Parenthood: How Did We Get Here? (6x10)

Okay! Not much to say up front about this one. We're nearing the very end of the show. Let's just get started with the plot!

Zeek is rushed to the hospital, and all four of his kids are called and hurry to the hospital. It looks like it's pretty bad. After examining all the options, Zeek is stuck between a potentially life-threatening surgery, and the idea of doing nothing and playing the odds. It's very stressful for all involved.

Things are sort of awkward between Julia and Joel, since they spent the night together. However, Joel is being the perfect and helpful husband, fetching coffee and calming everybody down. Hank wants to be there for Sarah, so he picks up Drew from his school when Drew's car won't start. Drew is particularly tense because he knows that his last exchange with his grandfather was not a good one. Hank tells him that he knows, as a father, that Zeek isn't thinking about any of that right now. Drew and Hank seem to bond a bit. Hank realizes that he wants to be "all in" with Sarah, so he proposes to her. She's shocked, and they agree to talk about it later when there's a better time.

Meanwhile, in the chaos of trying to figure out if Zeek is okay, Crosby and Adam get some bad news - the Luncheonette has been robbed, and it's really bad. Luckily, they do get a large settlement from the insurance company. They now have to make a choice - should they replace the equipment and keep going, or should they take the money, liquidate the business, and both come out with some money and a clean slate? 

Adam wants to dissolve the company, because the stress of financial trouble has really been weighing him down. At first, Crosby agrees, but Jasmine reminds him that the Luncheonette is his dream, and he was never happy working for other people. Crosby tells Adam that they're partners, and that he would bet on them. He doesn't want to let all of these setbacks stop them from achieving their goals. Adam, although worried, doesn't say anything against Crosby's plan.

All of this chaos is happening right when Amber was supposed to have her baby shower, so Sarah and the other women of the family arrange to have the gifts and decorations brought to the hospital cafeteria. They tell Amber about a tradition wherein she is given a book with a page of advice from each mom in the family. The rest of the book is empty for her to fill with pictures of her child. Each of the moms read their advice aloud to Amber.

My serious complaint about this episode is Sarah. She was acting soooo weird with Hank! Like, I know that Hank is awkward a lot of the time, and it takes a lot of effort for him to be communicative and help out, but he was. He was helping out and being there and doing everything right. She was the one being super weird and not communicating. I felt like I was missing something here, like she was avoiding him because she was getting ready to break up with him. Or like she was embarrassed to have him around her family. I don't know what it was, but I just felt like Sarah was being very resistant to Hank, and I didn't understand the reason for it.

The only other tiny complaint is that I'm a bit annoyed by how much crap happens to this family. Like, seriously, at the same time that Zeek is in danger of dying, the Luncheonette just happens to get robbed? What are the odds of that? I enjoy what it does for the characters and the choices they have to make, but it's a very contrived plot device.

But, mostly everything worked really well.

I think my favorite moments were the scenes between Hank and Drew. At first I was worried that they were going to turn this whole thing in to a pity party for poor misunderstood Hank, but then instead they showed Hank being helpful and trying to do better with Drew, and actually getting through to him with some things. That was really lovely.

I also loved the ending, with Amber and the moms of her life. It was so sweet to hear each of them give their advice, and I liked how each little letter was catered towards personal experiences. Jasmine talked about pride, and coming to people for help, which is something that she's always struggled with. Julia talked about following your own dreams to be a good role model, and never giving up on doing what's best for yourself and your child. Obviously, that's been her major story arc since Season One. Kristina talked about curve balls getting thrown at you, which is what happened to her with Max, with the surprise pregnancy with Nora, etc. Sarah said she would always have Amber's back, which tied in to the fact that Sarah was also a single mom for most of the time, and now Amber will experience that as well. Camille talked about how life is short and you have to appreciate every moment, which obviously connected to her fear of losing Zeek. The level of thought and emotion in this scene was quite lovely.

Even though I was annoyed with Sarah's behavior, I loved the actual awkward proposal. It was just so... Hank. He turns to the random woman getting off of work in front of the hospital and announces that he jut proposed, and then tells her "we're going to talk about it." That poor woman was just like... oh... what am I supposed to say to this? It was fantastically hilarious.

Camille and Zeek have never been the main draw for me with this show, but I did appreciate their scenes in this episode as well. If they do kill off Zeek, it's going to be a real punch to the gut, especially considering Camille's reaction to his near-misses.

I'm glad that we're going to see some more conflict with the Luncheonette. The idea of a robbery is rather contrived, but the situation that it's created is an interesting one. I understand both sides so well. I'm more of a type-A personality, so I would go with Adam and take the money. But Jasmine was right to point out that Crosby was never really happy with work until he had the Luncheonette. One bad year and a robbery can't be enough to crush a man's dream, can it?

That's where I'll leave it. Only three episodes left, and then we'll have to say goodbye to this show forever! Noo!

8/10