What?  This show has been on for three weeks already?  And I haven’t posted about it once?  Yes, you are correct and I am sorry.  It is not at all for a lack of Parenthood love, which is easily one of my favorite new shows of the last couple of years.  I’m a diehard Friday Night Lights fan, and with that show coming to an end this year (SNIFF!!), I’m really glad that we have Jason Katims’ awesome new show to carry us through the impending loss.   I’ll be covering Parenthood from here on out, so definitely come back to discuss it with us each week.  I can’t promise it’ll always be posted on Wednesday but it’ll definitely be up by Thursday.

So, let’s get the less interesting (but still very interesting!) parts out of the way first.  Adam and Kristina’s schedule frightens me.  Jesus.  I was stressed just hearing them talk about it (no, I don’t have kids, why do you ask?).  They’ve been missing out on “couple time” because of the evil calendar in the kitchen, and now Kristina wants a Date Night (like Adam, I hate that term, but appreciate what it represents).  I spent this past Saturday babysitting my godson for this exact reason – his parents needed to get the fuck outta the house and remember that they are married adults who love each other and are not simply hired help who happen to share a house.  I get it.  And I get why Kristina was so adamant, especially after that extremely scary statistic that 80% of marriages with autistic children end in divorce.  I don’t know if that’s a real fact or a show fact, but I’d guess it’s not too far off – that is a majorly stressful situation for a couple to deal with.  It was so considerate of her friend Suze Lessing (awesome Wiccan Meghan from Felicity) to point that out.

Meanwhile, Joel has to present at Hobby Day at Sidney’s school, and is freaked because he has no hobby (except, just spitballing here, FURNITURE MAKING?).  He spends the hour trying to develop one, which includes a hilarious scene with Zeek in which Zeek correctly points out that he could light his own farts on fire and the kids would think he was Einstein (probably not the teacher, though).  At first things look like they’re going badly when his opening line to the class is “do you guys like wood?” and the response is crickets.  He ends up being the best Hobby Day host ever though, because he provides a craft, and kids LOVE crafts.  I did this with my godson on Saturday and while his parents are surely bitching me out over the massive amounts of glitter that they’re probably still finding around the house, the kid loves me and thinks I’m Queen of Awesome, which is really all that matters, right?

Now, on to the meat of the sandwich that is this episode.  I was really scared that Crosby was about to fuck things up in a massive way.  He was at a record release party for work and drunk off his ass when Renee called asking him to pick up Jabbar from school because she had to go to an appointment.  Up until now, Renee has just barely tolerated Crosby and his man-boy ways, and while I personally think that she has been a complete bitch about it so far this season, I was scared he was about to prove her right by picking his son up while drunk.  Of course he didn’t though, because Crosby is not a horrible person.  What he did instead was have Gaby the behavioral aide drive him to the school where he ran into Jasmine’s brother.  It seems Renee sensed that Crosby wasn’t in “picking up his son” shape and sent him to the school.  Crosby, of course is still Crosby, and so he managed to start a drunken fight before Gaby stepped in and broke it up.

Something else I’ve been fearing since the beginning of the season is a Gaby/Crosby hookup – I sensed they were heading that way and I really didn’t want to see Crosby go there.  Again, I think I’m pretty safe in saying that there is no reason to fear that’ll happen now.  Jasmie is back, and they’re a happy family again.  We actually have Renee to thank for this in part, since she’s keeping Crosby’s little outburst on the DL.  I don’t know what sparked that bit of kindness, but for the first time this season, I didn’t hate Renee – in fact, she was pretty awesome.

Sarah is now officially dating Mike, played by Kevin Alejandro.  He is The Hotness.  I loved him and Lafayette together on True Blood, and now I’m loving him and Sarah.  I suppose he’s like Ian Somerhalder – he could have chemistry with a tree if need be.  Dang, he’s pretty.  The first couple of episodes this season laid the seeds of a possible thing with Sarah and Billy Baldwin, playing Adam’s boss, Gordon.  He’s handsome and one of the two Baldwins that I’d potentially make out with (the other is Stephen, obviously – I’m a sucker for evangelists who raise money on the internet to pay their mortgage).  I have nothing against the idea of Sarah and Billy Baldwin, but now that Mike is in the picture, I mean, he’s so cute.  I like them.  Because lets face it – the person that Graham really has the most chemistry with on the show is her real life boyfriend Peter Krause, but since they’re playing brother and sister and this isn’t Flowers In The Attic or fan fiction, that ain’t happening.  But seriously, I love when Adam and Sarah fight, because you can really feel the heat between those two, and it makes me laugh.

We finally got a good front-burner story involving Sarah’s son Drew.  I have to preface this part of the review by saying that I’m a Gilmore Girls fan; I still to this day can get worked up about that finale (for the record, it should have been Christopher, but whatever; bygones).  When I saw sweet, adorable, nerdy April show up as Drew’s lab partner Holly, I’m pretty sure I might have clapped.  Holly was very touchy-feely with Drew – she was totally sending the signals that Sarah saw.  I was waiting for her to “trip” and fall face-first into Drew’s lap at some point.  So Sarah had a chat with her son, saying that he should put the moves on her, because girls like that.

Here’s the thing with Drew.  I can’t remember now what specifically put the idea into my brain, but I’ve been predicting since episode one or two that Drew would eventually come out as gay.  There was something very subtle that happened, and it may have been my imagination since that storyline clearly has not come to fruition, but for whatever reason I’ve been expecting it to.  In the episode where Adam had a (hysterically awkward) talk with Drew about easing up on the shower self-love in order to prevent a draught in Berkley, Adam made a point of telling him that he could talk to him about anything, anytime.  Again, I thought eventually we’d see Drew go to his uncle about the whole thing.

While the events of last night’s episode would seem to indicate that I’m way off in my prediction (he kissed Holly and was upset when she shot him down), I still managed to see the whole thing in a way that proves my theory right.  Think about it:  Sarah goes to Drew with all of the mom-pressure about the cute girl that likes him, and how girls like when boys take charge, and he was clearly really uncomfortable.  Seemingly moreso than just the standard “gawd Mom, get out of my life” teenagery way.  He kept saying it was the weirdest conversation ever.  There were a lot of close up shots of his face, and he looked like he was freaked about something.  Then, feeling pressure from Mom, and maybe trying to repress certain other impulses, he makes a move that he really doesn’t seem sure of.  I don’t know; it could just be my refusal to accept that I’m wrong (highly possible), but I still think it’s coming.  I mean, a family that huge has to have at least one gay person, right?

So that’s pretty much the episode.  Here are some other stray observations/thoughts:

• Joel looks a lot like Scott Speedman, no?  SS needs to come on the show and play his younger brother.  If Kristina set him up with the uptight Suze Lessing, I might die from the hilariousness of watching Ben make out with Meghan.  Tell me that idea isn’t made of win.  You’re welcome, show.
• I loved Crosby making fun of Jasmine’s brother for doing laundry at his mom’s, when Crosby totally does the same thing (although in this ep he was at Adam and Kristina’s, where laundry comes with a side of judgment).
• Was there a little bit of foreshadowing in the scene where Adam was telling Kristina that Gordon wanted him to figure out ways to cut costs?  Is Adam going to let Mike go just when things are really getting good with him and Sarah?  That could be interesting…
• More Mae Whitman!!  Why is she so underused in these episodes?  Was she still doing Scott Pilgrim press when the season first started shooting or something?  She needs to be better utilized; in a cast full of amazing talent, she’s a standout and you don’t waste that – it’s as Anne as the nose on Plain’s face.

So that’s it for me…now it’s your turn.  Is anyone else’s gaydar pinging with Drew, or am I way off base?  Are you crushing on Dax Shepard as much as I am?  And if so, does it shock you as much as it does me?  What were your standout moments?

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