This week things got even uglier and more complicated between Amber and her cousin Haddie. After Amber confessed to Haddie that she’d slept with Steve obviously things were rough between them. But once Haddie’s overprotective and vindictive friends got involved things got worse. They started calling Amber names and a fight broke out at school between Amber and Haddie. And as much as I sympathize for Amber, I can’t help but feel bad for Haddie. After all, her cousin told her to dump her boyfriend and then slept with him. That stings, especially when the biggest issue in the relationship had been that Haddie wasn’t ready to sleep with Steve.
After the fight the parents got called in and eventually Haddie revealed why they were fighting. “Amber told me to break up with Steve,” Haddie said. “And then she slept with him.” Obviously, Amber’s cries that “It’s more complicated than that!” were true, but the whole situation was a mess. Kristina was furious. Sarah was apologetic but had to stick up for Amber. And Adam wanted to smooth things over. As Zeek said, Adam is the “fixer-upper” in the family.
Things got worse for Amber, though, when someone wrote “Whore” across her locker. Kristina swore that Haddie wouldn’t do that, but she also wasn’t very apologetic and said that that would never happen to Haddie because “she isn’t one”. Whether Kristina would admit it or not, the implication was that Amber deserved what she was getting. Haddie told her immature friends to cool it with the Mean Girls vindictive crap, but when she went to go find Amber she saw her kissing Steve.
Well that was ill-timed. On the one hand, Amber should have tried harder to stay away from Steve. He’s her cousin’s ex-boyfriend and the conflict is making things really difficult for her family. But on the other hand, Amber is a kid who’s always been alone. As much as I like Sarah, she clearly hasn’t set a great example for her kids in the past. Their dad is a mess. Amber’s former relationships were with losers. Then this nice, smart guy comes along and she has a real connection with him. It would be hard for a kid like Amber to resist that kind of temptation. Not because she’s a slut or because she’s insensitive – because she’s needs the attention.
There were a couple other conflicts this week, though none of them as intense as the conflict between Amber (and Sarah) and Haddie (and Kristina/Adam). The Bravermans were participating in a walk for autism and Max was really excited about it. Only Max didn’t know that he actually has autism. The doctor assured Kristina that she would know when the time is right to tell Max because he would start asking questions, but you can’t help but think that someone might let it slip to Max before that happens.
Meanwhile, Zeek found out that Camille once slept with her art teacher. Can no one keep a secret in the Braverman family? Seriously! Amber slept with Steve and her conscience got the better of her so she told Haddie. Camille slept with her art teacher and she didn’t need to tell Sarah because her face said it all. Sarah told Adam because she can’t keep anything to herself. And Adam told Zeek because…he couldn’t lie? Sometimes a little lie goes a long way, Braverman clan.
Julia had a nice storyline this week. One that I think helped soften her character and show us that she can be sensitive. Joel signed her up for a program at Sydney’s school where moms would help each other out when one got sick or had a crisis. So Julia had to bring soup to a mom who’d just had surgery, only to find out that she’d had a boob job. I was with Julia – ridiculous. But apparently the mom found Julia to have “attitude” and told all the other moms that Julia had given her “fake soup” – complete with a receipt floating in it. Not great for Joel’s rep at school, and he told Julia that he was getting dirty looks when he went to pick up Sydney. Julia made real soup and returned to the mom’s house, but she couldn’t keep her judgment to herself. It’s Julia, after all. And she was right, it was ridiculous to call on other moms for help after having elective surgery. Frustrated and stressed, Julia let it slip that her parents were splitting up and the boob job mom realized she’d been kind of hard on Julia. Then she revealed that she’d recently split up with her husband. Hence the boob job – she was finding it hard to re-enter the dating scene. The lesson? There’s more to people than you think. It’s a simple concept, but I think it was really effective in revealing that Julia is a sensitive person and is taking Zeek and Camille’s separation really hard.
The other conflict this week was between Crosby and Jasmine, and we’ll see this one really come to a head in the season finale next week. Jasmine was auditioning for some fancy dance troupe and if she got the position she’d have to move to New York. A pretty big deal for Crosby since he’s gotten pretty attached to that kid of his. It’s the one thing that bugs me (and apparently a lot of other viewers as well) about Jasmine. She was the one who didn’t introduce Jabbar to Crosby until he was five, and now that Crosby is in Jabbar’s life she still acts as though she’s the only parent. We saw in the scenes from next week that Jasmine gets the part so a decision will have to be made. I’m guessing Jasmine won’t go, because the show won’t really work if Crosby moves to New York or if his kid isn’t in his life anymore.
We can also look forward to some of the drama between Zeek and Camille really come out in the season finale. What do you think? An official separation? Reunion? Divorce?
I’ve really loved this season of Parenthood and can’t wait to see what will happen in the season finale. This is a show that I’d actually like to own on DVD – and if you haven’t been watching I highly recommend catching up this summer before it returns for a second season.
