Justin: Jen! Parenthood! Renewed! Season Five! Hella great news!
Of course, NBC being NBC, you never know when a high quality show will meet an untimely demise (Coach Taylor glares in agreement), but Parenthood keeps hanging in there, and here we are, about to enter season five, something that seemed impossible about 18 months ago. And heck, for the first time since season two, we even get a full 22 episodes this go around.
Armed with a loaded, talented and ego-free cast, Parenthood delivers a dose of laughter blended with reality and capped off with an emotional heart punch week after week. Last season was its heaviest yet, with Kristina Braverman…er, bravely battling breast cancer. It was a rough one to get through but the trials, emotional affects and stress it brings along with it were brilliantly conveyed by Monica Potter and Peter Krause.
Word on the street is that we have lapsed forward about nine months, just in time for the birth of Crosby & Jasmine’s second baby and that the premier episode almost feels like the “start of a new chapter” for the family.
There was a lot more going on last season, which we can quickly cover here, but Jen…
1) On a scale of Jabbar to Crosby, how excited were you when Parenthood got picked up for a full season?
2) Will Hank be back…will Seth be back…will, hell, will Mike O’Malley be back?? (Remember him from season one?) I guess my question is: who will Sarah bone and moan about this year?
3) Do we have our first death in the family this year? (Camille says hi!)
Jen: Is there much of a difference between Jabbar and Crosby on that scale? I was at a “Crosby Opening the Luncheonette” level. Parenthood has always been reviewed well by the critics, and like Arrested Development and Parks and Recreation it doesn’t seem to have the audience numbers to back it up. You summed it up pretty well there, Justin. It’s a great show all around and every season I can’t wait to see what will happen next with the Bravermans.
I heard that Hank will be back, but I don’t think it’s going to work out with him and Sarah. I think it’s time we see Sarah move out of her parents’ house and get on with her life. Drew is in college and Amber lives on her own. It’s time for her to do the same! I’d like to see her finally have a real relationship on this show for once. She’s like a wandering 20 – something year old in a 40 – something year old’s body.
I don’t want to see any of the Braverman family go! But, Camille would be the right choice. She’s the matriarch but she’s hardly every on screen or doing anything terribly worth noting. If they killed off, say, Adam there would be a fan mutiny on their hands.
What are some of you favorite Parenthood memories? How do you think they do with covering the “big” stuff (breast cancer, teenage pregnancy and Asperger’s syndrome?)
Justin: I wonder if Hank will pull a Brenda Walsh and move back to Cali from Minnesota? Time will tell. I agree she could use a season focused on her career and getting a place of her own for sure. Every year she gets sucked into some sort of drama with a man. She definitely seems lost.
I don’t want to see a death either, but with THIS big of a cast you have to assume one is coming at some point? Camille makes all the sense in the world. If Zeek dies, I may not be able to go on watching. Geez, Luth!
I am kind of surprised they never brought Minka Kelly back to cause some issues with Crosby and Jasmine. I like the full family get together scenes, those are some of my favorite memories overall of the show. The little league episode was great too. Tons of good stuff, but it is hard to pick out moments because the best ones are spread throughout overarching stories. You?
They do an awesome job covering the real stuff because they give it room to breathe and nail all aspects of battling these issues in the setting of a large family, with so many opinions and reactions woven throughout.
Do you think we needed ANOTHER baby though? I guess with Haddie leaving for the most part, there was some room in there, but it seems like overload with all the births in this show. Plus that came on the heels of a season long adoption storyline.
I am guessing we get quite a dose of Amber & Ryan to open the season…there was obviously a lot of material to mine there. Do you think Christina’s cancer will return?
Jen: I don’t think it would be good for the storyline if Hank came back, Sarah’s been there and I don’t think that it will keep the audience engaged.
It makes sense for Camille to go, which most likely means that she won’t be the one to go and it would be someone more loved by the audience, like Jasmine. Again, it’s not something I wish would happen, but it seems to be the one plot line they haven’t explored.
I loved the first time that Crosby had Jabbar over to his boathouse. And when Adam and Crosby bought the Luncheonette. And I like Amber and Ryan together, I hope it lasts for awhile at least. Amber needs some happiness in her life.
It would be tough to see Christina battle cancer again, but realistically it could return in real life. This show tries to mirror real life, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that return.
How do you think Julia is going to react with the arrival of the new baby? I don’t think that there are too many babies on this show, it’s real life. I hope they don’t breeze by it, like it’s no big deal to Julia when she will so clearly be upset that she can’t have another baby on her own.
Justin: Yeah I’m undecided on Hank… Sure she has been through it but Ray Romano was so good in the role that I think fans would be happy to see him back in town. A lengthy stretch of happiness for them together could be interesting.
I don’t think Jasmine is really that loved, in fact I think she is one of the weakest characters they have. I can’t imagine they will kill her off and leave Crosby with two kids but single Crosby would be fun again.
I am sure at some point down the line we will have a cancer scare for Christina, but hopefully they wait a while and let it sink to the back of our minds before having it pop back up. I think it will be a slow burn with Julia, but honestly I can’t imagine another full season of baby angst with her. I think that needs to rest for a while.
OK, let’s wrap up with official predictions:
– Will a character die?
– Will there be another wedding?
– Will there be a breakup or divorce?
– Will Crosby & Adam still own the Luncheonette at the end of the season?
– Will this be the last season?
Jen: I don’t think we’ll actually see a character die this season…maybe at the very end but I really don’t think that the Parenthood bosses would go that route unless the show is ending for sure.
I can’t picture any of the characters getting married this season either. Amber is too young and if it comes up with Ryan, Sarah is sure to tell her to wait.
Breakup – for sure. Whether it’s Drew or Haddie or Amber or Sarah, someone will break up this season they always do! Divorce? If any of the couples were to divorce it would be Joel and Julia, but I think they’ve delivered enough emotional turmoil for those two for awhile.
Crosby and Adam will still own the Luncheonette! I think that we’ll see them have some success this year.
This season has a really good chance at being the last. I don’t want it to be, but NBC has given it a lot of chances. The fact that they ordered 22 episodes is a really good sign though, but I just don’t trust the networks not to cancel a good show too prematurely (I’m looking at you, Happy Endings and The Killing)
Justin: Yeah, the death thing is the most interesting to me because it’s the only type of drama we haven’t seen yet at all. Maybe someone ancillary bites it? Seth? That would be heavy for Drew and Amber to deal with.
Drew adjusting to college should also add some intrigue in there too, with both him and his mother.
I agree that we are tapped out on marriages. Although maybe Amber wants to move to a military base with Ryan and they consider getting hitched? Something like that. I don’t think we see divorce either but I bet it’s teased with Joel & Julia for sure.
I think the Luncheonette struggles and then finds something big and blows up big time.
I think the 22 episode pick up was a great sign as is the move to Thursdays. They need to deliver though, or else this could most definitely be it for the Bravermans.
So there you have it! A Parenthood refresher course and preview. Be sure to tune into NBC every Thursday at 10PM. They need your eyeballs! We need your eyeballs! Save our show!
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