S06.E10: How Did We Get Here?

[Inquisitionist]

When Sarah and Hank first hooked up, they seemed to have a great deal of sexual chemistry. But I've kind of lost the thread of why they're together at this point...

[Mittengirl]

Camille spending pretty much the entire episode in a heavy-looking winter parka bugged me. It is 7 degrees outside right now, but I am not wearing a winter coat indoors and I am sure the hospital keeps the thermostat higher than I do. Take your coat off Camille! You are going to be there a while.

Also annoyed by Hank and Sarah's scene outside the ER. Zeek had been admitted hours prior to that scene, why would you go down to the ER to go to a vending machine or to get some fresh air (or whatever Hank was doing)? Get out of the way of incoming patients for cripes sake! There must be a main entrance off of a lobby somewhere.

I think the smartest thing I have ever heard anyone say on this show was when Zeek told Camille that they would make any medical decisions themselves, without talking to the kids. Damn right! When you get right down to it, any final decisions should be solely Zeek's. Of course he should take his wife's feelings into account, but it is his life, after all. You do not need to consult your adult children, you tell them what you have decided. Less stressful that way, give the four hyenas Zeek and Camille have produced.

As far as not talking to Zeek's mother, I don't recall any mention of Christina's parents when she was near death. Even if they can't travel, surely the parents could talk to their dying children on the phone.

If Zeek is really about to expire, I would hope at least Victor, Jabbar and Sydney would be allowed to see him one last time. Yes, it could be traumatic, to a degree, but they all seem to adore their granddad and are, IMO, old enough to handle it, with proper preparation. Max didn't seem to give a damn when his mother was on death's door and doesn't seem close to Zeek, so I don't think he would give a damn now either. Or else he would cause a massive scene that would push Zeek over to the other side.

It seems like the Luncheonette storyline should have been introduced earlier, or not at all. They have an awful lot to cram into 3 episodes. Does Adam sacrifice his relief over getting out from under a failing business to support his baby brother's dream? If not, does he have an alternate plan? $20,000 isn't going to last long in Berkeley, not with one kid in college and 2 still at home. Crosby said he had a potential job prospect, but I don't recall hearing Adam say anything like that.

Watching Amber give birth and Zeek die, assuming he does, aren't the interesting parts of those storylines, to me. The aftermath would/could be far more compelling. How is Amber going to cope with single motherhood? Is Ryan going to play any more of a role in his kid's life? Where will Amber work if the studio folds? How is Camille going to fare? Will she have guilt over "forcing" Zeek to sell his beloved house, or for spending 2 or 3 months away from him last year? Those would have been interesting storylines to spend the last season on, not Hank & family.

[kentlady]

For some reason, I think the death in Parenthood is going to be Cosby.  I think he'll die in a motorcycle accident and he'll end up with brain damage, heart intact.  Of course, he has a signed donor card and guess who's going to get his heart?  Okay, maybe that's a bit far-fetched, but I have an active imagination.  And this is probably a better story than what the writers eventually come up with.

 

As for Sarah, I think she's going to turn down Hank's proposal.  She'll finally realize she doesn't need a man in her life.   Hank will turn to his ex-wife and daughter and they'll become a family again.

 

And yes, of course Amber will have a son and she'll name him Cosby Zeke Braverman.  And by the way, doesn't she have friends?  Don't you usually invite friends of the mommy-to-be when giving a baby shower?  They would have had to call them anyway (to tell them the shower was cancelled), why not just tell them of the change in venue?

 

Julie and Joel will of course reunite.

 

So that's how I see Parenthood ending.  However, they choose to do it, I admit I'm looking forward to it.

[BC Mama]

I too found Jasmine's "follow your dream" pep talk shortsighted and unrealistic. I guess their money worries are over now that she's got that lucrative filing job!

I feel like from the beginning of their relationship Jasmine has coddled Crosby and continually forgives him or justifies his immature and impulsive behaviour. Part of me thinks this the result of guilt over depriving Crosby of Jabbar's first five years. I wish the show examined this facet of their relationship more, beyond the first season or so.

[txhorns79]

The slightly evil part of me wanted the doctor to come out and ask if anyone had recently revealed secret travel plans for Zeke, as that was the cause of his heart attack.  At least that would have been unexpected and slightly more interesting than what we got.  

 

I can't even begin with Hank's proposal.  I feel like he's lost his ability to relate to people since he self-diagnosed as having Asperger's.  I just wanted someone to tell him politely to listen to Sarah, respect her space and let her be.  If she wanted Hank there, she'd tell him so.    
 

 

I too found Jasmine's "follow your dream" pep talk shortsighted and unrealistic. I guess their money worries are over now that she's got that lucrative filing job!

 

Well, given their money problems appeared to consist of not being able to blow 2 or 3 grand to take their kid to Harry Potter-land on short notice, maybe they were never real to begin with.  But you are right, the writers, for whatever reason, seem to have real difficulty handling a storyline where a character is in financial straits.  Maybe they honestly believe that a person can make a good living as a part-time filing clerk. 

Edited January 10, 2015 by txhorns79

[BoogieBurns]

a person can make a good living as a part-time filing clerk

 

$30 a hour would make a pretty good living for me.

 

I think Sarah is going to die. Amber will yell at her or something when her water breaks, and it will kill Sarah. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

$30/hr x 20 hrs/week is $31,200 before taxes. If you are young, single, living with roommates, and not in the Bay Area, you could easily live on that, but it is not enough to support a family of four in Berkeley/the Bay Area (and that's assuming that her part time position is 20 hours - lots of part time jobs offer less hours than that). If Crosby is still employed and the Luncheonette is doing well and actually booking clients then great, Jasmine's job would provide a great bump in their income but if the Luncheonette is struggling then it would be difficult for them to get by on just her part time pay.

The cost of living in SF/Berkeley is much higher than most of the country. Gas, groceries, even stupid little things cost more at Target (when I visited my parents, I noticed that prices at chain stores like Target were lower than they are for the exact same items in northern California), plus the higher tax rate which is currently 8.75 in both SF and Berkeley after the statewide 1% decrease (El Cerrito, which abuts Berkeley, and is where many people who live in Berkeley shop, was 10.25 before the decrease).

At this point, I don't care who dies at the end of the season because, with few exception (notably Nora and Jabbar), they are all such self absorbed assholes that I would be okay with most of their characters being killed off.

Edited January 10, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Perfect Xero]

Maybe

 

They covered who was watching Julia & Joel's kids while the parents were at the hospital, but any mention of Nora, Max, Aida or Jabar?  Since Christina is the only adult/admin/educator at Snowflake Academy (aside from part time culinary arts professor Adam), did she get the word out to all the 'flakes that school was cancelled?  Or maybe Zeke conveniently had his episode on a Friday night?

 

Christina, Max, and the snowflakes are the ones who robbed the Luncheonette, Adam gets a big insurance settlement and all the equipment is now in Snowflake academy's new "music room". That's why Christina showed up later.

 

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

[Lillybee]

I think that Ray Romano should at least get an Emmy nom for Hank. I hated him in his sit-com show but he is really showing some acting chops here.

[GreenScreenFX]

Lauren Graham seems like she is crying a lot in real life. I do not want that. I hope she is ok.

[GreenScreenFX]

And by that, I mean, she seems on verge of tears every time the camera is on her. Is she always about to cry?

[POPCProfessor]

It seems to me that it MUST have been Adam who orchestrated the break in of the Luncheonette. Are all of you thinking this too, or just implying it by pointing out how weird it is that everything could have been taken out of there so fast AFTER the alarm was tripped, the neighbor not noticing, etc.? I was thinking this already when Adam seemed so calm in the car with Crosby coming back from the "crime scene." Then I re-watched the episode tonight because I had missed the very beginning, and I saw that in scenes from previous shows they show Adam complaining to Kristina about how the Luncheonette is a weight around his neck. How much more obvious could it be? Now, others have pointed out how unrealistically fast the insurance company gave a quote... is it possible that Adam is fabricating something here too? It does seem unlike him to actually commit a crime like insurance fraud, and he is awfully anxious for Crosby to "not worry about it" and let Adam deal with the insurance. Could it be that Adam had the place emptied out and sold off all the equipment, and is making it look like a burglary so that he doesn't have to involve Crosby in the decision? Seems really crazy since it will be so hard to perpetuate this ruse over the long term, hiding all the details of the dissolution of the business from Crosby.

Of course, if Crosby dies in a motorcycle accident and donates his heart to Zeke (a MUCH better ending, I agree!) then this problem goes away too and Adam can have the fresh start he wants with no strings attached. 

I share the bewilderment and disgust regarding how many other message boards and social media posts fawn over this show. Thank God for the clear-eyed, clear-minded cynics and critics here on this forum!!

[Clanstarling]

I think that Ray Romano should at least get an Emmy nom for Hank. I hated him in his sit-com show but he is really showing some acting chops here.

The first time I realized he was a good actor was in "Men of a Certain Age," along with Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher. They were all terrific. It was an under appreciated show about a group of aging friends.

[doodlebug]

While watching Amber's baby shower, which, I admit, was one of the better scenes in the eppy; two things came to mind.  First, as mentioned above, where were Amber's friends?  Why wouldn't the shower have been planned for a time when her cousin, Haddie, could attend?  Amber has no friends her own age?  Surely a few extras could've been rounded up from a local acting class to portray her peeps.  It's pretty cheap as long as they didn't have any lines.  And, considering the constant jabber and overtalking from the main cast, nobody would've noticed Amber's friends were mute, anyway.

 

Secondly, anyone else want to get their hands on the binder full of parenting advice and publish it as a treatise on how NOT to parent?  The chapters written by Kristina and Julia would be particularly instructive, I'd think, Amber should do exactly the opposite of what they recommend.  And Sarah's kids seem to have turned out OK in spite of her from what I've seen.  I'll give Jasmine a pass (other than on the not telling Crosby about Jabbar) as her kids don't seem too screwed up.  Camille seems to do well with her grandkids, though her kids are certainly fairly messed up.

 

Most TV shows are unrealistic about economic issues, but this one is worse than most.  People on sitcoms generally live in places that would be out of their reach in real life (Friends) and this happens on dramas, too. One exception was ER where Mark Greene, an ER attending making well into 6 figures could only afford a studio apartment after his divorce despite the fact his ex was an attorney and he didn't pay alimony.  It is particularly grating on this show where the characters are shown living in some of the most pricey parts of town in a place that is one of the most expensive in the country.  Hell, Zeek and Camille, both retired and in financial straits just a couple years ago, sold their house in Berkeley and bought a multi million dollar home in San Francisco just last year.  It's no wonder the rest of the family has no common sense when it comes to money. Maybe Jasmine figures Zeke is going to kick the bucket soon and Crosby will be inheriting a tidy sum, so no problem keeping the Luncheonette going.

 

However, given their current situation, it is completely ridiculous that Jasmine would tell Crosby to 'follow his dreams'.  They have two young kids and a mortgage.  He needs to get a regular paycheck and follow his dreams on nights weekends and holidays at this point in his life.  Of course, this is the show that wants us to think it is just great for Sarah to stumble from job to job without a second thought while raising two kids without a reliable father.  And that Kristina is a 'head master' as a prestigious charter school with no education or experience in the field.  I am sure that in the next week or so, Taylor Swift will be calling and wanting to record her next CD at The Luncheonette.  And Crosby will turn her down because his artistic integrity would be compromised by working with a pop singer.

Edited January 10, 2015 by doodlebug

[BusyOctober]

If Crosby really intends to make a go of his business, does he understand that he has to lower his standard & work with all sorts of artists?  Commercials, pop, indie, etc will all help pay the bills.  Why does he think because his dump of a place was once a landmark he can just hang out an "Open" sign and artists will flock to his door??  It didn't work before the robbery and that biz philosophy won't work post insurance pay out either.  He can't work with temperamental artist as we've seen.  He has nothing for disdain for any paying customer who isn't part of the Bay Area Kool Kidz Klub. He has no patience or people skills to hustle for clients.  If I were his spouse I'd tell him take the insurance check and cash it before the company figures out they made a mistake. 

 

The unrealistic portrayal of the insurance nonsense may be one of the final straws for me re. "real world" issues covered on this show.  Cancer, cost of college, divorce, illness, aging parents, bullies etc have all been handled with very fuzzy ties to the real world, but I know this is a TV show and these are not real people.  However, the insurance story really irks me.  I have a friend who's home burned to the ground 2 days after they signed the papers.  They had workers come in to start renovating on their first day of ownership. One of them left a heat gun on when they stopped work for the day. The fire started slow and burned for hours before anyone knew it.  That was over a year ago.  They are still dealing with the bank (and still on the hook for the mortgage payments) and the insurance company hasn't paid one cent.

[txhorns79]

However, given their current situation, it is completely ridiculous that Jasmine would tell Crosby to 'follow his dreams'.  They have two young kids and a mortgage.  He needs to get a regular paycheck and follow his dreams on nights weekends and holidays at this point in his life.

 

But Jasmine has a lucrative part-time job in the dynamic, growth industry of paper filing!  Given the show's internal logic, Jasmine can clearly support her entire family on her salary, while also floating Adam and Kristina until things pick up at the Luncheonette.  More seriously, I am totally with you.  Either Jasmine is entirely delusional, completely irresponsible or she doesn't understand how money works.   

[JasminePhyllisia]

If Crosby really intends to make a go of his business, does he understand that he has to lower his standard & work with all sorts of artists?  Commercials, pop, indie, etc will all help pay the bills.  Why does he think because his dump of a place was once a landmark he can just hang out an "Open" sign and artists will flock to his door??  It didn't work before the robbery and that biz philosophy won't work post insurance pay out either.  He can't work with temperamental artist as we've seen.  He has nothing for disdain for any paying customer who isn't part of the Bay Area Kool Kidz Klub. He has no patience or people skills to hustle for clients.  If I were his spouse I'd tell him take the insurance check and cash it before the company figures out they made a mistake. 

 

The unrealistic portrayal of the insurance nonsense may be one of the final straws for me re. "real world" issues covered on this show.  Cancer, cost of college, divorce, illness, aging parents, bullies etc have all been handled with very fuzzy ties to the real world, but I know this is a TV show and these are not real people.  However, the insurance story really irks me.  I have a friend who's home burned to the ground 2 days after they signed the papers.  They had workers come in to start renovating on their first day of ownership. One of them left a heat gun on when they stopped work for the day. The fire started slow and burned for hours before anyone knew it.  That was over a year ago.  They are still dealing with the bank (and still on the hook for the mortgage payments) and the insurance company hasn't paid one cent.

 

That's because your friends don't live in the fantasy world of the Bravermans where unrealistic timelines (and salaries) abound.  I'm surprised the insurance rep didn't have the check FedEx'd straight to the hospital after their 2-minute appraisal.  Then Amber could have gotten a check from Adam right there at her shower as a "gift." 

[GreenScreenFX]

The insurance thing was so unbelievably stupid. The writers are incredibably lazy....they have to create cause and effect, I get it. There must be a better and more credible way to create the storyline.... I mean, I admit most of America is dumb as shit, but seriously. If this were a smarter show, I would totally agree that Adam did it. It's not, and they are out of time.

[random chance]

I still think Zeke dying might be a red herring. Ever since the word came that there'd be a death on Parenthood, I'm anxiously guessing who it will be instead.

Me too, although I'm not so sure anymore that the writers are clever enough for that trick.

 

The slightly evil part of me wanted the doctor to come out and ask if anyone had recently revealed secret travel plans for Zeke, as that was the cause of his heart attack.

I laughed so hard at that! Thank you!

It was such a relief to read this thread and see that I'm not the only heartless bitch thinking "kill him off already, jeez." They have gone to the family-gathers-in-ER well far too often for me to get worked up about it at this point even if I actually cared about these people anymore. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

That's because your friends don't live in the fantasy world of the Bravermans where unrealistic timelines (and salaries) abound. I'm surprised the insurance rep didn't have the check FedEx'd straight to the hospital after their 2-minute appraisal. Then Amber could have gotten a check from Adam right there at her shower as a "gift."

Don't forget that the two minute appraisal consisted of Adam texting them one picture of the damage. Why bother sending an actual appraiser in person to verify what happened?

[txhorns79]

I laughed so hard at that! Thank you!

 

You have to have some fun with this show, or it will drive you crazy.  I just wanted someone to slap Drew and be like: "Your grandfather having a heart attack isn't all about you.  If Zeke was going to die every time someone annoyed him, your grandmother, mother and her siblings would have killed him long ago." 

[candall]

I like Craig T. Nelson AND crotchety old Zeke, but I was on low-boil through most of the show.  The anxiety of the hospital waiting room is not enjoyable in real life and it's sure not enjoyable as an hour of "scripted television entertainment."

 

So I was happy when word came down that The Luncheonette had been robbed.  And I had a good laugh when that HUGE console was missing.  What's up with that?  Will the police be checking the pawnshops for that thing?  Did they scrunch it up for scrap metal?  Ambitious garage band?

 

These Deep Thoughts carried me through Hank's proposal and the dysfunctional Witches of Eastwick handing down parenting advice to their exhausted guest of honor.

 

Sidenote:  really good line from Camille-- "Life goes impossibly fast."

[CoolMom]

I agree that someone should have been on the phone to Zeek's mother, and often.  They could have offered to get her there.  If my child, no matter how old, might be dying, I'd be devastated if I couldn't go see him.

 

I just took that as she was told off camera because it was not an important character to the viewer.  As to getting her there they said she was what 94 yrs old, maybe she cannot or will not travel.  My mother in-law is 86 and refuses to travel even 30 minutes to our house for the holiday's.  I am 100% sure she would not come to the hospital if my DH was ill, she would just want to know what was going on.  Strange but true. I could buy this as "real" for that reason.

 

Forget about not telling Zeke's mother, nobody bothered to tell Haddie!  

 

I will admit to all you heartless viewers I was sobbing through the entire episode.  It hit close to home with me and I love Zeke Braverman.  

 

Again as far as Haddie, I think she was told off camera because taking the time to tell her on camera added nothing to the story.  Honestly, since Haddie has been gone unless I am reading this forum, I rarely even think of her. 

[walnutqueen]

The first time I realized he was a good actor was in "Men of a Certain Age," along with Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher. They were all terrific. It was an under appreciated show about a group of aging friends.

 

SUCH a good show, and sadly under appreciated.  So much better than this bowl of steaming dog shite.

[ShadowFacts]

Hank, that was not the place but especially not the time for a proposal.  And the way that the two of them were talking at the same time just made it so much worse.  No, you can't get married, you can't even listen to each other.  Her problem has been that she is attracted to losers and tries to fix them.  The men who are not in need of fixing, the teacher and the philanthropic doctor, she cuts loose in favor of another fixer-upper.  Except Hank is kind of working on himself, so she isn't totally needed and is on the fringes of his ex-wife/daughter drama.  I don't think she will say yes to the dress any time soon.

[Trixie Belden]

These the dysfunctional Witches of Eastwick handing down parenting advice to their exhausted guest of honor.

 

 

 

<snort> I think this describes them perfectly.  NONE of the women there, well, maybe Camille, should be giving parenting advice.  Especially not Kristina, who was all ready to cut Amber when she hurt Haddie's feelings a few years back.

[Sandman]

Right? That mixing board (?) was huge. Does it disassemble? How many people broke into that place? How big was their getaway vehicle? How did the neighbors not hear someone yelling 'PIVOT! PIVOT!' à la Ross Gellar as they maneuvered it around the corners and out of the building?

Hee! Too right.

I don't like Hank that much, but I like Hank more than I like Zeek, honestly. Hank is an annoying bundle o' tics, rather than a person, but at least he was trying to do the right thing. Zeek has always been a selfish swine.

Aside from the impromptu baby shower in the hospital cafeteria, which Is the kind of thing only television families do, I liked that scene for the women in Amber's life. And I liked Joel's rapport with Camille. Bonnie Bedelia is the shit! That is all.

[txhorns79]

Hank is an annoying bundle o' tics, rather than a person, but at least he was trying to do the right thing.

 

Was Hank even trying to do the right thing?  I felt like he was at the hospital more for himself than anything else.

[Eeksquire]

 

Was Hank even trying to do the right thing?  I felt like he was at the hospital more for himself than anything else.

I think he was trying to do the right thing, but his inability to read social cues makes it very difficult for him to know exactly what that is or how to do it, which is why he was so focused on Joel.  He KNOWS that he's supposed to be there for Sarah (like Joel is for Julia and the rest of the family), but he is not that kind of guy.  He wants to be that guy, he's trying to be that guy, but ... he's not that guy.

[Sandman]

I think Hank was trying to do the right thing, both for the right reasons (he wants to be someone Sarah can rely on) and for some wrong ones (he wants recognition as someone Sarah can rely on). That's human nature, sometimes. But I think his attempt to reassure Drew ("We don't hold on to that stuff") was both entirely genuine and something Drew needed to hear.

[txhorns79]

I think Hank was trying to do the right thing, both for the right reasons (he wants to be someone Sarah can rely on) and for some wrong ones (he wants recognition as someone Sarah can rely on). That's human nature, sometimes.

 

I think for me, when Sarah told Hank he could go, but he stayed, that's when it turned awkward.  To me, that was Sarah making clear what she wanted, and Hank was no longer staying for the right reasons.  It then went further downhill with the marriage proposal, which was seriously ill-timed and just wrong.  I think that may have been what really turned me off of Hank.   

[Eeksquire]

 

I think for me, when Sarah told Hank he could go, but he stayed, that's when it turned awkward.

See, I saw that as Hank learning from the past - when Ryan was in the car accident and they were in the hospital with Amber, Sarah was really touched that he stayed.  I can see him thinking, "Well, last time she thought she didn't need me, but turned out that she was glad I was there."  The proposal though… Man, I'm with you on that one.  Terrible timing, terrible set up, just… no.

[jester]

The only thing I enjoyed about this episode was seeing the cast on Twitter talk about how Sam Jeager, like Joel always brings coffee for all the crew and remembers what everyone likes.

[stillshimpy]

Was Hank even trying to do the right thing?  I felt like he was at the hospital more for himself than anything else.

 

I've never really gotten Hank and Sarah as a couple, but I've grown to really enjoy Ray Romano in this role as someone who knows he's not very good at interacting with people.  He's always trying to operate from some kind of funky "This is how emotionally healthy bipeds express caring for one another!" owner's manual and I feel for the guy.  He can't really figure out emotional contexts.  Admittedly, that's part of the reason that it becomes a little bit unbelievable that anyone would want to be in a long-term and serious relationship with someone who is only ever approximating emotionally nurturing behaviors.   Hank has tried his best to show the he cares, but he messes up often and enough that it's hurtful to Sarah.  Stuff like not realizing that she'd want to go to Ruby's play.  

It would a rare person who would be okay with always being that much of a footnote in terms of emotional importance.  That said, he was trying, he desperately wanted to do the right stuff, but he's lead-footed about it.  He tries to imitate Joel, but misses the part that Joel isn't just seemingly getting it right because "he's Joel, he's damned near perfect!"....that it isn't Joel's actions as much as it is Joel's emotional context within that setting.  Camille loves Joel.  All of the Bravermans love and know Joel.  He doesn't feel like an intrusion to them during a difficult time.  

 

Hank couldn't get that he was being emotionally intrusive in his rather desperate quest to be a good boyfriend and partner.  To show he cares.  He couldn't read the room because he doesn't have an emotional map within him that matches anyone else's in that scenario.  Just like he couldn't tell that there was no way that Sarah was on the same emotional page at that moment and that to think she might be was one of the things that would prove why they shouldn't get married.   Sarah was saying "We should be vegetarians!" as Hank was saying they should get married.  She was literally thinking about clogged arteries when he was trying to pitch woo. Oy. 

 

Anyway, at least Hank was interesting this episode, even if I was dying of second-hand mortification on his behalf. 

 

The problem is that no matter how realistic the multiple health upsets are for Zeke, that kind of plodding reality doesn't make for gripping TV and we've already done this whole dance with Zeke.  We've done this dance with Kristina.  We've done this dance with Amber and her car accident.  They are going back to this well too many times here.  

 

Maybe many, many people can relate to it, but the pacing of reality makes for poorly structured drama.  

 

Someone upthread mentioned Mark Greene's death and yea, verily, yea to that.  

 

Also, I sort of wish they'd settled on something different just because this series started out with Camille and Zeke on emotionally ambivalent (at best) ground and they've only been sort of happy for long enough to set up this "and now Zeke will die, so the best way to wring tears from the audience is to have them in the best place ever!"  

 

So much of this feels like overwrought emotional manipulation.  Anybody remember the Ted Danson, Jack Lemmon Weeper called Dad?  This story is make that emotionally manipulative, positively maudlin thing look nuanced in comparison to Parenthood's  "Zeke Dies....Slowly.  So slowly.  Very slowly.  Woe to slow, oh woe" ...if it does turn out to be an elaborate bait and switch (because people live through heart surgery all the time) ...I don't know whether I will laugh, or throw things, but I can assure you, it's one or the other.  Crying is off the table for me.  

Edited January 14, 2015 by stillshimpy

[gaPeach]

I just took that as she was told off camera because it was not an important character to the viewer.  As to getting her there they said she was what 94 yrs old, maybe she cannot or will not travel.  My mother in-law is 86 and refuses to travel even 30 minutes to our house for the holiday's.  I am 100% sure she would not come to the hospital if my DH was ill, she would just want to know what was going on.  Strange but true. I could buy this as "real" for that reason.

 

 

Again as far as Haddie, I think she was told off camera because taking the time to tell her on camera added nothing to the story.  Honestly, since Haddie has been gone unless I am reading this forum, I rarely even think of her. 

I would rather have seen them tell Haddie on camera than Hank's ex wife and daughter story line.  They wasted sooooo much time on two people not part of the "Parenthood" group and their storylines went no where.  And I get the whole "we didn't want to pay the big salaries to the major players" thing.  So instead they sacrificed the fans of the show with this lame final season.  I don't care that Zeke is in the hospital maybe or maybe not dying.  They already did that storyline.

 

Maybe the writers started hating the characters so much they don't care either.  But they have certainly ruined what was once a great show for me.  I cannot wait until it is off TV. 

 

So lets have it.  Kill off someone and try and make us care. 

[Eeksquire]

 

She was literally thinking about clogged arteries when he was trying to pitch woo. Oy.

I just wanted to see this again.  "Pitch woo"! Hee.  A phrase that is totally incompatible with Hank, at all points.

[stillshimpy]

I just wanted to see this again.  "Pitch woo"! Hee.

 

Hehe, yeah I admit, that phrase is somewhat antiquated (ya think?)  and it practically comes with a wheeze and a cane, but I do like geeky wording :-) 

 

Besides, when popping the question in an ambulance bay where despair and urgency fight for top billing, the poor guy needed any help he could get with adding a little bit of formalized romance to the whole affair.  Particularly considering the fact that Sarah was contemplating artery plaque at that moment :-D 

[Sandman]

So, explain to me like I'm Crosby, and also like I haven't been watching this show since about season 4 (because there's no way I could get through a Kristina Has Cancer storyline while my father was dealing with a cancer diagnosis): Is Hank clinically incapable of anything more than approximating emotional responses? Is he on the autism spectrum somewhere? Or is he just awkward and socially lazy? Because what I have seen of Romano's performance sometimes suggests the problem is more "can't be bothered" than "can't."

Edited January 14, 2015 by Sandman

[Eeksquire]

 

Is he on the autism spectrum somewhere?

I don't believe that he ever did the testing required to obtain a formal diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum, but he did meet with Dr. Pelican (Max's occasional doctor) on a couple of occasions and he's sort of "self-diagnosed".  I think he told his ex-wife that he had autism, as a way of apologizing/explaining why their marriage ended the way it did.  (Actually, her sympathetic reaction is what fueled speculation that they might get back together earlier in the season.)

[random chance]

I would rather have seen them tell Haddie on camera than Hank's ex wife and daughter story line.  They wasted sooooo much time on two people not part of the "Parenthood" group and their storylines went no where.  And I get the whole "we didn't want to pay the big salaries to the major players" thing.  So instead they sacrificed the fans of the show with this lame final season.  I don't care that Zeke is in the hospital maybe or maybe not dying.  They already did that storyline.

 

Maybe the writers started hating the characters so much they don't care either.  But they have certainly ruined what was once a great show for me.  I cannot wait until it is off TV. 

 

So lets have it.  Kill off someone and try and make us care. 

 

This made me think: maybe they'll kill someone who has mostly been off-camera, off-camera.  They could just show the ever-so-dramatic reaction shots when people get the news and then cut to the family gathering somewhere.  They could save even more money by recycling the Zeek-news reaction shots.  (Look out Haddie!  You're the perfect fit for this scenario.)

[txhorns79]

I don't believe that he ever did the testing required to obtain a formal diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum, but he did meet with Dr. Pelican (Max's occasional doctor) on a couple of occasions and he's sort of "self-diagnosed".  I think he told his ex-wife that he had autism, as a way of apologizing/explaining why their marriage ended the way it did.

 

I think Dr. Pelican told Hank he couldn't be sure if Hank was autistic or not.  I guess it was a very borderline case.  Later on, Hank decided for himself that he was, and preceded to act as though he's never had to interact with people before with that that awful marriage proposal to Sarah.  It's somewhat sketchy, in my view.  I mean, the guy appears to run a successful business, was married with a kid and has had his on/off relationship with Sarah for a couple of years.  Presumably he knows enough to realize that your girlfriend's father's heart attack is not the ideal backdrop for your marriage proposal.            

[Eeksquire]

ITA - it's like once Hank began to consider that he might be on the spectrum, he lost all the ability he previously had to interact with people.  His personality deteriorated.  I mean, would the Hank of this week's episode (mooning over Joel) have confronted Mr. Cyr (cannot remember his first name)? No.  He would be too busy stammering and stuttering and twitching around to even get a phrase out.

[stillshimpy]

Oh I don't know, in fairness to the character and the story, when we met Hank he ran a successful business because he's a gifted photographer, but he truly was awful with people.  That's part of the reason he kept Sarah on even after it turned out she had no experience whatsoever with photography.  One of the clients told him that the family he was photographing had recently lost their mom (or it might have been dad) and his response was like that of an alien who had left his "how to fake being human" course three weeks into the six week course.  

 

Dude was bad with people and immediately felt a kinship with Max.  Immediately.  So they set this up from jump.  

 

However I do think it makes sense that now that Hank suspects he is on the autism spectrum that he is far more fluttery and strange around people.  It's one thing to live your whole life thinking you're normal and other people are really odd from your perspective.  It would be another to find out well into your adult life that, no, you've been standing out as being peculiar your whole life. That it might mean you'll never have a lasting relationship if you can't figure out how it is supposed to be done with the regular-emotional-guy spectrum.  

 

I think sometimes a diagnosis can give people peace "Oh....That's why I am the way I am? Whew.  I thought I was just crazy" but what if you didn't think you were weird or nuts, or odd and then you found out that for decades out of your lifetime, you'd been driving people away because you just don't get the emotional grounds because you are actually blocked from them?  Plus, I think that initial affinity with Max actually ended up freaking Hank out when he saw how poorly Max coped with things like schedule changes.  

Plus, there have been things like Hank -- seemingly without realizing that it was a thoroughly awful thing to do -- essentially told Sarah she only got  a job because she was sleeping with that doctor.  Implying that someone you care about is a freaking hooker, trading sex for a job that will lead to money, is fairly awful.  

 

It does seem like they have cranked Hank's weird up to new and deafening levels though.  I love how Romano is playing it.  When he announces to that nurse, rather randomly, that he just proposed and she responds with delighted congratulations, I could sort of see it dawning on him that something was missing from his good news.  The way Max has been written makes it too difficult to believe that Max really has the full range of human emotions within him.  It's almost impossible to empathize with his pain and isolation, because I don't even know if it registers with him most of the time 

 

The way they are writing Hank, it's pretty easy to empathize with his confusion about trying so hard to get it right.  Wanting to get it right and just not really knowing for sure if he, but suspecting he isn't.  I don't think he was envious of Joel, I think he was envious of what seemed like emotional certainty.  

 

On NPR a few months back they had a long segment about a brain researcher studying scans of the brains of psychopaths, because the brain of a psychopath does have different areas emphasized.  He was looking at a scan of someone who clearly was in that category and thinking, "Poor bastard"....when he realized it was his own scan.  That his brain scan clearly mapped his own brain as that of a psychopath and whereas he didn't kill people or defy all of society's laws, it made a lot of things click about his own failed marriage and the nature of his friendships.  He concluded that his upbringing by very caring parents probably made the difference for him, but that he didn't really feel a sense of grief or horror at discovering this because....psychopath.   

 

But that's sort of related to Hank because he thinks he's learned -- and it fits with all of his failed emotional connections so it clicks for him as being true -- that he's always starting out on the wrong foot because of something innate within him.  However, it's mild enough that he still wants to have emotionally significant connections, because he does love people, he just now knows that he innately struggles with maintaining those connections.  

 

If you sent me to a foreign country with a very different culture  and told me beforehand "Okay, so there are very specific rules in Totallydifferentville, tread lightly because everything about Americans tends to give offense in TDV" I'd be ass-nervous the entire time I was there, hoping not to cause an international incident.  

Hank has found out, or believes he has found out, that everyone else he's ever cared about is from Totallydifferentville.  He knows Joel's an accomplished citizen in that land, beloved by all.  It's like watching your dinner companion at an overly formal affair to see which fork they reach for when they're four different forks at your place setting.  

Edited January 15, 2015 by stillshimpy

[random chance]

Wow that was a great perspective-shifting post.  I think it's all true.  I know a Hank in real life and he would be absolutely horrified to learn that he's a Hank, and I've also gone to foreign countries with a handbook full of the many ways I could offend people without even realizing it, and it was paralyzing.  I was whipping that book out every five minutes.  "He's giving me my change.  Oh my God, what was the change-related offense?  Hang on there sir while I flip through this book.  Oh wait, maybe this is an offense too.  Crap." 

[Sandman]

... his response was like that of an alien who had left his "how to fake being human" course three weeks into the six week course.  

 

I think Zeek only made it to Week 5, frankly. And he clearly never did any of the reading.

 

On NPR a few months back they had a long segment about a brain researcher studying scans of the brains of psychopaths, because the brain of a psychopath does have different areas emphasized.  He was looking at a scan of someone who clearly was in that category and thinking, "Poor bastard"....when he realized it was his own scan.  That his brain scan clearly mapped his own brain as that of a psychopath and whereas he didn't kill people or defy all of society's laws, it made a lot of things click about his own failed marriage and the nature of his friendships.  He concluded that his upbringing by very caring parents probably made the difference for him, but that he didn't really feel a sense of grief or horror at discovering this because....psychopath.

 

That must have been a very strange moment indeed for the researcher. "Huh. Turns out I'm an actual mad scientist."

[potatoradio]

 

Overall, it just felt like an inside joke, but without the joke part.

 

This times a million. I can see the set up, I can understand what the writers *might* have been trying to do with the characters, but man, the only payoff is coming here to LMAO, read others' insight, which is usually far more interesting than the show, and frantically try to grab quotes and give likes! 

 

I give the show a tiny amount of credit for portraying a realistic heart condition for Zeek and I like the doctor character a lot - realistically straightforward, still empathetic, and zero heroics. The writers are, apparently, still capable of subtle, realistic moments. Blink and you'll miss them, though.

 

Um....Adam? Why would you ask the police to just "relock the doors?" Why in hell would they have keys to your business? Or are you thinking (well, wait, you don't think but anyway...) that they'll lock from inside and then go back out the smashed window? Or something? In a show with such tearjerker storylines, I shouldn't be thinking about this shit.

 

And I am 100% with the other posters who are sick of this "follow your dream" being the "right" choice storyline. BS. It's not that easy and being realistic or practical does not make you a heartless drone. As someone who may have a chance to "follow her dream," I assure you, writers, it comes with far more involved thinking and soulsearching than, "but I wanna! Cold cruel world!" Especially when there's a family involved. 

 

Ah, well. It could have been worse:

 

• Drew's car, given to him by his selfish granddad, could have somehow harbored that evil and turned into a version of Christine.
• The nurse could have looked at Sarah, said, "you're useless, but you're hot. Surely, you know how to fix your father's heart if you just believe in yourself?" And Sarah would have completed a heart transplant.
• Kristina could have called someone 'honey' or 'babe' and I would have ripped my ears off
• Amber could have ugly cried. A lot.
• Drew could have ugly cried
• Crosby could have thrown one of his patented temper tantrums and thrown Zeek's ventilator* at the wall
• The police investigating the break in could have showed up and presented a new love interest for Sarah

 

So, really, considering how far down the crapper this show is, I can't be too picky.

 

Ambitious garage band?

 

Laughing so freaking hard right now.

 

*I know it wasn't a ventilator, but I don't know what it is that people are hooked up to when they have that mask over their face in hospital scenes. I'm assuming they're getting oxygen, but I don't know if it's kind of a one-stop-shopping cart that has oxygen, heart rate monitor, etc. or if it's a particular machine. I'm embarrassingly dense about some of the more obvious medical technology...

Edited January 15, 2015 by potatoradio

[MaryPatShelby]

(I'm pretending the invisible Snowflake Academy teachers could handle that school for the day.

I bet the kids love it when it's Invisible Teacher Day!

[LisaM]

As someone who has been in that ER/ICU situation, I could definitely relate to the rollercoaster of emotions that the Bravermans were feeling - especially when Zeek coded and had to have the stents put in. Have to admit that I cried throughout the entire episode.

 

I liked Hank reaching out to Drew. Ray Romano has been knocking it out of the park with this role.