This Sunday: Episode 307 – “Do You Believe in Magic?”

Written by Sherri Cooper-Landsman & Jennifer Levin
Directed by Michael Morris

Kitty and Robert finally meet their birthmother and are in for a bit of a surprise. Nora finds herself befriending George Lafferty, as they both struggle with whether Ryan should know the truth.  Justin finally tells Rebecca he loves her, but Rebecca has trouble returning the sentiment.  Kevin, as Robert’s new communications director, faces a journalist who claims evidence the Senator is having an affair.  Meanwhile, Tommy and Julia’s anniversary party brings all the Walkers together.

Tune in this Sunday!

Comments

[will]

I'm typing this prior to watching the "Do You Believe in Magic?" episode, but I just saw a couple "spoiler" scenes. Kevin and Robert (and an aide) discussing prop 8, Sarah's storyline with those two eccentric motley-looking entrepreur dudes.

Just watching these 1 or 2 minute clips galvanizes interest. KUDOS to Sherri and Jennifer - & all those involved - for adding into the storylines TOPICAL, relevant drama (oh, I'm sorry - DRAMEDY!). It FEELS today.. fresh! This is definitely ripped out of today's headlines.

Every day since Tuesday I have been watching daily protests on the evening news about Prop 8 protests, sometimes attracting 8 to 12,000 protesters in San Diego, or marching from Silverlake to West Hollywood, in front of LDS Mormon temples, across the nation, even in freaking Utah.

I LOVE the idea of bringing timely, colorful, interest-grabbing topics to bear on the stories. It is BRACING (like a gush of cold clear morning mountain air!). It's a pleasant slap in the face! It gives you reason to become INVOLVED again in these Walker lives!

Kudos, kudos! Keep this sh*t up writers! It's totally fabulous. I can't tell you how much it energizes me! You are resuscitating an ailing corpse! (ok, being overly-dramatic! but sometimes B&S does appear DOA). Those colorful new character (with Sarah) looked to be breathing new life into the plots also (hope this holds true).

I LOVE you guys when you grab the 21st century by the horns! Get involved in the politics and controversies and manners... the WAY WE LIVE NOW! Nice job, man! 2 thumbs way friggin up, as whoever's hosting that movie-review show now says!

[Aron]

Happy Birthday Calista Flockhart !!! Greetings from Europe ;)

[emilie]

my husband and i just love this show! the storylines are very interesting. we tell all our friends to watch too! thanks!

[Paula_Kat]

Who sang the last song in the show tonight and what was it called?

Thanks!

Paula :)

[Uke]

Did Dan get fired?

[will]

"Do You Believe in Magic?"

Wow wow wow. All kinds of nice, blended racial mixes in tonight's episode. The journalist, the birth mother, hospital staff, psychic.... I almost don't recognize the show! Almost looks like it could take place in southern California!

These 2 goofy guys in Sarah's house are offbeat & peculiar without being ostentatiously offbeat. They're freaky in an individual way that we ALL might be (yeah, I'm talking about YOU, whoever's reading this!... we all have our own weird queer peculiarities!). Nice casting. Especially the nerdy dude in the glasses doing the magic tricks. Works for me. Justin and Rebecca are bland, but, hey!, the whole thing's going down pretty easily.

I like Dave dressed in a casual-looking loose suit and a week's work of facial hair. Very - uber - sexy. Not enough to save the J/R scenes (what could?). Like I said, let Justin and Rebecca befriend a twentysomething swinger couple. An odd up-for-anything wild and adventurous couple. And they could all drink & all smoke a joint (Justin would need to loosen up) & get crazy high and wind up in bed together. In all possible sexual combinations. THAT would shake up the drab cloying little lovenest-storyline!

There is a wonderful, unusual, bohemian art design quality to the sets in this episode. It's great to look at. Beautifully modulated color (the color is saturated. The colors glow and shimmer; the reds are redder, the blues bluer - the palette darker & lit from within). Shorter smaller scenes flowing in and out of each other. I like! A real fluid ebb and flow .

Hey! It's 10:55 pm. Just in time for the ballad du jour. Or ballad of the week! However you say that in french! Is it James Taylor? Suddenly the formulaically-positioned music works for me! Even if it IS used for Justin and Rebecca.

This episode was colorful and authentically quirky and seemed to be thought out in terms from the right side of the brain, the non-linear side. There were strange oddball choices made throughout (particularly the long party sequence). I couldn't get over how absorbed I was just LOOKING at the set designs & art choices. A bravura episode.

[Stephanie]

Hi
I'm interested to know if any of you out there can identify the dress Rebecca wears when she gives Justin the key back and sets up a romantic dinner.

Much oblidged

[Sylviane]

I liked this episode. What a fun idea of a magic show on your 10th anniversary.

I absolutely felt sorry for that poor fortune-teller. Quite a thankless job if you have Rebecca and Nora opposite of you.

Didn't she read in the tea-leaves that it would be better if she took the night off?

It was quite refreshing to NOT see some poor teenage mother who just made the mistake of her life, but an adult person, who knew exactly what she was doing.

And I can understand Kitty's fear, but she overreacted in that same old Walker way. I am glad she say that herself and I hope we will soon see the old Kitty from season 1, this version is getting to be a bit too "Ally".

And why did Kitty have to tell everyone that "Elton" was in fact George Lafferty?

Too bad Robert couldn't laugh about Kevin's action in the end with re-affirming his opinion. I did.

And too bad that Robert didn't fire Kevin. There is something wrong if your boss DEMANDS that you trust him, but does nothing to EARN that trust.

I am so glad to see more Saul, but Julia is still not being seen and naturally I missed Scotty. I would have loved to see his reaction to all that happened.

[Isa]

I absoluely LOVED the J&R scenes - Justin sneeking up on Rebecca, the ILY then the fight and the making-up - I hope we'll get to see a lot more of them in the future!

[Debbie]

I just love this show. Me and my brother watch it together and just laugh. We see similarity in the things that happen in the show and with our family. Love the story line... keep up the good work!!!

[kate]

I thought this episode was amzing! So much better than last week's. I'm glad Tommy and kevin have finaly decided to bury the hatchet- the brotherly brawls were getting really annoyiny!!
kitty irritated me a bit - she is neurotic but i don't think she would have overreacted that much - hope she has calmed down by next week!
justin and rebecca were just as sweet as ever - i've always loved them i think they have such amazing chemistry, - and i loved their scenes this week epecially the last one!

[will]

Oh, yeah! Just we what we all need.... MORE romantic J/R scenes!

Maybe we can see the two of them lying in a hammock and playing footsies! HOW ADORABLE! Or maybe one could be at the bathroom sink brushing his teeth and the other SNEAKS UP behind him! Maybe a Sarah McLachlin ballad could be playing over it! (wait... I think maybe this was done...)

Burnished cinematography, autumn leaves, gentle carressing...

If Rebecca and Justin were only 35 years older, their romantic interludes might qualify as a good Cialis commercial.

Cialis. FDA approved. Let's you respond to your partner for 36 hours.... when the moment IS RIGHT!... please consult your physician in the event of an erection lasting more than 6 hours...

ok! only joking here! let's not all get bent outta shape!

[Alfred]

For the writes of B&S - please pick up your game. We, the avid fans, are not very happy with the season thus far. All story lines are half baked, interrupted by non-stop spermination beyond the grave. It was enough with Rebecca. We do not need Ryan! We want to see our regular cast more often!

Saul, Sarah, Scotty and Julia have all been abandoned. Enough with the Senator. We need the family together more - that's the magic. Magic happens when they are together!

[betty]

I thought the scenes with Kevin and Robert were great and needed to happen. I think they were honest and show how Kevin struggles in his (ultimate) support of Robert. I love Kittie, but felt they're really portraying her as too neurotic. I'm not a fan of the storyline with another illegitimate child, 1st Rebecca, then they change their minds?? and she's not, now Ryan?? please, end this story.

[Maewha]

I love the show. I have finally got my husband to watch it with me. My mother is Korean and my father is Black and my husband is white, so I can tell you exactly how the babies will look. Perfect!!

[fanofb&S]

Last episode was a good one. J & R are awesome, loved the final scene. I miss more Sarah time though. Maybe they are ramping up for that? But keep up the J & R too!

[will]

Ok. When Justin & Rebecca invite this twentysomething swinger couple on over, I want to see Justin only in boxer shorts! And I want you to give Rebecca a nice, soft sensual Scarlett Johansson type to make out with. Now, Justin getting the courage up to touch another dude will take pot and beer and whatever other stimulants and inhibition-reducers you can throw into the mix (he's uptight - he has barriers to break down).

Think of the monster ratings! Tease the hell out of it too! Everyone's secretly prurient. You may want to lay off the gay-Saul and Kevin/Scotty storylines this ep! We don't want gay overload! This is still a mildly right-of-center country (as disgruntled McCain supporters like to tell us!)

[will]

oh sorry...

In my mad frenzied attempt at pansexual fantasy I totally forgot about Justin's 12-step program!

I will have to work out these kinks at a later date!

[Birdy]

I don't care how "inferior" Kitty is feeling about adopting a child I am pretty sure most adoption agencies put the potential parents occupation on the forms. So why is a upper class rich white woman married to a U.S. Senator/Presidential Candidate worried about getting a child?! I don't care that Kitty once, tried to sell us on some heartfelt statement along the lines of "I still feel like everyone else trying to adopt", yeah totally NOT believable! McCallister is portrayed in the show as quiet a wealthy man. I am not certain, but I think there is a reason really wealthy people don't have problems finding kids to adopt. They're "USDA Grade A" adoptive parents, the writers dwelling on her worry about not being picked is downright irritating. Calista's character is annoying is so many ways, but I am beginning to tune out her story lines altogether, because the writers have her acting like she is a lower middle class housewife worrying about getting a kid. Let's not muddle the "Walker Family Reality" with any sort of truth!

[will]

hehehe

(to the poster above)

How well would that play? Kitty and Robert using their position and power to influence the adoption procedings? The "Brothers and Sisters" brand depends on warm, homey family scenarios and snarky sibling humor. Robert & Kitty repeatedly pointing out to the adoption people that he is an influencial senator (and loaded) - and demanding exactly which type of baby they prefer - would detract us from the soothing snuggly brand we've all become accustomed to buying.

[paige]

Avid fan, love the season thus far. Especially Kitty & the adoption storyline, which is gearing up to be beautiful & so relevant. I am also starting to adore Ethan & Kyle. These two can stick around, please. :)

[Jo]

What happened to this show? I've been rewatching season one on dvd and it is SO different. There was a sense of connectedness between the siblings that no longer exists. Sally was endearing rather than screeching. The worst is what you've done to Kitty; she was independent and fiesty and now she's neurotic and has become nothing more than someone's wife.

Why is Holly still around? Oh yeah, she's related to the EP and one of the writers. If only you'd had so much respect for family bonds when you had Rebecca and Justin sleep together after believing they had been siblings for a year. And as for Rebecca - I've seen enough of her body to last me a long time. Not that you're being gratuitous or anything ;P

I miss the first season.

[Scott]

I'm one of the show's biggest fans, but even I am finding myself very concerned about the declining quality of this season's storylines.

ENOUGH with the Senator Show. He alternates between holier than thou and insufferable, and oftentimes is both at once.

And to make matters worse, you've taken my favorite character (Kevin) and saddled him in a completely unbelievable storyline working for Robert. Evidently, the only reason for this was to increase Rob Lowe's screentime. You certainly haven't provided Kevin a credible explanation for wanting to work for a Republican Senator. (Who blithely dismisses Kevin's support for Prop 8...it's not like public support was needed for that, right? Oh wait...)

The de-Walkering of Rebecca and needless introduction of Ryan has caused this show to become perilously close to slipping off the deep end.

And that's not even touching on the fact that Scotty has been MIA this season more often than not; Holly is still traipsing around for no conceivable reason other than the writers cannot accept she has outlasted her purpose; and you've somehow been able to turn Justin/Rebecca from creepy to dull.

I apologize for the negative tone of this post, but it pains me to see my favorite show become a shadow of its former self.

That said, I don't think all is lost IF certain crucial steps are taken.

1. I know he's played by Rob Lowe, but the inordinate focus on his character -- structurally, he's only a love interest -- throws the whole show off-balance. It's supposed to be about the Walkers, not smug Senators.

2. MORE sibling dynamics (and this includes Nora). And a more balanced depiction of their strengths and flaws. (e.g., enough about Tommy being the martyr; most people I know think he's a jerk)

3. Give equal airtime to Nora, Sarah and Kevin's personal lives. Right now, Kitty/Robert and Justin/Rebecca are outright dominating the show. People are getting fed up with it.

I'm going to hang on through November Sweeps, but I truly hope the show finds its way again. You have some wonderful characters, played by wonderful actors. But that will all be wasted potential without a balance in storylines and screentime.

Bottom line: This show is about the Walkers. Please keep it that way.

[will]

A Kitty-Robert-Adoption Lady Dialogue

A short riff.

----------

Kitty: Well, don't you have any hispanic-caucasian bi-racial babies? Hispanic I think I can deal with. Korean and african-american blends, not so much.

Robert: But, honey. Wait. Derek Jeter's african-american and german and irish. That might not be so bad. He's a good-looking guy.

Kitty: Well... (to adoption lady) Ok. Do you have one of those? Something approximating that? I don't mind if the african-american part is tempered with a... you know... heavy european strain.

Adoption lady: I'm sorry. The only baby we're currently placing is a korean-caucasian. And the crack-mother Bangladesh baby. (pause) And, of course, the "Surprise" baby... that's the nickname we gave to a baby abandoned on the hospital steps.

Kitty: Oh, no. Not the "surprise" baby.

Robert: No, we'd definately feel more comfortable knowing the baby's ethnic heritage...

(pause)

Robert: (to adoption lady) Do you like sushi? My assistant made lunch reservations at Noshi Sushi on Beverly Blvd. We can take this discussion there.

Kitty: You know, honey, a japanese blend might be rather adorable. Not korean, but japanese. Mom took that trip to Tokyo five years ago and she adores japanese features. That's where she bought me those silk kimono pajamas you love me to wear!

Robert: Hmmm. Ok by me. That's an option... But let's discuss this over sushi please! I'm famished.

[maria de albuquerque]

And we go again with the supposed chemistry between Justin and Rebecca (you americans really love the word chemistry!), and to be honest I found more chemistry between the caterpillar in Cooper's bedroom and with his mother's hand. Little by little you're managing (?) to transform Kevin, the most interesting character in the show, in someone weak and insecure, to give more time and relevance to Senator Robert Macallister. And by the way why this in law has more screen time then Scotty,and Julia?