I've been watching Brothers & Sisters pretty much since the beginning (it's easier for me to be home on Sunday nights to catch it, unlike Lost on Wednesdays or 24 on Mondays). I think the show is pretty good, well-written with good characterizations, though a bit much in the Republican-bashing (not that they don't deserve it, but those in glass towers and all that). For the most part, I really like the interaction of the people in the family; it rings true, or at least it does in my mind.
Sally Field plays the matriarch, Nora Walker, in this menagerie. She loves her family oh-so-very much. Which is great. She's wielded the momma bear protecting her cubs extremely well. I would certainly not dare to cross her path.
But, at least to my eye, she's not learned to draw a boundary. I've been in support groups; I've read a lot. Sometimes, she's so wrapped up in what she wants or thinks that she fails to do what her (grown adult) children need for her to do. For example, Justin, the baby of the family, is a drug addict. He was at a treatment center, and through the magic of TV, is quickly having relative day. Being a tight-knit family, the whole brood shows up. Justin starts making his confession/apology. Before he's gotten a sentence out, Mrs. Walker is leaping in trying to excuse everything, simplify what has gone on, basically thwarting everything Justin needs to do in order to progress.
In tonight's episode, however, I have to give her kudos. She rose to the occasion admirably (after exhibiting the intrusive behavior early on). Only because Sally Field plays the character so sympathetically and so well can find here merely annoying and not just a shrew.
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