Parenthood Recap: Flirty Phone Tag, Platonic Fist Bumps, Engagement Hurdles and More
This week’s Parenthood finds Ryan (finally) putting a ring on it, while Julia flirts with some extramarital action and Hank embraces his bromance with Max.
Here, we break down the seven key takeaways from the NBC weepfest’s latest installment:
• That hot band member is way too handsy with a certain engaged Luncheonette employee. (Ahem, Amber.) Poor Ryan has less than stellar timing, too, as he finds his ladylove in the arms of said other man more than once in the hour. He reacts as one would — by proposing again (this time with a massive ring). “My life changed the day that I met you and I don’t want to spend another day of it without you,” he cries. Amber reluctantly accepts the rock — reluctantly being the operative word.
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• Voicemail re-listening is the new sexting. In a moment of self doubt and sadness, Julia presses “Play” on a cute new message from her crush Ed — and then presses “Play” again the moment it finishes playing. (Is it just us or was Julia channeling Erika Christensen’s Swimfan alter ego in this scene?) Later — as in a day or two after Julia tries to spice up her marriage with a booty call in Joel’s office — Ed and Julia break down their respective mundane days over the phone, a conversation he peppers with a flirty, “Then my phone rang and it suddenly got a lot better.”
• There is a way to silence those notorious talking-over-each-other Bravermans. And Julia masterfully demonstrated how to do so when, at lunch with her siblings, she sits silently, listening to all of their overlapping opinions on Camille’s impending Italy trip, and then… Bam! No doubt comparing her own discontent to her mother’s, Julia explodes, defending Camille’s decision and promptly storming away from the table, leaving everyone’s lips zipped.
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• Monica Potter and Mae Whitman are magical together on-screen. These two powerhouses rarely share scenes these days, so it was nice to see them come together to chat about their character’s respective engagements. Granted, Kristina’s sweet proposal story only caused Amber to question her own impending I Dos, but we’ll allow it since this moment was so darn moving.
• Fist bumps have never been so awkward. Poor Drew’s heart was thrown in the gutter again after a drunk hookup with his dormroom crush. Following the sexy encounter, the two indeed bump fists to seal their friendship (nothing more) — but luckily for the cute co-ed, she later decides that a sober hookup wouldn’t be so bad either.
• Hank doesn’t do labels. But yeah, Max is his best friend. After “firing” the Braverman boy following a lecture from Sarah about setting boundaries in that relationship, Hank shows up at her place to defend the pairing. “He’s eager and I’m showing him the ropes,” Hank shares, sweetly. “It’s good for him… And it’s good for me.”
• Zeke’s stubbornness is frustrating but actually pretty understandable. Change is rough, especially for people of a certain age. So, while it’s incredibly maddening to see him refuse to consider Camille’s pleas for an Act III of their life, it’s one of the more grounded arcs on the series right now. And Craig T. Nelson continues to nail each and every beat.
What were your favorite moments from Thursday’s Parenthood?
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