Entertainment

Is History Repeating Itself In 'Parenthood'?

by Alanna Bennett

The different segments of the Braverman clan are all in markedly different places right now: Crosby and Jasmine are settling into life with a growing family (and the sacrifices that come with that) but still sneaking in cute moments with rock bands; Camille decided to go to Italy by herself for a month because Zeek doesn't want the kind of elderly adventures that she does; Julia seems to be developing feelings for a person who is not her husband, at least partially because he understands the fervor with which she misses her job; Kristina is struggling in the mayoral polls but wowing her constituency with speeches and small gestures; and Sarah and Amber have been drag-out fighting due to Sarah seeing Amber's engagement as history repeating itself re: her own marriage to Seth.

This episode of Parenthood brought up a lot of questions, questions that will likely heavily inform the next few episodes, if not the entire rest of the season. So let's get to them, shall we?

  • Why exactly did Julia look so overwhelmingly guilty when Ed's wife came home? Sure it's obvious she and Ed get along pretty well and are both dissatisfied with their lives at the moment, but their children were literally in the room with them, so she can't have thought the wife thought any funny business was going down. She was also pretty obviously overly compensating when she got home and her husband had made her a beautiful dinner. Julia, sweetie, your attractions are showing.
  • Speaking of trouble for the Grahams, is Joel's work relationship with Peet actually going to lead towards the same temptations that it seems like Julia's friendship with Ed might? Or is it a red herring? And speaking of which, will either of them actually give in to temptation? If so we're truly hoping it's not Joel, given that whole "I will never cheat on you" speech in season 1 that may or may not have made us cry. (Hint: It did)
  • Will we ever get to spend quality time with Jabbar again?
  • Haddie, too. We miss Haddie. Will she be back for her mom's election day?
  • Does Camille flitting off to Italy mean she's going to miss her granddaughter's wedding? And actually...
  • Did she already miss Amber's wedding? Did Amber actually elope with Ryan? When she and Sarah made up she acted like they hadn't, but she had a pained look on her face at the end and this is television so you know what that means.
  • If that's the case, when will she tell Sarah? Will she just never tell the family, and go on with a wedding as if nothing happened to spare their feelings? We're kind of not looking forward to the guaranteed tears that will result if/when Sarah finds out. Those two have gone like three conversations total in this show without crying at each other, and when they cry we cry.

God dammit, Parenthood, just tell us what's what! Don't leave us hanging like this!