The simmering family tensions explode when Hetty attempts to make a withdrawal from the King Family Trust to pay for Roger's party and finds out that the money is gone. Alec has to tell the family about guaranteeing Amos Spry's loan and predictably, Hetty and Roger lose it, ganging up to upbraid Alec unmercifully over his actions. His argument that the money is only temporarily out of the account- until Amos sells his crop- falls on deaf ears.
A further crisis ensues when the cows are found in distress; it turns out that Andrew, trying to rush through his chores, has been using the new milking machine on them. It malfunctioned and the cows weren't properly milked, so now are suffering with distended udders. Alec saves the cows but, already under a lot of stress, has sharp words for Andrew about shirking his responsibilities.
If we compare the two brothers, however, Alec is clearly the better man. Roger is a successful geologist, but he's selfish and immature. To further his career, he's abdicated his responsibilities as a father, leaving the care of his young son to Alec. And not only does he not feel any gratitude to his brother for this, he has the nerve to get angry when Alec- who obviously knows Andrew better than Roger does at this point- suggests that the boy wants and needs to spend more time with his father. And when he gets angry, he falls back on his tried and true method of avoiding responsibility: victimhood. Due to a young Alec accidentally dropping his baby brother, Roger was left with a pronounced limp. He casts this up to Alec, who obviously still blames himself and feels so guilty about it that he mostly just lets Roger's bad behaviour slide rather than calling him on it. So many people do this- having experienced a truly unfortunate or tragic incident in their past, they use it to excuse their present bad behaviour. But claiming perpetual victimhood in order to escape personal responsibility is no way to live. Of course, Roger is abetted in this by Hetty who pampers and praises him constantly, feeding his already inflated ego. Biased towards those with higher education, she defers to Roger in all things, including issues about which he has no practical knowledge. When Roger decrees that the farm needs a milking machine Hetty backs him up, completely disregarding Alec who has been successfully running the farm for close to twenty years. Roger the geologist knows nothing about farming, but Hetty still values his opinions more because he has more formal education than Alec.
This is not to say that Alec is always right, or never makes mistakes. Clearly it was wrong of him to guarantee Amos' debt with the King Family account; even if nothing had gone wrong, the money in the account belongs to all of the King siblings- Hetty, Olivia, and Roger as well. He should not have put it at risk without consulting them. But that's the type of man Alec is: generous to a fault, he doesn't hesitate to help a friend and neighbour in need, even when it could cost him. It's why he was willing to wear himself ragged, working on the Spry farm as well as his own, why he would unhesitatingly take in his nephew- and niece- and be a surrogate father to them. It would never occur to him to do otherwise. The difference is, as a family man and farmer, hard work, responsibility, and self-sacrifice are a way of life. Getting someone else to shoulder his burdens and take the blame for his failings is not an option, nor would he want it to be.
All in all, a very good episode with some fine character building moments in it.