April 1, 2007: All in the Family
In the last new episode, we saw everyone react to the fact that Rebecca is actually a Walker - everyone including Rebecca herself. The main focus tonight continued to be the fallout from the Rebecca situation, although tonight was less about reacting and more about interacting. And what better way for everyone to get to know each other than at a Walker family dinner?
Though well intentioned, Nora's dinner didn't go as smoothly as she had hoped. Kitty was noticeably absent, Sarah asked prying questions, Kevin temporarily became a forensic scientist, and Justin just seemed to be trying to hold everything together. The only time anyone seemed comfortable was when the older four Walker children were making fun of each other: "This whole family loves to kid," Nora tried awkwardly to explain.
Nobody did a great job at their first dinner with Rebecca, but it's probably safe to say that Kevin's hair-pulling was the worst. "I saw a split end, it's just something I do with my sisters." I laughed out loud when he said that! He's a lawyer and that's the best he could come up with? Although obviously no one appreciated Kevin's ridiculous behavior, it did give Rebecca a chance to see the Walkers in their full arguing/teasing/talking-over-one-another glory. And the funny thing was? Instead of telling her mom how glad she was not to have grown up with the Walkers as her siblings, Rebecca seemed sad that she had missed out on being part of the craziness.
In other news, Kitty played a Rebecca-like role at dinner with Senator McCallister and his children. Not that Kitty would enjoy being compared to her newly discovered sister, but like Rebecca she was the new person at dinner with a tightly knit family. Kitty's dinner didn't go very smoothly either, and Sophie's difficulties with meeting her newly single father's new girlfriend seemed very realistic. That being said, I missed seeing Kitty interact with her siblings. I hope her increased time with Robert isn't going to mean we're going to see less interaction with her family. Kevin was with Chad for a good portion of tonight's episode, and we still got to see him with his brothers and sisters.
Speaking of Kevin and Chad, things didn't end well for them tonight, either. I thought Chad was a little quick to get angry at Kevin's hesitation. I can understand Chad being upset, because obviously inviting Kevin to a public event was a big deal for him. But Chad has put Kevin through a lot and Kevin's hardly complained. So for him to get mad the first time Kevin doesn't go along with what he wants seems a little hypocritical.
Other highlights:
- The infrequently-used Julia talking a lot more than usual.
- Tommy having some conflicting emotions over whether or not to find out who the twins' biological father is. I like when shows continue to address an issue, rather than mentioning it in one episode and then never talking about it again.
- Nora throwing William's wedding ring into the water. It was a sad moment to end the episode on, but we got the sense from her work in her writing class that it was what she needed to do.
