What I’m Watching: Parenthood

Parenthood: Season 5, Episode 4 “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” (B+)

In this episode, we got what probably ranks as a much-needed break from the Jasmine-Crosby baby drama and instead put the spotlight on Adam as the irresponsible business partner, completely inspired by Mr. Ray’s outlook to revitalize his business in an entirely crazy way. It’s nice to finally see him be fully supportive of Kristina’s campaign, getting her the check she needed, which in turn enabled her to turn down the donation that Heather had so aggressively procured from the developer whose project she didn’t want to support. It was sweet to see Max tell Kristina that he didn’t think she should drop out of the race, and to donate his own hard-earned money from Hank to symbolically help her campaign. I also loved seeing Drew turn to Adam for help with Joni Mitchell music, and it’s good to see him in a semi-romantic plotline that, while not fully to his liking, is at least relatively healthy. Sarah not liking Amber’s proposed wedding location was understandable, but expressing her lack of confidence in Amber’s relationship with Ryan is going to have serious implications that are only going to push them further apart. It was difficult to see Sydney grab the instruction manual from Victor and read it much more fluently than him, but I like that it gave Victor and Zeek an opportunity to bond, since Victor is clearly more skilled with his hands than he is at reading and can have something to call his own with his adoptive grandpa.