This Parenthood episode was a classic, emotional rollercoaster, taking viewers from moments of utter ridiculousness and sheer joy, to those of anger and fear in mere seconds. There was a birth, a false labor, drunkenness, a scuffle, animated arguments, stubborn refusals and a deeply unhip man trying to act as though he’s “down” with a rapper client, even though it’s clear to anyone who can see that he so isn’t “down” with anything.
But hey, no one died, got into a car accident or arrested, and Billy Baldwin didn’t return to the show, so there’s that.
As expected, the scene of Kristina giving birth to baby Nora was emotional — as most birth scenes are — and there was the ubiquitous all-Bravermans-on-deck scene in the hospital room afterward, celebrating the newest member of the clan. But there were a few twists, like having Crosby be the one to accompany Kristina in the delivery right after they’d had a shrieking argument with one another. Where was Adam? He was unreachable as he was busy trying to act like he’s a cool middle aged rapper in order to sign a client Crosby had led him to believe had already agreed to work with them. Adam running down that hallway in those saggy white pants, drawing strange looks from the hospital staff, did elicit absurd laughter, at least in my house.
Kristina, meanwhile, continued to keep me, as a viewer, on my toes. I can find her character extremely off-putting and judgmental at times, but then there are other occasions when she’s warm, loving, wise and vulnerable. In this episode, she was all of those things, from the way she bulldozed Amber into babysitting Max at school during his week-long lunch detention (which may have inadvertently shown Amber that she’s skilled at working with children), to her mascara-smudged plea to Crosby to stay by her side in the delivery room. Monica Potter deserves kudos for being able to deliver more than just a stock, one-note performance.
Mere hours after Nora made her debut, Julia and Joel were told by a teary-eyed Zoe, the coffee cart gal at Julia’s office, that even though she’d wanted to have a closed adoption once her baby is born, she changed her mind after spending time with their family. She wants Julia and Joel to adopt the baby. Whether the tears that sprung from her eyes as she quickly fled their front stoop after dropping that news on them was a sign of regret or pregnancy hormones, we won’t know until after Zoe actually hands the baby to Julia … and doesn’t ask for the baby back. I sure hope that they don’t pull an adoption-gone-wrong story. Please writers, as Liz Lemon might say, don’t go to there. I beg you.
Regardless of how the Julia and Joel story plays out, this episode marked rock bottom for John Corbett’s Seth who made a drunken return to his ex’s house, stumbling around as he told Sarah and her stunned boyfriend that he’d been fired from his band and had nowhere to go. Cue Zeek to coming charging out of the house to rescue Sarah — who didn’t need rescuing — and literally kick Seth to the curb. As if that scene wasn’t a clear enough sign to clue viewers in to the fact that Seth was at a very low point, they concluded the episode with Sarah, endangering herself by walking around a seedy looking area late at night, finding Seth leaning against a dumpster after having been beaten bloody.
I’d actually like to see Corbett stick around as Sarah’s story has been lackluster and hasn’t provided Lauren Graham with much meaty material. Corbett’s prolonged presence could shake things up a bit on the Sarah front and afford Craig T. Nelson the chance to puff out his chest some more and be a Daddy Grizzly. It’s a whole lot better than seeing him starring in erectile dysfunction commercials.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Oct 12, 2011 @ 11:43 EST5EDT
