photo: nbc
New Plan
Original Air Date: Apr 5, 2011
Karen Belgrad – Associate Editor
karenbelgrad
@thetwocentscorp.com
One of the best things about the Parenthood is that the parents on the show actually seem to remember their childhoods. So many television shows give us family units where the adults live in a bubble, not drawing from their own life experiences. The Braverman family is all about their own cumulative life events guiding the way they pass on their knowledge to their children.
However, the adults themselves are still works in progress. Sarah is forever finding herself, Crosby is still atoning, Adam is tightly wound, and Julia is dealing with plan-altering news. But, most importantly, it’s PROM TIME!
Haddie asks Alex to go to prom with her. He’s hesitant since he’s past his high school years, but her enthusiasm is catching, so he agrees to go. Minor quibble, if Haddie is prom age, why haven’t we seen her applying to colleges like Amber? Or is this a junior-senior prom thing? It’s not really defined, is it?
Adam completely stresses over Haddie attending prom. He remembers his own sex-focused prom night (including a teeth-garter moment, better left less described to his wife), but Kristina insists she has spoken to Haddie about rules and curfew for the evening. While dress shopping, Kristina asks Haddie if she and Alex are talking about sex. Haddie brushes her off saying, prom sex is cliché.
Crosby has a plan to win Jasmine back. He looks at a nice house on a family street, but is put off by the million dollar plus price tag. Instead, he wonders about the run down house across the street. He goes to Adam with his plan, but Adam is abrasive and not willing to forgive him sleeping with Gaby. He goes to Sarah, who is also still upset about his transgressions, but agrees to go see the house with him.
When Sarah visits Julia (who has a broken arm from ice skating- Erika Christensen really did break her wrist- see below) and is sad to learn of Julia’s fertility problems, but troubled to learn that Amber didn’t get into Berkeley and didn’t tell her. She asks Amber about it, but amber is trying to figure it out for herself and not ready to talk about it. Amber’s spirits are slightly lifted when Haddie convinces her to double date to the prom. Haddie even promises a non-homeless, community center friend of Alex’s as her date.
Julia tries to compensate for not being able to have another baby by spending lots of time with Sydney. After trips to the zoo, learning French, Sydney balks when Julia suggests teaching her golf as their “thing.” She asks her mom how many “things” they have to have. Julia is crushed, and sobs into Camille’s arms. We’ve seen lots of Mae Whitman/Lauren Graham tears, but Erika Christensen completely rocked these scenes with her raw emotion and heartbreak.
Sarah is still meeting with Gilliam (Richard Dreyfuss) to discuss the rewrites and revisions to her play. He’s sold on her talent, but not on her commitment to the process. He mentions an upcoming Berkeley theater event she can take part in, but she’s not sure she’ll be ready. He tries to get her to buckle down and work, but prom and Crosby, and other life stuff keeps distracting her.
When prom night arrives, Adam is still visibly tense. He gathers with his parents, Sarah, and Kristina to see the girls and their dates off. Haddie wears a taupe, strapless dress which is not the best color for her as it kind of washes her out. Amber is in a spaghetti strap, t-length, black dress, which is cute, but non-descript. Personally, my prom dress was floor length and teal, with satin, ruffles, and lace, so who am I to judge? Kristina assures Adam she gave Haddie a one hour extension on her curfew and to relax. Sarah tells Adam that she’s going to see Crosby’s house, and when he starts to beg off, she reminds him that Crosby is in pain, needs them, and is their brother.
At the prom, Amber makes small talk with her date, but her mood is dampened when her old friend Kelsey inquires about her college plans. She leaves the dance early and returns home to a confrontation with Sarah. She yells at her mother that the plans Sarah set forth for her (high school, college, etc…) aren’t working, so she’s done listening and going to do things her own way. Amber storms off, but it seems to ignite a play write spark in Sarah who begins typing ferociously.
Haddie is having a far better time at the dance and she hesitantly broaches the idea of a hotel room with Alex. He (magical TV boyfriend alert) assures her that there’s no hurry, they’ll know when the time is right, and there’s no hurry. Haddie continues dance, seemingly assured in their relationship. Later, the two kiss in the hotel hallway, and when Haddie tells him the time is right, Alex unlocks a hotel room and they enter. Haddie arrives home moments before curfew, and while Kristina and Adam seem reassured that she’s a “good girl”, Haddie smiles knowingly to herself.
The next morning, Joel, Julia, and Sarah inspect the house with Crosby. It’s quite the fixer-upper, and they all seem reluctant to give their blessing. When Crosby admits he has sold his houseboat, bought the house already, and thought it was a grown-up thing to do. An entering Adam confirms it was and offers that the house is fixable if they all do it together. The brothers hug it out.
Wow. A lot of smaller things happened in that hour. The Julia arc was the most emotional of the hour, followed by Amber’s blow-up at Sarah. But the Amber moment felt like a set-up for next week (the previews were intense), but the Julia portion felt like a heartfelt resolution to the story we’ve watched unfold all season. I know it’s not the last we’ll probably see of it, but that was a powerful payoff. I’m glad Crosby and Adam are finally on the road to reconciliation (or reconciled?), but I can’t see Jasmine as the type to be won over by this grand gesture. And all I ask of the writers is to please, please, please not make Haddie end up pregnant. Let’s not go down that road. Please?
Well, those are my TwoCents! What are your TwoCents, feedbacks, and comments? Share them below!
TheTwoCents 
A good episode about coming age…at first I thought some of the scenes between Amber and Sarah were overdone, as they really induced uncomfortable cringes….but then after I re-watched the episode, I realized that that’s how things really feel when you’re at that age, and I expressed my frustration the same way. It was heartfelt and real, even if it was overdramatic.
A great example is at the end, when Amber finally tells Sarah that she isn’t going to go to college and the whole good student thing was just living her life to do what she thought Sarah wanted. (scene is at http://vimeo.com/22052846 ).
Also, so glad to hear that they used another Junip song (“Loops”) during that scene..they’ve played them a lot this season, and something about the band’s soothing sound is perfect for really emotional scenes like that.