I detest the phrase “something for everyone” because 95 percent of the time when an event claims to offer “something for everyone,” it doesn’t interest me in the least bit. “Parenthood” (9 p.m. Central Tuesdays on NBC) is very much a “something for everyone” show, and indeed it doesn’t have a singular, definable hook (other than what’s right there in the name, but to me, a show entirely about parenthood sounds terrible, and I’ve wisely looked past the title).
And maybe I’ll never love “Parenthood” the way I love shows that speak more directly to me. But there’s just so much to like about this series that I believe anyone with a functioning heart and brain would find not just something but many things to like about the Braverman family saga as it enters Season 3.
“Parenthood” now has a comfortable rhythm to its chaos, for better or worse. Erika Christensen, in particular, has such smooth deliveries to her lines that Julia almost comes off as a character who knows she’s on TV. It’s not that she has it all figured out (indeed, we’ll get the “Juno” plot from the adopting parents’ perspective this season with Julia and Joel, and much hand-wringing will certainly ensue), but there is just a touch of smugness to her self-identification as a high-powered lawyer who, unable to conceive a second child, opts to adopt.
And Amber (Mae Whitman), brushing aside last season’s out-of-nowhere teenage rebellion arc rather quickly, is back in “more mature than my own mother” mode as she rents her first apartment. (Maybe there’s a residual Lorelai-ness to Lauren Graham’s Sarah that makes her come off as more flighty than her teenage daughter.) On the plus side, giving Amber her own place could allow her to have distinct storylines, so I’m in favor of it.
And I could make the same “actor being too smooth” observation about Braverman matriarch Camille (Bonnie Bedelia).
But I love the show when it transcends the low-level buzz of the Bravermans being the Bravermans, and right now, it’s doing that with three standout arcs: Haddie’s relationship troubles, the return of Sarah-and-Mark (Mr. Cyr, if you prefer), and Adam’s career prospects.
In the season premiere, Sarah Ramos continues to be “Parenthood’s” biggest scene-stealer as Haddie. The reason is that Haddie doesn’t have it all together like Amber (perhaps) does. Granted, she doesn’t have the old-standby TV-character problems that her boyfriend Alex (Michael B. Jordan from “Friday Night Lights”) has (alcoholism, and a history of crime); rather, her problem is that she’s in love with a guy with the standard TV problems.
Ramos is great in a scene where — drunk, but failing to cover up the fact that she’s drunk — she tries to get the attention of the officers arresting Alex for punching a guy at a party: “Officers, officers, I don’t know, um, wait, will you guys wait, this is my boyfriend and I can explain the situation, please, will you let me explain the situation, he didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t know what else I can do …”
And then she cries in her friends’ arms, the helpless-and-innocent side of her nature defeating the calm-and-mature. Ramos always pulls me back from “Parenthood’s” too-comforting rhythm by showing Haddie’s shakily voiced emotions. Maybe it’s insane to say that Ramos is the best actor among this all-star cast, but consider it said.
Meanwhile, we get giggle-worthy Sarah-and-Mark (Graham and Jason Ritter): Sarah kisses him, he doesn’t react well and tries to cover it with “I shouldn’t have said ‘Um.’ ” Thanks to the actors, this might be the cutest couple on TV, and this is despite the fact that Ritter’s character a blatant ripoff of two of Lorelai’s suitors on “Gilmore Girls”: Rory’s teacher Mr. Medina (Mr. Cyr was Amber’s teacher) and, of course, Luke. In a clip previewing Season 3, Mark tells Sarah “I just want you to know, I’m all in,” which is exactly what Luke told Lorelai.
More original and less blunt than those arcs is Adam’s thread. Peter Krause does less-is-more with the same skill that Ramos does more-is-more. The unemployed Adam is ready to suck it up and take a job that’s beneath him (beverage distributor, a post that the hiring manager blatantly says does not call for creativity) because his family needs the income. Adam is utterly smooth in the job interview, and yet I felt his hidden pain of being in this situation; it’s nothing that Krause does, it merely comes from my knowledge of the character, and I admire his choice to not oversell the story.
And I haven’t even mentioned the arc that has interested me the most over the first two seasons — Max’s struggles with Asperger’s — because there wasn’t room for it in the season premiere (that will be rectified soon, I understand). As for Crosby-and-Jasmine (Dax Shepard and Joy Bryant), well, I don’t like the way Crosby is dismissive of his latest fling, a very cute diner waitress who really seems to like him. (Her explanation to Jabbar that she’s daddy’s “special friend,” is quite funny, though.) But I do like the idea of Crosby and Adam (utter opposites, despite being brothers) going into a risky recording-studio venture together in this bad economy.
I’m not so bothered anymore that “Parenthood” has — ugh — something for everyone. Right now, it has a fair amount of stuff for me, and I love it for that.
What were your thoughts on the Season 3 premiere of “Parenthood?” What arcs interest you most as the story moves forward?