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We Are Brothers: A Fond Farewell to Enlisted

We Are Brothers: A Fond Farewell to Enlisted

Enlisted S01E1

Despite its near universal critical acclaim and passionate and vocal cult following, Enlisted will wrap up its first and only season this Sunday evening (7pm ET on FOX), barring a last minute reprieve from another interested network. In what has been a dire season for network comedies—only five freshman series out of at least 20 are returning this fall—Enlisted stands out not for its laugh out loud humor, its unique military setting, or its diverse and talented cast, though any one of these would be enough to set it apart. Enlisted stands out for daring to be a network sitcom about siblings.

Love is everywhere on network television: forever love, unrequited love, endlessly cycling will-they/won’t-they love. There’s even been a notable uptick this year of platonic love, on shows like Elementary, Sleepy Hollow, and Mad Men, among many others. What’s sorely lacking is familial love, particularly between adult siblings; among the network comedies, this dynamic is all but nonexistent. Show after show centers around a group of twenty- or thirty-somethings, either coworkers or friends, who inevitably start pairing off, because of course, as sitcoms continually demonstrate, single characters on television who aren’t constantly seeking romantic companionship must have something wrong with them.

Yes, the brothers on Enlisted have love lives, but far more important to them, whether or not they’d all admit it, is the bond the three share. The notion that Pete, Derek, and Randy would rather spend a night out at the Claymore with each other instead of pursuing various romantic prospects is a foreign one to television, despite how true it may be to viewers’ experiences. Even stranger is the idea that these moments, those of brotherly bonding, are of paramount importance to the show.

Ben and KateSitcoms often thrive off of the narrative energy of will-they/won’t-they couplings. It’s a simple formula any number of series have utilized—no matter the setting, no matter the cast, if the characters aren’t related, a love story can at least be teased (and if you’re HBO, blood relation needn’t be a deterrent). These pairings provide romantic wish-fulfillment for the audience and choosing to center a network show on siblings takes away that story potential. Just as series are rarely interested in what happens to couples once they’ve settled into happy, supportive relationships (leading to merry-go-rounds of contrivances keeping them apart), stable, healthy sibling bonds lack easy drama. They aren’t sexy. So rather than explore this painfully underrepresented dynamic, sitcoms bring in a sibling for an episode or three to shake things up and then send them off again. Enlisted’s bucking of this trend, its insistence that yes, the Hill brothers care deeply for each other and yes, their shared background has very much shaped who they are, is refreshing and honest, and something far more shows should emulate.

Enlisted is not the first acclaimed sibling-centered show to struggle to find an audience. Just last year, Ben & Kate faded away at FOX, its core brother and sister duo lacking the UST draw of fellow FOX comedies New Girl and The Mindy Project. This beautiful and funny series took a few episodes to find its feet, but quickly distinguished itself as the most relatable and down to earth network comedy no one was watching. It lacked the hook and star power of its sister series, making it trickier to market, something the network didn’t always seem interested in doing—in a puzzling move, lead Nat Faxon’s Oscar win last year didn’t even prompt FOX to air the final three episodes of the series, which have not yet aired in the US.

Enlisted and Ben & Kate share more than a few traits, including a whimsical or quirky sense of humor, talented and underappreciated supporting and guest casts, and strong chemistry between the leads, but perhaps the most significant thread they share is that both series are about people who genuinely like, as well as love, each other. There’s no conflict for conflict’s sake, no incessant bickering masking deeper emotions, and no manipulations. These are shows about siblings who are also friends and who support each other as best they can. They stand in stark contrast to the series fueling the only network* that seems to care about siblings: the CW.

*Parenthood on NBC is the exception that proves the rule

Supernatural S09E08The Vampire Diaries and The Originals both prominently feature sibling relationships, but Enlisted’s closest parallel of the various CW series is Supernatural. Obviously as an hour-long genre serial, this show has different needs than its sitcom cousins, but despite this, the brotherly (or brother and sisterly) relationships on these shows are surprisingly similar. Like Enlisted and Ben & Kate, Supernatural is about single siblings who live and/or work together and whose relationship is of paramount importance to both of them. They shared a formative, difficult childhood with an absent father and their roles in the family as they matured have strongly formed who they are in the present. What sets the Winchesters apart from the Foxes and the Hills is that unlike the other two series, Supernatural does have a central will-they/won’t-they romance—the brothers themselves.

For several years now, Supernatural has relied on the same repetitive relationship beats for Sam and Dean. They vacillate between steadfastly loyal support and for-your-own-good betrayal, stuck in this same pattern because without angst-ridden conflict between the brothers, the writers are at a loss of how to use their leads. And it’s hard to blame them—for a significant portion of the audience, the tempestuous relationship between Sam and Dean is the highlight of the series and nine seasons in, change is not only difficult, it’s dangerous.

The overwrought dramatics of the Winchester brothers may have helped Supernatural find, or at least maintain, success, but their relationship, entertaining as it often is, only puts into stark contrast the honesty and relatability of Enlisted’s respectful brothers, who may not always get along, but who are always there for each other. Television seems very comfortable with siblings working with and then scheming against each other in the hour-long, nighttime soap format. It’s a shame viewers, and networks, aren’t supporting the few shows willing to explore the lighter and happier, but just as powerful, side of adult sibling relationships.

To end on a personal note, I have a big family (comparatively speaking), whom I love dearly. They have always been an important part of my life, and while it’s certainly not the case for everyone, or perhaps even most, I doubt I’m alone when I say my best friend is my sister. Family is incredibly important to me and it’s been wonderful to watch a show this year with characters that care as much for their fictional siblings as I do for mine. This is the aspect of Enlisted I will miss the most, it’s what I most miss about Ben & Kate, and it’s the element most sorely lacking in television’s varying depictions of adult, twenty- and thirty-something life. Thank you to the teams over at Enlisted and Ben & Kate before it, for presenting these underrepresented relationships with such humor, warmth, and care.

Kate Kulzick

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