Families can be complicated …
February 6, 2022 4:28 PM Subscribe
I’m looking for television episodes featuring complex sibling relationships - particularly dynamics where one sibling takes the fall for another.
Thank you!
I can't tell you the specific episodes at this point, but one of the reasons why I stopped watching "Switched at Birth," a show I loved, was because they got Bay to take the fall for Daphne committing crimes so she could still (presumably, potentially) become a doctor in the future. It went on for quite some time, though, I don't think that was a one episode thing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:49 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:49 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Friday Night Lights season 4-5; I won’t spoil it in case someone’s watching for the first time but there’s a subplot where one sibling goes to jail to enable another to fix their life.
posted by kapers at 5:05 PM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by kapers at 5:05 PM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
Mare of Eastown
posted by effluvia at 5:11 PM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 5:11 PM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
“The Other Two” on HBO is a comedic take on complicated sibling relationships.
posted by ejs at 5:11 PM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by ejs at 5:11 PM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
Not a specific episode, but, Six Feet Under delves into sibling relationships quite a bit.
posted by scantee at 5:45 PM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by scantee at 5:45 PM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
You Can Count on Me with Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 5:59 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 5:59 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
The new Jack Reacher on Amazon Prime. This is done through flashbacks and is revealed across a number of episodes.
posted by Bunglegirl at 6:03 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Bunglegirl at 6:03 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dexter
posted by sevensnowflakes at 6:26 PM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by sevensnowflakes at 6:26 PM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Fleabag - especially the first episode of season 2.
posted by fancyoats at 6:42 PM on February 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by fancyoats at 6:42 PM on February 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
I feel like this is pretty much the entirety of supernatural, although whether you count it as "one of them takes the fall for another" depends on how exactly you define that. There are certainly many instances (especially in the earlier seasons) where one of them is sacrificing themselves for the other.
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:16 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:16 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ozark has a lot of sibling entanglement among the parents and the kids among many of the characters.
posted by effluvia at 8:44 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by effluvia at 8:44 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've recommended it many times but Casual is all about the relationship between an adult brother and sister (and her daughter). There is a lot of mutual support, but there are also disagreements and throwing each other under the bus, and taking the fall for other people's actions. Now, it's not in a big go-to-jail or get-killed-for way, but more everyday ways.
posted by sardonyx at 10:15 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by sardonyx at 10:15 PM on February 6, 2022
Outside In - not a TV show, but a movie now streaming on Netflix. Directed by Lynn Shelton, with Edie Falco and Jay Duplass.
posted by tomjoadsghost at 11:15 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by tomjoadsghost at 11:15 PM on February 6, 2022
Succession.
posted by nantucket at 2:25 AM on February 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by nantucket at 2:25 AM on February 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Lots of this in Shameless!
posted by somedaycatlady at 3:47 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by somedaycatlady at 3:47 AM on February 7, 2022
In the Friends episode "The One with the Boobies", Phoebe dates a psychiatrist called Roger who everyone hates because he analyses them all, which leads to this famous outburst from Ross:
Roger:
Maybe you wanted your marriage with Carol to fail.
Ross:
No! Why would I... why? No. Why?
Roger:
Siblings. You fail at something so your sibling will look better in the eyes of your parents.
Ross:
I don't think that Monica's failures...
Monica:
Oh, so I'm a failure now, is that it? I'm a bigger failure than you, is that right?
Ross:
Hey, I married a lesbian to make you look good!
posted by underclocked at 6:26 AM on February 7, 2022
Roger:
Maybe you wanted your marriage with Carol to fail.
Ross:
No! Why would I... why? No. Why?
Roger:
Siblings. You fail at something so your sibling will look better in the eyes of your parents.
Ross:
I don't think that Monica's failures...
Monica:
Oh, so I'm a failure now, is that it? I'm a bigger failure than you, is that right?
Ross:
Hey, I married a lesbian to make you look good!
posted by underclocked at 6:26 AM on February 7, 2022
I don't remember either of them taking a fall for the other but the relationship between Jimmy/Saul and Chuck on Better Call Saul is pretty complex.
posted by jabes at 7:12 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by jabes at 7:12 AM on February 7, 2022
Jane the Virgin features several siblings that take the fall for each other in various ways (including secret twins in telenovella style).
Grace and Frankie features both their grown children in various states of support/confrontation depending on the episode.
Both of these are generally comedies.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:33 AM on February 7, 2022
Grace and Frankie features both their grown children in various states of support/confrontation depending on the episode.
Both of these are generally comedies.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:33 AM on February 7, 2022
The Righteous Gemstones is practically nothing BUT this.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 8:58 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by overeducated_alligator at 8:58 AM on February 7, 2022
The recent remake of One Day at a Time includes a lot of complicated sibling dynamics--I don't have a specific episode to recommend, but the whole show is just fantastic.
posted by dizziest at 8:59 AM on February 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dizziest at 8:59 AM on February 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
In Homeland seasons 7 and 8, Carrie Mathison's dependable sister Maggie basically (relucantly) takes on the parenting of Carrie's young daughter Frannie, because Carrie's so erratic and addicted to espionage. Apologies, I can't remember which eps show this best but might be worth a dig.
posted by penguin pie at 10:06 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by penguin pie at 10:06 AM on February 7, 2022
Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) features two twin teenage sisters and is good fun. Sadly cancelled and ends on a cliffhanger after one season, though.
posted by carolr at 11:09 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by carolr at 11:09 AM on February 7, 2022
Breaking Bad, this one episode with Jesse and his brother
posted by watrlily at 4:45 PM on February 7, 2022
posted by watrlily at 4:45 PM on February 7, 2022
I feel like this has happened multiple times on "The Goldbergs." The latest episode featured the older brother getting upset when he realized his relationship with his sister wasn't all lovey-dovey like some of his friends, but based more on mutual teasing and faux-irritation.
posted by tacodave at 6:31 PM on February 7, 2022
posted by tacodave at 6:31 PM on February 7, 2022
In The Untamed (available on Netflix) the three Yunmeng Siblings have very complex relationships. There is surrogate parenting, jealousy, possessiveness, protectiveness, violence and multiple instances of one sibling taking the fall for another in the most extreme way possible.
This is threaded throughout the 50 episodes though, so not a single episode comes to mind.
posted by Julnyes at 8:52 AM on February 8, 2022
This is threaded throughout the 50 episodes though, so not a single episode comes to mind.
posted by Julnyes at 8:52 AM on February 8, 2022
If you are willing to watch an entire series, the Tahani / Kamilah Al-Jamil storyline in The Good Place ticks all your boxes.
There are specific episodes that focus on Tahani and Kamilah, but the show itself isn't one that you can dip in and out of--it's very plotty, and veers off into different directions and an isolated episode just won't make sense without the scaffolding of what preceded it.
Episode 5 of Season 1 (Chapter 5: Category 55 Emergency Doomsday Crisis) sets up the family dynamic.
Episode 7 of Season 3 (Chapter 33: A Fractured Inheritance) digs into the relationship and involves Tahani's struggle to take a fall for her sister before she starts to truly understand her sister.
posted by creepygirl at 5:55 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are specific episodes that focus on Tahani and Kamilah, but the show itself isn't one that you can dip in and out of--it's very plotty, and veers off into different directions and an isolated episode just won't make sense without the scaffolding of what preceded it.
Episode 5 of Season 1 (Chapter 5: Category 55 Emergency Doomsday Crisis) sets up the family dynamic.
Episode 7 of Season 3 (Chapter 33: A Fractured Inheritance) digs into the relationship and involves Tahani's struggle to take a fall for her sister before she starts to truly understand her sister.
posted by creepygirl at 5:55 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is more or less the premise for the Netflix series Bloodline.
posted by bdk3clash at 11:47 AM on February 9, 2022
posted by bdk3clash at 11:47 AM on February 9, 2022
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posted by Melismata at 4:42 PM on February 6, 2022