Brothers & Sisters: Balthazar Getty Returns

ABC/SCOTT GARFIELD

He's baaa-aack. Balthazar Getty's increasingly bad-boy character Tommy Walker is coming back to Brothers & Sisters for the big season finale, which is filming this week, according to sources.

As reported earlier, Getty will be taking leave from the hit ABC series after this Sunday's episode, in which Tommy (recently arrested for embezzlement) and his brothers make a run for the border.

So does this mean Getty is back on Brothers & Sisters for good? And what about his onscreen wife, Sarah Jane Morris?

According to insiders, Getty is still not expected to return as a series regular next season; however, he should appear in at least a few episodes. I'm told that's also the case for Sarah Jane, who plays his better half, Julia.

We caught up with the lovely Sarah Jane herself at last night's EcoStiletto Green Girl's Night Out for Dress for Success, and she said this of next season:

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"I don't have anything on the books right now, but I don't think the show has even been officially picked up for season four yet. I'm sure it will get picked up...but they've had closure with my character. Everyone says 'You'll be back, you'll be back,' but they gave me a nice send-off.  My last episode was titled 'Julia' which was a supernice gesture."

Hmmm, what kind of "closure" is in store for Julia? "I can say that she considers moving home to her parents in Arizona," Sarah Jane teases.

As for how Balthazar's Tommy reappears in the finale, she says, "The family goes to him. I can't say where."

Meanwhile, for you fans who saw Sunday's episode, with the huge, riveting blowout scene between Sally Field (Nora) and Tommy, some interesting scoop: A source who was there on the set during taping tells me that Sally was supposed to only fake slap Balthazar; however he told her, right before they shot the scene, to go ahead and really slap him, and she did. Hence, the legitimately shocked expression on the face of Dave Annable.

Stand by for more scoop on Brothers & Sisters in the next Spoiler Chat, and don't miss this Sunday's big Mexican adventure, where Tommy Walker once again gets the daylights smacked out of him, along with other craziness you'll just have to see for yourself.