My Review of Brothers And Sisters 5x03: "Faking It"

Written by Veronica Becker And Geoffrey Nauffts
Directed by Michael Schultz

Kevin: “I can’t believe you’re pulling this off, you’re such a good liar. She would’ve made a good lawyer.”
Nora: “Sarah, this is ridiculous. You have to tell him the truth about your age.”
Sarah: “I will, mom, I will – when I’m 80.”

Maybe I’m overreacting but is this what this show has been reduced to – an episode where one of the Walkers spends most of it lying about their age? This show used to be so much better than this and as episodes go, this was something of an embarrassment.

I’ve grown to like Luc over the last year and while Gilles Marini’s acting is hardly spectacular, I do find his enthusiasm for the series rather infectious. However the problem with Sarah and Luc as a couple is that they’re still rather shallow and this is something I totally blame the writers for.

The age thing between the pair of them is ridiculous now. I don’t care if Luc is younger than Sarah because he’s hardly a toy boy and while I can understand Sarah’s hang ups about being older, I found the idea that she lied about her age to him for over a year (or is it two?) more than insulting and stupid for my intelligence.

Practically, how the hell did she think that Luc wouldn’t have found out about her real age? Luc could’ve asked anyone about her age and he’s been around the Walkers long enough that it would’ve come up in conversation at one point or another. Then there was also the fact that he was able to plan a surprise family meal for her birthday as well.

This also led to another issue for me this week – where was everyone? Why couldn’t Kitty have postponed her date until later and surely the episode could’ve featured Tommy as well, right? After all, he’s been in every other birthday episode from the first four seasons, so why not this one as well?

I liked that in spite of Justin blurting out that Sarah wasn’t 40 that Luc already knew and was more amused about Sarah’s fibbing than pissed off. It’s things like that do endear me to him as a character but the writers really need to get past this ‘age difference’ rubbish between him and Sarah because it’s no longer relevant to their relationship. Plus, I’m not being rude but I actually do think that Luc looks older than Sarah most of the time anyways and that’s being polite about it.

Much as I disliked Sarah’s storyline in this episode, there was something I disliked even more – Kevin. Yes, I’m even shocked to write that thought down and while I get that Kevin was trying to get Kitty to move on with her life, I find that I’m beginning to resent the way the Walkers seem insistent on her doing it so quickly.

Robert may have technically been dead for a long time but only a short time has actually passed since Kitty’s buried him, so it’s more than a little crass for Kevin to be suggesting that she went on a date with Jack. Yes, he’s attractive but why can’t she just be allowed to move on at her own pace? It’s times like this, that I wish everyone would just shut the hell up and leave Kitty be.

Also I’m not Robert’s biggest fan (and I continue to cringe with each passing platitude Kevin comes out with about him) but it’s almost as if the writers are trying to disrespect the impact he actually did have on the show. I’m not saying that Kitty shouldn’t date at some point but I don’t see why there has to be such a rush with it though.

Plus the writers themselves for this episode more or less handled Jack and Kitty in a ham-fisted manner. Jack whined about politicians and Kitty stupidly made up a false name and her dinner date resulted in bad soufflé and way too much information dumping. Even though I know the show won’t do it, I’d actually rather that Kitty and Jack just stayed friends for a while instead of jumping into the obvious rebound relationship that they’re going to do with them.

Jack did have some good points about him though. He didn’t behave like an ass when Kitty told him the truth about herself and he encouraged her to find herself in a far better way than her own family has done and that’s another disappointment with this episode too. Heck, he even didn’t seem to mind Kevin’s obvious leering at him as well.

Speaking of Kevin, this was a terrible episode for him and an even worse one for Scotty, who had naff all to do. I really do hope that baby stuff aside, there is something interesting for them along the way because any more contributions like this from these two and I will be one irritated viewer.

In slightly less irritating plotlines, Rebecca’s return was certainly interesting in some ways. I’m not going to hold out hope for her and Justin reuniting because I already know that Emily Van Camp has left the series properly and despite their kiss, it was also painfully obvious that Justin and Rebecca’s marriage is clearly over as well.

What I did find interesting was the fact that Holly still can’t remember Rebecca as her daughter. I even felt awful for Rebecca as she had to witness how far her mother has deteriorated but at the same time, I am not worried about Holly going AWOL, even if David is. Chances are she’s probably safe enough, wherever she’s hiding at.

Last but not least – was I supposed to care that Nora jacked in her job? Zoe was a total bitch to her and it’s not like Nora particularly enjoyed working for the woman either. That being said, I do wish that the writers hadn’t laid it on so thickly about Nora’s age and the current economy even if it was a valid point. As for the plastic surgery angle, I’d rather like to pretend it didn’t happen, though I did like Saul’s conversation with Nora near the end of the episode this week. Saul also needs more to do as well.

Also in “Faking It”

Now that we’ve celebrated Sarah’s birthday that leaves Tommy, Justin and Saul in need of getting their own special episodes.

Kevin (re not going): “What’s my excuse? I live upstairs.”
Sarah: “I don’t know, you’ve got to wash your hair, Kevin, I don’t care. You’re not going.”

Why was Kevin bored in this episode and what was up with that accent he put on when talking to Jack? I should’ve laughed but I didn’t find it particularly funny.

Nora: “Maybe I should be a wheelchair tester.”
Sarah: “Is that even a thing?”
Nora: “I just wanna feel better about myself and right now, I feel old.”

Justin: “It feels good to paint this a new colour.”
Saul: “What was wrong with the old colour?”
Justin: “Rebecca picked it out.”

I think there was a new writer for this episode. I don’t remember Veronica Becker scripting anything else for the series until now.

Sarah: “Mom, I don’t mean to be insensitive but one day, I’ll be as old as you.”
Nora: “Well, that’s fine but you’re not now.”

Kitty: “I guess it’s time for me to figure out who I was supposed to be after all.”
Jack: “May I make a suggestion?”
Kitty: “Uh-huh.”
Jack: “Let’s cross ‘chef’ off the list.”

Standout music: “I’m With You” by The Stills.

Justin: “I’m a different guy to who I was last year.”
Rebecca: “How do I know that?”

Chronology: I don’t think much time has passed since “Brief Encounter” and why didn’t the writers actually reveal Sarah’s age in this one? She has to be at least 44 or 45, right?

I really found myself frustrated with “Faking It” as an episode. It should’ve gelled but it really didn’t and I just think that the show is rather unfocused at the moment. At least last year we had several plots but very few this year. Improve show, please.

Rating: 6 out of 10.