photo: nbc
A House Divided
Original Air Date: Feb 1, 2011
Karen Belgrad- Associate Editor
Karenbelgrad
@thetwocentscorp.com
As most of the country is currently in the grips of a blizzard or ice storm or snowpocalypse/ snowmaggedon, it certainly seems like a good time to check in with the Bravermans… in sunny Berkeley, CA. Hmmm… it may be hard to empathize with them tonight!
Luckily, with the exception of the Haddie/parents saga, it wasn’t a heavily emotional episode. We did have tons of overlapping family interactions, which is always enjoyable. So let’s hunker down (before we get our shovels out) and see where tonight took us.
Julia is throwing Jasmine a bachelorette/engagement party. She’s got every detail spec’d out and wants no men in attendance. She’s trying to show she can be fun and her home can be fun, but let’s face it. We all know you can’t spill at Julia’s. And nobody really wants to go, but all the women are going.
Haddie has been at her grandparents for two days. Kristina thinks it’s ridiculous and that she should be at home. Camille is trying to tell her that giving an ultimatum will backfire. Haddie is proclaiming that she’d choose Alex over her parents. Adam is starting to relent on his position. So Kristina brings her a suitcase of clothes with a (manipulative) family photo inside. Let the passive aggressive games begin!
Sarah’s bucking for a raise at the job she got by pitching an unsuccessful shoe idea. Adam tells her, post-layoffs, it’s not going to happen. So she approaches Corey directly, who also denies her. And then he gets her talking about how the job isn’t her passion… so she quits. She makes more at bartending tips than the internship, so I guess it’s a win-win until she figures out what she wants. Good thing she doesn’t pay rent to her parents, eh?
Adam is also having issues at work. “Blunder boy” Corey is holed up in his office, making bright colored doodles all over the walls. When they finally sit down together, Corey shows that his doodles is actually an elaborate timeline of the company (whatever, still doodles in my book). Corey thinks the company needs to get back to where it started: one shoe. Adam knows that’s not how the world works, but nods, smiles, and accepts a lollipop from Corey.
By the time Adam shows up to join Crosby and Joel, he’s grinning from ear to ear. It doesn’t take long for Crosby to realize that Adam’s lollipop was an “edible” (as in edible medical marijuana, not “edible” complex as Adam put it). Adam realizes his boss basically drugged him. And what better for Crosby and Joel to do with stoned/paranoid Adam than bring him to Julia’s organized (read: boring) party, where the night turns into a munchies fest and dance party. You might think this would lead to a confrontation between Adam and his boss, but you’d be wrong…
Meanwhile, Zeek has come up with the brilliant idea of taking Max camping. Apparently, it’s a time honored male Braverman tradition. Max doesn’t really want to seem to go, but Zeek is over the moon about the trip. Kristina gives Zeek a “Max instruction manual”, but of course, he disregards it as her being overprotective. Once the trip is under way, Zeek tries to get Max to do camping stuff, but Max just wants to look for bugs. Max’s frustration turns into a full meltdown and Zeek is beside himself. He calls Adam, who with the promise of morning lacewings, gets Max to agree to stay. (The call also mellowed Adam’s buzz… dude. Like totally, man). Zeek tells Adam that he finally gets what he goes through, but didn’t we address that last year with the lost turtle fiasco?
Haddie comes to her parents’ home and tells them she loves them, misses them, but has decided to move into her grandparents’ home permanently, or until her folks let her date Alex. Kristina reminds Adam that her own mother ran off with her father at sixteen and had a miserable life. Talk about delayed exposition, how much more sense does Kristina make now!?!
I’m torn on the Haddie situation. I understand that Alex is a good guy and treats her well, and she “loves” him, but he is truly the most mature nineteen year old ever! And Haddie is not, contrary to her high opinion of herself, the most mature sixteen year old on the planet. So I get where her parents are coming from, but I remember where she is coming from. Whose side do you fall on?
A final note, was anyone else completely shocked that Kristina and Adam agreed to the camping trip in the first place? Zeek, with a heart sometimes in the right place, has not shown himself to be the most sensitive of individuals. With all of Max’s sensitivities/spectrum issues, I was surprised that Adam wasn’t going with. And poor Drew, he was MIA for the entire episode and we don’t know if he ever got a camping trip.
Next week: John Corbett arrives. Based on the previews, I can’t wait!
Well, those are my TwoCents! What are your TwoCents? Share your comments, thoughts, and feedback below!
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