What I’m Watching: Parenthood

Parenthood: Season 3, Episode 12 “Road Trip” (B+)

There’s nothing like an extended family road trip to kick-start this show for the back half of its third season, with only walkie-talkies and no cell phones allowed. I particularly liked the pairings of people in the cars, with Crosby and Jabar annoying Julia with their excitable singing, Adam getting fed up by his college-bound daughter ignoring him, and Drew refusing to talk to a clueless Sarah because he walked in on her having sex that morning. Kristina’s decision to stay home with Max to punish him for speaking so rudely to her was perhaps the most compelling element of the episode, as she saw just how much he wanted to go to see his great-grandmother and had to struggle with when to lift the punishment. To his credit, Max did do a good job of trying to atone for his words and actions, and that resulted in Kristina flying him and Nora to see their great-grandmother, arriving before most of the rest of the family, just in time for Kristina to give Zeek an affirming pep talk. It’s interesting to see the family dynamic shift so much with Zeek’s surprisingly capable and agile 86-year-old mother present, played by Frances Sternhagen, considerably less warmly than her matriarch on “The Closer.” As tends to be the case, there were plenty of bumps in the road along the way, but this family seems set to get through just about anything together, and it’s nice to have them back on this now much less crowded Tuesday night.