BWW Recap: Emotions are Expressed as a 5 (Not a 2.5) on This Week's PARENTHOOD

Last week, I said that PARENTHOOD writers were giving us a little too much too soon in terms of introducing new plot lines this close to the end of the series. This week, I take that back. While I'm still not quite sure where these storylines might end, the episode this week was very strong, and proves why we indeed still need these new storylines. It's 9 - well, 8 now - episodes left, but you gotta fill those episodes with something -- some type of stuffing that isn't melancholy, reminiscent of series-finale over/undertones, and good material that keeps the viewers coming back until the end, so that the end will be that much more satisfying. This week provided good stuffing.

Max is working on making progress with Dylan. Again, after we've seen Max go through such hardships in the last few seasons - which, no doubt, yielded excellent performances from his portrayer, Max Burkholder - it's nice to give him a storyline that will stretch his limits and give him somewhat of a new direction he's never gone in before. It's really sweet to see this new side of him too, and see Adam come to the rescue and help him out :-).

Speaking of, a highlight of this episode was the guys' talk around the grill re: what base Max and Dylan are on, resulting in some funny - however unintentional - lines from all ("She doesn't like sports. I don't understand"; "the Braverman libido....is a very hard thing to contain"). In this moment especially, Zeek is free to express himself, and it's nice to have this moment for him to just be and relate to Max, without any furthering complications regarding him or his storyline. It made me forget that he's struggling to overcome his obstacles post-surgery. Fortunately, though, I also think - just for this teeny moment - so does Zeek. And it showed what genuine real family bonding should - and could be. Very touching. It was great to see Kristina come around at the end of episode, too. This week's outing was chock full of those moments.

Julia's also a little hesitant to move forward with Chris. During a family barbecue, Chris stops by with some legal papers for Julia to sign, Adam invites him in, and it all unravels from there. To be honest, I don't think it was fair or right for Adam to invite him in - or have him play basketball - but whatever. He was only looking out for his sis, wanted her to enjoy Chris' company, and genuinely felt he was doing no harm. Uh... well he did. And in an episode "chock full of wraparound moments," this plot didn't give us any. Chris tells Julia, "I like this, and I just want to keep going at whatever speed you're comfortable with." No speed, Chris. None. Get out of there and take your Braverman libido (okay, he's not technically a Braverman, but bear with me for the sake of the allusion) with you. This girl was meant for Joel.

Crosby's storyline follows Jasmine forbidding him to ride the motorcycle. Yeah, and Cros can stop being such a crybaby about it. Honestly. What redeems him though is how this relates to his storyline with Zeek - how both the wives putting "watches" over their husbands inspire them to lash out and have fun. It also gives the two typical Braverman curmudgeons a chance to bond together. Again, I love the dichotomy between the two of them (or did I say Zeek and Amber before?) It's nice that the writers acknowledge the two of them as having similar problems, and pair them together to thoroughly hash out their issues. The scene at the bar by the pool table was particularly brilliant. No recap in the world will do it justice, so just watch it for yourself (it's around 35 minutes into the episode), but, again, it's nice to see these two coming around for each other. I like how this plot was open-ended as well, and Jasmine expressed her genuine concern for Crosby, rather than just taking away his motorcycle, as it seemed she did a few episodes back. Just hope Crosby gets his ribs fixed (and yes, that was finally addressed too!)

Speaking of sweet bonding moments, Amber and Drew, Amber and Drew, Amber and Drew! Amber goes out on a date, and Drew pushes her to come clean with the guy about her pregnancy. The one drawback to this plot line for me was that I didn't like the single-episode one-and-done aspect of the whole thing (the promo made it look like it was a lot more), but after some careful consideration, I figured the plot line was really about Amber and Drew and their relationship, which - yup - has been ongoing for six years, and writers and actors alike provide a perfect wraparound that shows the relationship is as strong as ever. On that note, Drew's definitely the Episode MVP - that monologue to Amber (around 37 minutes) was AMAZING! Shows how much he cares for his sister, and how far the two of them have come since the beginning of the series. Again, with 8 episodes left - Aaah! 8 - it's nice to give them closure and end on such a strong, positive note.

In closing, I'll say I didn't really like the fact that Sarah and Hank were absent, nor did I think the throwaway line about where they were was that effective - they just put that in there to not have her in the episode, to better close up this storylines. That's great, but she's got a pretty huge one. On the flip side, next week's promo shows that the episode will more than make up for the loss. On the flip side, to go along the lines of Adam and Kristina's relationship ranking rubric, this episode's definitely a 5. Emotion, continuity, strengthened relationships, and just enough suspenseful cliffhangers to go around. Welcome back, PARENTHOOD.

Photo Credit: Twitter/NBC

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