Tonight's viewing of last night's Parenthood was a treat for me. I had such a tough day at work --edit: tough week -- and tonight was literally just my lounge around night. My dad and I always watch it together, but tonight was different. We both took our dinner (Persian food, what else?) and sat in front of the TV and watched. It might seem like nothing out of the ordinary, but for some reason it was just one of those "little things in life" moments. We hardly ever take our food from the dinner table and eat in front of the TV, but tonight no one else was home except the two of us, and we were both so excited to watch the episode.
Again - GOLD. Wow, this episode not only was I in tears at the end, but I think 2-3 other times throughout. And I kept looking over at my dad and he was too. I especially loved watching Erika Christiansen's performance as Julia. She rocked the house last night. She finally came to the realization that she isn't super mom... she isn't going to be able to be a full time mom and full time lawyer. I've admired Julia from the start because she did manage to be that whole package of "full time mom with a career in tact too." But with Victor in the picture now, it really shifts everything. Not mention he isn't even really her child but that they've adopted him at age 9 -- obviously the transition is going to be difficult. Watching her as she performed in that scene while preparing breakfast was so painful. I literally had goosebumps as I watched her. I felt so sorry for her, but at the same time also so jealous that she has such a stud muffin of a husband to come her rescue ;)
The final parts of the episode watching her in front of all her bosses was also a great moment. I loved that they didn't fire her (like we all expected), but instead, put the ball in her court. "We want you to tell us that you are committed." In that moment she was forced to deal with reality and answer that question as truthfully as she could; as in what is the reality of the matter. And she simply quit. I honestly respect her so much for that because when push came to shove, she chose being a mother. And beyond that, this wasn't just any old job. She was there for 9 years and was in the thoughts of becoming partner! And she still chose to leave. That takes major guts and also major LOVE. I'm proud of her.
Aside from that, I could care less about the war hero that Zeke has a man crush on. Yeah, yeah, there's some chemistry a'brewin' between him and Amber -- veryy subtle, writers! Pft. And on Sarah's end.. thank God she wasn't into the kiss. Well, okay, I'm being naive, I know that it will only take time until she reciprocates.. but hey, I expected her to be all in, even from this episode. It saddens me because even though I see her saying all the right things to Mark, I know inside she's only trying to convince herself that she's in a great relationship. Actually, that isn't even speculation because you clearly hear her say it too while they're out jogging together. Of course, she says it in her normal dry humor tone, but she says "we're one of those great couples" or something along those lines. And then the whole idea about moving in together.. talk about desperate and talk about CLEARLY trying to convince yourself that you're happy. It just breaks my heart for Mark more than anything because I am certain that he is certain about his love for her. He's so confident in it! The fact that she's been shaky from the start and then again shaky now with New Guy in the picture honestly just pisses me off towards her!
But I digress. I honestly think what really hit me the most this episode were the group family moments of ALL of them together. All of them together watching Victor's game & cheering him on, and then all of them together at the pizza parlor after. It sums it all up; there is nothing more important than family. I love their constant support for one another and just the fact that they are a huge family. It reminds me a lot of my extended family friends here who are pretty much like my real family. But I do wish I had that. It just makes me want to have a lot of kids at this point, haha.
The last scene... Sadly I have to say that this week I was left a little unsatisfied. I felt like they gave away that entire scene in the preview from last week. I expect more, maybe more reactions or even just a longer length of time placed in the scene. It was pretty quick and all we really see is Sarah's full reaction. Personally, I wish they didn't have the music playing and that we could actually hear what they said in response and feel their emotions as the news sank in, but my dad actually disagreed with me. He liked that all we see is their facial expressions and shock, while the calm music is playing. So it's all a matter of opinion. For me, I just love the dynamic between each of the characters, so I wanted to see for instance, "What will Crosby say to this news?" or "How is Camille going to react to this?" and just watch their individual interactions with Kristina and Adam. But I'm sure more will come to pass next week as we move further along into this season.
Unfortunately no episode next week (who knows why?!) ugh, but I will be back with more as soon as it returns!