It's a long-long way from flying nun to matriarch of a powerhouse television family. Sally Field has landed in a very good place, anchoring a powerful cast on ABC's award-winning "Brothers and Sisters." The "Brothers and Sisters" plot undoubtedly fits together for viewers who have remained faithful from the very first episode, in which William Walker, pater familiae and founder of Ojai Foods, drops dead. Kitty, his wife, mourns properly and just as properly takes charge as her grown children and their families gather around her. Mourning grows complicated as William Walker's deep-dark secrets come to life, and family life heats up as different family members cope with different secrets in different ways. From five family members come forty possible combinations and recombinations, and from those possibilities spring infinite plots"”even before writers and producers add significant others and children. "Brothers and Sisters" can hold its exalted Sunday night place indefinitely. Unlike some riveting family dramas, "Brothers and Sisters" does not show bitter, fierce, destructive sibling rivalry. For the most part, these big kids like one another, and their mother loves them all. Of course, one is an Afghan war veteran with a drug problem, and another is a gay lawyer, the favourite son and heir has both financial and marital difficulties, but the real odd-ball is the daughter who breaks the family's liberal tradition and takes-up with the likes of Ann Coulter and Mike Huckabee. Did we mention that "Brothers and Sisters" has the stuff to go on indefinitely?

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