I'm sailing right behind

Brothers and Sisters is a remarkable show. I've always thought so. Anyone from a mildly close family would relate to the Walker clan. From the first episode I saw my family in it (there are no secrets among the McLaughlins) and granted the story lines have spun out into Soap-land (Rebecca isn't really their sister, William had another mistress, and Nora and Holly can't just let it go, Justin relapses again etc.) the relationships between the characters and interactions are so what a real family is like, and I personally love anything that is in the mainstream media and doesn't demonize the Republican party...hell, Kitty and Robert might be the objectively best people in the Walker family, but I digress. Last night's two hour long "Troubled Waters" was not just an episode of the show, it was the quintessential example of what makes the Walkers great.

The episode begins with a trademark Walker dinner, where Nora announced that she had invited Ryan Lafferty, their real illegitimate sibling, you know, because Rebecca isn't and now she and Justin are a couple. Everyone freaks and starts talking all at once, just like a real family. Then Robert announces that he's running for governor and everyone is thrilled.

The next day everyone is paired off in various ways, Kitty, Saul and Nora and in her kitchen discussing the Ryan situation, Justin is fixing Sarah's sink. Tommy is at work, Kevin and Robert are dealing with the governor business and then the phone rings and it turns out the birth mother of Kitty and Robert's kid is in labor.

Obviously the Walkers go into helpful mode and everyone is scrambling to get things together for the new member of the family.

Robert officially announces his candidacy rather than rush to the hospital and Kitty announces that she's done. She then witnesses the birth of her son while Robert is having a heart attack.

In part 2, Kitty takes care of both her newborn son and her husband who is having open heart surgery, letting go of her anger, but after he wakes up, he assures Kevin that he's still running for governor and once again doesn't tell Kitty.

Oh right and Tommy is now being investigated for his crimes against Holly over at Ojai and Ryan showed up at the house while no one but Justin and Rebecca were home. We got a great set up for the rest of the season.

But it was an incredibly powerful two hours of television. And now that Balthazar Getty (Tommy) is leaving the show, I assume to go to prison, it makes sense that they're bringing Ryan in...but we'll see.