Previously on Brothers and Sisters: On the assumption that late-in-the-game recasting is seldom a good sign, TWoP passed on adding Brothers and Sisters to our '06-'07 fall lineup, although the departure of Marti "Ob" Noxon from the show-running team almost changed our minds.
After a helicopter shot of New York City, we fade up to the accompaniment of bamp-chicka-wow-wow music, and pan across a leg in the middle of getting shaved. A bit odd, as opening shots of series go; even odder when you see that the leg belongs to Kitty (I could pretend I don't know who everyone is, but I ain't got that kind of time). Calista Flockhart has looked perfectly healthy to me all season, don't get me wrong, but she's not exactly Sophia Loren. Kitty protests into her cell phone that she's "not the person you people think" she is: "I am not a bitch!" Nor is she "aggressively plotting" to make their mother feel bad, she says. On the other end of the phone, Sarah's in the kitchen with the kids, asking why Kitty is staying in a hotel, then. Kitty expositions that "the show" is putting her up, and it's going to be a sweet pad. Sarah -- who looked great with her hair at this length, so I've got to vote for a between-seasons trim -- exasps at Kitty to call Mom and tell her that. You call her and tell her, Kitty brats, and Sarah backstories that she talks to their mother every day; Kitty and Nora have barely spoken in two years. ...I know, remember that? Paige and Cooper start scuffling, so Sarah tags in Joe and moves into the room. Kitty's in her closet now, assessing outfits, and asks how Joe's doing and if "things" have gotten any better. Sarah says she and Joe tried "that thing" she told Kitty about, and when I first saw this ep, I had a horrible horrible flashback to that L.A. Law episode with the Venus butterfly or whatever and clapped my hands over my face all "oh please please no" because Rachel Griffiths's line reading totally makes it sound like "that thing" is vinyl and covered with for-her-pleasure knobs and whatnot, but Sarah's actually talking about couples counseling. Kitty groans sympathetically at this revelation, but Sarah doesn't let her get off topic, ordering her to call Nora. Kitty third-grades that Nora knows she's coming and could have called her, then quickly says before Sarah can "whatever" her that she doesn't have time to discuss it, Jonathan's coming over and she's barely going to have time to finish her Cornish hens. Sarah, equal parts amused and afraid: "You're cooking Cornish hens?"
Predictable cut to Kitty removing Cornish charcoal lumps from the oven. Dear TV and movies: It is possible for women with high-profile careers to enjoy and excel at the occasional domestic art. Please learn to distinguish between "cannot cook" and "does not cook," as they are two different things; the former is lazy characterization. The latter is lazi-ness. Trust me. Hugs, Sars. (Dear wardrobe: Kitty's apron in this scene is adorable.) Kitty's still on the phone, this time to Kevin, begging him to help her. He's running through ingredients she might have on hand with which to save the meal, primarily as a clumsy lead-up to letting the audience know that he's The Gay One. Kevin changes the subject to Kitty calling Nora; Kitty refuses, and adds that it's her birthday and Nora "has to be nice to" her. Doorbell! It's Jonathan, who is attractive in that pheromone-less Cosmo-centerfold type of way and whom I have not missed. He tells her she has "kitchen-crisis face," and behind her, we see a cloud of blackened-hen smoke, which he jokes about, and they make out, and Kevin is still on the line like, "Um, do you guys mind?" Kitty lets Jonathan and his Bouquet That Ate Pittsburgh into her apartment, and Kevin tells her to go have hot sex with her hot boyfriend and he'll handle Nora. Kitty: Don't bother. Kevin offers to "make a case" to Nora, but Kitty's all, what "case," and blathers something about the Constitution guaranteeing her "safe return" to L.A., and could he please tell the rest of the family to quit calling her so she can get it on with her Ken doll. She hangs up. We do not see a reaction shot of Kevin, more's the pity.
The make-out sesh resumes; again, I think we're supposed to find this hot, but Flockhart is not a great choice to put "female libido" over in the first place, and her kissing in this particular scene is like a performance-art piece entitled "Duck On Oxycontin." Happily, the land line rings; Kitty could just ignore it, but she elects to grouch that she's going to kill her family, then answers; it's Tommy, in surf gear on the boardwalk, asking if he should pick her up at the airport, and then her cell rings, and it's Justin telling her not to listen to Tommy, he'll pick her up. He's also on the boardwalk, a surfboard under his arm, and he walks right up to Tommy as he says this and refers to Tommy as "a total asshat." Hee. Tommy pulls a "...har" face. Kitty bitches that she thought Kevin told them not to call, thanks Tommy, says she'll see Justin at the airport, and hangs up on both of them. She turns back to Jonathan and apologizes, saying it's not a very romantic farewell so far, and he cheeses that it's only a farewell for a few days, "unless you get that TV job." She loves him, he loves her too, smoochy-smoochy.
LAX. Kitty is standing at the taxi kiosk, looking lost. Justin runs up all late and hectic, and Kitty's all, you're actually here! And you're too skinny. Justin deftly changes the topic to Kitty not bringing Jonathan; Kitty evidently didn't want to expose him to her father's game-related hazing. Justin asks about the TV gig, and Kitty explains that the show needs "someone young...ish" on the conservative side, then asks if "Mom [has] said...anything...at all," and Justin says no, other than referring to Kitty as "the young Margaret Thatcher" the evening. Justin says he's going to unearth his flak jacket for when the two of them get into it. The tease about his military status is followed by another one referring to the fact that he's "under strict instructions" to, among other things, not get high. "Oh yeah, how's that going?" Kitty asks, as though he's on a diet. The blitheness of other characters towards Justin's drug use/abuse is so weird at times on this show; I certainly don't require a string of Nancy Reagan pieties, but the reaction to his "getting high" is often rather muted, much more as if he sat around all day rolling Js on the Frisbee and playing Mario Kart. Justin asks if Kitty can get herself from her hotel to her house. Kitty teases him about having to go pick up a girl. Yeah...a girl named Mary Jane. And her cousin, Ox E. Contin. Justin's like, riiiight, sure. Kitty asks if he's still going to "that vets' group," and Justin fills us in on his Afghanistan deal. The subject shifts back to the girl, who actually does exist -- it's Fawn -- and Kitty accuses Justin of avoiding her reunion with her mother, which he cheerfully cops to. Heh.
Walker manse. Kitty lets herself in, and looks around the foyer, hugging herself, as The Bittersweet Oboe Of The More Things Change, The More Things Stay The Same helpfully guides our emotions. Coming down the stairs is the doomed patriarch himself, William, and they greet each other warmly. When Kitty asks warily if Nora is there, we rack focus to Nora in the kitchen, listening intently and deciding whether or not to reveal herself. She opts to come out with a bright "Yes! Yes," and the soundtrack switches to The Decidedly More Madcap Guitar Of If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother as a stiffly reluctant Nora bustles through the dining room to greet Kitty, and I've never actually seen anyone walk with a pineapple up her butt, but I'm pretty sure this is how it would look. The greeting is awkward and mere-acquaintance-y, and Nora comments on how great Kitty looks, but in vintage maternal style follows it up with, "You could use a little sun? Maybe some raisins, or something." Hee! My mother does that all the time, draws some unworkable parallel between an issue I'm having with, like, the phone company and the fact that I no longer eat bacon. Kitty is nearly laughing in disbelief. "How's the hotel?" Nora asks. "Fine," Kitty says, in an are-we-really-going-to-do-this tone. "Good. Good!" Nora forces out over her shoulder as she butt-pineapples her way back to the kitchen. Kitty, at a loss: "...Raisins?" William pats her on the back: "Yeah, well..." Heh. Nice reading of that by Tom Skerritt.
Kitchen. William and Kitty make margaritas -- fancy magazine-cover margs with little lime slices floating on the top. Maybe it's because it's pissing down rain outside today, but I started salivating at the sight of those. Father and daughter discuss the TV opportunity while Nora listens intently. Tommy and Julia come in and accuse Kitty of getting William and Nora "drunk already," and Kitty vice-versas the blame on that; Saul comes in right behind them and immediately gets into it with Kitty about how she's wrong about basically every issue she discussed on her radio show, and Tommy slings an arm around William and groans, "Oh no, please -- the lefties are starting!" William and Julia stroll off, subtly inserting some characterization about Julia that I had completely forgotten (she's a first-grade teacher), just as Justin comes bombing in to introduce Fawn and act generally tweaked out -- he's blathering on about the commercial Fawn appeared in while stripping down to his boxer shorts. Kitty's like, Um...? Justin: "Swimming, folks!", and babbles that he's not going to Do It with Fawn on the kitchen island "in the guacamole...or am I?" Enter Kevin, telling someone on his cell that he's a lawyer, not a nurse, and carrying a stack of pizza boxes. At the sight of Justin in his undies, Kevin trails off. Justin introduces Kevin and Fawn and tells Fawn that if she ever gets arrested again, "Kevin's your guy." He sprints off to go swimming. Fawn: "Hee? ...They dropped the charges." Kevin snides something about Squeaky Fromme and greets Kitty; Tommy asks the room if Justin got a job yet. Nora's all, lay off him, but Tommy wonders aloud she realizes that Justin's loaded. Nobody says anything, but everybody looks dismayed/gassy, and again, given that he's clearly on something more potent than pot, I sort of don't get the "reaction" here, but anyway, outside, the Whedon family is playing in/by the pool when Justin charges out and cannonballs into the water. William follows him out and tells him in a not-terribly-paternal tone that they need to talk about work, "get you back on track"; Justin's to come see him at work the day. Justin treads water and looks scared. William adds, "And get some coffee, before you embarrass yourself." Justin dunks himself disgustedly.
On the pool apron, Fawn peels off her shirt to reveal a bikini top. Kitty comes out and hands a margarita to Sarah. Kitty changes the subject from Fawn's "rack" to Sarah's marital counseling. Sarah diagnoses the problem as two kids plus Gabe three nights a week: "Too much management, so little touching...so little touching." Well, and your husband is finishing a distant second in the Hotlympics that is your life, but we'll get to that in a minute. Kitty suggests the old standby, starting to Do It when you're not in the mood, which then can put you in the mood. Apparently this strategy hasn't occurred to Sarah, and she says seriously, "Yeah, maybe," then complains that she quit her old job because she thought she would get more free/family time, but the trade-offs of working motherhood aren't working out that neatly. Plus, she foreshadows, it's not easy when their parents had a perfect marriage. "Oh, I know," Kitty sighs. "They're so Ron and Nancy." Sarah: "Who made you this way?" Hee.
Kevin asks if Nora's okay, if she needs any help. She uses this as an excuse to ask why he doesn't bring anyone home, and starts to say that he knows they're "not ashamed of" his sexuality; mercifully he cuts her off to remind her that he works a lot and "it's hard to meet guys," then points out that she's only picking on him because she "won't fight with Kitty." He tries to advise her to just blow it up already, but Nora gives him a warning glare, so he gives up and walks out as William is walking in. William hugs Nora from behind and gives her a kiss; as they're sharing this moment, Kitty comes in: "Oh." "Oh," Nora says, just as awkwardly, and William orders them both to "stop avoiding each other and talk." Most fathers of daughters understand that it's now time to leave the room, because you will get put in the middle and hammered from both sides, but William loiters around the island as Nora uncomfortably chatters about how nice it is to have everyone there together, then gets distracted by napkins she forgot to put out. "Nora!" William snaps, and Kitty, frustrated, begins, "Mom, you know --" The phone rings. William answers, then tells the caller to hang on; he goes into his study and shuts the door.
Kitty unenthusiastically remarks that they "probably have a lot to say to each other, right?" Nora, pained: "You know what, Kitty, we really don't. Really -- we don't." Kitty confirms acidly that Nora really doesn't want to talk, and asks, "What kind of relationship is that?" The only kind they can have right now, Nora says, regretfully, and her gaze shifts to William, watching them through the glass doors of the study. Kitty sort of stares into the middle distance, not knowing what to do with the hurt caused by that information, as Nora deepens the wound by saying that William is watching them, and it's important to him, so "could we...hug, or something?" Damn. That's brisk, baby! Kitty, resigned, nods faintly and walks over to Nora, not meeting her eye. They hug. Over Kitty's shoulder, Nora closes her eyes; over Nora's, Kitty looks ill. Cut to the view through the study door. William grunts, satisfied, and picks up the phone to grump at (we may assume) Holly, "What're you doing calling my home. You out of your mind?" A bass-drum beat of foreboding sends us into the break.
Later, the sibs (and spouses) gather in the kitchen to give each other various kinds of shit; Justin suggests going out to a new bar in Chinatown, and Kevin asks if people with jobs can go there, or only "unemployed hipsters," and Justin says sharply that it's also popular with "Gen Y veterans of foreign wars." Uncomfortable silence. Kitty pokes her head back into the kitchen, and Justin asks her sort of belligerently, "You?" but she begs off with jet lag. Justin and Fawn take off, Fawn observing that "you guys are all really nice." The siblings all look down like, "...Not really, but thanks," and after another moment, Kitty says she's worried. Julia doesn't think it's a big deal, that Justin's "just finding himself." "I agree," Joe chimes in, and adds that the "Walker-watch" is probably going to freak Justin out more. Julia's like, "I know, right?" and Kitty says that's why she doesn't live there. Kevin comments that, if she did live there, she'd have more control over what gets said about her, and Kitty is unattractively all, "I don't care why what do you say about me?" "You're fat," Kevin smirks. Hee. Discussion of how it's going between Kitty and Nora (...yeah), followed by whether Jonathan is good for Kitty -- Kevin thinks Kitty makes herself smaller so Jonathan will seem bigger, and Sarah agrees that Jonathan does seem "self-involved." Kitty gets defensive, of course, saying that's not true, and Kevin muses meanly that maybe it's part of "the whole conservative anti-feminist thing," her deferring to Jonathan. Kitty duckfaces that her politics are "poses geared to annoy you"; Kevin, pleased at how easy it is to wind her up, is like, all right, whatever, and then, to mollify her, talks about how fucked up everyone else in the family is -- which includes spilling the beans about Joe and Sarah going to counseling. Sarah's like, I told one person, Kitty, but Kitty blows right past the fact that she blabbed that secret in favor of giving a self-satisfied little speech about her conservative politics (which Tommy co-signs; funny how we don't hear much about that anymore) and how Kevin might think it's funny, but he can keep on laughing and "watch the rest of the country pass [him] by." She stalks out of the room. Sarah snorts, "You set her off, Kevin," and from off-screen, Kitty bitches, "You set me off, Kevin," and everyone cracks up. Smart twist on the end of that scene.
The Whedons come home, carrying their sleeping children. In the bedroom, Sarah apologizes for the counseling revelation, saying she really did only tell Kitty, but Joe is aware nobody in the family can keep a secret. They turn to face each other on the bed, and Sarah makes a move, but as her hand trails down Joe's torso, he takes her wrist, kisses her chastely, and says, "Good night, babe." Sarah, deflated, stays sitting up as Joe flops back on his pillow, and the camera slowly pulls back to highlight the distance between them.
Ojai Food Co. William comes in to find Tommy and Sarah discussing product labels; Sarah hands them to William, saying pointedly that she would have more to show him if she could get her designers paid. William expositions that Saul is in charge of accounting and Sarah will need to deal with him, and Sarah smiles tightly that she'll "hound him again." William asks Tommy how things are up in Ojai with some "glitch," and Tommy says confidently that "it's all fine, I took care of it." Sarah pauses in the doorway to eye the two of them.
Kitty goes for a run on the beach as a song tells us what to feel with a lyric about "I'm not afraid / all is forgiven." She slows down when she sees an inappropriately suited Jonathan walking towards her, and while she's surprised, "happy" doesn't exactly describe her reaction, which includes remarking that he looks like "a penguin in the Sahara." They kiss, and he says he's there as a birthday present, a little vacation, he booked them a suite, blah. She points out that she has to get back and do the radio show, but he's not hearing her, saying she has a lot of time off. Kitty, recognizing the quality Kevin and Sarah remarked on the night, says she's focused on her interview the day, but more or less backs down, and after Jonathan says he'll have her bags sent for, they walk off hand-in-hand.
At Ojai, a woman I think is a union rep is busting Tommy's chops about payroll delays. Tommy isn't having it, but when he tells her that it's taken care of and she has no reason to be there except "showboating," the rep snaps that it's the third time. It's news to Sarah: "This has happened before?" Saul makes an obvious excuse about "trying to modernize" the bookkeeping system, which the rep chooses to accept although she doesn't buy it, and Sarah tells her to call her about any problems in future. As he ushers the rep out, Tommy tells Sarah not to look at him, so she looks at Saul, who gives her the same tired excuse in his best patronizing Uncle Arvin tone and tells her not to worry about it, "it's fine. It's gonna be fine." Sarah folds her lips.
Justin's pad. He's asleep with Fawn's arm slung over him; the sound of sirens wakes him, and of course he's overslept for the meeting with William.
Disheveled, he's hustling through the halls of Ojai with his head down, and the camera switches to his POV as William's office comes into his sightline. William is having a heated tête-à-tête with Holly, and Justin stops to observe. Switch to close-up as William tells Holly that "this is not deliberate," which of course Holly greets with an "oh, please." Grabbing the knot of his necktie, she complains that he's handling her like she's a problem; he grumps that that's how she's acting, so she reminds him that he hasn't returned her calls all week and she needs money. He admits that he's having cash problems, then sees Justin in the hall and mutters, "That's my son -- can we talk about this later?" Holly turns to look over her shoulder. Cut back to Justin's POV as Holly takes a step back from William; cut again to Justin watching her stomp out of William's office and past Justin without acknowledging him. William is not far behind her, and stays on message: "You're late!" Justin asks suspiciously if everything's all right; William ignores this to tell him that he "made a call" and Justin starts a restaurant job the day.
Revisiting Classic episodes can get tedious for a recapper; you already know what happens, so it's hard to get invested in some of the scenes and subplots. That does not apply to scenes and subplots featuring Hotlympics gold medalist Michael Beach, because Michael Beach is a five-tool Hotlympian: great smile, great voice, great eyes, plus-power charisma, and the man can act. You know that scene in Zoolander when they introduce David Bowie to judge the walk-off, and they freeze-frame on him with a subtitle reading "David Bowie" and a chord from "Let's Dance"? This is kind of what happens in my head every time Michael Beach is on a show I watch. "Sweet, it's Michael Beach! [Wow-wuh-wow-wow-wuh-wow.]" I'm digging the shaved head, too. So: Sarah's back at her old company; it seems "Noah" is stuck on a marketing issue. Sarah debates it with him, and when she uses the pronoun "we" to say she doesn't think the ad is workable, Noah reminds her that it's not "we," it's "he," because Sarah "abandoned" him to go work at Ojai. By this time, he's standing quite close to her, and a vibe zings between them before he looks down at the creative and says he'll get them to "take another pass at it," but he wanted to make sure he "wasn't crazy." He walks away from her, and she says teasingly, "You know you're not." What she doesn't say: "You just wanted an excuse to get me over here." Yeah he did. Furthermore, 1) it worked, and 2) he's hot. I know, I know, she has a family. Here's something else I know: it's Michael Beach. [Wow-wuh-wow-wow-wuh-wow.]
Noah doesn't take the bait, asking if "it's better" working with her father: "Are you spending more time at home?" "Almost," Sarah says, smiling at him. "Sometimes." He smiles back. Griffiths looks particularly pretty in this scene. Scientists call this "the Beach halo." Okay, not really, but they have great chemistry and would make a foxy couple. Noah then asks about things with Joe, and Sarah gives him a rueful "oh, you had to ask" look and, not taking her eyes away from his face, lies that "things are good." Noah nods and tries to seem happy for her, but can't hide his disappointment. Uneasy, Sarah gathers her things and starts to go; Noah tells her it's not a betrayal to talk about things with Joe, because they're friends. "Yeah, so you keep saying," she says, and snorts sadly, and walks past him to leave, but he stops her to ask if she left because "of us, of something that...might have happened." She stares at him, her eyes shining. He adds that he would hate to think that. "No, no, not at all," she lies. "We have lives, families. We knew where the line was." She smiles bravely. He decides to go along with this, but looks sad again. She goes, and he watches her.
Outside in the parking lot, Sarah rushes to get to her car before she starts to cry. Once in the driver's seat, she fights it for a minute, then breaks down as a sad song plays us into commercial.
Kitty is getting a tour of the TV set-up, complete with red chair (the resident liberal's chair is blue, natch) and the cheesecake ad campaign the show is using to tout her joining the show. Kitty laughs at the poster, which reads "Kitty Walker is RED HOT," and delivers a canned homily on the subject of "politics is not about show business"; her attire in this scene would seem to support that, because she's working a dowdy Shaker-knit-cardie-over-black-satin-slip-dress concoction that makes her look even flatter and rounder-shouldered than usual, plus her hair is in dire need of a conditioner and looks like she just let it air-dry. Is the fact that Kitty consistently dresses like she's trying out for a Cymbalta ad supposed to make her more sympathetic or something? Because the frumpiness doesn't track for me. The producer is like, uh huh, and when she says radio "works for" her, he basically tells her she's a weenie for not putting herself out there more. Then he sets the trap by saying "casually" that it really depends on how much she believes in what she's saying. Kitty pretends to think this over, but of course he's gotten to her; she's totally unsophisticated emotionally when it comes to recognizing bait of this type. Just then, the "blue-chair guy," Warren Salter, wanders onto the set. After the introductions, Warren mocks the "RED HOT" poster, there's an unfunny joke of which "blue balls" is the implied punchline, he patronizes that he "can be very mean," she responds while staring at him like he's a bottle of Jim Beam and she's Hasselhoff that she "can do mean," the producer comments on how great they work together instead of rolling his eyes at the Harlequin-grade banter, and then mercifully the scene ends.
At Ojai, Sarah sits at her desk, then gets up and walks down the hallway to her uncle's office while determined music plays. She looks in; Saul evidently isn't there, so she debates herself for a moment, then goes in, tiptoes over to the computer, and tries to access the accounting system. For her trouble, she gets an "accounts locked" pop-up, and as she's staring at the screen and processing the fact that she's locked out, the creaking of the door startles her. It's just Tommy, though, asking what she's doing there, because Saul's going to go bazoo. Sarah's like, don't care, come here and look at this: "It's just, there's all these accounts, stuff I've never seen before. And they're locked." "Locked," Tommy repeats. "Yeah -- it's not cool, Tom. This is a family business, there shouldn't be any secrets here." Griffiths does her best to sell that line, but: woof. Too on-the-nose.
Cut to Sarah and Tommy confronting Saul with the list of locked accounts. Saul again opts for condescension, reminding Sarah that he moves money around all the time: "It's what I do. Nobody's ever had a question." Sarah says she does, so if Saul could open the accounts and walk them through it... Sarah is blocked really oddly here, using timid, flappy body language that reads very young. Saul's like, now? Sarah just looks at him. Saul looks to Tommy for help; Tommy just looks at him. Saul's like, okay, no, and I don't appreciate the intrusion, but although he tries to make it about them snooping, Sarah's not allowing it. Tommy asks why not just include them, and Saul's like, because, um, I have a meeting with the Napa Valley suppliers and you young whippersnappers blah blah misdirection, and he's attempting to storm out when Sarah reminds him that the company "has a serious cash-flow problem," and they need to know why. This seems to reach Saul, although he doesn't say anything. Sarah adds that he needs not to scold her or talk down to her anymore. The scene ends with Saul considering this and Tommy considering his shoe-tops.
At a bar, Kitty rushes in to find Jonathan Blackberrying. She's all excited about the TV thing, and Jonathan is not pleased, really, so she's ingratiatingly suggesting that he could relocate to L.A. if the show is a success, and she babbles on for a while, qualifying that statement, and meanwhile the martini Jonathan ordered for her is served, and naturally it contains a gigantic engagement ring because Jonathan is That Guy. Not getting your way in the relationship-decisions department? Throw a diamond at the problem! As a shocked Kitty examines the ring, an insistent piccolo suggests that we view this gesture as somewhat romantic, versus entirely controlling. No dice, piccolo; Jonathan talks down to her that of course the show is going to try to make it, and L.A., appealing, but he thinks "there's a better job. Stay in New York. Start a family with me." She smiles, but doesn't answer.
Cut to the morning. Kitty is on the hotel balcony, wearing one of Jonathan's shirts and admiring the setting on her ring finger. Jonathan wakes up and observes that he thought she needed time to think about it. "I am thinking about it," she snots, and tells him not to get excited, "big boy -- you haven't closed the deal." If this is how you speak to him, while you're thinking about marrying him? You...don't want to marry him. Come on. He teases her that the ring looks good, and she says hesitantly that "the thing is...I'm really thinking about this job." Jonathan pissily sets his jaw as she talks about whether it's worth it, whether she can really make a difference. "By being an eleven-thirty smart-ass on TV," Jonathan says in an "as if" tone. "Wow. Okay," Kitty says, taken aback, and if this is how he speaks to her, trying to pitch her on marrying him by showing zero respect for her career? Gross. He snips that he knows what they have, and he doesn't want to lose that because of "this...media thing" (read: if she's famous, he'll feel small). Kitty finally balks at his attitude and says icily that it sounds like "an either/or" to her. He stares at her and announces, "I see our life together in New York. That's just the way I see it." He'd be "seeing it" with his right hand if he pulled that shit with me, but as he strolls into the bathroom, satisfied that he can boss her, she just stares after him in disbelief.
Sarah and William get lunch from a food truck. There's a bit of business to establish that everyone in the town knows William, and then he asks her to get to the point. Without taking off her giant sunglasses, Sarah swallows her dread and tells him that "something's not right, with the company," and complains that she can't get money to build projects. William promises to talk to Saul, but she says she already did: "I found some things. Some locked accounts." Cut to a shot over Sarah's shoulder of William looking off to his right; Skerritt has an annoying Bono-y pair of red sunglasses on (or "rose-colored," if you think that locution fits), but William clearly knows that, if he's not busted now, he's going to get busted very soon. Sarah tries to confirm that, if something were wrong, William would tell her; he non-answers that Sarah has to promise not to mention any of this to Nora, then proceeds in an initially quite convincing performance to dump the blame on Saul, saying that Saul is "failing," William can't get an answer out of him, he locked William out of the files too, et cetera. Sarah is shocked, and William admits that he let it go on too long, "but he's family!" He'll talk to Saul on Monday, and if he doesn't get an answer, he'll do what he has to do.
Cut to William in his study, telling Saul to cook up a cover story by Monday that Sarah won't see through. Nora bustles in to tell him Kitty and Jonathan have arrived early, and William closes his laptop and gets wearily to his feet.
Nora goes back into the kitchen to find Kitty and her staticky hair fidgeting with a flower arrangement. Kitty apologizes for coming early, referring to the tension at the hotel, and Nora, at the sink with her back to Kitty, says nervously that that happens in "small spaces." "Well, it's more that he wants to get married," Kitty chuckles, and Nora glibs, "He does? Well, that's great! Isn't it?" Kitty is still hoping to get her mother's sincere counsel, and says hopefully that she's more interested in the TV job. Nora platitudes that she's sure Kitty will make the right decision. Kitty, getting annoyed: "You don't have an opinion, Mom?" Nora comes over to the island with some fresh greens and tells Kitty not to push her, she's trying really hard. Kitty ices that she sees that, and Nora's like, what do you want from me, I barely know Jonathan. Kitty snots that that was Nora's choice, refusing to be a part of Kitty's life, but Nora pleasantly corrects her: "Not 'refused.' 'Couldn't.'" She didn't want to say things she'd regret. Kitty asks why she doesn't just say it, then, and the fuse is ignited: Kitty knows Nora blames her for Justin going to Afghanistan, which Kitty thinks is "reductive" and wrong; Nora does blame Kitty, in part, and Kitty doesn't know what it's like for her as Justin's mother. Kitty's counter to at least part of this is that she was six blocks away from Ground Zero on 9/11, and I'm not arguing that people can't have different reactions to that event, but I was five blocks away myself, and I simply don't understand how you get from that to thinking it's a good idea for your younger brother to go into the military. I would have held Mr. Stupidhead down and cut his big toes off to prevent that from happening, in fact. And regardless of what you think of Kitty's perspective here, for her to expect their mother to sympathize with it is absurd. Nora is also disgusted by the fact that Kitty is going to "sell [her] views" on TV; I think her point is that it's even more egregious if Justin went overseas in the service of a persona, vs. actual beliefs. Kitty says tearfully that Tommy and William share her politics, but Nora doesn't feel the same way about them; Nora "can't love" Kitty for some reason, and it's not about the war. I think we're meant to feel sorry for Kitty here, and Calista Flockhart is good in the scene, but: no. This character's least attractive trait by far is this petulant self-pity, and it's waist-deep in this scene. But Nora seems rocked by the assertion as we go into the break.
Fade back up on Justin wanting to ask Tommy a question. No, he can't borrow Tommy's surfboard or any money; yes, girls still think he's cute. Justin: "[Blink.]" Tommy realizes he's serious and asks what's up. Justin explains what he saw at the office the other day; Tommy dismisses it, saying that she's Holly Harper and "she and Dad have been friends for years." Justin's like, "So there's nothing going on," and Tommy dramatic-ironies that if there were, he would know. Justin doesn't seem convinced.
Sarah, Paige, and Kevin set the table. Sarah pauses to watch her parents grooming each other in the room; then she and Kevin gossip about the fight Kitty and Nora got into. We go to a montage set to a song with cutesily meaningless lyrics like "it's simply irrational weather" and "feels like home" as the Walkers gather happily around the dining room table, pass food, laugh, et cetera. William raises a toast to Kitty, the birthday girl, and says with her home, "the circle is complete," and also she's no longer grounded. Heh. When Jonathan asks why she got grounded "indefinitely" in the first place, she admits only to cigarettes and something surfing-related, but Tommy adds "shoplifting, and a boy named Pablo," at which point the entire table merrily shouts, "Paaaaablo!" which is hilarious. Sarah toasts to Kitty eating all Sarah's Girl Scout cookies, which cost Sarah a trip to space camp; Kevin toasts to Kitty causing him harassment at the hands of the Log Cabin Republicans; Justin toasts to Kitty teaching him how to surf and how to kiss, "believe it or not," and Kitty's all, "Stop telling that story, that is not true!" but we never hear the story. William passes the toasting buck to Nora, who had clearly hoped to avoid saying anything, but she raises her glass and says she'll "probably always violently disagree with" Kitty, but she's never stopped loving her. Kitty locks eyes with her and nods slightly, her lips trembling. "Cheers"es all around as Kitty's eyes fill up and she struggles to maintain.
Later, in the dim light of the kitchen, Kitty is doing dishes when Nora comes in and says without much preamble, "I think you should take that job if you want it." Kitty thinks she does. Nora non-sequiturs, "We fight. We fight! It's not the end of the world." Kitty is pleased to hear that. She really is needy that way. Probably my least favorite aspect of the character. "Just come home," Nora adds, and marches off.
William and Paige sit by the pool and look at constellations.
Inside, the teasing and family-lore-unearthing continues at the kitchen table. Kitty and Sarah stand in the doorway; Jonathan is videoing the proceedings in the foreground, and Sarah murmurs to Kitty, "I've always liked him, if it means anything." It means you're dead to me, missy. Justin proposes a round of Would You Rather, which Kitty nixes, and Sarah's cell rings; Joe frowns at it, but she frowns back that she has to pick it up, and does a bit of set-up business about an email that didn't go through, which in turn gives her an excuse to go into William's study and use his laptop.
Outside, Paige shows William the Cygnus constellation. He's in the act of pointing to it with his left arm, then lets out a grunt of pain and drops it. Paige lifts the arm again to point it out; he absently says "okay" and furrows his brow as Paige continues talking.
Sarah opens the laptop, sees the Ojai pension files open, and tells "Gladys" she'll call back. Ominous strings. She opens various worksheets, looks at the balances, and wonders aloud, "Where's all the money?" It starts to dawn on her: "Oh, God. Dad, what have you done?"
William is starting to feel some pain, it seems like, but when Paige tells him that Mars is her favorite planet, and reminds her of William because "he was a warrior," he chuckles. "That's me, all right -- god of war." He winces.
Sarah comes into the dining room and asks if anyone's seen William. "Outside with Paige," Joe tells her, and she looks dismayed. Would You Rather is apparently already in progress; Sarah watches them play, knowing it's the end of something. In the kitchen, Nora and Kevin finish lighting Kitty's cake, and Nora yells that it's cake time.
Paige has moved on to Venus when William, now holding his left shoulder, orders her to get her grandmother. Paige edges away from him and runs inside.
Nora, escorting the cake into the dining room.
William tips into the pool.
We go into slo-mo, and the sound winds down as Nora hears Paige calling for her. William curls up in the water. Nora puts the cake down and rushes outside. The rest of the family hears the commotion and starts to get up. William is floating. Tommy and Justin run out past everyone else and leap into the pool to pull William out. Joe grabs Paige up and tries to shield her from seeing. Kevin is holding Nora back. Kitty is staring, confused. Overhead shot of the uproar in the pool, and as the brothers drag their father to the edge, fade to black.