I get sad just thinking about it, but a majority of my favorite shows have either gone off the air recently or will be going off in the next six months. I’m talking about everything from the dearly departed “Breaking Bad,” “Southland,” “Futurama,” “Eastbound and Down,” “Fringe,” and the more recently deceased “The Newsroom” to the don’t-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-way-out “Boardwalk Empire,” the stayed-on-too-long “Sons of Anarchy,” and the dismal “True Blood.” [Okay, so maybe that last one was never quite “a favorite.”] And in the next few months we’ll be saying goodbye to “Parks and Recreation,” “Mad Men,” and “Justified.” I might think those first two are ready to move on, and “Justified” is going out at exactly the right time, but if there’s one show I’ll really, truly miss it’s “Parenthood.”
Out of that list I just mentioned, every single one of those shows either went out at the exact right moment (at best) or lingered around until I was ready to smother it with a pillow myself (at worst), but “Parenthood” is really the only one I wanted to see keep going and I’m sad I won’t get any more time with the enormous Braverman family. Even if I downright hated some of the characters, I’ll miss the collective experience. You’re not really a “Parenthood” fan until you’ve picked out one character you hate and wrote at length about them on some TV blog, the fact that all the characters seem to have haters really speaks to how evenhanded and open-hearted the show is.
Anyway, the series finale was slightly more subdued than I was expecting, but the last ten minutes or so killed me. If you could watch that final montage centered around a family game of baseball (with flash-forwards to show us what will happen to each of the characters) after they’d scattered Zeke the Grandfather’s ashes…if you could watch that without feeling emotional, then the CIA should recruit you as an assassin. My two complaints: the bogus revelation that Joel and Julia would be adopting another child after they’d only put their marriage back together in the previous episode, and not enough Crosby and Jasmine (the series most unfairly disliked and misunderstood character) in this entire season but especially the finale. Other than that it was as great as it possibly could have been. Grade for Finale: A
Now my grades of the seasons…
Season One…A fine introduction to the Bravermans. It introduces us to the individual families and their places on the socioeconomic food chain like single mom Sarah who struggles to find a career path and lives with her parents despite having two teenagers or successful lawyer Julia who is the only character I would argue begins the series in a better place than where she winds up seeing as how she kind-of has it all in the first season (a stay at home husband and adorable daughter) but goes through painful adoptions and separations and job searches throughout the series. The stakes in this season aren’t as high as later seasons, and this is probably the best season if you’re just wanting to chill with the Bravermans and see them all (relatively) happy. Grade: A-
Season Two…This is where my personal bias comes in a little bit since my favorite family on this series was Crosby and Jasmine (plus their son Jabbar and eventual daughter Adia), and this season started off strong for them as a couple with their eventual engagement, but the series decides that’s just too simple and Crosby cheats with his nephew’s behavioral therapist (Minka Kelly, always creating problems) then spends the rest of the season trying to get Jasmine back. Their fighting, cheating, and separation feels more like a plot device than something that would actually happen, and it’s this season where the closet-Jasmine haters (mostly white women…hmmmm, coincidence?) felt most free to voice their hatred of her. And the other characters go through such minor stakes scenarios, it’s hard to remember much else from this season. Grade: B
Season Three…The only season I actively disliked mostly because Crosby and Jasmine spend almost the entire season separated and dating other people. But the last two episodes feature some of the most moving moments for that couple as they get engaged again, this time in the rain scored to Death Cab for Cutie’s excellent “Transatlanticism” and the season finale sees them get married. Added into their woes is steadfast family-man Adam being tempted by a hot secretary and Joel/Julia facing major problems getting pregnant, then turning to a flaky surrogate, and eventually adopting a boy who is even older than their biological daughter. Yeah, all in all, this season is way too full of angst. Grade: C+…But a great season finale
Season Four…Many consider this the best season because of Kristina’s breast cancer storyline but I liked it for the introduction of Ray Romano’s Hank, by far my favorite non-Braverman character. Grade: A-
Season Five…I think people felt letdown by this season after the more eventful season four, but I actually really liked this one except for the stupid decision by Kristina to run for mayor. Not that much happens plot-wise except for Joel/Julia’s overdue separation, but it’s a lot of subtle developments between the characters that get worked out, like Zeke and Camille’s very believable debate about whether they should move or stay in the same house for their golden years. I know lifestyle changes don’t sound like riveting drama, but in real life that’s where it most often comes from. This might be my pick for the most realistic season as well. Grade: A-
Season Six…The final season alternates between being a little on the slow side (like for the first three quarters) and then rushing everything to fit it all in (like the last three episodes), but I really liked it. I hated Adam’s decision to quit the Luncheonette with his brother because it felt like a forced plot line and also found it borderline irresponsible for Amber to have a baby she wasn’t ready for (especially after spending her whole life being mad at her own parents, particularly her dad, for not having their stuff together before they had her) but most everything worked out well and I was especially moved by the scenes of Zeke and Camille struggling with his deteriorating health and Crosby trying to save the Luncheonette with his supportive wife Jasmine. More fine, subtle work that I doubt Emmy voters will recognize but a very realistic exploration of what happens to someone at the end of their life or during a crisis at their dream job, and it was hard not to be moved by it. Grade: A-
Least Favorite Character: I really hated Kristina. I hated the way she cried about everything. I hated the way she was basically raising the autism-afflicted Max to be a serial killer by spoiling him so completely and thoroughly and teaching him that everything he doesn’t get is because of some cruel injustice committed by a mean individual. And I hated her myopic selfishness and self-centered attitude towards everyone she interacts with, like the way she never stops asking people to do her favors or make special exceptions for her son even though she’s never seen really helping out any of her husband’s family or caring much about them at all when they go through their own hard times. Kristina is the worst kind of bad person: someone entirely convinced they’re a good person.
Favorite Character(s): Obviously Crosby, Jasmine, and Jabbar, but I also related to Zeke and Camille, Julia, and Sarah’s eventual true love Hank.
Overall: Every “Parenthood” fan will have their own favorite characters and seasons, and will debate emotionally (sometimes at the expense of an intelligent argument). And that is a terrific thing. In an age where there are so many shows and not enough hours in the day to even watch them all, let alone care about them, isn’t it great when a show this subtle and realistic can inspire such passion? “Parenthood” is really the last of the family dramas, and it’s also my pick for the best one. So long Bravermans, NBC and TV in general is a colder place without you.