My Review of Brothers And Sisters 4x22: "Love All"

Written by Michael J. Cinquemani And Sarah Goldfinger
Directed by Michael Schultz

Nora (re Jake): “Why did he go back, Justin? It breaks my heart that he was there.”
Justin: “Somebody had to be.”

Speaking of heartbreak, I’m sorry that I’ve been late with reviews for this series. I’d like to put it down to apathy but the season’s been mostly fine and it has been other stuff getting in the way but I am determined to catch up on the remainder of this season, where hopefully the next few episodes pack more of a punch than this one.

In this issue of Sarah vs. Luc in regards to Cooper – well, I’m sorry parents everywhere but I side with Luc on this one, simply due to the fact Cooper was behaving like a brat in this episode. The way he was consistently hostile towards Luc to the point of ruining the tennis game being the last straw.

Why didn’t Sarah speak up sooner with Cooper? She became one of those parents who let him play video games instead of him being out in the fresh air (and granted, at his age and even now to a degree, I’d still rather be indoors than outdoors during summer) and when Nora or Luc challenged her, she didn’t like it one bit.

It’s not that Sarah is a bad mother or anything but both Luc and Nora were talking perfect sense and Sarah wouldn’t budge. Luc might not be Cooper’s father but if he’s going to be a permanent factor in Sarah’s life then he’s not exactly demanding much by wanting to be treated civilly by her children, especially given that he’s been reasonable with them so far.

This is probably the first episode that gave viewers a practical obstacle between Sarah and Luc and actually came close to presenting them as a serious couple and not a chick-lit writer’s dream couple. Luc managed to raise some good points without being a dick about it and when Sarah finally realised that Cooper was misbehaving, she did to her credit actually take some action about it.

If we could see these types of storylines between Sarah and Luc next season, then they actually stand a good chance of being a proper couple. I’m still not exactly sold on Luc but this was definitely one of his better episodes and I do like to think positively because while Sarah and he resolved their issues, another couple were met with more.

Of course the last couple of episodes where Justin and Rebecca weren’t arguing would have to come down to an episode where they did again because of them can communicate properly. Rebecca, you don’t need an enormous house when it’s just the two of you and I actually don’t blame Justin for being narked.

Holly might not have meant any real harm when encouraging Rebecca to put in an offer for the house of your dreams but Rebecca should’ve had enough savvy to think that perhaps consulting Justin would’ve been a neat idea before going ahead with the idea./ Naturally, she didn’t and an argument ensued between the pair of them. I really hate when they argue because they’ve done it so much in the last two seasons.

And there was the clanger of Justin wanting to drop out of med school. Damn it, I wanted him to actually to continue with it. Why do the writers always have to do this with him? For crying out loud, let Justin actually stick to something and follow through. He might not be the brightest button but he’s not stupid – he just needs to have some confidence in his abilities and persevere a little more.

As for the threat of him wanting to join the army again, I’m glad that Nora actually did have that one out with him. The death of Justin’s friend clearly ignited the urge for him to be with the people that he left behind but I really don’t think the series or even Justin needs to have the army re-enter his life. Reminders here and there are good but let’s not go back there, eh?

Speaking of stuff that I don’t want to go with would be Robert’s mystery job. Right now, I’m tired of the secrecy surrounding it and kind of wish that this story would speed, especially given that it’ll be the one to exit Rob Lowe from the series. Both Kevin and Kitty have expressed their own suspicions/fears and Robert seemed to foolishly ignore them.

Getting cosy to Bill Staten doesn’t seem to be a particularly smart idea either. Kevin warned Robert about getting involved with the guy and Robert basically ignored his advice. Yes, I’m aware that Kevin no longer works for Robert but I certainly wouldn’t have ignored that little bit of advice from him either.

As for Kevin and Sarah’s tennis competitiveness – apart from the scenes where Kevin seemed a little too blissed out, I thought that Sarah was way worse but that was only because she was being unnecessarily nasty to Luc whereas Kevin was using the tennis as a distraction because of that great big void in his life that work wise, he’s unable to fill.

In the past couple of episodes, he’s done the odd bit of work here and there for Kitty and Sarah. He was even working on contracts for more drilling at Narrow Lake but the truth is, the guy desperately needs to work for his own peace of mind and the fact that he’s going to be a father pretty damn soon.

Scotty and Saul at least have their restaurant idea and hopefully that’ll be something that comes to fruition and actually works out instead of petering out after a few episodes. I liked the last few scenes with Kevin getting some of his confidence back from Scotty but overall, we’ve had better moments with the guys this season. That being said, regardless of the hiccups they experience, Kevin and Scotty are the most stable relationship on most of US television to be perfectly honest.

Also in “Love All”

And the result of the tennis match between Robert/Luc and Kevin/Sarah was a forfeit thanks to Cooper’s sabotaging skills.

Scotty: “Don’t be upset.”
Kevin: “I’m not upset, I’m busy.”

Kevrah was the name of the Kevin/Sarah tennis team up and come on, but it’s hardly surprising that they got booted out of a club in the past.

Robert: “Joe, I’ve known you a long time but I’ll tell you something – never bet against my wife.”

Sarah: “What are you doing here?”
Kevin: “It’s what unemployed losers do. They hang out in their mother’s kitchen making sandwiches.”

Joe has a problem with Sarah dating Luc? That’s a bit rich coming from a bloke who remarried his first wife, isn’t it?

Luc: “Nice try, babe.”
Sarah: “Don’t patronise me.”

Kevin (to Scotty/Saul): “Who knew unemployment could be so much fun?”

It was revealed in this episode that Michelle was two months pregnant but there’s a certain spoiler looming around that means we could be missing a certain scene next season.

Justin: “Time out. Are you mad at me or something?”
Nora: “No, I’m not mad at you, I’m on to you.”

Kevin: “Why are you being so nice?”
Scotty: “Maybe I feel guilty. I haven’t exactly been paying attention to you lately.”
Kevin: “It’s alright. I’m not a child, although I have been behaving like one recently.”

Standout music: Griffin House’s “When The Time Is Right”.

Nora (to Sarah): “I wanted to tell you something. Mothering never gets easier, even when they’ve grown.”

Chronology: Definitely May 2010 but then I’m probably going by episode transmissions, state side.

Not the most interesting episode of the bunch. “Love All” is decent enough and it’s finally nice that the Sarah/Luc bits have a bit more reality in them but the whole thing felt rather filler compared to the last few episodes.

Rating: 7 out of 10.