rather than "Ee-raq"..) so he plans individual outings with each family member (museum with mom, 'Wicked' the musical with Kevin). Meanwhile Nora plans an engagement party for the Senator and Kitty, who announces her plans to move out of the house. What follows is a hilarious party scene involving the Senator's relatives, a possible secret about Saul's love life (who stays a bachelor til his 50s??) and a moving farewell scene involving Justin, Nora and Kitty. So..have I convinced you enough to start watching this show? If the thought of Calista Flockhart irks you or maybe you're still bitter about Ron Rifkin aka Sloan in Alias..believe me when I say this but the other cast will make you forget Calista as Ally McBeal!