This week’s episode of Parenthood finally addressed an issue that’s been an underlying concern for a few episodes, and hinted at an issue that’s been around since the beginning of the series: Zeek Braverman’s financial troubles and his infidelity.
The episode started out a bit slow, but was solid overall. I liked the storyline with Haddie, her boyfriend and Amber as well as Adam and Kristina’s search for friends.
Adam and Kristina wanted Max to have a friend, but they also wanted to like the parents of the friend. After all, if they’re going to be sticking around during play dates it helps if the parents aren’t complete weirdos. Which the first play date family were. Kristina faked that Max was sick and the Bravermans bailed on the play date early. Adam set up a new play date with the family of a guy from work, and the couple was so promising that he even coached Max on how to be a good host. The couple had “top five friend potential”, he told Kristina. Max was on his best behavior during the social gathering, but the other boy wasn’t into it and the family bailed. I felt bad watching the Bravermans get rejected even though it was exactly what they had done to the other family. In the end, Adam and Kristina set up a new play date with the weird family, but it was less than heartwarming. It was sweet that they put their own feelings aside so that Max could have a friend, but those people were annoying! And who leaves a social gathering after their kid whines a little anyway?
The real drama in Adam and Kristina’s household was in Haddie’s life, though. After Steve pressured her to sleep with him she dumped him. Amber consoled her, saying “Dude I’m so sorry. But believe me, if there’s one thing I know, you don’t want to cash in your V chip with a cliché, or a jerk, or douche,” and it was nice to see her and Haddie interact a little. They didn’t seem to hit it off when they met in the first episode (and got busted for having pot) but a friendship seems to be slowly developing. And it will be threatened soon. Steve stopped by the golf course where Amber works to talk about Haddie, but sparks flew between him and Amber. My favorite moment was when Amber said she was so wise because her mom was kind of crazy and her dad wasn’t around, so she’d had to figure things out on her own. Amber is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters, so I’m interested to see what will happen when things go to far between her and Steve.
Julia decided to coach Sydney’s soccer team this week, which ended up being a fun storyline because Racquel was the other team’s coach. At first Sydney’s team were the “losers” but when Julia recruited Jabbar for the team things picked up. Seeing more of Julia’s super-competitive nature come out (despite her best efforts to simply raise self-esteem and have fun) was a lighthearted change from the heavier tone of the episode.
Crosby and Jasmine started sleeping together on a regular basis, but I was surprised at how casually Jasmine was treating the situation. On the one hand, Jasmine has shown she’d rather avoid problems than address them head on. It was easier for her to hide the truth about Crosby from her family, and now it’s easier for her to hide the truth about her and Crosby’s relationship from Jabbar. But Crosby told her he wanted to be with her, and they can’t keep telling Jabbar that he’s only dreaming when he sees Crosby in the middle of the night. I’d like to see these two together.
Sarah needed a laptop for her Photoshop class, and was looking for one in a pawn shop. By the way, is she actually going to Berkeley now? Or was that a prep class so she can prepare to get in? That certainly happened fast. At the pawn shop she saw a pair of Zeek’s monogrammed cuff links, and it turned out he’d pawned a lot of his possessions. She found out more details their parents’ financial troubles from Adam and they got Crosby and Julia up to speed. The four kids decided to confront their parents about the situation over dinner.
The dinner scene was extremely uncomfortable, but I liked that. That situation wouldn’t go smoothly in real life and watching the Braverman kids try and talk to their parents about they financial struggles even made me feel awkward. Camille reacted badly, of course. Zeek has lied to her too many times. She confided in Sarah that Zeek had had another woman, but judging by the condoms Sarah had found in the desk, I’m guessing that Zeek’s infidelity goes further than Camille knows. At the end of the episode, Zeek arrived on Adam’s doorstep with a bag.
Overall, it wasn’t my favorite episode but I thought it delivered a lot of plot progression. I’m interested to see where the Zeek and Camille conflict will go before the season ends. What did you think of “Namaste No More”?
