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<p>That’s the first thought that came to mind for me.</p>
<p>Good first episode!! I am so glad it is back! It is really hard for me to stay up until 10pm on a Thursday night. I will have to DVR next week.</p>
<p>YDS: Didn’t they show Haddie in the scenes from next week? I missed my S3 too.</p>
<p>The Ryan/Amber scene was great, but I am a little worried about Ryan’s stability.</p>
<p>I forgot that Crosby had never had a “baby” before.</p>
<p>Jasmine is a dancer, so maybe also an opera fan.
Was I the only one wanting to throttle the entire “clan” and shout “grow a pair” at Crosby when they all showed up and stayed for hours? Good lord.</p>
<p>The kid that plays Max is so talented. He just nails it.</p>
<p>Why am I finding this season on the thin side? Thoughts about the second one?
I did like Crosby’s talk regarding the baby.</p>
<p>I loved Sarah’s “talk” with her daughter about her wedding. I hope she continues to be supportive, though that does not make for good drama I suppose. But her saying something like “I’d love to help you have a wedding that reflects how you feel about Ryan and how I feel about you”. That was beautiful.</p>
<p>Spoken as a mom currently planning a wedding for her own daughter. :)</p>
<p>I loved Sarah’s talk as well. Showed her supporting without lying that she thinks this is a great idea. I could watch an entire show about Amber and Ryan.</p>
<p>I’m finding Crosby unlikeable again.</p>
<p>I don’t think the show feels thin, but it does feel like there’s a lot to cover, especially with the Zeke storyline surrounding the house. </p>
<p>I can’t wait to see how the Christine run for office goes. They didn’t show any family at the announcement except for immediately family. I like the campaign manager a lot.</p>
<p>For some reason that sustainability task force cracks me up. Very Berkeley, I guess.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I found the second episode thin, but I didn’t like it much. Pretty much every character was unlikeable in this episode, and I agree that Crosby is leading the pack. The restaurant scene was ridiculous, all the way around. </p>
<p>The campaign manager is Jurnee Smollett, yet another Friday Night Lights connection for the show.</p>
<p>I knew she looked familiar!!!</p>
<p>Interesting hearing the cast and Jason Katim’s views about the show here at the Paleyfest 2013 [Watch</a> Parenthood: PaleyFest 2013 online | Free | Hulu](<a href=“http://www.hulu.com/watch/464800]Watch”>Watch Parenthood Streaming Online | Hulu (Free Trial))
I discovered here that Jason Katim has an autistic son and this was the reason for that particular storyline.</p>
<p>Watched latest episode on DVR last night, so it is safe to be here this morning. I think the actress playing Amber is amazing. I hope the writers let that relationship succeed despite the issues. I also thing the Campaign Manager part is well written and acted. I thought the restaurant scene was ridiculous, but did like how the episode explored how Jamal was feeling/doing with the changes. I would prefer a little less Kristina and a little more Camille and Zeke. I think downsizing and accepting “Act 3” would be a realistic and dramatically rich story line. My in-laws are getting, in their words, harassed by their insurance company and failing to recognize that their home is beyond their capabilities and is sucking up all the financial and emotional resources they have (my in-laws are much older and less healthy than C&Z). Not sure I am going to enjoy the Julia/Joel marriage trouble. I hope Sarah and Hank stay in the friend zone for a while.</p>
<p>I look forward to the the Amber relationship, but there’s been some foreshadowing that it might not work out. They both have signalled that they’re not totally without doubt; the welcome home hug and the proposal planning question. I am enjoying Julia getting thrown off kilter with being unemployed; sure would like to see her lose a bit of her competitiveness. The only thing that bugged me about the Christina line was her wearing that pink dress/white sweater to her mayoral speech. No one with her experience wouldn’t wear a suit and that campaign manager wouldn’t have let her leave the house in the look she wore. I really hope Sarah doesn’t jump right into another relationship (neighbor guy).</p>
<p>The neighbor guy sure is cute, though.</p>
<p>I assumed the pink was for breast cancer, but, yeah, it was too casual for a political (almost) unknown.</p>
<p>I can’t understand why the actress that plays Amber or the actor who plays Max have not won Emmys!</p>
<p>I did have to do a little bit of “suspend your disbelief” in these first two episodes. . .but it is a TV show and not real life. I wish they would expand more on Julia’s tension over being “just a housewife”, as I know many many women in that position, with advanced degrees, who left the job market to raise kids. </p>
<p>I agree that Kristina was not dressed appropriately for the press conference. And I thought it was sad that Adam was so open about how he thought she wouldnt win. Of course I thought it was ridiculous for her to run for mayor without ever being a councilman, etc. And who is paying for all those eager young kids who are working her campaign?</p>
<p>I hope Zeke and Camille keep the house because I love looking at it each episode, with the white lights strung up and the cozy furniture. Besides, they’ll need something just as big to keep hosting the whole family. I mean, have you ever know a family with more “command” performances than the Bravermans? My DH thinks my parents try to get together with us a lot - we have nothing on that lot.</p>
<p>Finally, I thought it was totally unrealistic that Julia did not know Pete was a woman! Did they have a whole conversation without pronouns? “What would Pete like to eat for dinner? Is Pete allergic to anything? What time did you tell Pete to arrive?” etc</p>
<p>I really do enjoy the show despite my rants here :)</p>
<p>Loved Julia and Joel this episode…</p>
<p>The whole lax bro situation made me laugh way too much. And then Drew played Scrabble with bathroom girl which I thought was incredibly cute :)</p>
<p>I am glad they gave Sarah some confidence in this episode on her photography. It wasn’t super great but she was able to capture Kristina for the campaign. </p>
<p>More Jess Merriweather please. More FNL alums in general.</p>
<p>The situation with the little boy not able to read in 5th grade got me really ticked off – why wasn’t the school referring him for testing for special ed, like the law requires? OK, I get that it is kind of realistic (but sad) that a public school might not follow the law and simply foist the problem of a struggling student onto the parents, but what is with the lawyer-mom not knowing that her kid is probably entitled to school-based services? After all, she’s got a sister-in-law and a nephew who must have an IEP, and they were quick to ask for advice early on in the series when they thought their own daughter’s quirks could be a sign of autism. </p>
<p>Anyway, I wanted to throw something at the t.v.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed the Crosby feeding scene. I knew that would solidify his love for that baby. Those are such cool moments. </p>
<p>The lax bro thing, though a little much, was funny. What person wouldn’t want to have a serviceman show some punk some reality. </p>
<p>From the previews, I thought Julia and Joel would split up. (I can be so gullible!) Joel is so level-headed. I’m glad they didn’t go to extremes. (One nutter is enough…Sarah has the corner on the nut market.)</p>
<p>Christina suits up and I actually think that storyline could be enjoyable. Who doesn’t love a bada$$ cancer survivor.</p>
<p>Have you read the coed bathroom thread here on CC? I think the co-ed bathroom scene on the show made it seem a lot more real.</p>
<p>Re Victor not reading: who knows what kind of schools he attended before he joined Joel and Julia’s family? He was in foster care, wasn’t he? Sometimes I try to remember that it’s a just a TV show! When Amber only applied to one school, Berkeley, I wanted to throw my shoe at the TV! And when she didn’t get in, there was never another word about her going to college.</p>