From time to time, the creators of Parenthood feel compelled to fill an episode to bursting with tiny little slivers of stories so that each character gets some airtime. And there are a lot of Bravermans for which to account.
When they do this, Parenthood doesn’t do its interesting cast of personalities justice because it makes their stories seem superficial, as if they’re just skimming the surface, which is a shame because the writers have the ability to delve deeply into issues when they want to. (For example, couldn’t the Haddie getting drunk at a party scene have waited a week? Did it also have to be Sarah’s 40th birthday at the same time Amber wanted to move out?) I’m hoping the inch-deep season premiere is an aberration and not a sign that all the episodes will be like this one.
The shining moments came, as usual, in the form of Peter Krause‘s Adam Braverman. A former executive at a shoe compay, Adam was struggling with his value in the marketplace and in his home after having been unemployed for five months. He needed to figure out what to do with his spare time as he watched his wife Kristina’s pregnant belly continue to grow, like a ticking time bomb as the family’s savings dwindles down and they’ve got one kid gearing up for college next year. Kristina, meanwhile, seemed to be enjoying the fact that she returned to the workforce and was so highly valued that she was offered a full-time post, something which only made her husband feel worse about himself.
Krause’s Adam was thoroughly believable and relatable. How heartbreaking was it to watch Adam’s face when he, like many Americans are doing right now, pitched himself for a position at a company that would clearly have killed him on the inside, paid him much less than he’d previously earned and would have stifled his creativity in order to support his family? “I’m ready to make this transition,” he said disingenuously to the guy from the beverage distributing company. “This is where I’m at in my life. Just tell me what I have to do to get this job.” I wish he were in more scenes.
It came as no surprise to see Adam’s mind working overtime after man-child Crosby came to him with the idea of opening a recording studio together (the studio looked only slightly better than Amber’s awful apartment). While I have never, ever cottoned to the narcissistic, wildly selfish Crosby, pairing him in business with the uber-responsible Adam has dramatic potential.
Someone who I wish we’d see less of would be Sarah Braverman, and that pains me to say so because I loved Lauren Graham in the Gilmore Girls. But Sarah Braverman is no Lorelai Gilmore. Sarah was irritatingly irrational about the stupid high school diploma, not to mention clingy, infantile, whiny and unlikable. I hate what’s happening to her character. (Is she still writing plays? What the heck is her job now? How is she supporting her family?) To make matters worse, the writers took her quirky daughter Amber and turned her into the artsy/square-peg-in-a-round-hole cliche, complete with the off-beat hair (a new color), her new crap-hole of a kitchen-less apartment and an eccentric set of wheels.
Also a cliche was Haddie getting drunk at a high school party and then Alex having to get into a fight with some smarmy kid when Alex tried to bring the inebriated Haddie home. Alex getting busted, that seemed so, what’s the word … unnecessary.
In the meantime, it was intriguing to watch Julia lust after snarky Zoe, the latte cart girl’s unborn baby once she learned that Zoe was going to put it up for adoption. “The latte girl at work is pregnant and I really want to ask her if I can buy her baby,” Julia said. Julia and Joel are two other characters who I wish got more airtime. More Julia and Joel, less Crosby and Sarah.
Overall, I was disappointed with this season premiere but am crossing my fingers that next week’s installment will be better.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Sep 14, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
the diploma angle was just to get Sarah at the school to meet the teacher again. There could have been a problem with the son that caused her to go there, but Amber was the original connection between the two of them, so that makes more story sense.
I really hope that they play up the socio-economic angles with Alex and his legal issues. He’s black, yes, but he’s also from a very poor background and even now has a low-paying job. That was a fancy house and obviously entitled kids at the party. I’d like the curveball here, but I’m not sure that any American TV show is really willing to deal with socio-economic realities.