Parenthood

Parenthood

Episode 2: Left Field

By: Carlos Uribe

Parenthood is a show about the Braverman family.

Spoilers Ahoy!

The season premiere said goodbye to Haddie while introducing us to Victor. I noted in my review that the episode didn't spend enough time with Victor. We didn't really get to know him and it was more about how his presence impacted his family. This is an episode that spent more time with Victor and we're getting to know him a bit better. It does this through Julia. When the first day of school comes, Victor claims that he's sick. He's allowed to stay home and he plays video games all day long. The second day arrives and it's the same story. The third day Victor does get into the car to go to school but he refuses to get out of the vehicle when they arrive. He claims that his stomach is hurt. Why? Victor is scared. He might watch programming more mature than him and he might appear to be strong, but he's really a scared little boy. With that scene, we get a feeling that Victor isn't just taking advantage of his new parent's dispositions and it starts to develop him as an actual human being. He's not quite there but he's getting there. It isn't until Julia agrees to stay right outside at the school all day long that he agrees to go. To his surprise, she actually keeps her promise. He's grateful for that and the plot finishes with Julia and Victor having an actual moment. It seems like Julia is starting to fall in love with Victor as her son. It's a well-handled story that added some necessary depth to a new main character while developing his relationship with his new parents. That the series managed to do this with such a relatable experience made it all the better.

An experience that a lot of people can relate with is getting dumped. Right after Drew gives Amy a ride, she decides to end things with him. This wasn't a surprise. The rest of the plot doesn't deal with Drew trying to get over Amy but on Sarah's response. Her maternal instinct has her fawning over her child, having her fiance spy on him and trying to be there for him a bit too much. If there was ever any doubt that Sarah loves her son, this episode would easily dispel it. She's so consumed by her worry that she asks her new employer, Hank, for advice. Hank gives it and she's shocked. Hank also gives Drew some perfectly good advice that simply feels perfect. While Hank had been introduced in the previous episode, this was the episode where his character is firmly established. While I'm not happy that he might come between Sarah and Mark, I have to admit that his character is winning me over. His curmudgeon personality manages to easily fit with Sarah's character while at the same time providing some great comic scenes. Ray Romano is managing to capture this character pretty well. I hear that he did a similar character in his last show, but I don't think that takes away from this character. If anything, it adds to it.

While Ray Romano is making Mark come alive, Crosby and Jasmine have a fight. The episode begins with them having sex and enjoying life. They're in a good place. When Crosby goes to work, he notices that Adam and Kristina have synchronized their calendars. While Crosby is right that the noise is annoying, it's an effective tool in ensuring that there's order in their lives. Crosby scoffs at the idea of having a calendar. He doesn't want to order his life. That's why he's not willing to commit to having dinner with some friends and why Jasmine doesn't bother him to get scheduling. This all changes when Crosby accidentally leaves Jabbar at school. The reason for having a calendar finally dawns on Crosby. It isn't because the couples are old and boring but because they have responsibilities that they need to stay on top of. Crosby syncs up his calender with Jasmine and he is able to grow up a bit. It's nice how Parenthood is able to mature a character by using a smart phone app as the catalyst. It's also some nice advertising for calendar syncing apps.

Crosby might have made fun of Adam's system, but that doesn't mean Adam and Kristina didn't have any problems this week. Kristina is missing Haddie and she starts to look for puppies. Adam isn't sold on the idea because he knows it's a major commitment and he understands why Kristina wants a dog. Kristina tells Max and as soon as she did, it became pretty obvious that the choice was taken out of their hands. They're going to get a dog because Max wants one. Adam might have fought it for most of the episode and this caused the plot's conflict but he eventually comes around. They might not have gotten the puppy that Max really wanted, but they still manage to pick a different dog. It's a nice way to show Kristina's emotional state at having lost her daughter. Adam is missing her as well, but he just is able to cope with it in a different manner.

Parenthood had a pretty amazing episode. It managed to get the audience to know and understand Victor a bit better. The episode had some good humorous drama between Jasmine and Crosby that helped to mature Crosby a bit. It used the possibility of getting a dog to show us just how much Adam and Kristina are missing Haddie. Drew's relationship helped to establish Mark's character more firmly. This was an episode that had a lot of pieces but they all worked perfectly fine, even if they were rather independent. That they were all relatable experiences is ultimately what helps make Parenthood be such a strong drama.

Some Notes:

Sydney was definably great this week with her pretending to be sick. She completely failed and was easily manipulated. It helped to illustrate the difference between how Julia and Joel are able to deal with her and how they deal with Victor.

Nora's having slightly bigger role on the show as she's entering her toddler phase. She's a bit chubby.

Also: Kristina now has breast cancer. That's probably going to play a big part for the next few episodes. The way the show visually revealed the cancer to the viewer was very well effective and I can already tell this is going to lead to some great drama.

The next episode is “Everything is Not Okay”: Health issues for Kristina and maybe Zeek while Max goes to a new school.