This Sunday- Episode 403 "Almost Normal"

Written by Jennifer Levin & Sherri Cooper-Landsman

Directed by Michael Schultz

Robert and Nora struggle to accept Kitty's cancer and to come to an agreement on the best treatment.  Meanwhile, Kitty realizes she must face the unavoidable and tell the entire family. Justin has his first day of Gross Anatomy and can't help feeling intimidated by his lab partner. Saul and Holly attend a wine auction, where they run into someone from Saul and William's past. 

Hope you enjoy the episode.  Have lots of Kleenex on hand.  Especially for the scene with Kitty and Kevin.  It gets me every time.  Speaking of Kevin, tomorrow we start filming Episode 409, which will be directed by our very own Matthew Rhys.  In fact, right now Matthew is in the room next door to me for a Tone Meeting, where the director, writers, and Executive Producers go through the script scene by scene and discuss the character arcs, the tone, and what everyone hopes to capture.  We're all excited for Matthew's directorial debut!  Hope you guys are too.  Maybe we can do an interview with him closer to the air date...

Best,

Cole

Comments

[María]

I loved the episode but as another posting said: "I don't get why kevin & Scotty did not even get to kiss in that sweet scene. You writers ruined the moment by not allowing them to be fully human and show their feelings"

[Ronnie Peterson]

After coming home from a heart attack, Did he remember the day Robert was worried in his breaking news? I ask Sally Field and Calista Flockhart on ABC's Brothers and Sisters to Start Here.

[Laura]

Great episode! I miss Tommy and Sarah, but I also really appreciate the focus on fewer storylines. It's all awesome.
I was sooo happy Sarah showed up at the end. I can't wait to find out what she's been up to in France

[Lucas]

Dear Cole,

Great episode with strong family scenes reminiscent of Season 1 days. What a welcome relief. You guys still have it in you. Keep up the great writing that is deserving of such a stellar cast.

By the way, there's no real necessity to make Holly do something in every episode. We can do without her most times. Someone we cannot do without is Sarah Walker. Great to have her back again.

I look forward to Matthew's directorial debut.

Regards,
Lucas

[Nila]

Please stop the unequal treatment of Scotty and Kevin in comparison to heteronormative couples on the show.I thought B & S is more evolved than trying to hide Kevin & Scotty's affection for each other. It's totally lame.

Math, when you direct an eopisode, puhleez give us more Kevin & Scotty loving!

[Lilo]

FREE SCOTTY & KEVIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Rachel]

A great episode which filled me with emotions I didn't even realize I have...
The opening scene was soo sweet, Justin is so sexy with his med studies. I really liked to see them get back on track as a normal stable couple again. As always, they made this episode perfect.

As for Kitty - I believe this year Calista is going straight to the Emmy. She acts amazing! I'm really happy to see Robert caring so much for her. It's been a while...

Justin and his lab partner had great scenes. It was interesting to see how Justin dealt with the body situation, so mature, how he developed from the first season...

I also liked Kevin and Scotty's scene but the scenes of them apart were great as well. Kevin and Kitty had an amazing moment, they acted so good at this scene!!! and it was cute to see Scotty sitting at the table alone with Kitty, not knowing what to say...

A great episode and it leaves a great taste for more!!!

And yayyy - the wedding is ON, soooo ON!!!!

[Lizzi]

Justin and Rebecca are sooo good togather, and seeing them rolling in bed was fun.
For all of those having trouble with the fact that Kevin and Scotty don't have this kind of scenes - just remember that ABC is a national station. YES - a hetrosexual relationship is shown everywere. Just because you are frustrated with the lack of kissing scenes of Kevin and Scotty, doesn't mean you have to complain about many scenes of Justin & Rebecca.
I would obviously recommend to continue with this kind of sweet scenes that they share :)

[maria]

loved the episode...loved the part when robert came to talk with nora, clearly robert loves kitty and wants the relationship with nora to work for kitty's sake... he was indeed a true husband... loved the part between kitty & kevin, a love between brother & sister... thanks

[gwen]

Good episode. I particularly liked the way the various couples reacted to the news particularly Kevin and Scotty. I thought that their scene in the bed was really touching and I realize that it was, in and of itself quite risky but it did feel cut off at the end without some sign of affection.

[Mark]

Calista Flockhart is a joy to watch.

Can some awards group finally nominate her?

[John Nielsen]

PLEASE Stop your sound editing person from adding crickets and drive by traffic noise on nearly every INDOOR night scene...Very distracting and fails the reality test. This family lives in a rural high-end neighborhood. You have the show cast as winter, with coats and jackets in use, yet every night, indoor scene has those damn crickets and road noise going on in the background. JN

[will]

Listen, as much as you guys at B&S like to say that you receive no pressure on how you write the Kevin/Scotty storylines, it's obvious you are very cautious about the intimacy compared to the antics of Justin & Rebecca.

If kissing is too much for Kevin and Scotty because of the delicate sensibilities of middle America, then here's another option. When the two were in bed together in the last episode, you could have had Kevin gently reach over and take Scotty's hand and hold it for a few seconds. Stroke his arm. No words need to be said. It's what human beings in love do when they care for each other. They don't just sit there like it's the end of a scene in a soap opera and freeze.

[Sally]

i am there with you will.

the writers need to stop saying that they are not pressured by ABC. obviously they are being forced to limit intimate kevin-scotty interactions. honestly, you will start losing viewers since kevin, and kevin-scotty relationship is front and center of this show for many people, hetero or gay/bi, etc.

as for lizzie, your heterosexism is sooo 1980s. Please, we are more evolved and don't need to see endless no-chemistry between justin and rebecca in every episode.

[Kie Ann]

If the writers are so keen on equality and on not featuring Kevin as gay, why limit the intimate interactions between him and Scotty? Surely, if the writers are honest with the viewers, there is no reason to treat Kevin and Scotty's relationship and PDA any differently?

So, call it for what it is and stop trying to fool viewers if ABC is pulling the strings on Kevin-Scotty storyline.

The cancer and wedding angles is really nothing to call home about. It's sad how the writers are no longer as creative as they once were. How many TV shows with cancer are there? That particular storyline is so dead.

[Lilo]

rhys and macfarlane have such an amazing chemistry -they are even better than scully and mulder - why aren't you, the writers taking advantage of such explosive on screen chemistry?

if this was a heterosexual couple, ABC would be all over it.

don't shaft us of the TV's greatest coupling since scully and mulder. bring on more romantic adn steamy moments with kevin and scotty

[Sheila Stewart]

Please tell me the artist and the name of the song playing at the end of the October 11 episode, "Almost Normal."

[Lizzi]

If you want to see homosexual relationship than just forget it! ABC is the owner of the show and has rules that the writers are obligated to them.
If you want to see gays making up of having sex try the cable, you will find what you need in no-time.
If you love Kevin and Scotty as soo much try to enjoy their talks, their words, and the content of their storyline, not the blue side of it.
I understant you're upset but THIS IS NATIONAL TV.
No one is watching B&B n order to watch gay porno.

[Kim]

get a life lizzie. where have you been living? in a cave?

[S.L.]

Hey people! Lizzi is absolutely right! This is national TV, not a porno. It's not like they can show us a couple simulating the actual act, at least until the husband is unable to "let go." Or someone about to pleasure their partner in the shower. Or someone eating fruit off the bare skin of another person who's dressed only in underwear. Or two young people rolling around in bed at the beginning and end of nearly every single episode. And definitely not a woman seducing an employee in the storeroom the very first day she meets him. Oh...wait.

I actually was totally fine with the bedroom scene in the last episode. I thought the lack of physical contact worked well with the tone and mood of the scene. However, it's the principle of the thing. I'm a realist - I don't expect to see as much physical intimacy between K/S as there is between all the other couples. But the producers and network shouldn't insult the audience's intelligence and support of the show by claiming they treat everyone equally. They shouldn't pat themselves on the back and accept awards and praise and act like there isn't a hugely obvious double standard going on here. If nothing else, be brave enough to be HONEST.

And further, why is there this attitude that gay intimacy = sex? I wouldn't turn that down, but what I want to see more than anything else is the realistic portrayal of a newlywed couple. That means they touch. It means they lounge around in bed in the morning holding each other. It means there's more than kissing hands and verbal innuendo every several episodes. It means kissing on the actual lips (for longer than the second it takes to give a chaste peck), hugging, casual affection. Physical intimacy and desire is or at least should be part of their story as much as their verbal interactions. You would never suggest the fans of a straight couple should be satisfied with just their words. That's ridiculous. And just because they have more chemistry and heat between them simply talking to each other than Justin and Rebecca (and indeed several of the other straight couples as well) can muster in all their incessant bedroom scenes combined doesn't mean K/S should be limited to non-physical storylines only. It shouldn't be an event worthy of advertising on this very blog when they're going to kiss or *gasp* be shirtless. There should be the recognition that they're a REAL couple, just like everyone else on the show. I don't think that's too much to ask.

[Zipes]

The issue of Kevin and Scotty's PDA has nothing to do with gay porn, Lizzie. It is about upholding human dignity and principles of equality.

Therefore, why does Justin and Rebecca's PDA overwhelmingly dominate the show, as with other heterosexual PDAs? It's because people perceived the LGTBT community as deviant and subhuman.

As the writers of B & S claim, they are not discriminating against gay lifestyle. If anything, they want to show that Kevin and Scotty are a normal couple. However, it the light of not supporting equality, they are instead caught in the web of exceptionalism where Scotty and Kevin's PDA are treated as different because that is just who they are.

I do hope this changes, and that Kevin can obtain a job as a lawyer again because the Kevin-Robert plot is stripping Kevin of his personality that so many watch B & S for.

So, Lizzie, it's not about gay porn, it's about humanity, which is severely lacking in our communities in the 21st century.

Peace,
A.B. Zipes

[Jane]

I agree with S.L and A. B. Zipes 1000%. The writers either need to be honest about their reluctantt to show intimicy between a gay couple or give us some good scenes. It's an insult to fans of the show to belittle our intellectual capacity.

I agree S. L that just because there is amazing chemistry between Rhys and MacFarlane does not mean that they should be limited to chaste kisses. There have been so many moments in the previous seasons where Kevin & Scotty kisses scenes have been cut short - e.g., the beach house, parking lot at the bank, bedroom scene after Scotty was promoted, etc. What about their wedding night?? I mean Kevin running off because he has a theory of another sibling? Come on! That never happens with heterosexual couples!

And yes, since when does gay intimacy=sex? Those who think that way is no doubt still stuck in differentiated and repressice modes of thinking.

Equality in this country does not mean anything when some are treated as inhuman because of their sexual preference.

They need to let Matthew Rhys write an episode, not just direct it.
As Dorothy Parker once said, "Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common."

[Cameo Gonzalez]

I’m sure this isn’t the correct place to write this but I must get this out. From the inception of the show, I’ve found my own family to closely resemble the Walker family. I’m extremely close to my family (my sister and her family and our parents) and it became a Sunday night tradition to watch “B&S” with my mom. We would laugh at Holly and Nora’s antics and sit in awe at how much our politics were the same. During the second season my mom and I still watched but I was different. I had a dream of watching the show, as usual, only with a baby monitor. You see, my husband and I were in the process of adopting a baby and I was waiting impatiently. To my surprise the next season brought on Kitty and Robert adopting Evan, yet another reason to identify with the Walkers. But really, cancer? The parallels have become just too eerie now and I’m convinced you have a video camera somewhere in my home. 16 years ago my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 23. On May 3rd, 2009, my sister’s quick trip to the ER for some stomach pain turned our lives upside down. She was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. She finished one round of chemo early as her cancer has mutated and is now immune to that form. Trina starts a new form of chemo this week. The dialogue you have written with this particular storyline has brought me to tears as the exact same words have been said within my own family. The fear and pain shown on Nora’s face is something I see every day on my own mom. The struggle to stay strong and maintain control of her life is something I see in my sister Trina every day. The shock that Sarah had when receiving the phone call was something that was on my own face when my mom had to tell me that horrid Sunday morning that things were not ok at the ER. And just like the Walker family, cancer is something that cannot bring our family any closer as we were already knit so closely it was unclear where ourselves left off and the other began. I have found myself delaying to watch each episode as I’m not sure I can handle it. I was/am able to watch “Grey’s Anatomy” and Izzie’s storyline with no problem, but “B&S”? Well, that has, not just an air of authenticity but a complete cloud covering of it that I find it impossible to believe that someone on the writing staff hasn’t been through what we are going through. I commend the truth, pain and honesty that the writing has always had but brings me to my knees now.

Thank you.

[Kitty Rox]

This episode was sooo touching. It had me reaching for a box of tissues in points.

Its sooo sad that Kitty has cancer but in one way its a good thing because the only major thing thats happened to Kitty is that shes been breaking up with Robert and Fighting with Sarah. But its sooo awesome when she fights with Sarah and walks out of her house in last season

[Azam]

It was a bad decision to let gille out of the show. You need a handsome and good looking man in this show. Actually his act is perfect too. I hope you bring him back as soon as possible. Otherwise you will lose many of your viewers.