Tonight's episode of "Brothers & Sisters" was a wild ride. Titled "Northern Exposure," the family is selling their beloved ranch house and each Walker silbing, as well as mom (Sally Field), each separately plan to take a romantic interest to the house for a farewell fling. Of course, they all show up there, it's raining and they are forced to spend the weekend together.

Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty (Luke MacFarland) have a sweet scene eating ice cream together as Kevin talks about losing his virginity inside a tree house at the ranch to a tall good-looking blonde guy named Tucker Booth. What made the scene so funny was that Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) in an earlier scene had told her hubby about losing her virginity in the tree house to...TUCKER BOOTH!
There's some fun moments at the ranch but it turns serious over dinner when an argument ensues over Kevin's refusal to be a sperm donor for sterile brother Tommy and his wife, Julia. "How long would it be before his friends at school find out his biological father is really his gay uncle?" Kevin asks. Everyone takes sides, including Scotty, which leads Kevin to snap: "Scotty, please. This is my family. If you're not going to support me then please SHUT UP!"

Scotty leaves the table and soon heads back to LA and we see that Kevin can be a real ass-hole. But he's also articulate and heartbreaking which was evident when he tells Kitty why he is reluctant to father his brother's child: "I don't talk about what it was like for me growing up gay but it wasn't easy...I was surrounded by you guys, this whole family, but I still felt completely alone. I don't want to bring a kid into this world that would feel different or ashamed. I didn't want him to go through what I do."
In the end, both Matthew and brother Justin both agree to donate sperm and no one will know which one actually fathered the child. "If it's well-dressed and witty, it's mine," Matthew jokes as the three brothers walk out of the sperm bank.

It can be far-fetched but I'm hooked on this delicious morsel of a show and just love seeing Sally Field, 60 years old this month, have the opportunity to do so many different things on screen and do them so well. She's funny, she's maternal, she's strong...she's real.
As for Calista Flockhart's character, Kitty, I'm having some problems with her. It's not because of her politically conservative views (she is a right-wing pundit on a tv talk show) but because she doesn't seem to believe her character's views. This was never more apparent than when she was telling her liberal tv co-host (and romantic interest) why she became a Republican and she tied it to family and America and apple pie etc. I didn't buy it for a second.