9 WEEKS IN AND KEVIN FINALLY GETS A KISS

It took too long and now we have a writers’ strike ~ justifiably ~ but still, we waited too long to see Kevin get a kiss and now we may never see the rest of the season of Brothers and Sisters.

This episode was written by two females, Jennifer Cecil and Sherri Cooper-Landsman. And the writing between Scotty and Kevin was either good, the actors just were great at presenting it or both. I don’t write about an episode unless I like it enough to invest the effort. I liked this episode. It felt more real or less predictable than the episodes prior to “36 Hours” this season. “Something New” had some pleasant little surprise lines that gave me a laugh, smile or surge of excitement. Nothing offensive, other than the sleeze-Lena being the assigned character-of-the-moment to dislike.

Let me start with the part that I am drawn to the most ~ Kevin and his love life. Thank goodness, he has “a someone” in his life that we can enjoy again. This show suffers when he doesn’t.

Scotty Wandell (Luke MacFarlane) and Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys)

Scotty is ba-ack. Well, yes, he’s been living at Kevin’s apartment, but tonight they kissed. I hear that Eric Winter ~ who plays Jason McCallister ~ has signed on to be back on Brothers and Sisters, but that is all I know by choice. I don’t like to know ahead what is coming, so I purposely stay uninformed unless I unexpectedly read something.

Some memorable lines of Scotty (Luke MacFarlane) and Kevin (Matthew Rhys)

Scotty: (Carrying in lobsters and champagne, walking into Kevin's apartment.) I come with decadence.

Kevin: Light some candles, I’ll be right back.

Eric Winter as Jason McCallister

Jason finally calls Kevin from Malaysia. A very excited Kevin to Jason: Jason, Oh my God. Oh, I’ve missed you. Yeah, yeah, I need to talk to you, too.

Then we find that Kevin has broken up with Jason on the very phone call that he was so thrilled to get from Jason. Hmmm….love to know what happened on that phone call. …and how Kevin turned from being loyal and in love with Jason to. . .

Kevin to Scotty: I finally spoke to Jason. I broke up with him (this is a puzzle, it seemed like Jason must have been the one to break up with Kevin . . . hmmm . . .) Scotty, when I first met you, what we had was messy. We were hot and cold, back and forth, all over the place. But I want to be back there with you because I want to be honest about who I am.

Scotty: Did you tell Jason we slept together.
Kevin: Yes, I did.

Wow, the story really moved ahead tonight. We open with everyone sharing their “first times”.

The second thing that I love about this show is Sally Field. I like it when the story has her going for some “love life”. She can be real special when the script gives her some stuff to put her best into. She really cleared out the room when she talked about “Pretty Woman” in the opening scene. She just forges ahead into “intimate territory”, but the adult children don’t really want to hear.

Nora (Sally Field) meets up with her "sexual encounter of the first kind", Stan Harris, who is played by Chevy Chase.

Julia (Sarah Jane Morris) returned to her marriage with Tommy (Balthazar Getty), reuniting Tommy with baby Elizabeth, at least I think that’s the baby’s name.

Lyle Lovett is a plant by Senator Robert McCallister (Rob Lowe) to impress Kitty (Calista Flockhart) with a romantic moment.

Saul (Ron Rifkin) gets his back up with Nora, when he thinks she is meddling into his newly acknowledged homosexuality.

Sarah Whedon (Rachel Griffiths) looks to be getting a new love interest.

Justin Walker (Dave Annable) is coming off the pain killers and is sweet again. He is so good at owning up to his “flaws” with Rebecca.

Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig)…well, her character is less brassy.

And the unlikable Lena continues to be unlikable.

Rebecca (Emily Van Camp) finally has some pleasant exchanges with her mother ~ the “other woman” of William Walker and Nora’s deceased husband.

And Kitty finally welcomes Rebecca as her sister and illustrates it by asking the half sister ~ via their mutual father’s extramarital affair ~ to be one of her bride’s maids. I liked the line where Kitty says after Rebecca is thrilled to be asked to be a part of the bridal party: Should we hug?

The wedding is next Sunday night.
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A Walk Down Memory Lane in the Caterers' Kitchen (Season 1):
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=JQPsSiSC3eo

Scotty won’t take Kevin back (Season 1):
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=ErljOzjR_-k

Jason and Kevin’s kiss in Nora’s kitchen pantry (Season 1):
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=7mCXl4sltI4

Brothers and Sisters Season 2, episodes:
9/23/2007: Brothers & Sisters: Family Album
9/30/2007: Home Front
10/7/2007: An American Family
10/14/2007: History Repeating
10/21/2007: States of the Union
10/28/2007: Domestic Issues
11/4/2007: Two Places
11/11/2007: 36 Hours
11/25/2007: Something New
12/2/2007: Holy Matrimony

The Bonus Show from Season 1 recap
http://www.afterelton.com/TV/recaps/brothersandsisters/bonusrecap

Recap of 36 Hours
http://www.afterelton.com/TV/recaps/brothersandsisters/207

Recap of Two Places (Scotty moves in with Kevin)
http://www.afterelton.com/TV/recaps/brothersandsisters/206

About the writers’s strike
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/adamlubitow/baitz-on-wga-strike

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Call 1-800-GENOCIDE
Tell U.S. Senators to support SADA to help end the Darfur Genocide

www.dreamfordarfur.org
www.savedarfur.org

Call President Bush
and tell him to actually act on his words
regarding the Darfur genocide: "NOT ON MY WATCH."
Talk is useless, President Bush.
His number: 202-456-1111

Thank You

BROTHERS AND SISTERS GAVE ME AN EPISODE I LIKE IN "36 HOURS"

BROTHERS AND SISTERS - The ABC Television Show

Wow, seven episodes into season two of a television show that I fell for hard last year when it debuted and I finally really liked an episode. Tonight, the writing had more substance… at least the actors seem to be able to get their acting chops into the material more than any other episode so far. The episode of Brothers and Sisters, “36 hours” showed what this show does best when it is allowed to from the writing – is relate to one another. I haven’t liked the predictability of the lines and the fluffy humor in past episodes. I prefer Matthew Rhys’ character in a relationship – or at least – trying to be.

Tonight, the writing was strong. The acting followed and I was in from the first segment prior to the first commercial knowing this episode was different and better. The writers were David Marshall Grant and Molly Newman. The director was David Paymer. The only minor writing bit that I didn’t like was with the scene of Tommy breaking up with Lena (I think that is her name). I thought Lena’s lines were “throw away” lines – just gratis type lines. Just lines to move the story along, not much thought put into them and bland all the way around.

Everything else was quite stellar for this little gem of a show.

I love how Sally Field got some lines again that let her talented acting shine through. Finally. She was especially great with the scene where she locked the door on Justin and also at the pool. Great scene at that family pool…almost as good as the kitchen setting for this Walker family.

The little scene with Robert McAllister and his daughter while ice skating was well-done. And the scene with Sally’s Nora and her brother, Saul Holden, baring the truth about his sexual orientation was the kind of scene that this show has made as its trademark.

Matthew Rhys as Kevin Walker

Matthew Rhys as himself

I didn’t know that Kevin (Matthew Rhys) had not been talking to Jason McAllister. How sad for him. Matthew was great tonight, but then he is always good even when the writing leaves me wanting more substance.

Even Holly Harper was likeable tonight. It was nice to see Rebecca confide in her mother about Justin Walker.

And the writing where Justin unloads on each person within ear shot was outstandingly well-written and well-acted.

I just hope that the fluff, predictable lines don’t come back.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Season 2
Episodes

12/2/2007: Holy Matrimony
11/25/2007: Something New


11/11/2007: 36 Hours
11/4/2007: Two Places
10/28/2007: Domestic Issues
10/21/2007: States of the Union
10/14/2007: History Repeating
10/7/2007: An American Family
9/30/2007: Home Front
9/23/2007: Brothers & Sisters: Family Album

WHAT DAY DID THE CONSTITUTION GET ANNULLED

? The Patriot Act has deleted our constitutional liberties. And there is a silent movement in our social acceptance to give up our valued liberties. Democracy is messy. If you want all the ducks in order you don’t want a democracy. You want a fascist government.

A man’s “house has been surrounded 24 hours a day, seven days a week. His phone is tapped and his internet access and telephone are sometimes blocked… All this for a man who has not been formally charged with any criminal offense.” Though from a feature article of Amnesty International about a human rights activist in China, everything noted here can also be done in the United States of America via the Patriot Act. *

George W Bush swore on the Bible at his two inaugurations that he would preserve the constitution. And yet when he campaigned he wouldn’t allow anyone into his “town meetings” unless he or she was a republican. Bush’s campaign used a manual on how to muffle protestors. Today, I learned that Hillary Clinton does the same in her campaigning and doesn’t allow people in her campaign events if they wear t-shirts with words or symbols on them her handlers want to censor. I don’t want “Free Speech Zones” or “stay away orders” - I want my constitution rights freed and given back to me. Now. Not after some politician tells me I can have them back. Now. I want a voice. China doesn’t allow her citizens a voice. Fascism is alive in China. And it is creeping across the facets of our American daily lives.

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry said “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death” as an ending statement in a speech. ** Perhaps that is too drastic an ideal for us to live up to. However, I feel we need to find a spine and put our First Amendment values back into our lives without reservations. We aren’t safe just because - we give up our freedom of speech or freedom of press rights, or because we give our government the right to search our homes without just cause or a court’s pre-approval, or give the federal government the right to use our emails and blogs to steal our constitutional rights. The Patriot Act gives the government the rights to do all of these.

Fear dictates what liberties we are willing and ready to give away.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xieOPvWLji4 Michael Moore’s “The Making of America” in cartoon format

ANDREW MEYER was tased today for asking questions on a college campus to John Kerry. He may have been out of order, but he broke no law, until he was told to shut up. Then his crime was to accept his freedom of speech as a sham and not something he had the right to expect. SALLY FIELD was censored by Fox in her Emmy acceptance speech. MEDEA BENJAMIN was removed from Hillary Clinton’s event because she wore a t-shirt about leaving Iraq. Bush has lied to us and broken the law, but he gets pass after pass. And no one is tasing him or censoring him.

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“And, let’s face it, if the mothers ruled the (world), there would be no God Damn wars in the first place,” Sally Field said.
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=CheY0jYXJjY

This is a video of the University of Florida Police Department using force on student, Andrew Meyer, asking a question of Senator Kerry. Meyer was arrested on September 17, 2007 for disturbing a public educational function and resisting arrest. The police did not inform him that he was under arrest and did not read him his Miranda rights but used a taser gun to control him”.

Tasers deliver a 50,000-volt jolt through two barbed darts designed to penetrate clothing. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070903/NEWS01/309030019/1056/COL02

“Amnesty International’s continuing concerns about taser use” article can be found at: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engamr510302006

http://youtube.com/watch?v=u1eyuH1-8A4 “Four Dead in Ohio” “On May 4th, 1970 - National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of unarmed students at Kent State University. Four students were killed and nine others wounded. Commemorating this sad day, at this link is an excerpt of the documentary, "Kent State: The Day the War Came Home" that includes interview with students and National Guardsmen who were there.” From: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/04/1342257

Fascism synonyms: repression, oppression, tyranny.
Antonym: democracy.
fas·cism or fas·cism
1. a system of government practiced by Benito Mussolini in Italy between 1922 and 1943 that was characterized by dictatorship, centralized control of private enterprise, repression of opposition, and extreme nationalism

2. any movement, tendency, or ideology that favors dictatorial government, centralized control of private enterprise, repression of all opposition, and extreme nationalism

“The American system of government is founded on two counterbalancing principles: that the majority of the people governs, through democratically elected representatives; and that the power even of a democratic majority must be limited, to ensure individual rights.

Majority power is limited by the Constitution's Bill of Rights, which consists of the original ten amendments ratified in 1791, plus the three post-Civil War amendments (the 13th, 14th and 15th) and the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage), adopted in 1920.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, mission is to preserve all of these protections and guarantees:

* Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
* Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.
* Your right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake.
* Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs.

We work also to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including Native Americans and other people of color; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; women; mental-health patients; prisoners; people with disabilities; and the poor.

If the rights of society's most vulnerable members are denied, everybody's rights are imperiled.” From: http://aclu.org/about/index.html

The First Amendment to the United States of America’s Constitution is: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” …Except since the Congress gave George Bush sweeping rights to delete the First Amendment rights.

The standard of United States Free Speech is in sinking sand. Repeal the Patriot Act and reinstate the U.S. Constitution.

* Interview With AIDS Activist Hu Jia http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2006/03/29/china_hujia/
*Patriot Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act

** Patrick Henry’s Liberty Speech: http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html