Brothers & Sisters

I didn’t cry when my father died. I cried when my dog died. I cried - after a long period of intense mourning - when my boyfriend broke up with me. (Not the last boyfriend. Or the one before that. The one a decade ago. Oh my God. Wait. Two decades ago.) And I didn’t cry when I lost my job. That was a decade ago. In short, I don’t have the tendency, or the ability, to cry much. Which is why, when something is able to bring a tear - even the slightest one - to my eye, it must be something that hits home pretty hard.

“Brothers & Sisters” is one of those ‘things’ that can bring a tear to my eye. Maybe it’s because, like the boyfriends who don’t turn into husbands, I see people as I wish they were, instead of as who they are. Maybe the family of ‘Brothers & Sisters’ is the family I wish I had. Maybe the interactions are those that I wish I had. Or maybe the writing is so damn good, and so ‘real,’ that it’s what I wished my life was.

Justin (Dave Annable) is the younger brother I wish I had. Kevin (Matthew Rhys) is the brother I wish I were. And Tommy (Balthazar Getty) is the older brother I wish I had. (I always felt cheated not having an older brother.) The interactions between Kevin and Scotty are charming. They make me remember what the early stages of being in love were like. I’ve Tivo’d and replayed their dates too many times. It’s been a while.