The fourth season of Brothers & Sisters was picked up for a fourth season on April 23, 2009. "ABC Announces early pickups for next season"
The premiere aired on ABC on Sunday September 27, 2009, and concluded May 16, 2010. Season Four began three months after the events of "Mexico".
Cast
Most main characters from the previous season returned; however, Tommy (Balthazar Getty) appeared only briefly mid-season, having relocated to Seattle. Sarah Jane Morris left the series, while Luke Grimes was promoted to starring status as newest Walker son, Ryan, only to be written out mid-season. The storyline followed the final demise of Ojai Foods and the discovery of Narrow Lake (an untapped aquifer that made the family rich), as well as the rocky relationship of the finally-married Justin and Rebecca and the politically volatile Kitty and Robert.
Denzel Whitaker, 19, was cast as Carter - Justin's new lab partner - for several episodes as Justin attempted medical school.
Gilles Marini joined the show as Luc Laurent, an artist Sarah meets in France and who eventually follows her home to Pasadena. He was first confirmed for a five episode arc before joining as a permanent part of the Walker tribe.
It was announced that Rob Lowe would be leaving the series at the end of the fourth season; the reason he gave was that he felt "underutilized". It was speculated that he would move to a recurring character and not be killed off, a theory supposedly first supported by the news that the character Alec Tyler who caused problems between Robert and Kitty in the previous season was set to return. However, after lengthy coverage and confirmation that Lowe would leave the series, his injury and subsequent death ended the season and began the next.
The show sought out actors to play certain characters at younger ages for what were first planned as double flashback episodes to air in the second half of the season. Roles for the 1973 scenes were to include William Walker at 33, Nora Walker at 28 and Holly Harper at 21. The 1986 scenes included Sarah Walker at 20, Kitty Walker at 18, Tommy Walker at 16, Kevin Walker at 14 and a 6-yr old Justin.Brothers & Sisters Spoilers: A Double Flashback Episode, TV Fanatic, January 12, 2010 Ultimately, only the 1986 scenes were utilized, featuring the 5 children and Sally Field as a young Nora (although mainly heard and seen in shadow only), in a storyline that revealed a long-hidden family secret about Kevin accidentally causing a friend's paralysis, and Nora and Holly in partnership trying to fend off a hostile takeover from Dennis York, William's former "enforcer" who attempted to blackmail Nora.
Main Dave Annable as Justin Walker Maxwell Perry Cotton as Cooper Whedon Kerris Dorsey as Paige Whedon Sally Field as Nora Walker Calista Flockhart as Kitty Walker Balthazar Getty as Tommy Walker Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Walker Luke Grimes as Ryan Lafferty Rob Lowe as Robert McCallister Luke Macfarlane as Scotty Wandell Matthew Rhys as Kevin Walker Ron Rifkin as Saul Holden Emily VanCamp as Rebecca Harper Patricia Wettig as Holly Harper
Recurring and notable guest stars Gilles Marini as Luc Laurent Sarah Jane Morris as Julia Walker Ken Olin as David Caplan Daniel and David Oshionebo as Evan Walker-McCallister Marion Ross as Ida Holden Tom Skerritt as William Walker Denzel Whitaker as Carter Anna Wood as young Sarah Walker Cody Longo as young Tommy Walker Kasey Campbell as young Kevin Walker Kay Panabaker as young Kitty Walker Dylan Thomas Larsen as young Justin Walker
Storylines
Nora Nora begins to date a younger man, Simon, an oncologist who volunteers at her cancer shelter - however Sarah and Kevin become suspicious after they discover he was sued twice as a doctor and believe he had his license taken away. After Nora gives him a sizable amount of money, he apparently loses interest in her and tells her he has to travel for a few weeks. Upon his return, Sarah tries to convince her mother that Simon is up to no good, but it turns out Nora is already aware of this and hands him over to the police. Nora also spends time taking care of Kitty as she, along with her husband Robert and son Evan, move in with Nora during her cancer treatments. Dennis York, an old associate of William's, reappears and blackmails Nora with a secret she has been keeping that could tear apart her family. He agrees not to reveal this secret if she convinces her children to sell their shares in Ojai to him. While trying to talk her children into agreeing, Nora brings Tommy home to talk to Sarah, who is most against selling the company. Nora eventually reveals that she and William had been paying off the family of a young boy who became paralyzed after a fight with Kevin.
She and Holly also investigate York's reasons behind wanting Ojai when the company is in such financial trouble and believe the answers lie in land that William purchased called Narrow Lake, which is later revealed to be an anagram of Nora Walker. In the episode "Lights Out", Nora and Sarah discover that William was planning on building Nora a house on Narrow Lake.
Nora keeps secretly drilling at Narrow Lake, despite Sarah being skeptical. It's revealed that beneath Narrow Lake lies a water main, and now Ojai will become a water company.
Kevin & Scotty Kevin and Scotty hope for a baby and decide to look into surrogacy. They continually disagree on the ways in which to approach it, especially when it comes to decisions involving their surrogate, Michelle. Scotty learns his father had an affair and is divorcing his mother. Soon after, Scotty must leave his job, as his restaurant hits financial trouble and must be closed down.
After Robert decides to leave office after his term ends, Kevin becomes unemployed and takes some time to decide what he wants to do with his life. He discover that when Kevin was a teenager and struggling to accept he was gay, he started a fight with a boy, Aaron, who tried to kiss him, resulting in him falling off a platform at Ojai. Although William and Nora told Kevin that Aaron was fine, it is revealed in "Time After Time" that Aaron is in fact paralyzed, and William and Nora have been paying his family ever since. This creates a massive strain in Kevin's relationship with his mother, although they begin to re-bond on his birthday. Kevin and Scotty also discover their surrogate is pregnant.
In the episode "Love All", Scotty and Saul begin to make plans to open their own restaurant, while Kevin begins to feel unhappy with being unemployed. He tells Scotty to go forward with the restaurant while he figures out his purpose.
In the season finale, Scotty is hosting a dinner with the family revealing his new menu. While preparing in the kitchen, Saul discovers that an old partner of his is living with AIDS. Scotty and Kevin tell Saul that they get tested every year and that he should, too. Saul is defensive because he hasn't been sexually active in years and feels that he doesn't need to. Yet, Saul gets tested, and while waiting for the results, he blows up at Scotty and Kevin. He tells them that when he was growing up, the world was a lot less accepting of his lifestyle. Later on, with Nora by his side, Saul calls for his results and tells her that he's negative, and that he'll be okay. In the final car crash scene, after Kevin sees that Scotty is okay, he goes to Saul to see if he's all right. Saul has blood on his hands and face, but tells Kevin not to come closer, that he can't come closer and touch him, implying that he is HIV positive.
Kitty & Robert Kitty and Robert's marriage is still damaged from the events of the last year; however, after Kitty discovers she has stage 3 lymphoma, their relationship begins to heal. Robert, supported by Kitty, continues to run for governor as she begins chemotherapy. Shortly before Justin and Rebecca's wedding, Kitty goes for an MRI scan that reveals that the chemotherapy has not worked and the tumors have increased both in size and quantity. At first, she lies to Robert and insists that the results will not be ready until after the wedding; however, she collapses during the ceremony and is taken into the ER, where it's discovered she has a clot on her lung and the cancer is becoming more aggressive. The doctors inform her that her only real chance is to undergo a bone marrow transplant and she must look to her siblings to find a match. The only match is Ryan, who initially refuses. Later, he appears at the hospital and agrees to donate his bone marrow, because he does not want Evan to grow up with an absent parent like him. The transplant is a success, and Kitty enters remission.
Robert agrees to drop his gubernatorial campaign at the same time that Kitty begins talking to Buffy, an old friend, about returning to a life in politics. After Kitty tells Robert, he thinks she should run for his seat. They put the decision to a family vote. After some initial hesitation from Kevin, who is unsure of his future in the job, they all agree that she should run.
Toward to end of the season, Robert begins collecting evidence against a politician named Stanton and gains the suspicion of Kevin. Although Robert promises he is doing nothing dangerous or unethical, once Stanton catches on to what Robert is up to, Stanton threatens to ruin Kitty's career if Robert goes ahead with his information.
Kitty begins campaigning, bringing Nora and Sarah along. Robert has taped proof of Stanton earning money off the backs of American soldiers. He refuses to release the tapes because Stanton threatened Kitty, but he will keep them safe. Meanwhile, Robert speaks to Justin secretly and gives him the key to his safety deposit box. An envelope is inside. Robert tells Justin that if anything happens to him, he should give the key to Kitty and she'll decide what to do with it. Justin notices a certain medicine that Robert is taking and it looks serious.
Lies about Kitty end up on the Internet. They said Kitty was campaigning in a private jet paid for by the tax payers, and that her wig cost $4,300, which is unnervingly accurate.
At dinner at the Ojai House, Justin confronts Robert about all the secrecy and his medication. Robert says that he's been having more complications with his heart. Justin feels like he can't keep all of this a secret. So Robert asks for the key back because he can't trust Justin. Before Robert gets the key, they're interrupted for dinner. At dinner, Robert starts feeling dizzy and asks for an ambulance. At the hospital, Robert finally tells Kitty what he's been up to. On the car ride home, Kitty tells him that he should release the tapes to get at Stanton.
In the final scene, Kitty and Robert's car hits a truck. Kitty is okay, but Robert is hurt badly. She calls for Justin, but Robert tells Justin to go help Holly and that he'll wait for the ambulance. Robert is fading, and Kitty tells him to talk to her. He tells her that she was right about his being afraid that he couldn't keep up with Evan after his heart attack. He tells Kitty how strong she was when she held Evan in his arms. Robert begins to fade, and then he stops talking and it ends with him in a coma.
Justin & Rebecca