So, as I sat down (well, actually I stood in my kitchen) to watch the premiere of the 3rd season of Parenthood, which I have really come to love over the last two years, I was struck by how many things irked me as I watched, but before I start venting, here's the recap.
The show opened with Adam's face, the downtrodden look of an unemployed dad, followed by Kristina's large belly. We learn that Adam is still out of work and cannot make Max's eggs as well as Kristina can, but Kristina is now a working mom, so she can't make breakfast anymore (so if they were both employed, would this family starve?). Haddie is now a senior with horrible hair, who apparently brings her brother and (non-high school) boyfriend with her to register for classes or something (it was unclear to me why they were there with her except to provide Max the opportunity to tell Haddie's (best?) friend that Alex is an alcoholic. Oy. Joel and Julia are making a new adoption video which requires the mention of Lady Gaga, since they haven't gotten any responses to their inquiries in 6 months. When Julia gets her coffee and finds out that the coffee cart girl is pregnant, you can hear the wheels turning in her head.
Amber declares that she moving out and is off to see an apartment in a part of town that is starting to become trendy (per Camille) and Sarah insists on going (maybe to protect Amber from the 80's who want their strange punk hairstyle back). They enter an awful apartment, without a sink, that horrifies Sarah, but that Amber is in love with (possibly because it bothers Sarah so much?). Sarah then finds Amber in the guesthouse (or garage) packing boxes of stuff (junk?) and gets a little hysterical about the fact that Amber's diploma is being held because she didn't return her library books. Amber doesn't seem to care and declares that she went and put down a deposit on the apartment (with what money, didn't she just graduate? Are apartments in Berkeley super-cheap? How is she paying for this apartment? Does she have a job that we're not privy to?).
Crosby and Jasmine seem to have figured out how to share Jabbar, but I can't see this domestic bliss lasting.
Adam gets a call about a job he applied for (as a beverage distributor), which is clearly as horrible as it sounds. Even the guy interviewing him seems downtrodden. To make things worse, Kristina is offered a permanent position doing whatever she was doing on a temporary basis, which makes so much sense, considering she's been a stay at home mom for years and she's 7 months pregnant. Seriously?!?! When she tells Adam, he gets pissed. Why? Because he apparently lives in the 50s and doesn't think his wife should work. That's pragmatism for ya!
Adam and Crosby meet for lunch (as a side note, we see alot of Adam eating scenes in this episode) at a place where Crosby slept with a waitress and then didn't call her. Crosby then reads Adam in on his new idea, to rent The Luncheonette, a recording studio where the greats have played. Adam nixes the idea, but then starts mulling it over.
Sarah goes to Amber's school to try to get her daughter's diploma and has a fight with the registrar that Mark witnesses. Seeing that she needs an intervention, he suggests coffee or Chamomille tea ("because you don't seem tired." Hah!). They talk and she kisses him and is embarrassed by his reaction and runs away. Again.
In the car with Haddie and Alex, Max says that Haddie shouldn't go to the party because there will be alcohol there and how does he know this? He watches Friday Night Lights! Nicely done, Jason Katims. Did Vince, I mean Alex, smirk at that?
Back at work, Julia has another conversation with Zoe, the coffee girl, who explains that she is not planning on keeping the baby. The wheels spin faster...
Crosby's one night stand comes to his house and introduces herself to Jabbar as Crosby's "special friend." Ruh roh.
It's Sarah's 40th birthday party and a lot of things happen, here's the rundown:
-Amber comes late and leave early - Sarah is pissed.
-Adam apologizes to Kristina, but needed a 3rd beer to do so.
-Camille teaches Jabbar and Sydney to paint like Jackson Pollack
-The Braverman sibs play ping-pong together.
-Julia tells Sarah about the coffee girl: "She sells coffee, so she must want to sell her baby" - ah, the legal mind at work.
Haddie goes to the aforementioned party and gets drunk on jello shots with her best friends that we have never seen in the two years that this show has been on the air. Alex comes to get her and winds up decking the kid hosting the party, who calls the cops. Wait, the guy hosting a party, who's in high school, calls the cops to his house which is full of drunk teenagers? HUH? They must have a lower drinking age out there on the west coast. Anyway, Alex gets arrested and calls Julia (the lawyer) to bail him out. Or maybe because she's now the only Braverman with a high paying job so can afford bail? We learn that the kid's family is pressing charges (for one punch?) and Alex has a record.
Adam and Crosby go to check out the recording studio. Adam is clearly weighing an awesome job with no money against a horrible boring, dead end job with some salary. Hmmm, what will he choose?
Jabbar told Jasmine about Crosby's special friend and Jasmine tells Crosby that she's starting to date.
Okay, so all of oddities and inconsistencies really bothered me on this one, including, what is Sarah doing these days? What happened to her play?
I'm sure I will watch the show anyway, but I'm not sure this will remain on my blogging list. Stay tuned!
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