Sisters Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

This really does sum everything up better than I could have. The story was truly repulsive, but what I didn't appreciate until now was the lost opportunities. And I realize you are right in that Georgie should have never wanted to reconcile with John. I think they only did so as a last-minute apology to fans. 

I did like Alex and Big Al, but they had gotten so far away from what had initially made Alex special as a character. They diluted all of the sisters. 

[Khan]

Remember, in the final season, when Alex reunited with her college sweetheart, played by AMC's Nicolas Surovy (ex-Mike Roy), and DAYS' Paul Kersey (ex-Alan Harris) in flashback?  Basically, they were supposed to elope, but he left town (and left her a "Dear John" note scribbled on a torn piece of notebook paper) because he'd been involved in a campus protest that killed a security guard.  Well, I tried watching that episode again this morning, and I say "tried," because, the whole time, I kept thinking, This is not an Alex story.  This is a Teddy story.  Alex would never have given a poetry-writing hippie the time of day.  Do you even KNOW your damn characters anymore, Cowen & Lipman?

I've been watching "Sisters" again this past week on the WBTV Primetime Soaps channel, and...sigh...I think I made a big mistake, lol. 

I never thought "Sisters" was brilliant.  I know it WANTED to be brilliant.  Even as an adolescent, however, I felt there was too much camp and cheese in the writing.  Still, I loved the chemistry among the leads, and I especially loved the flashbacks and the moments when the four sisters would interact with their younger selves.

Unfortunately, what I loved about the show when I was in junior high and high school, is what irritates me about it today.  Like I said, I never thought "Sisters" was brilliant; but, damn, I didn't realize there was so much ridiculous, unearned melodrama even in the FIRST half of the show's run, when Cowen & Lipman supposedly had a better grasp on their characters and their tone.  And while the flashbacks and such might've been a selling point in the beginning, the novelty overstays its welcome rather quickly; and as a matter of fact, those moments aren't as illuminating as we were supposed to think they were.

I agree.  Just as they owed whatever fans were still watching by that point a big, fat thank you for putting up with 2-3 seasons of dark, depressing writing that did nothing except make their characters unlikable (and Sela Ward an Emmy winner).

One of the biggest problems that I've had with this latest re-watch is that I still don't understand how we got from Trevor Whitsig being just your normal, wisecracking kid to "Trevor W.: Portrait of a Teenage A$$hole."  All of a sudden, he's skipping school, drinking, doing drugs, fighting with his parents and kid brother, having unprotected sex with older women...but why?  If it's due to feeling overshadowed by Evan's leukemia, then he's about two seasons too late. 

And what's REALLY frustrating is how the story denies us what we need most (aside from the family working through their issues with therapy): that moment when Trevor finally breaks down and tells John and Georgie (and us) just what the hell is going on with him.  Over and over, they beg him to open up and tell them what's wrong, but he never does.  Instead, he just comes home, goes back to school (off-screen) and then decides to join the military.

Edited April 25 by Khan

[DRW50]

As a kid, I was sometimes very moved by the flashbacks (there was an early Thanksgiving episode in particular, or one around the time of Evan's cancer diagnosis), even by the silly moments like Teddy joining a protest and saying, "I don't want to take a trip on the SS censorship." I thought the girl who played a young Georgie was especially good. The show losing those elements after the first few seasons made it feel colder to me, less easy to invest in. Yet I am not sure if I would find these elements cloying and unearned now.

You're right about the Trevor story. They could have had a better buildup, had him react to the whole fiasco with Georgie caring Frankie's baby and George threatening to sue for custody, but they never did. They just seemed to realize they had run out of story for Georgie and went haywire. 

[Soaplovers]

What I loved about the show was that the first two or three seasons reminded me a spoof of a primetime soap opera with the close knit family and all the various men that came and went from the sisters lives.  

When the show veered into the darker subject matter, it lost the charm/whimsy of the earlier seasons.

In regards to the Georgie/John story... I remember the high school or college reunion where John was wanting to get back together with Georgie because he realized how badly he was treating her.. and she turned him down flat because she was 'in love' with the Dr.   I think the final episode where the two looked to be taking the first step toward getting back together was a good ending.  Since she did push away her husband and realized once she was single that she really threw away her marriage.

[chrisml]

I would also say in relation to John and Georgie that it's just icky to tell a molestation story and then lead into the Caspian story. What kind of message does that send? Yeesh. Inevitably, viewers are going to focus on Georgie's obsession with Caspian and the destruction of her marriage, so the viewers are going to be angry with her and forget about the molestation/Caspian's actions. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps they were trying to give Kalember an award worthy story a la Ward and it backfired spectacularly. 

The flashbacks were always hit or miss for me. I just want to know what went so wrong with the penultimate season. From what I remember, it felt like the quality of the fifth season dropped immensely. Is my memory so wrong? Was the fourth season not as good as I remember?

[Khan]

Not necessarily. 

I apologize for sounding like a broken record, but I do believe NBC pressured Cowen, Lipman and the rest of the "Sisters" team into coming up with more "provocative" storylines, because they wanted to broaden the show's appeal.  I think that's why the fifth season lapses into crime drama, with the simultaneous sting operations being conducted on Dr. Caspian and Daniel Albright respectively.  (I still don't know why Teddy drew Lucky into her plan to bring down Falconer's killers, except I guess they were testing the waters for a Lucky/Teddy relationship, since it was clear that Julianne Phillips was leaving the show and that Frankie and Lucky had gone nowhere as a couple).  The previous season had some darker storylines as well - Cat's rape, Reed and Kirby's experience with a religious cult, Trevor's...whatever the hell that was - but they're nowhere near as off-putting as what we get in Season Five (although Trevor's storyline certainly comes close).

Unfortunately, NBC misjudged Cowen and Lipman's ability to handle heavier, more soap operatic material.  That's why I tend to regard the final season as a course correction of sorts, as well as one, long, massive apology to whatever remained of the audience for having to put up with two seasons of horrendously bleak storytelling.  There's still some heaviness - particularly, at the start of the season, with Teddy's carjacking and subsequent head trauma - but the overall tone is much, much lighter.  

Edited April 15 by Khan

[Khan]

I agree!

Georgie was much too smart to allow a slimy therapist to lead her to believe her father was a pedophile based on one, ambiguous memory.  And when poor Beatrice is reduced to defending her cheating bastard of a husband against charges like those, you know we've officially entered the Twilight Zone.

 

In theory, I like the idea of there being a long-lost Reed sibling; and I guess that sibling would've had to be another sister since, after all, the show was called "Sisters."  But I have to say...in retrospect...I kind of wish Charley had been male instead.  Even if he couldn't have been anything other than a recurring character, I think the Reed sisters having a brother in their lives might've been fun to explore.  (Plus, it would've been ironic, since Thomas Reed had always wanted a son).

[chrisml]

The Georgie/Caspian thing reminded me of making Eden's rapist her gynaecologist on Santa Barbara. The one who examined her after the rape. Who okayed that? A bunch of idiots. Same thing here.  I think what happened is that they saw that the rape storyline got Sela Ward the emmy. Instead of focusing on Ward's talent, the producers and/or NBC focused on the sexual violence aspect and decided to use that for another character to get attention. I think it's as crass and as sexist as that. Having watched how they handled stories on QAF, it wouldn't surprise me if that was the producers' thinking.

Speaking of molestation, I just looked into the last season and discovered what happens with Teddy's character. UGH. Of all actors.....

[DRW50]

That would have made sense. They seemed so focused on just finding a Frankie replacement, which wasn't worth it in the end.

[chrisml]

At the 47:30 mark of this interview Cowen and Lipman admit that the Georgie/Caspian/son story was the death knell for the series: 

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Edited April 16 by chrisml

[DRW50]

Thanks. I'm glad they see it.

I don't really remember the inbreeding part of the show being an issue later on - unless they mean the various teases of Teddy/Mitch. I think Georgie slept with someone Teddy's daughter had been with but I may be wrong as I had already quit by then.

[Khan]

 

I'm glad, too.  I'm especially glad that they've acknowledged how out of character it all was for Georgie, John and Trevor, because it was.  At least, it was, the way it all was set up.  As I've said before, there wasn't enough motivation for Trevor to lash out at his parents like he did; and Georgie was much too smart to fall for someone as obvious as Dr. Caspian.

On the one hand, I do agree that the longer any series runs, the harder it becomes to maintain the quality of the writing or the integrity of the characters.  But I also blame Cowen and Lipman here, because, aside from Teddy and maybe Alex, I don't think the four leading characters were well-developed.  After awhile, it seems like stories are thrust upon them, rather than generating from them.

[Soaplovers]

The Georgie story made sense up to the Dr. Caspian plot.   She was the peacemaker, she was the one to cover up her mother's alcoholism, she was the one that kept the family together.

She had this need to always be the one for others to depend on, and realistically having to deal with her husband being unemployed, her son's cancer, and then her other son's issues caused Georgie to break.  

I actually think Georgie's story was in character.

[DRW50]

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Alex probably had the best love interests of any of the sisters. I liked all of them (I think I liked Victor the most, maybe because the actor was cute).

The Trevor story was a tough watch, and not the best buildup, but I agree most of it made sense for Georgie.

Edited April 24 by DRW50

[Khan]

I think the relationship that I enjoyed the most of any characters on "Sisters" was Truman and Beatrice's.  I feel like they gave a lot of people hope.  Plus, it was especially sweet to see Bea discover what love REALLY was after being mistreated for so long by Thomas.  I just hate that her and Truman's love story had to end with a depressing storyline about Alzheimer's.