Parenthood – Recap & Review – Pilot

photo: nbc

Parenthood
Pilot

Original Air Date: March 2, 2010

Brittany D. – Staff Writer
brittany@thetwocentscorp.com

What started as shaky ground for the show Parenthood has, in my opinion, turned into a fantastic casting decision. When Maura Tierney unfortunately left the show to focus on her health, Lauren Graham was cast instead and I couldn’t see it any other way now. She delivers a strong and funny performance and personally, I’m just relieved to see her on my TV again. Now, how about the rest of the show?

Meet the Braverman family. Lauren Graham plays Sarah, a single mom to rebellious daughter Amber and son Drew, who craves a relationship with his dead beat ‘musician’ dad. When they make the move to Berkley, Amber makes a bid to live with her boyfriend that doesn’t quite work out. Drew runs away to his father’s house, only to be found by Sarah later. What ensues is a speech at a gas station about how she will always be there for him no matter what. Meanwhile, Amber’s getting arrested with her cousin for having weed. Welcome home, Sarah!

Sarah ventures out into dating with an old flame from high school, Jim (played by Mike O’Malley) and while she’s afraid the date is a dud, it turns out that he’s sweet, kind, and caring so they hook up back at her parent’s place. Two awkward things happen: She uses a condom she found in her dad’s desk, but why would he need condoms if he’s faithfully married to his wife, annnnd her son walks in. No wonder he ran away.

Julia is a hot shot rising attorney, wife to house-husband Joel and absent mother to her daughter Sydney. So absent in fact, that her daughter prefers for her father to do everything. Julia even tries to rationalize that her daughter will be more like ‘a friend’ than a daughter.

Crosby is the youngest brother and in a complicated relationship with a woman who keeps sperm in her freezer. He accidentally commits to having a kid with her in three years, even though he is hugely afraid of commitment. So, I see this going well. Before we can all get settled into this idea, Crosby’s ex-girlfriend Jasmine tosses him a curve ball: he already has a kid named Jabar, and she’s just dropping by with him to say hello. Or something, because I bet she doesn’t want or need ANYTHING.

And finally, we have Adam and Kristina, parents to Max and Haddie. Max is a little off: he wears a pirate’s costume all the time, he gets absorbed in one task at a time, he’s socially awkward, and an outburst at school leads to a diagnosis of Aspergers, which is a form of autism. It takes Adam a while to accept it, but it soon becomes obvious that he’ll do what it takes for his son. After Max shows little interest in baseball, Adam is fired as coach for yelling at a ref. The next weekend, Max dresses himself in his baseball uniform and announces that he wants to play for his team, even after he’d previously decided to quit. The family rallies to get him to the game and he makes a solid hit.

The matriarch and patriarch of the Braveman family are Camille and Zeek respectively. They’re supposed to be the glue that holds the family together, but as mentioned earlier, Zeek (who is the aggressive father type who lives by the motto ‘life is a war’) may be having an affair, and it’s clear that Camille has her own suspicions. The episode ends with a family dinner, and one extremely satisfied recapper.

So, what did the masses think? I’m eager to see where this show goes, and I don’t quite agree with the comparisons to ABC’s Brothers & Sisters. There is less focus on the dynamic between the siblings and more on the individual families which is highly refreshing. However, at the end of the night, they come together as a family to get through whatever challenges may face them. I give the episode a B-, simply because it needs to find its footing, but it will definitely get to A status very, very soon. Let’s hope that NBC gives it that chance.

Here’s where I ask you to leave your Two Cents, and I’ll see you back here next week!

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