Season 5 reveals different paths from the very large Braverman family experiences. Now, each one of them will have a different path to perfection and try to get a real chance of progress.
Yeah, there's a lot of good stuff here, and it ends with the double whammy of a military homecoming combined with a surprise proposal, but it's also an episode that features Kristina deciding to run for mayor in a moment that made me say, "What!?"
One of the things that I have always loved about the NBC series is how unflinching it has been since Max's diagnosis about the effect his condition has had on his long-suffering parents and, by extension, the entire Braverman family.
On a show with a big cast like this, the premieres have to do a lot of expository heavy lifting, but any hour that can give us the Amber/Ryan moment is fine by me.
Family dramas always have been one of television's most difficult genres to do properly, without getting too sweet, too overwrought, or much too predictable. Parenthood, like Friday Night Lights, is as good as the family drama genre gets.
