The members of the Braverman family on “Parenthood” have nice lives for the most part. Sure, they have their struggles, but things usually work out one way or another in the end. It’s a positive, feel-good show. When “Parenthood” is at its best, the paths the characters take to get to that “good” place are compelling and realistic (enough). Where the show falters sometimes is when the characters go through unnatural paths – not true to the character or story. Furthermore, things can turn out a little too good for too many characters. As a viewer, I feel connected to the Bravermans, but I also want a sense of realism. As viewers, we’re supposed to root for the family to succeed – and because the family is made up of good/decent people I, for one, usually do. With that said I feel the last stretch of episodes this season, the last four specifically, had too many “things work out in the end” moments. In addition, those moments weren’t developed convincingly or authentically (in some cases) and I found myself not necessarily rooting for the Bravermans in certain instances.

I want to rundown the season arc for the Braverman siblings and the resolution (mostly) in the finale as examples of what I was discussing above:

• Adam: Starts a new business (recording studio) with his brother (Crosby) after he is out of work. The two start doing well and are offered at least $2,000,001 to sell the studio by season’s end. They don’t take the offer.
  • Issue: Due to previous unemployment and investment in his new business Adam really needs some income (and stability). He’s due to get at least $1 million if he sells the business. Instead, he rips up the offer because of how much having the music studio means to his brother/business partner who’s in it more for the music, not the money (or maybe it’s out of guilt (or something else?)). In the position Adam is in, I have a hard time believing he passes on the offer. Adam, “the reasonable one,” isn’t using his brain. Also, after Crosby’s replacement best man is passed out at his wedding, Adam takes the mic. The bulk of the speech is about Adam’s circumstances – though he does tie to back to Crosby. It’s minor, but it is a little too centered on him and not the person who just got married (very minor issue).

• Sarah: Most of the season focused on her relationship with Mark (she also gets help for her ex-husband who has a substance abuse problem). She breaks up with the much younger Mark because she doesn’t want to deprive him of his wants in life. Mark comes to her brother’s wedding and says he just wants to be with her and figure everything else out later. He asks her to marry him; spoiler alert: she gets a big smile on her face.
  • Issue: Not much. Sarah’s storyline may have been the strongest of the season, looking back. One quibble is that the reasoning she gives Mark for the breakup is essentially that it is for his own good and she doesn’t give him a say about his feelings on sacrificing some things in his life. I get breakups are often a one-way street but if you are supposedly doing it for the other person’s well-being you may want to see how the feel about it, no? Either that or it’s a cop-out. I didn’t like the way Sarah handled it. Luckily, Mark is one of the nicest characters on television.

• Crosby: Starts a new business with Adam and has to deal with his ex-fiance (Jasmine) regularly because they have a son (Jabbar) – Crosby still has feelings for her. The business does well (as discussed above). He gets a new girlfriend, Jasmine gets a new boyfriend and is about to move in with him before going on a camping trip with Crosby and Jabbar where apparently everything becomes clear to her as she professes her love for Crosby and asks him to marry her; spoiler alert: they embrace in the rain. They also get married in the season finale and Adam doesn’t sell the business because it’s not what Crosby wants to do.
  • Issue: First off, it’s highly improbable their business would prosper as much as it did. I’m willing to accept most of that story because it fits in enough with what the show does. But getting back together (and marrying) Jasmine didn’t work for me. The show was better when they were not together. Their relationship was complicated, interesting, and gave the show needed tension. I didn’t feel their getting back together was as happy and as big of a moment as I feel I should have. Also, Crosby comes off as petty and selfish in the last couple episodes. At first he won’t consider selling the business even though it’s life changing money. It’s another thing to sell, but to not even consider selling? Then because of the disagreement with Adam he replaces him as best man. I wasn’t exactly rooting for Crosby in the finale.

• Julia: This season was all about Julia and Joel trying for a second child. She can’t have kids anymore so they look into adoption. Conveniently, the young woman who operates the coffee cart at Julia’s office is giving up her baby. Wouldn’t you know she ends up agreeing to give her baby to Julia and Joel. From the get-go this was too ridiculous and even made me a little uneasy given that Julia essentially asks for the baby (sort of odd territory). Anyway, Zoe (the coffee lady) decides to keep the baby once it is born in the penultimate episode. Julia’s realization that Zoe was keeping the baby was a good moment. In the finale, Julia and Joel go to an adoption agency and agree to adopt a child in immediate need if that’s what it comes to. They just want a second child any legal way possible. Joel gets a phone call late in the finale and a child needing adoption is driven to their home that night.
  • Issue: I didn’t care for the storyline from the start. Not because Julia and Joel wanted to adopt a child (that’s a good thing) but because of the way it was handled from the onset. It did, however, lead to strong performances throughout the season from Erika Christensen (Julia) and Rosa Salazar (Zoe). For Julia and Joel to get a child at the end of the episode was unrealistic (I feel) and a case where everything ends up a little too good at the end.

Other Bravermans:

• Amber: She has to overcome more adversity than any other character on the show. This season she struggles to live on her own and earn enough to make ends meet. Her Aunt Kristina gives her the job of being her assistant for the political campaign Kristina is working on. She does an amazing job and is quickly promoted to be the candidate’s assistant. She (quickly) becomes romantically involved with the politician before her aunt puts a stop to it. Amber has to find herself and decides she wants to work on the campaign but she can’t be in a romantic relationship with the candidate because it’s too much. Bob Little (politician she is working for) welcomes her back. It works with what the show does that Amber gets the job to begin with and the writers have done a good job of progressing the character overall. I’m skeptical about the almost immediate promotion and the romantic stuff, though I’m pretty much fine with where Amber ends up in the finale. I could have done without the romantic stuff altogether.

• Drew: Unfortunately we don’t get to see much of Drew in the show. He’s the forgotten member of the family and is relegated to being an ancillary character. This season though he got over his shyness enough to land a girlfriend, Amy. It’s a good story and moment for Drew. I don’t really feel the need to criticize where they take Drew in the overcrowded finale, but it felt rushed. Not necessarily rushed regarding the stage of Drew and Amy’s relationship, but when you only get small doses of the character it’s unexpected because their relationship seem to progress off-screen.

• Zeek, Camille, Kristina, Haddie, Max, Nora, and Sydney are all doing just fine, thank you.

Obviously, I had issues with how the season came to a close. I still, however, like this show quite a bit. It’s the only network drama I watch every episode of. Even with my criticism, there is still a lot of good here. Every actor is giving at least a good performance from the main cast on down. The show has good pacing most of the time. The writers have a difficult job balancing these characters but often pull it off effectively. Perhaps what the show has in its favor most (and it is critical to any show) is that even with its flaws it continues to be entertaining. So even with my reservations about the final few episodes of season three, I am really hoping “Parenthood” gets renewed for a fourth season. And hopefully if/when it gets renewed the writers will get some of the characters and their stories headed in a better direction.

What are your thoughts on the 3rd season of “Parenthood”? What are your thoughts on a possible 4th season?