Written by Julia Brownell
Directed by Allison Liddi-Brown
Airs Thursdays at 10pm EST on NBC
This week, on Parenthood: Julia accepts some blame, Crosby eavesdrops, and Sarah makes a choice
Parenthood knocked it out of the park last week by focusing in on the difficult transitions happening for Julia, Sydney and Victor, and Amy. It was somewhat of a respite, with the various Bravermans coming to each other’s aid and generally being the best versions of themselves. This week that break is extended somewhat, with each of the main storylines in a holding pattern. While the episode is entertaining, it’s far from essential and indicative of the growing pains present this season, with the series that so excellently adapted to a shorter episode order last year straining to expand back to its full 22 episode order.
The most successful scenes this week are unsurprisingly those that tie most directly in with last season’s fantastically executed cancer arc. While Kristina’s health will never be a sure thing, and it’s highly unlikely the writers would have her relapse while so much else is going on, it’s still nice to see her get a clean bill of health. Monica Potter and Peter Krause nail their scenes both in the hospital and at home, so much so that it’s a drag when the second half of the episode has them doubling down on their hair-brained (and doomed to succeed) plan to open a charter school. Kristina’s all-too-relatable battle with cancer grounded their experiences throughout season four; this year, she’s run for mayor out of the blue and they’ve decided to start a school. The tonal whiplash between these two directions is extreme and a significant indicator of the differing strengths and weaknesses of seasons four and five.
Zachary Knighton, the latest of the incredibly talented Happy Endings cast to pop up in a (presumably) recurring role elsewhere, is delightfully cast as the free-thinking Mr. Knight. One can easily imagine Knight as a toned-down, more earnest version of Dave Rose (even down to the wardrobe- who wants to bet Knight has a scarf rack somewhere in his house?), providing an entertaining meta-narrative for Happy Endings fans and putting Kristina and Adam’s decision to go forward with the school in context. Knighton keeps Knight just this side of comedic, however, fitting in well with the world without making his Inspiring Maverick Educator overly self-serious. Parenthood’s investment in this school storyline is rather wearying, but at least we’ll get to have some fun with Knighton in the meanwhile.
We have a bit of fun with Crosby as well this week, who makes some good points in his conversation with Camille until he loses the upper hand with his “selfish” comment and gets a deserved verbal smackdown. His scene with Jasmine, listening at the grate, is entertaining and very fitting; Crosby may be self-centered (though his assertion that Sarah’s the most selfish Braverman is definitely the quote of the week), but his immediate and accurate read of the Camille/Zeek conflict, once he finally becomes aware of it, and his empathy towards Jasmine shows that he’s not completely clueless.
More frustrating is Sarah, who defines, then discards her relationship with Carl lest she become distracted from… what exactly? The notion that Sarah overly shapes her life and career(s) based on the men in her life is not a new one, and it’s great to see the character recognize this, but any moral victory from Sarah choosing her work over her romantic life is undercut by it being another love interest who prompts her to do so. Instead of Sarah choosing responsibility over frivolity, this feels decidedly like her choosing Hank over Carl. That’s not to say Hank isn’t right in what he says, but the undercurrent of their attraction muddies the water significantly. And why can’t Sarah date Carl when he gets back? With the Amber drama this season, Sarah’s spent very little time in self-reflection and even less striving to build her photography business. Her Year of Sarah declaration comes out of the blue- if this is to be a new thread for the character, great. If she’s back to a Will They/Won’t They with Hank in two weeks, not so much.
As for Julia, her inevitable forced interaction with Ed is well handled. Directly identifying Ed as the root of her marital problems, as opposed to one instigating factor of many, is an overdue indicator of Joel and Julia’s miscommunication and conflict- it’s not the kiss that prompted Joel to leave, it’s that he felt she lied to him about it. Hopefully the end of the episode this week shows a recognition of this on her part and dinner truly is just dinner (if we ever did not need a Take 2 on a storyline, it’s Julia/Ed), meaning in the coming weeks Julia will finally understand her role in their problems and be in a position to prompt Joel to open up. The biggest flaw with this storyline has been the decision to keep Joel’s thought process completely internal. If we are finally let into his head, perhaps the writers can salvage what has felt all season like a very forced and specifically arced journey to (and presumably back from) the brink of divorce.
That leaves Amber and Drew- looks like a smooch from Drew’s roommate is all Amber needs to knock her out of her post-Ryan funk. That party may have looked ridiculous, but at least it seems Amber may be getting her mojo back soon. And Drew may be stupid for chasing after the proven-unworthy Natalie (her behavior in “Promises” was just atrocious) but teenagers are often stupid, so it’s perhaps not overly surprising. Like many of the storylines this week, Amber and Drew’s moments feel very much like the show treading water- hopefully we’ll be on to the next chapters in their lives, and those of the entire Braverman clan’s, soon.
What did you think of this episode? Who do you think is the most selfish Braverman? Anyone else surprised to see the second Parenthood/About a Boy crossover (the ice luge)? Julia’s dinner with Ed really was just dinner, right? Post your thoughts below!
Kate Kulzick