Parenthood Review: “We Made It Through the Night” (6×12)

The penultimate episode of Parenthood is in the curious position of both needing to tie up outstanding stories in time for the finale, while also not really having very much in the way of outstanding stories to tie up. The result is an episode that is emotionally if not narratively satisfying; an episode that in earlier seasons, or even earlier in this season, would not quite work, but that here is able to still rise above its weaker moments.

The strongest episodes of Parenthood are united thematically, even across the many disparate threads they may follow. I don’t think that “We Made It Through the Night” quite achieves this goal, and so the episode can be a little disorganized and chaotic at times. With no clear connection between the characters, the episode instead jumps from scene to scene, often without any particular logic or reason. This possibly is the result of sloppy editing rather than a poorly organized script—though more likely, it is a combination of the two.

What makes the episode curious is that for all its faults on these technical scores, its individual units are not nearly so problematic, and several scenes are actually high watermarks for the entire season. I’m thinking both of small, incidental scenes, such as Kristina’s pissy argument with Jasmine, and of major, emotional powerhouses such as Sarah’s wedding announcement to Zeek. It’s these moments, more than any particulars of craft or plot, that are the heart of Parenthood, and when an episode delivers on these scores, it’s hard to fault it for much else.

On the one hand I wish this episode was more focused, but on the other, I can’t really think of any specific scenes that could be cut—and if the reward for a somewhat sloppy episode here is a tightly focuses finale, then all the better. Even something like Career Day at Chambers, which is easily the episode’s most superfluous bit, provides a necessary touchstone for Max’s arc, which is pretty likely to be marginalized next week. The scene where Kristina and Max reassure him of his career prospects, and the amazing progress that he’s made over the course of the show, is unquestionably shoehorned into the episode, but it resolves an emotional arc that has been with the show, if inconsistently, since day one, and is therefore the sort of necessary business that the show must get to at this stage in the game. Plus, the story allows for Max’s lovelorn glance toward Dylan toward episode’s end, a blink and you’ll miss it shot as well as a fantastic piece of acting from Max Burkholder.

Everything else continues to build from previous episodes. Most notably, of course, is the birth of Amber’s son, also named Zeek, perhaps with premature morbidity. The first trip to labor at the episode’s beginning is, of course, a false alarm, one that brings all of the Bravermans descending upon the hospital once again. (The staff must really hate this family by now.) If I were Amber, the absolute last thing I would want at the birth of my child was my entire extended family, and yet the utter chaos of this opening scene is yet another Parenthood moment that is remarkably true to life. (Another—Julia’s nonchalant observation to Joel that there’s no rush to get to the hospital, confirming that Julia is absolutely my spirit Braverman.) Amber’s second trip to the hospital is the real deal, though, and is a beautiful moment that is shared just between her and Sarah, appropriately enough. Another tear-jerker: Zeek setting eyes on his namesake for the very first time. I think that closing shot is a wordless decision to get the surgery after all—we’ll see after next week, but it’s a testament to Craig T. Nelson’s abilities that the moment is filled with such complexity.

In fact, Nelson can’t be praised enough for his work in this episode with any number of scene partners. As Camille paints Zeek’s portrait, Nelson sits there stony-faced, Zeek on the left of the frame and the portrait on the right, and it’s almost as though the painting has more life in it than Zeek does. Or when Sarah tells Zeek about the upcoming wedding, and Nelson lays in the bed and lets his body just sink into it, practically backwards out of the shot. It’s a tremendous physical performance; Zeek is just old now, and old and frail are not characteristics we’re used to applying to him. It’s heartbreaking, especially as it motivates Sarah and Hank’s decision to greatly speed up the impending nuptials.

The other big component of “We Made It Through the Night” is the continuing trials of Joel and Julia’s reconciliation, which turns out to be slightly more complicated than it may have previously seemed. That’s typical Parenthood though; the show gets by far the most mileage out of digging into these moments, into what happens after “happily ever after,” so to speak. It’s a series about life itself, what surrounds the big moments and makes those big moments worthwhile. Amber having her baby or Zeek nearly dying are the milestones, but what we’re actually here for is Sarah and Amber singing with each other and strumming the guitar, and Zeek laying eyes on his great-grandson and namesake for the very first time. Parenthood has always intuited that and delivered on it, and so here we are.

Stray Observations:

• Can you believe the finale is next week already? Will Haddie return? How about Ryan? (We already know Seth will not, sadly.) Might we perhaps catch a glimpse of Piecat?
• Did Drew Holt Get a Haircut? I don’t know; apparently the birth of his nephew does not rate an appearance.
• Adam and Crosby continue to go back and forth on the Luncheonette this week, and while I still appreciate the way that the story has become about their brotherly relationship, things end on such a dire note that reconciliation next week seems all but inevitable.
• I know I am not the only person to note this, but The Newsroom has ruined all “Ave Maria” montages forevermore.