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Brothers & Sisters Season 3 Episode 20

Missing

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 3/22/09

Desperate to get through to Tommy before his legal troubles worsen; Nora reaches out for help to the person whom he hurt most deeply. Meanwhile, Ryan Lafferty gets a bit too close to Rebecca for Justin's comfort.

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

The opening on Nora's centre

7.5

By Truffethedog, May 30, 2009

An episode not as good as usual. Tommy is gone and everyone is upset, Nora opens her centre, Kitty and Robert drift apart as well as Justin and Rebecca. And on the whole all this is brought to us in a kind of boring way. I don't like storylines with some third person trying to tear a couple apart as Ryan is trying to do with Justin and Rebecca, it doesn't seem very real. If they want Justin and Rebecca to have problems they should come from the inside of their relationship not some random other guy. Talking about this Ryan character he's generally pretty annoying, I don't see what his purpose on the show is, is he supposed to be a villain or not. But still I'm ready to give this storyline about his mother's death a chance, hopefully they'll make a good one out of it. Kitty and Robert drifting apart is sad cause I think they're good for each other but then on the other hand I kind of don't care about them that much. Sarah was the one who really saved this episode for me. She was the one who seemed the most upset about Tommy's behaviour already before his leaving and now she actually made a good decision to help the family showing what a tough and upstanding person she really is. Still in general it was not one of my favorite episodes.moreless
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AWOL Written by Jason Wilburn And Nancy Won Directed by Michael Schultz

8.0

By shawnlunn2002, May 24, 2009

Justin: "What do you want? Seriously, what do you want? I mean, you move into our house. You're living off our mom."

Ryan: "I'm sorry, I forgot. That's your job."

When you lose one brother through abandonment, it's probably understandable that you don't want to embrace another who's just recently crawled out of the woodwork. Ergo, Justin's hatred towards Ryan.

Now maybe it's Justin just being a bit of a brat but I can see why he has such disdain for Ryan. I was willing to give the character the benefit of the doubt and try and embrace his presence but six episodes in since his debut, I'm gonna say that I want him gone.

I think it's a combination of a few things for me with Ryan. First off all, I'm not that particularly blown away with Luke Grimes's acting as such and secondly, given Ryan's real motives for moving in with Nora, I just can't envision him as a long term character, especially as an antagonistic one either.

Ryan pretty much keeps the façade up with everyone else but it's with Justin that Ryan does seem to be genuinely spiteful with. In a way, it's good because it makes Justin's hatred of him justified but it's also something that's eventually got to backfire on him as well. Nora's not stupid after all. Eventually she'll catch Ryan out.

Ryan pretty much went out of his way to put Justin and Rebecca at loggerheads by goading Justin about lying to Rebecca and by telling Rebecca that Tommy has fecked off to Mexico. Both of which put a certain dampener on the couple trying to rekindle their relationship.

Because of Ryan's loose lips, Rebecca decided not to get back to Justin but not before we had to endure yet another predictable argument. Once again, I have to side with Justin. Now he might have needed not to tell her about Tommy being AWOL but at the same he was also maintaining his promise not to let family come between them.

If anything it was Rebecca who was letting family come between them in this episode. Even though she has absolutely every right to keep siding with her mother, she shouldn't have reacted so childishly to finding out about Tommy disappearing. At the end of the day, it wasn't her business and if roles were reversed, she certainly would've protected Holly.

When Rebecca and Justin weren't arguing at nauseating length, her budding friendship with Ryan also raises questions. There's no doubt he has feelings for her and there was definitely not doubt that he was out to wreck any chance of her and Justin getting back together.

He didn't exactly hide his disappointment all that well when Justin told him that Rebecca was getting back with him and there was a certainly creepiness when he expressed how glad he was that Rebecca considered him a friend. Plus, she's the only person who has a bigger idea as to why Ryan is really around.

This show's never really tried to pull off a Desperate Housewives type of mystery, even though the more we've learned about William, the less it's put him in a favourable light. Thanks to Rebecca and Ryan's latest piece of research, there's the nagging possibility that William might have killed Connie.

Would the show really go there with William? I can honestly see it actually but a part of me hopes that they don't. At best maybe Connie committed suicide but either way, the writers have the potential to take Ryan to a darker place if he holds the Walkers responsible for his mother's death.

Speaking of responsibility, Tommy shirking his makes up a lot of this episode. Both Kevin and Justin argued about which one of them should be the one to tell the rest of the family about Tommy's absence, only for Kevin to be the one who had to deliver the bad news.

To be fair, none of this was Kevin or Justin's fault and I'm really glad that we didn't have Nora trying to blame them for Tommy taking off. I know that she wasn't pleased that Kevin told Tommy to take the plea but other than that, Nora spent either her time despairing over Tommy's disappearance or trying to make sure he didn't go to jail.

It would take Tommy taking off for Julia to decide that their marriage wasn't worth saving. Even though she wasn't nasty to Nora about Tommy, it did seem pretty clear that she was done with him as well. I've never been a big Tommy/Julia fan but even I think it's kind of sad that their marriage has come to an end.

It's easy to sympathy with Julia. Tommy refused to consider the fact that he was going to hurt everyone when he set out to embezzle from Ojai, so it's not like her anger isn't unjustified either. It also sucks for Sarah Jane Morris that her time on the show has to come to an end because Balthazar Getty's is as well.

Everyone had a few moments to vocalise their feelings on Tommy upping sticks. Justin and Kevin had words about looking for him, Kitty was disgusted about Robert's insensitivity (the hell with his campaign) but I think Sarah's phone call to Tommy was the most harrowing of the bunch as well as her conversation with Justin.

As for Nora's despair, it's understandable for a parent's perspective I guess. She felt bad that the last bit of contact that her and Tommy had was when she hit him in anger so a part of her felt like she needed to make it up to him by getting Saul to help her get the board to drop the charges against Tommy.

Professionally, this was another reason why the Walkers really should back off. If she had told Kevin, he would've insisted upon her not going through with her plan so that's probably why she left Kevin in the dark. He might not be a lawyer anymore but would it kill this family to actually listen to his legal advice?

Nora and Saul could've done a lot more harm than good and in real life; they probably would've even if their hearts were in the right place. In that respect, we should be grateful to Sarah who went about things in a far better fashion.

There was no way that this show would leave Holly and Rebecca to solely run Ojai Foods. Many viewers (myself included) would hate the idea of not having at least one Walker working within the business and given that Tommy's too busy being on the run, who else better than Sarah to step in?

Sarah stepping in came at the weirdest time too. It meant that she had to leave Greenatopia just when the writers finally bothered to remember bringing it back into the fray but at the same time, her bid to get the board not to burn Tommy on the stake (sorry, I mean throw him into the slammer) only succeeded when Holly of all people came to her aid.

Given how determined Holly was to make Tommy pay, this is a very alarming U-turn for the character. Every time Holly does something approaching decent, she then does enough things to make me loathe her. What exactly changed her mind? Was it David's little pep talk about family (and how am I not shocked that they're a couple again)? It definitely couldn't have been Rebecca, that's for sure.

Sarah herself even seemed surprised by the whole thing and while she was able to shake Holly's hand, it's very unlikely that the two of them are suddenly going to be friends either. Holly talking about Ojai being her priority might after all have been her reason for not continuing to pursue a case against Tommy.

Speaking of pursuits, Kitty and Robert are not really pursuing each other. In fact, their marital difficulties are gathering a pace with Robert refusing to relax. I know it's gotta be frustrating having to slow down but when you've had the kind of surgery that Robert's recently, it's what you have to do.

Robert doesn't want to acknowledge that and even turned the opening of Nora's cancer centre into an opportunity to up his media profile. Even when Scotty's forced to call a doctor for him, Robert still acts like a petulant. Robert talked about wanting to fight with Kitty so he could get attention from her. Kitty was right to tell him that nothing good came out of their war of words.

However something that also can't be good is Kitty's relationship with Alec. Yeah, he's a nice guy, listens to her, bonds with her over parenting but it's so annoyingly obvious that she's either want to sleep with him or will and it'll be something that will give Robert something else to be self-righteous, which is definitely not a good thing for myself as a viewer.

The only couple in this episode that actually were happy were Kevin and Scotty and sadly, not enough time was actually dedicated to them. I assume that they've managed to reschedule having sex but we didn't get moments between them this episode. In fact Scotty had more to with Kitty and Robert than he did with his husband.

Also in "Missing"

Kevin mentioning that he was the grim reaper of the family might be a bit of an exaggeration, even if it did lead to a funny exchange between him and Justin.

Kevin: "Just say, 'Mom, Tommy didn't come back from Mexico'."

Justin: "Why me?"

Kevin: "Because I always have to break the bad news. I'm like the family grim reaper."

Justin was used to voice an objective opinion Scotty's pastries by Nora. I bet he loved doing that.

Rebecca: "I know how important the truth is. I mean, people have lied to me my whole life."

Ryan: "No, it's okay. I overstepped."

Julia (re Tommy): "I don't want him to come home."

Nora: "You don't mean that."

Julia: "I do. I'm done."

By the sounds of it, I get the impression that Tommy might not have left Julia or Elizabeth any money to get by.

David (to Holly): "I thought the big picture here was you, me and Rebecca. My memory's not great but I seem to recall the reason you telling me that you were doing all this was so that we would have a shot as a family."

Maggie: "I'm not a psychiatrist but your doodling does not look like the work of a woman that's just fulfilled her dream."

Nora: "Yikes. It does look a bit disturbed."

Maggie had a daughter Olivia who survived cancer and at several points the episode referenced this to talk about hope, sometimes to cheesy effect in some cases.

Kitty: "Why is there so much press here?"

Scotty: "Something tells me they're not here to rave about my canapés."

Kevin: "Kit, you'll never get this day again. Do you really want to spend it bitter and angry?"

Kitty: "No, no. That's what I'm trying not to do."

Why was Kevin crying at Olivia's story? Yes, it was heartfelt but it felt a little out of character as well.

Rebecca (re Justin): "What is wrong with him?"

Ryan: "I think the fact that I exist pisses him off, plus he's probably just a little worked up about Tommy."

Robert: "What do you want to talk about? Come on, let's have it out. Let's fight. I wanna fight. I wanna have the fight."

Kitty: "We've had the fight a million times. It never does any good."

Standout music: Adele's "Make You Feel My Love" and "A Beautiful Mess" by Jason Mraz.

Saul: "What are you gonna do about Holly?"

Sarah: "Well, they called her so she knows. What's she gonna do, put a hit on me?"

Sarah: "So you're willing to put everything behind us?"

Holly: "Sarah, I always said that I would put Ojai first. I did it with Tommy and I'll do it with you. I'm just thinking about the bigger picture. Welcome back."

Sarah: "Thank you."

Chronology: Three weeks (or is it a month) since "Troubled Waters Part 2"

"Missing" might not have been as good as the previous episode but it does continue a trend of very strong episodes and it'll be interesting to see if Sarah and Holly can actually work together in Ojai once again.moreless
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I'm sure I'm not the only one glad to see Kitty drifting away from Robert! A great episode.

9.0

By stewie1423, May 22, 2009

So yes, my favourite storyline of the episode has to be Kitty's frustration with Robert. He was horrible to her about Tommy so no one could blame her going off to the park. Where she meets Alec who I honestly already prefer to the annoying senator. I just loved every scene when Kitty refused to fight, it was very well done and believable.

Another thing I liked was Sarah deciding to go back to the business, it was a great scene when she revealed this info to Nora and Saul, good on you Sarah. It'll be interesting to see how she and Holly work again. Very surprised to see Holly back the idea of letting Tommy off the hook.

Is it just me or have Justin and Rebecca had a similar break-up a lot in recent episodes? It isn't awful by any means but I'm losing interest...plus making Ryan like Rebecca might be slightly entertaining it obviously won't lead anywhere. I like his presence but dislike his character. Kevin didn't really feature and the opening was more I the background...bit strange.

Anyway I'm liking the way some stories are moving while others seems to be standing still.moreless
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I loved this episode.

10

By javnah, Apr 13, 2009

I never thought that I would love Holly, but in this episode I kind of do. I don't know if she has an agenda, but the way she let Tommy of the hook in the board meeting was the best she has ever done, I think. And even welcoming Sarah back the Ojai, was much more than I would ever dream of that she would do. But what will happen to Greenatopia I wonder. And will Tommy disappear for ever and always, or will he get back to his family, now that he knows he's not going to jail? Will he stay in Mexico?moreless
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Nora opens her centre

9.5

By vicky24c, Mar 30, 2009

In this episode of Brothers and Sisters, the following happens. Kevin calls together a family meeting so that he and Justin can tell everyone including Nora that Tommy has gone and they don't know where he has gone. Nora soon learns that Julia has a letter from Tommy and she goes round to read it. Julia then tells her that she is done with Tommy. Kitty tells Robert about the situation and his reaction isn't the best. She takes Evan to the park, but Robert calls her and apologises for the way that he reacted. The opening of Nora's "Family Centre", called Open Doors finally comes and it is opened with the help of Robert. During the open Nora tries to talk to the Ojai board members to try and get them to talk to the DA about Tommy's case. At the opening Robert gets lightheaded and so he goes to a hospital, after a pedestrian advises him to go and get checked out. But after 6 hours he is realised with a clean bill of health. Sarah goes to see Nora and Sole and tells them that she is going back to Ojai. She is replacing Tommy as President. We also learn that Holly knows about the situation. At the meeting the next with Ojai, Sarah tries to get the board to drop the charges. Even Holly seems to be on board with the charges being dropped, which is a surprise to everyone. They take a vote and they agree to go to the DA to try and get the charges dropped against Tommy. Ryan and Rebecca dig deeper into Williams past and learn that Ryan's mother and William were together the night before she died. In this episode Kitty makes a new friend at the park, a single father with a little boy named Ben. Sarah goes to see the Greenatopia boys and tells them that she is going back to Ojai foods. Nora goes to tell Julia that the DA has dropped the charges against Tommy. Julia agrees to talk to Tommy if he calls and that she will tell him that it is now ok for him to come home. We end with Justin and Kevin talking about Tommy and Kevin admits that he doesn't know if Tommy is ever going to come back.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Rachel Griffiths	Sarah Whedon
Dave Annable	Justin Walker
Calista Flockhart	Kitty Walker
Sally Field	Nora Holden
Balthazar Getty	Thomas Walker
Ron Rifkin	Saul Holden

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Luc Charbonnier	Ben	Guest Star
Megan Follows	Maggie Stephens	Guest Star
Joe O’Connor	Harvey Childs	Guest Star
Ken Olin	David Caplan	Recurring Role
Luke Grimes	Ryan Lafferty	Recurring Role
Eric Christian Olsen	Kyle DeWitt	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Luke Grimes of Brothers and Sisters in t...

© 2009 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Ron Rifkin and Sally Field of Brothers a...

© 2009 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Rob Lowe and Megan Follows of Brothers a...

© 2009 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Luke Grimes, Ron Rifkin, Rachel Griffith...

© 2009 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (8)
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- Kevin: Just say, 'Mom, Tommy didn't come back from Mexico'.
  Justin: Why me?
  Kevin: Because I always have to break the bad news. I'm like the family grim reaper.
  EDIT SHARE
- Maggie: I'm not a psychiatrist but your doodling does not look like the work of a woman that's just fulfilled her dream.
  Nora: Yikes. It does look a bit disturbed.
  EDIT SHARE
- Sarah: I wouldn't leave if I didn't think you guys could do it.
  Kyle: Me and him? Are you kidding me? Before you, we were living like in a low-rent sty. Drinking beer in the shower.
  Ethan: We got a lot of good ideas that way.
  EDIT SHARE
- Justin: What do you want? Seriously, what do you want? I mean, you move into our house. You're living off our mom ...
  Ryan: I'm sorry, I forgot. That's your job.
  EDIT SHARE
- Kitty: I thought you were going to take it easy.
  Robert: Oh that? Relax. That's ...
  Kitty: Do you know what happens when you tell somebody to relax? It actually has the opposite effect. It's scientifically proven.
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- Nora: Ryan? Come on, come on. Get over here.
  Justin: (to Kevin) Ryan? What is this? Soccer practice? Just swap one kid in for the other?
  Kitty: Oh be nice, Justin.
  Kevin: Yeah. Just be phoney like Kitty.
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- Kitty: Why is there so much press here?
  Scotty: Something tells me they're not here to rave about my canapes.
  EDIT SHARE
- Robert: Listen, I'm sorry about today. You told me this terrible thing about Tommy and I was just ... a jerk. And I can see from your expression that you agree with my assessment.
  Kitty: Pretty much.
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NOTES (5)
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic - Nezvěstný (Missing)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Norway: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 on TV2
  Australia: Monday, July 6, 2009 on Channel 7
  New Zealand: Monday, July 6, 2009 on TV2
  Latin America: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 on Universal Channel
  Czech Republic: Sunday, June 5, 2011 on Universal Channel
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- Music:
  - Make You Feel My Love (Adele - 19)
  - A Beautiful Mess by Jason Mraz from We Sing We Dance We Steal Things (2008)
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- Patricia Wettig and Emily VanCamp do not have any scenes together in this episode.
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- Although credited, Kerris Lilla Dorsey (Paige Whedon), Maxwell Perry Cotton (Cooper Whedon) and Balthazar Getty (Thomas Walker) do not appear in this episode.
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