Warning: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

Episode Title: “An Ideal Husband” (Season 5, Episode 6)

Original Airdate: October 31, 2010 at 10:00 PM

Synopsis: The Walker family reacts to the news that Scotty (Luke Macfarlane) cheated with Kevin (Matthew Rhys). Meanwhile, Kitty (Calista Flockhart) is given a proposal of a lifetime, while Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) has to decide what to do with her own.

Review: This current season of Brothers & Sisters has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. The one year time jump has had mixed reactions from fans and critics alike, but I think it is exactly what the show needed. With Rob Lowe and Emily VanCamp gone from the series, the show needed a fresh start. The past few episodes have used flashbacks to highlight different areas of the past year, which I think was a smart move on the producers’ part.

In the last few minutes of last week’s episode we find out that Scotty had cheated on Kevin sometime during the past year and this week we see the aftermath. This episode truly highlighted the ranges of both Macfarlane and Rhys as the episode was definitely the most dramatic and heart wrenching of the season.

Other highlights of the episode included Nora (Sally Field) opening and closing the episode with her radio talkshow. Giving Nora this new job gives her more of a sense of purpose, and utilizes Field’s charm even more than in previous seasons. Hopefully they use this to set up the episodes more often as I felt this brought more warmth back to the series and felt more like a family drama than the ‘soap opera’ it has lately become.

Also in the episode, Kitty has to decide whether she wants to follow her new boyfriend Jack to Thailand after he is offered a job there. Jack seemed too good to be true, and his free spirits started bugging Kitty who ended the relationship. Also, Sarah doesn’t know how to break the news to the family that her and Luc (Gilles Marini) have recently gotten engaged, especially after Cooper asked how long their marriage will last.

I, for one, hope that Scotty and Kevin reconcile sooner than later. Ever since he walked into the doors of Kevin’s law firm in the first season, he was one of my favorite characters in the show. Nora proclaimed in the episode that after Sarah, Tommy, and Justin’s divorces, she wouldn’t allow another Walker divorce, especially in a marriage that is full of love.

On a side note, the one thing that this season has been lacking is Holly (Patricia Wettig). She played the villain you loved to hate for the first four years, but with the amnesia storyline, her role seems more limited. While I think the storyline is amazing – like Narrow Lake and many other plotlines – the writers don’t follow through well enough.

Final Grade – 9.5/10