Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'Parenthood' - 'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back': The junk food pyramid

Kristina fights for Max's vending machine, Mark and Hank fight over Sarah, and Julia makes a decision on Victor

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Jan 16, 2013 11:47 AM

Lauren Graham as Sarah Braverman in "Parenthood."

Credit: NBC

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A review of last night's "Parenthood" coming up just as soon as I calculate to kiss another man's fiancee...

We only have one more episode to go in this shorter-than-average "Parenthood" season,(*) and "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" lived up to its title by moving some storylines closer to resolution while leaving others to be dealt with next week. But it was also one of the weaker outings of what's been an outstanding season to date.

(*) As I noted last week at press tour, NBC's executives are understandably pleased with the creative state of "Parenthood," and my guess is that the ratings for "Smash" will put into even sharper perspective how well this show has been doing in the timeslot. I feel reasonably confident about renewal, but wouldn't be surprised if it's another short season like this one, in part because a show with a cast this big is not cheap to make.

Adam and Kristina were mostly in the margins (I can't remember the last time we had an hour with so little of Peter Krause, though it may have been tied to him directing the previous episode), and what little screen time they got was used to pay off the vending machine subplot in less-than-effective fashion. In one corner, you have the PTA moms, who were so cartoonish that I'm surprised we didn't learn that Marleise had joined their ranks, just to screw with Adam's family. In another, you have a resolution that's supposed to seem uplifting, but didn't really work because Kristina didn't get Max the exact thing he wanted — when we know just how difficult it is for Max to compromise on his obsessions — by getting a vending machine designed to give out only healthy snacks. (This also doesn't explain where the Skittles came from, nor why Max's classmates would be wasting their hard-earned candy to make it rain on him.)

The Ryan story also went for a happy ending that didn't sit quite right, and was a case of "Parenthood" reaching for a feel-good ending rather than earning it in the way it usually does. Yes, Joel is a good guy and something of a soft touch, but I thought the earlier scene with him and Ryan felt honest about how Joel would react to this guy — whom he didn't want to hire in the first place — coming back after the way they left things. A bag of Amber-suggested donuts and a few compliments don't seem like the kind of things that would so easily change his mind.

Meanwhile, Sarah Braverman's position as the Kelly Taylor of "Parenthood" continues as we go round and round and round again on the corners of this love triangle. At this point, I just want it to be over, preferably with Sarah pulling the "I choose me" move — not because I'm tired of either Ray Romano or Jason Ritter on their own, but because I would just love for the show to go through an extended period of Sarah stories that had nothing to do with her finding and keeping a boyfriend.

The episode's best scene involved a Braverman combo the show doesn't go to as often as it probably should, in younger siblings Crosby and Julia. Crosby and Adam work together and are the boys, so that's a natural pairing, and the writers like using Sarah as a sound board for all of the other three, but we know that Crosby and Julia viewed themselves as a team growing up in the shadows of Adam and Sarah. A scene like the one outside the restaurant, where Crosby found a way to make Julia feel better about the adoption and her relationship with Victor was excellent, and also a reminder of how well those two characters can work together.

As for Crosby's own family issues, this is another situation of "Parenthood" struggling to build anything on the rotten foundation that is Crosby and Jasmine's relationship. Even when you factor in what an untrustworthy man-child Crosby was back in the pilot, there's just no getting around the fact that Jasmine hid Jabbar's existence from his father for years, and that virtually every parenting conflict those two have boils down to, "Well, we have one way of doing it that we did for years while we weren't telling you that you had a son." And as a result, even a conflict that's supposed to be complicated and nuanced winds up making Jasmine (and to a lesser extent, Renee, who didn't know that Jasmine had never told Crosby) come across as the clear bad guy.

Not such a great hour overall, but some nice individual moments. Looking forward to the finale. Not looking forward to no more "Parenthood" for the forseeable future (but hopefully not forever).

What did everybody else think?

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: Parenthood, Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Dax Shepard, Erika Christensen, Monica Potter, Sam Jaeger, Mae Whitman, Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Jason Katims, Alan Sepinwall

angrypanda

Hey drew what do you think needs to happen in order for Parenthood to come back next year...?
January 16, 2013 at 12:57PM EST Reply to Comment
- angrypanda Alan* Sorry, had a huge brain fart..
  January 16, 2013 at 12:58PM EST
Lepidoptera

The powerful thing about an abortion plot is it gives you not only the opportunity for a riveting hour of TV, but a chance to go further and deeper by showing the lasting impact of the decision on the characters and their families. Or not. Bye, bye baby fetus, don't let the non-continuing-story-arc hit you in the tail on the way out! Like Sarah's blossoming writing career, Dwayne Wayne's multi-million dollar offer, and telling Haddie an unforgivable lie, I will do my best to forget this ever happened, as it clearly does nothing to enhance the only storyline the writers seem truly committed to: whether or not there is a vending machine at a middle school.

I love the fact that there is no attempt to make the product placement slyly manipulative on Parenthood. Instead we are nearly smacked in the face with the garbage they are peddling. Last week it was the young Roberto Alomar declaring that BURGER KING PANCAKES™ are ten times better than homemade! This week it was a shaper-of-young-minds interrupting, "Speaking of healthy options, I would kill for a DIET PEPSI™." Next week, I fully expect from Zeke: "Sarah, this situation with you, Hank, and Mark really reminds me of the shape of my very favorite zesty snack treats. Why don't we sit down and discuss it over some COOL RANCH DORITOS™?"

I thought it was very appropriate that Julia came around to committing to Victor and his adoption NOT because he showed her any affection, NOT because he apologized, NOT because they actually began communicating with their foster son in any way, but because Crosby reminded her, "everyone loves you!" and suddenly she remembered she was filled with enough self-adoration that what Victor felt about her really wasn't pertinent. When things seemed especially tense with Joel, I found myself wondering: if Joel divorces Julia, would he be forced to go back to his maiden name, or would he still be allowed to go by Braverman?

Lastly, what a powerful reminder that Ray Romano is an incredible actor. The fact that he was able to keep it together and not burst out laughing when Mark delivered his painful, borderline-illiterate "I am going to be a classy guy that you weren't being!" speech was astounding.
January 16, 2013 at 12:58PM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall I say this in all sincerity, Lepidoptera: thank you for your continued presence in these reviews. Usually, when commenters pop up each week just to announce that they dislike a show, it's annoying and attention-seeking. *This* is how you do it: by consistently articulating the reasons you dislike the show in a clear and amusing manner. I like Parenthood a lot more than you do, but I do not begrudge you your disappointment, nor your venue for expressing it.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:02PM EST
- SlackerInc What abortion plot? I am racking my brain, but I seriously do not remember anyone having an abortion on this show even though I have watched every episode.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:32PM EST
- Ana Talk about sweeping it under the rug from one week to the next. I don't think Drew even appeared in this episode.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:37PM EST
- Gigi Mr. Sepinwall, YOU are a classy guy!
  
  January 16, 2013 at 1:40PM EST
- SlackerInc Oh wow, ok...I just looked at my DVR and discovered that I missed an episode! This is one of my very favourite shows, so I guess it's jut been a busy time and the two weeks slipped by.
  
  How weird is it though that in this normally very serialised show, I could watch this week's entire episode and not cotton to having missed anything? There wasn't the slightest hint until I read this comment section.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:45PM EST
- Lepidoptera Gigi is right, true class, Alan. You are a pro's pro and I appreciate a forum where dissenting opinions are welcome. I am a loyal reader.
  January 16, 2013 at 2:31PM EST
- Duncan Always look forward ro Lepidoptera's comments because they're hilarious, but also because I usually agree with everything. Keep it up!
  January 16, 2013 at 3:01PM EST
- Jaxemer11 Hilarious. I clearly like the show a lot better than you, but I can't disagree with anything you said.
  January 17, 2013 at 1:19AM EST
- ghoti I have to admit, I read Lepidoptera's reviews of Parenthood before I read Alan's.
  January 17, 2013 at 2:38AM EST
Steve

"(This also doesn't explain where the Skittles came from, nor why Max's classmates would be wasting their hard-earned candy to make it rain on him.)"

Yeah, that ending was kind of terrible.

I agree that the Crosby-Julia scene was the highlight. Back when Julia had an anxiety attack in the kitchen, I wrote on here that I hoped they wouldn't just sweep that under the rug (as with issues the above commenter outlines). While the overall struggle has been a big plot point, they did ignore that aspect of it, so I'm glad they at least somewhat came back to it in the restaurant.
January 16, 2013 at 1:08PM EST Reply to Comment
- oliver Max is showered with skittles = Victor hitting game-winning HR earlier in the season
  
  Methinks that Katims and the rest of the creative team have been forced into some quick resolutions because of the shortened season's worth of episodes. Perhaps playing off that point, it was disappointing that there was ZERO follow-up this week to the Drew/girlfriend story; that disappointment will turn to anger if that subject is not addressed in the season/hopefully not series finale.
  
  Will be curious to see how Christina's cancer is dealt with next week, given that Katims had no commitment from NBC whether the show would be renewed.
  January 16, 2013 at 2:28PM EST
- pamelajaye hey! the page admits I've logged in this time! :-) Side note: Yup, loved Lepidoptera so much last week, I called a friend and read his comment (and Alan's review) to her. As for the machines, at one point someone said You can't win 'em all, but to me it was super important that Max win this one, no matter if mom had to help. Those kids voted for him because he made one (ridiculous) promise, and said Asperger's would help him keep it. I felt it was important for him to win one. (though if Kristina thinks healthy food will keep the money on campus... they should have half healthy, some healthy junk, some just junk - and that teacher should bring his own coke - no teachers' fridge?) I may be repeating myself cause the box is tiny but, in his own family, at least, they should have known this was important. The You else some really annoyed me. The snotty moms annoyed me too.
  January 16, 2013 at 8:28PM EST
amg

Yeah, this was not my favorite episode. I really enjoyed Ray Romano when he first appeared (and he continues to prove what an incredible actor he is by playing this character--so different from both ELR, and MOACA, so well) but now I just want both of these men gone as quickly as possible, I am so tired of these uninspired Sarah romance plots.

I actually thought that Crosby and Jasmine were finally going to have a breakthrough because it was so ridiculous that Jasmine made Crosby do all the talking in the "conversation" with HER mother; its her mom--she should have been the one to say the words "please stop criticizing us." Not clam up and leave Crosby to do it and then act like he was just dragging her along and she'd never minded to begin with when Renee pushed back. And again--it seems odd that Renee would not at all recognize that living with them doesn't give her the right to decide what Jabbar eats, or that she wouldn't be aware of her position as a guest in their home. Her childish "I'm going to eat dinner in my room" (taking a plate of the meal they had presumably purchased and prepared for her!) was really ridiculous. Crosby is so clearly in the right here, that any resolution other than an apology from both of them would be absurd.

The moment with Julia and Crosby was fantastic. And if they had kept it to the lower levels of adjustment issues Victor was having prior to the thrown bat/child-abuse report, would have been a good end to the story. But those were smoothed over way too quickly--and I could not understand why the adoption social worker herself acted like it had never happened and "all was going well!" That can't possibly be the moment they would be encouraged to finalize things.

And lastly--yes. The ending with the vending machines could have been so great if they'd shown that it was mostly healthy snacks, but with a few "treat" like items. For it to really just dispense apples and bananas? And the kids see Max as a king for getting that? Very strange.

Overall, felt like the show kind of dropped the ball on this one. It seems like those amazing pre-holdiay eps will remain the highlight of the season by far, but hopefully we'll go out on a higher note next week somehow.

January 16, 2013 at 1:23PM EST Reply to Comment
- Ana I was really irked by the vending machine storyline for many more reasons that I'll get into, but the healthy alternative-vending machine throws Kristina's argument out the window: kids are going to nearby convenience stores and buying candy & the school loses $. If I'm a kid who likes candy, I'm still walking across the street to buy my skittles than settle for an apple from the vending machine.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:43PM EST
- SlackerInc "[I]t seems odd that Renee would not at all recognize that living with them doesn't give her the right to decide what Jabbar eats, or that she wouldn't be aware of her position as a guest in their home."
  
  You have clearly not met my mother; in fact, from what I hear through the grapevine, you have not met most people's mothers. Consider yourself lucky if your mother is very different from this!
  
  But you are certainly right that Crosby is 100% in the right here, and that Jasmine completely fails at standing up to her mother (that scene where Crosby misunderstood Jasmine to be apologising to him, but in fact wanted an apology FROM him, was brilliant). They had Jasmine on a "rehabilitation tour" for a while, but now she's really struggling again. This is however a pretty realistic dynamic for them to portray, as a lot of people cave to their parents yet are married to people who aren't gonna have any of that.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:59PM EST
- amg Ana--absolutely! That's why I assumed that this vending machine would have a mix of healthy snacks (making them at least available) and then ALSO reasonably sized portions of treats (like mini-sized kit-kats, and small halloween sized skittles). For them to not even have that--yeah, those kids are going to the convenience store. Doesn't make a lot of sense.
  
  Slackerinc--You may be right about my lack of perspective on most mothers. I'm not terribly close with my own, but to give you a hint of the dynamic in my extended family, my devoutly catholic grandparents never said a word to my parents raising me agnostic/atheist! I was in my mid 20's before my grandfather even made the mildest comment about it to me before he died. Its a live and let live kind of family.
  
  I do think, though, that they portrayed Renee as more conscious of her position as a guest in the home when she first moved in and thanked Crosby and was generally gracious and hoping to make herself as little a bother as possible. Then in the next episode she's holding the only bathroom hostage for an hour each morning and forcing him to eat what she cooked like a child, and now she's telling them what to feed Jabbar and when to put him to bed. After they politely ask her to respect their parenting authority! Just doesn't seem to all hang together I guess, and feels a bit obvious as a device to get Jasmine and Crosby arguing.
  
  January 16, 2013 at 2:22PM EST
- SlackerInc I find it consistent with the past portrayal of Renee, and with human nature. People (like my own mother, who has a Ph.D in sociology, which I point out just to note that she is more aware than most of the pitfalls of human social interaction) can one moment give "lip service" to their not wanting to step on anyone's toes, and they know they are not the parent, yadda yadda...and then the next, they just can't help themselves. It can be extra difficult, as Crosby noted, when they don't raise their voice but just judge very calmly, so they can rationalise to themselves that their slow, measured tone of voice makes them the reasonable one.
  
  So, yeah, to me it was super realistic! I guess it's not universal, but it certainly exists and that makes it realistic (since she represents one mom, not all mothers).
  January 16, 2013 at 2:33PM EST
Theonewhoknocks

Weak overall episode, the part with Max and the vending machine was truly cringe worthy(all he cared about in the first place was skittles, why would he be happy with this compromise) but man the scene with Crosby and Julia was excellent, one of my favorites this season.
January 16, 2013 at 1:33PM EST Reply to Comment
Ana

Please no more widespread adoration for Sarah from every man she meets, works for or teachers her kids. It's hard to see what everyone finds so alluring and irresistible that they all must fall in love with her. I'd like to see Sarah experiencing unrequited love or maybe just not being in a relationship for a while, although I don't see that happening. Her character tends to float towards any man who shows her some affection (I guess that's a way of never suffering from unrequited love heartaches).
January 16, 2013 at 1:35PM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Lauren Graham is not without her charms, but at this point, it's beginning to remind me of an old stand-up routine by Franklyn Ajaye where he deconstructs the Popeye/Olive Oyl/Bluto love triangle and explains Olive's enduring appeal to both men by observing that she's the only woman in the cartoon.
  January 16, 2013 at 1:52PM EST
- SlackerInc Ha, good call Alan.
  
  I have not at all shared or even understood the hate for Sarah that a lot of commenters express; and I have not even thought she was too quick to get into relationships (there's a facile concept that floats around that people should just try to be by themselves for a while, but the reality is that most of us crave intimate relationships and if one of them ends and we don't immediately search for another, we may miss an opportunity and end up alone for a lot longer than we ever intended).
  
  However, this recycled love triangle is for the first time testing my patience. Mark ended it, he needs to man up and move on as he said he was doing. I hope Sarah very quickly acts decisively and emphatically says "hey, sorry, but I tried to save the relationship and you insisted on ending it; now I'm going to give things with Hank a chance--goodbye".
  January 16, 2013 at 2:05PM EST
- Ana Slackerinc - It's not exactly hatred, it's more frustration with her character (at least from my perspective), than hate. She doesn't seem to learn from her missteps. And while I understand what you are saying in terms of relationships for the population at large, with Sarah in particular, it just seems she uses the relationship and a man's affection as a crutch, exhibiting severe dependency issues. By jumping from one relationship to the next, is she really having feeling/love for the next person in her life or is she just jumping into bed with the next person she comes across and saying "Okay you'll do."?
  January 16, 2013 at 2:11PM EST
- SlackerInc Don't we all use relationships as crutches? I guess maybe people could just say I don't have the right attitude either, but I don't blame a woman over forty especially for going for the next guy who comes along if he's decent. (I think more often people make the mistake of being too picky.)
  
  Now, if the guy is abusive, a jerk, or a trainwreck like her addict ex, that is different. But I haven't thought any of the guys she has been shown with on the show were bad choices, not even the one played by the Baldwin brother.
  January 16, 2013 at 2:21PM EST
- oliver This whole storyline with Sarah this season makes me truly wonder how much different Katims might have portrayed this character had Maura Tierney not opted out of the role due. I can't even picture Tierney playing such a wishy-washy character, although for FWIW it feels natural with Laruen Graham doing it.
  January 16, 2013 at 2:34PM EST
- pamelajaye it's even more (amusing?) that much as Sarah can't learn, her daughter learned a lot. Like being determined not to repeat her mom's mistakes. But as for Drew, I'm still concerned (?) that mom's self-obsession kept her from noticing he was in trouble. And the fact that she abandoned her plan to Not Move during his senior year. (Remember that good goal?)
  If Mark wants her, maybe he should try playing wounded bird.
  I'd love to see her just work on her, but I admit, I just like to see Jason Ritter...
  Lauren's appealing and seems upbeat in interviews. Sarah's sorta morose, so I guess she must be an actress :-) I can't imagine Sarah going biking in Vietnam.
  As for Crosby/Jasmine/mom - it's a much more interesting story line than so many other TV dramas. I don't have people dropping dead on my doorstep weekly, no cops, no gang wars - and I don't have premium cable - so these are more real life issues that people have, and that's nice to watch. Even when you cringe, knowing Crosby's going to snap.
  January 17, 2013 at 1:32PM EST
- SlackerInc Agree completely that this show's willingness to tell little stories about realistic issues is what makes it (intermittently) great.
  January 17, 2013 at 1:37PM EST
- pamelajaye On ER, Tierney was in the middle of at least triangle, maybe two. And that's despite the fact that she wasn't the most upbeat character on the show, herself. Of course this doesn't mean that you are wrong - even the writers view of the actress could have changed her characters storylines.
  January 17, 2013 at 1:41PM EST
SlackerInc

I agree with almost all the criticisms of this episode. However, the "almost" comes because I thought the Joel-Ryan dynamic was very well handled. Initially I cringed when Amber egged Ryan on to be more persistent, because he seemed if anything too dogged the first time and I thought this would just be uncomfortable. Seemed like terrible advice from Amber.

But Ryan went about it in just the right way. He acknowledged having approached Joel all wrong the first time, apologised for the difficulties he had caused, thanked Joel for the opportunity, and--crucially--stated that he was not asking for the job back (even though he obviously still wanted it back) and gave Joel a gift.

As Robert Cialdini observed almost thirty years ago in his brilliant book Influence, giving a gift, even something small, invokes the powerful dynamic of reciprocity. Ryan magnified this in my view (although this is not in the literature AFAIK) by stating he wasn't asking for his job back, and not putting Joel on the spot. That allowed Joel to be the magnanimous one (or if he didn't, to stand there feeling like a cad). Joel could be (and probably is) fully aware that this is manipulative on some level, but it's so smooth he really can't do anything about it!

Cialdini, for anyone interested--it's a fascinating read, and not at all bogged down by academic language:
http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X
January 16, 2013 at 1:54PM EST Reply to Comment
ChampSkins

Really hope next weeks episode is great... because this is a pretty crappy way to end an otherwise terrific season.

I would love to see some more Zeek if possible and concur with everyone else and say less Sarah. Just wish the show would concentrate more on her as a single mom and not a single woman.
January 16, 2013 at 5:07PM EST Reply to Comment
Jaxemer11

I actually thought this was a wonderful episode, although after reading your review I can see all the problems. I still loved a lot of it ( especially the stuff about Victor, which is very good).
January 17, 2013 at 1:17AM EST Reply to Comment
PY

Others mentioned it, but I have to say it myself. The complete lack of any carryover from the Drew/Amy storyline was extremely disconcerting. Particularly when the last episode ended up with Drew crying on Sarah's doorstep. And then to see Sarah completely wrapped up in her love triangle with no mention *at all* of Drew's situation weighing on her? And seeing that the only issue weighing on Amber when she was rolling the pizza dough was ... Ryan? Also fairly off-putting.

I thought it was telling in the comment above that a viewer missed last week's episode but was not out of sorts in this week;s episode at all. There were no repercussions in the storyline or for other characters *whatsoever* this week (and Drew did not show up once). Very strange. Last week's episode went from being what seemed like the climax of a fairly powerful storyline (with additional repercussions and a denoument still in store) to a "very special episode" of Parenthood.
January 17, 2013 at 2:57AM EST Reply to Comment
- SlackerInc Yeah, that was me. Now I've seen the previous episode and you're right: it's definitely weird how little carried over. You could almost wonder if the eps were shown out of order, except now I realise there was one little hint I missed: Crosby's MIL saying "is this about the bathroom?". When I first saw this though, I just figured that was an offscreen thing that was standing in for "I am missing the point and thinking it is about something trivial" rather than "I must have missed an episode because this is the first I've heard of the bathroom thing!".
  January 17, 2013 at 1:41PM EST
Brian

It makes me so angry that they really soldout on the whole vending machine concept. I really appreciate that you took the time in your review to mention not only that it was disappointing but that Max with his obsession would have never settled with a vending machine without skittles. The scene could have been him looking at the options being upset, but then having his mom explain to him that this was the only way and he has to understand he still completed his goal helping him come to terms with this as a "Small Victory" Braverman.
January 17, 2013 at 3:16AM EST Reply to Comment
- SlackerInc Right, with that being last week's title it would have fit perfectly. As shown, it was pretty silly. They should have at least had something like a high-fiber granola bar with some dark chocolate chips in it, or maybe like blueberry bran muffins or something.
  
  It's a tough line to walk though as I also would have been pissed if they had just brought back the regular junk food vending machine.
  January 17, 2013 at 1:44PM EST
Hollywoodaholic

Am I the only one seriously distracted by Kristina's Conehead bald cap? I have to remind myself I'm not watching an alien on "Star Trek." I'm not asking the actress to pull an Anne Hathaway and actually shave her head, but her polished egghead dome is so smooth and bulging and... on display, it just begs me to laugh out loud. I don't think she'd parade it around as much, either, but just wear a scarf. It so obviously is the actress trying to say, "Look how brave I am to bear my bald." But it isn't. That's the point (which her conehead doesn't quite have).
January 17, 2013 at 6:04PM EST Reply to Comment
UncleRando

I thought that this was also one of the weaker episodes. As a father of a kid with Asperger's, while I applaud the attention paid on Mx, and the actor does a wonderful job, his storyline this week was appalling. Above all he needs to know how to deal with disappointment, and his childish tirade about school not being fair and quitting etc. was basically rewarded by Kristina (admittedly my least favorite character on the show). Thanks Kristina for letting Max think that everything he feels unfair in the future will be solved by you. I'm sure his future teachers and employers thank you also. A fake uplifting moment. Where did the kids get those Skittles? they were probably waiting to pelt him with them for being annoying and having an annoying mom. As for Lauren Graham's love triangle, she might as well admit to herself that she's drawn to Mark because he's the grown up version of her simpering son Drew. Best line of the night was Hank's in saying, "I know what I want, he knows what he wants, you need to know what you want." Choose Hank--he's an actual adult and leave "Captain Morgan" (greatest nickname ever) to whine and simper with Drew. I was happy to see Ryan back and Joel (conned by Victor) would absolutely take him back. As for Crosby's mom-in-law plot, it seems a very tv-like contrivance. If she is so proud and so rigtheous, she would have taken that first job. Jasmine is pretty aa a picture and just about as shallow. We need Zeke to come in and smack them all around. Kudos to the Crosby and Julie scene - I agree it makes a nice exchange. While I still enjoy the show, much of the drama has flet forced this year and I'm not really rooting for anyone but maybe Hank and Crosby (go back to the boat and let Jasmine and mom live unhappily ever after. Divorce happens all the time).
January 18, 2013 at 2:39PM EST Reply to Comment
- Elizabeth "Where did the kids get those Skittles? they were probably waiting to pelt him with them for being annoying and having an annoying mom." Fantastically funny! Thanks for that...
  January 21, 2013 at 5:47PM EST
Katie

Yes, I wish they would focus more on the Parenthood aspect of Sarah's life. She would not be caring at all about her love relationships after learning about what Drew is going through. This show, in the past, seemed to deal with her more as a parent and I liked that. I hope she chooses neither Hank nor Mark and gets back to what's more important in her life--her kids.
January 19, 2013 at 3:05AM EST Reply to Comment
belinda

I sort of assumed that Joel was in a better mood (from the adoption) the second time Ryan came around, which worked in Ryan's favor.
January 20, 2013 at 10:34PM EST Reply to Comment
Therese Delphia

Crosby: You're busy judging in a very subdued calculated manner

Renee: A subdued calculated manner

Crosby: Even slower that time

PRICELESS!
January 21, 2013 at 1:02PM EST Reply to Comment

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Review: 'Parenthood' - 'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back': The junk food pyramid

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Option 3

angrypanda Hey drew what do you think needs to happen in order for Parenthood to come back next year...?

angrypanda Alan* Sorry, had a huge brain fart..

SlackerInc What abortion plot? I am racking my brain, but I seriously do not remember anyone having an abortion on this show even though I have watched every episode.

Ana Talk about sweeping it under the rug from one week to the next. I don't think Drew even appeared in this episode.

Gigi Mr. Sepinwall, YOU are a classy guy!

Lepidoptera Gigi is right, true class, Alan. You are a pro's pro and I appreciate a forum where dissenting opinions are welcome. I am a loyal reader.

Duncan Always look forward ro Lepidoptera's comments because they're hilarious, but also because I usually agree with everything. Keep it up!

Jaxemer11 Hilarious. I clearly like the show a lot better than you, but I can't disagree with anything you said.

ghoti I have to admit, I read Lepidoptera's reviews of Parenthood before I read Alan's.

Theonewhoknocks Weak overall episode, the part with Max and the vending machine was truly cringe worthy(all he cared about in the first place was skittles, why would he be happy with this compromise) but man the scene with Crosby and Julia was excellent, one of my favorites this season.

SlackerInc Agree completely that this show's willingness to tell little stories about realistic issues is what makes it (intermittently) great.

Jaxemer11 I actually thought this was a wonderful episode, although after reading your review I can see all the problems. I still loved a lot of it ( especially the stuff about Victor, which is very good).

Elizabeth "Where did the kids get those Skittles? they were probably waiting to pelt him with them for being annoying and having an annoying mom." Fantastically funny! Thanks for that...

belinda I sort of assumed that Joel was in a better mood (from the adoption) the second time Ryan came around, which worked in Ryan's favor.

Therese Delphia Crosby: You're busy judging in a very subdued calculated mannerRenee: A subdued calculated mannerCrosby: Even slower that timePRICELESS!

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Parenthood is updated

angrypanda

Hey drew what do you think needs to happen in order for Parenthood to come back next year...?

Theonewhoknocks

Weak overall episode, the part with Max and the vending machine was truly cringe worthy(all he cared about in the first place was skittles, why would he be happy with this compromise) but man the scene with Crosby and Julia was excellent, one of my favorites this season.

Jaxemer11

I actually thought this was a wonderful episode, although after reading your review I can see all the problems. I still loved a lot of it ( especially the stuff about Victor, which is very good).

belinda

I sort of assumed that Joel was in a better mood (from the adoption) the second time Ryan came around, which worked in Ryan's favor.

Therese Delphia

Crosby: You're busy judging in a very subdued calculated manner

Renee: A subdued calculated manner

Crosby: Even slower that time

PRICELESS!

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