Considering that Adam, Kristina and Haddie were never my favorite characters on Parenthood, I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised with how invested I am in their storyline this season.
Haddie’s secret, forbidden relationship with Alex was at the center of last night’s episode, along with two more frivolous subplots. Haddie barely got any time in with Alex before her parents discovered the truth, and they were furious. Even worse for Haddie was the fact that Alex was furious. And rightly so – she’d brought him into a lie without his permission and compromised his integrity. But at this point, I’m really feeling for Haddie. Yeah, Alex is kind of old for her. But there’s no evidence to support her parents’ decision to keep them from dating. I’m glad this storyline wasn’t just wrapped up with a bow – Haddie could have moped for a while and then moved on to someone else. But life’s not that easy. Instead she confided in her understanding grandmother and, in the end, asked if she could move in with her grandparents.
Is that too extreme? Obviously not in Haddie’s eyes. From her perspective her parents made a cruel and unfair decision that she had no choice but to ignore. And then they removed the door off her bedroom. She didn’t like their rules and wants out, and luckily for her she has somewhere to go. I like the rift this has caused between Camille and Kristina as well, which I assume will bleed into her and Zeek’s relationship with Adam as well. Camille knows Alex and she hadn’t done anything wrong in talking to Haddie. It was just Kristina’s own guilt over making her daughter miserable that made her lash out at Camille. But if Haddie actually moves in with Camille, Kristina will probably lose it. I can’t wait to see where this storyline goes.
Meanwhile, Crosby had to stand up to Jasmine when Jabbar tried to quit his lead role in the school play. I was firmly on Crosby’s side here. Letting Jabbar quit just because he had some butterflies was setting the example that any time you think something is hard or scary, you just quit. No big deal! I’ve never liked how Jasmine makes so many decisions in parenting (after all, she’s the one who kept Crosby and Jabbar apart) and I was glad to see Crosby call her on her hypocrisy. She wanted Crosby to help discipline Jabbar, and he did. If Jabbar wants to go back on a commitment he made at school, they should at least discuss it first.
Jabbar ended up going through with his role and being really proud of his performance. And why shouldn’t he be, since it was the fanciest school play ever. Seriously, do you think it has a shot at the Tony? Also, I loved Julia’s reaction to her daughter getting all dolled up to play Marilyn Monroe. And I loved Sarah’s reaction to Julia’s reaction. Those two are great together, even in brief moments.
I didn’t care as much for the other subplot. Drew revealed that he’d forgotten to sell all the Christmas wrapping paper over the holidays to raise money for his baseball team, and if he didn’t make the money he wouldn’t be able to go to the tournament. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up rich, but I was kind of appalled at Drew’s lazy attitude towards the whole thing. He wasn’t even trying! And it was his own damn fault for not selling it over the holidays! And who cares if all the other kids’ parents just buy it themselves? Still, I did feel bad for Sarah. She actually wanted to be able to just buy the paper, but she couldn’t. In the end, Zeek bought all the paper. It was a sweet moment, when Sarah found all the paper stashed in Zeek’s trunk, but it was ruined by how annoyed I was at Drew.
Overall, it was a solid episode. The Haddie/Alex stuff was really great, and the highlight of the episode was when Alex came to speak to Adam at his office. He made it so impossible not to like and respect him, I don’t know how Adam and Kristina will manage to stand their ground. Giving in and letting Haddie date Alex doesn’t exactly set the right precedent (run away from home and you’ll get your way!) but they have to see that Alex is a really good guy by now. Another highlight was Amber calling Alex to tell him not to be mad at Haddie. I love Amber.
What did you think of “Opening Night”? How do you think things will work out for Haddie? Are you excited to see Adam get unintentionally stoned in the next episode?
