For the last of our goodbye “Parenthood” posts, HuffPost Entertainment editors Lauren Duca and Lily Karlin sat down to review the finale and season as a whole, while feeling all the feelings and crying all the tears. Spoilers below.
Lauren Duca: I actually can’t believe “Parenthood” is over. What the hell are we going to shamelessly cry over now? I watched the finale on the elliptical, because I thought maybe cardio and weeping were incompatible. I. was. wrong. I lost it over that final montage cutting to the future, as the family sprinkled Zeek’s ashes on the baseball field. The whole thing made me feel kind of guilty, since I spent this entire season thinking it all would end with the Cycle of Life arc (e.g. Zeek dying and Amber giving birth). This wasn’t the best season. It’s actually easily my least favorite. But for where we were at this point, I think that ending was everything I could have wanted for our goodbye from the Bravermans.
Lily Karlin: I am totally with you. The critical side of my brain definitely had some issues with the episode — why was so much stuffed into the very last hour if the writers knew from the start this was their final season? Am i supposed to be fully sold on Adam’s sudden teaching destiny? — but, as I’ve discovered with the past couple shaky seasons of the show, I just don’t really care. The episode hooked me 100 percent emotionally, which is the true test of an effective “Parenthood” hour, and by the time the (admittedly corny) flash future montage was over, my tear ducts were completely emptied out.
Can I also admit that despite all the press to the contrary, I actually deluded myself into thinking that Zeek might live through the end of the episode? I think I was subconsciously trying to protect my heart from the pain.
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LK: Yeah, totally agree about Matt Lauria. It was unexpected but it was nice to be like Ryan is okay, but that doesn’t mean him and Amber have to end up together, life can go on and you can marry Jason Street. I’m glad they handled Zeek’s death in the way they did, although like I said earlier, I almost didn’t believe he was dead until the final scene at the baseball diamond. Even when Camille was approaching the chair, I said out loud to the screen, “Please just be asleep.” That would have been terrible television, but oh my god I just wanted Zeek to live and them to all play baseball TOGETHER.
But as it was, it was the perfect bittersweet goodbye to a show that really mastered bittersweet television. I will definitely miss watching “Parenthood” each week, and wish the Bravermans all the best in their fictional universe lives.
I also don’t handle saying goodbye to TV shows well, so it’s likely I’ll begin a rewatch of the series from episode 1 in the very imminent future. Thank you, TV, for in your own way lasting forever.
LD: Ugh, yes. I think, ultimately, “Parenthood” is a show that thrives even in the arcs where it lacks precision of storytelling or development of individual characters. The value comes in the sum of its parts and the way it makes us feel. I know I joke about that. I have wrote “cry the tears” and “feel the feelings” so many times covering this show. But there’s something beautiful about Jason Katims ability to let us feel like it’s okay to do just that.
