Family Values
Written by David Marshall Grant And Molly Newman
Directed by Gloria Muzio
9.0
"Superb"
Nora (re Justin): "I was afraid of this. He's not the same boy I said goodbye to four months ago".
Kitty: "He couldn't be. It's not possible". With Justin being noticeably absent from the opening episode, it was only fair that for this week he would play a more active role in things. That in itself is ironic given that on the physical side, Justin is far from being active.
Given that his unit got hit with a sniper last week, Nora is in full overprotective mother mode and she isn't venting her aggression out on dough, Kitty is able to give her some solace by telling her that Justin is on the way home. For Nora, this is like all of her Christmases have come at once.
It also means that another Walker family trip is in order with Nora, Kitty and Kevin heading to the military hospital where Justin is recovering. I love any excuse for a Walker family and even when there's a serious reason for one, you're guaranteed some set of comic mishaps to heighten interest.
This time round, there's some gentle teasing about Kevin's prowess followed by conservative radio host Luther Reeves openly voicing his concerns about a Walker/McCallister merging. What are the odd that he manages to offend everyone in the car? Let's just say reasonably high.
Due to her unabashed liberal stance, Nora is the first to feel the vitriol from Luther's mouth. He doesn't approve of her unashamed record of protesting against the war and happily labels her a "harpie" on live radio. As much as this Luther guy is a jerk, I will admit that Nora's reaction to this did make me laugh quite a bit.
He's also not particularly pleased with the idea of both Kitty and Robert having gay brothers who are dating each other. In fact Luther even goes to the extent of voicing disgust over the possibility of Kevin and Jason shagging in the White House. I don't know why Luther gives a damn. Even if Robert does win the election (fingers crossed he won't), I can't imagine we'd ever get to see that particular scene with the lads.
If I were Luther, I wouldn't be so heavily fixated on such things. Robert's a nice guy and talks a good talk but as viewers we have yet to actually see whether or not Robert is remotely capable of taking on the role of president. I'm pretty sure Hilary and Obama would have something to say on the matter.
Also it's not very likely that Robert will win the election. Part of this show's key success is that the Walkers are for the most part a very relatable family. Having Robert become president might take away some of that and maybe I'm in a minority but I would rather see Robert tackle local politics in an effective manner rather than see him be president. That would be a lot more interesting from my perspective.
Anyways when Luther isn't attacking Nora and Kevin, Kitty then ends up being on the receiving end of the man's mouth. You know when good characters try to do the right thing but end up making idiots of themselves? Well ignore that because while it may appear that Kitty made the Luther situation worse, the reality is that she didn't.
Watching that scene at least twice, it's definitely Luther who is at fault. Kitty doesn't really give him anything to go on so he deliberately misconstrues whatever she does say to make herself and Robert look bad. Unfortunately given how alarmingly fast news seems to travel, Robert is soon on the phone and he isn't best pleased.
It also means that Robert has to do the unenviable chore of publicly trying to grovel to Luther but at least Robert then has the sense to play the radio host at his own game. I liked Robert defending the Walkers became while they are far from perfect, they do make for some great allies and Robert clearly knows that.
However what I didn't like was Robert acting like he had a major mess to clean. There are plenty of things that Kitty could've actually said that really would've done damage and none of those surfaced during her phone call with Luther. Robert should perhaps count his blessings instead of moralising.
Besides when it comes to moralising, there's always the rather charm free Travis to do that. This week Travis is quick to point out that Kitty's personal life might be a hindrance to the campaign and even has a go at Robert for attending a military funeral at the start. I'm not really sure about the latter but Kitty's response to the former was nicely timed.
As for the Justin segment of the episode, is it much of a shock that it would be the highlight of the whole thing? Hardly! In the hospital Nora got to be aggressive with the receptionist in her determination to see her son, much to Kitty and Kevin's annoyance. Still she was stressed and the receptionist wasn't exactly being all that helpful in the first place.
At least when she got to see Justin, she relaxed a little. Seeing the concern played with his family was definitely a touching moment. Kevin showed some strong emotion at his brother's condition when he didn't jest about the female population being safe for a bit and Justin also had to remind Nora that he wasn't keen on a particular brand of sweets.
However it was Justin's return home that caused the most stress. With a nerve block for the pain and insistence that he didn't exert pressure on his legs, Nora once again got super protective on her son. In all fairness she was only doing what the doctors had advised her to do but you could see a showdown between her and Justin coming even before he got out of the car.
The last thing Justin wants to feel like is an invalid and while he evaded alcohol at his own party, he did want to have some fun with Paige and Cooper. When Nora put the kibosh on this, Justin didn't react all that well. Although Nora was right in her own way, I can see why Justin got so easily irritated by her. That being said, if he isn't careful he could put himself in more pain. Perhaps listening to Nora wouldn't be the worst thing he could do.
The last scene however between Justin and Nora in the episode is one of the most powerful moments of the series. With Justin refusing to take drugs as the nerve block wore off, Nora tries to comfort him. Both Dave Annable and Sally Field play a blinder during that scene together.
Justin's return home was always going to be hard but here you do get the feeling that things will get worse. He won't accept Nora's help and although he's able to confide in Robert of all people, I can see his refusing to take drugs being a problem if his pain intensifies in the later weeks.
As for Sarah, she's also got some pain to deal with. Getting Kevin to help around the house with manly chores is a great reminder that she no longer has a man in her life. Kevin also not keen on the idea of being his sister's labourer tells her to be amicable with Joe, which to Sarah's credit is what she wants to do anyway.
Last week, Sarah was keen to get her marriage back on track and had her ego dented when Joe refused to take her back. This week Joe does excel himself by not only bluntly pointing out that he's not wearing his wedding ring but that he's also gotten back together with his first wife Paula.
I used to like Joe a lot and I even sympathised with him during the Rebecca debacle but this episode really brought him out in a negative light. Getting back with ex-wife and then screwing Sarah on the spin cycle doesn't make him come across as the nicest of guys. It's no wonder Sarah is annoyed with him after that little reveal.
It also doesn't get any better when Rebecca decides to salvage her conscience by telling Sarah about her involvement with the kiss with Joe. Sarah reacts pretty appropriately, even when Holly points out on two occasions that Sarah and Joe's marriage was dead in the water way before Rebecca factored into things.
With this episode putting Sarah and Rebecca on the outs with each other, there is a nice moment between Rebecca and Holly. Holly isn't the most likeable of people but she's not a total hypocrite either so while she is sympathetic with Rebecca, she does point out that actions more or less have consequences.
Rebecca also has another part in this episode thanks to the arrival of her friend Lena. With Lena desperate for work, Rebecca thinks the best place for her unemployed friend to gain employment would be at the winery, where guaranteed in no short Lena will also get suckered into the Walker family drama in an instant.
It also doesn't help that Lena's hiring comes at a time where Tommy and Julia's marital problems are really being foistered onto us as viewers. Julia's now in the mode of blaming Tommy for everything that can possibly go wrong and Tommy is also getting sick of it. With Lena instantly becoming a sympathetic ear for Tommy and some flirting between the two of them, I don't think it take much to figure where this storyline is heading.
Also in "An American Family"
The opening scene of the episode with the military funeral was a nice tease but I still knew it wasn't Justin's funeral.
Nora: "You certainly are being secretive young lady".
Rebecca: "Yeah I guess I'm really part of this crazy family".
This is another one of those episodes with the word 'family' in it. Given how strong family is in this show, it's appropriate.
Kitty: "Travis, do me a favour. Never have children".
Travis: "That's too late, I already have three".
Kitty: "It's a Rhinoceros".
Kevin: "I don't get it".
Kitty: "Republican by name".
I'm not actually sure I get the meaning of what Kitty was trying to explain about Luther either.
Sarah: "You're not wearing your ring".
Joe: "Sarah I took it off a month ago".
Luther: "What was that? Did you just say that Abraham Lincoln was gay?"
Kitty: "No".
This time last season Kitty, Kevin and Nora were also on a road trip to collect Justin. I wonder if this will happen next season again.
Travis: "Man to man. Is there anyway you can get out of this wedding?"
Robert: "No. I'm madly in love with her".
Holly: "What's going on?"
Sarah: "Rebecca's in confessional mode. Do you want to fill her in?"
Rebecca: "It's nothing she doesn't already know".
Lena mistook Saul for being gay after he didn't want to set up by her aunt in this episode. She's also a bit of a backgammon expert.
Tommy: "It's been a while since someone said something nice to me".
Sarah: "I know the feeling".
Nora: "What are you trying to prove?"
Justin: "That I'm still me".
Standout music: "Born" by Over The Rhine and "Ashes And Wines" by A Fine Frenzy. Both were excellent choices for this episode.
Justin: "Last time I was stoned I didn't know what I was feeling".
Robert: "That's the point of being stoned".
Justin: "Now I know what I'm missing".
Nora: "This whole thing makes me want to move to France".
Robert: "It would be so helpful if you would".
Chronology: A few days after "Home Front".
This is another show that is off to a flying start. "An American Family" continues to demonstrate the sheer honesty of the program with the way the writers are handling Justin's plight. Here's hoping this array of excellence will be a constant this season.moreless
