Family Matters

• Oct 29, 2007 04:03 AM ET
• by Rhoda Charles

Episode Recap: "Domestic Issues"

Well, it's the top of the eighth, so I'll keep this quick as I'd like to watch the Red Sox win the series. Right off the bat, Kitty's pregnant, Joe is suing Sarah for full custody and Tommy is still sucking face with Lena. Things aren't looking good for the Walkers.

Justin, that gossip, has spread the news of Kitty's pending motherhood to nearly every family member - leaving only Nora in the dark, though she was the first to suspect. Robert, the republican baby daddy, was the last to know and was quite nasty about it once he did. But come on, Kitty only found out that morning. Give the woman a chance to mention the news in between your debate prep and your lecture on how this would affect the campaign! I don't know about these two. Robert pays a lot of lip service to their relationship - usually after the fact in some over-the-top, heart-warming and very public speech. I wonder sometimes what he's more committed to: Kitty or his political aspirations.

I also wonder about Tommy, who one minute is pining away for his wife and child and the next is running to a sloshed Lena's rescue. I'm rather disappointed in him, the son who seemed most effected by his father's infidelity. It's hard for me to buy that he'd follow so closely in dear old Dad's footsteps, given the heartache he personally suffered. And what's the deal with Lena? She's pretty aggressive. I can't imagine that she can't find an available man and not some married guy on the rebound.

Holly has been pretty one-note on this whole issue. And lately her manner in dealing with both Tommy and Lena has been so harsh that I'm finding it hard to fathom what William saw in her at all.

But people can be deceiving, as Sarah is learning with Joe - who surprised her with a petition for full custody of their kids. You have to feel for Sarah, who discovered all too late that Joe has been actively planning his attack for some time. I hate that Sarah couldn't find anyone who hadn't already been approached by Joe to be a character witness. Maybe now that the judge awarded Joe full temporary custody, Sarah will get herself a real divorce lawyer instead of relying on Kevin, who is clearly out of his depth. But you have to wonder: did the judge make the right call in giving stay-at-home dad Joe primary custody?

Whether in choosing baby names or supporting Sarah when Joe came for the kids, Nora did a much better job of being there for more than one child at a time this week. She even managed to tend to the trick o' treaters in full costume while catching the Republican debate that was curiously scheduled on Halloween. However, Nora's talk with Kitty made me wonder about the Walkers' birth order. All this time I thought Sarah and Kevin were the two oldest, but if I heard Nora correctly it goes Sarah, Kitty, Kevin, Tommy, Justin and Rebecca. Was I alone in thinking Kevin was older than Kitty? I'll leave you to ponder that, and if you have a moment check out my friend Damian's blog on the best TV series on DVD.

What did you think of tonight's show? Until next week, leave your comments here!

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