Maybe I’m just suffering from Lost withdrawal, but I loved Michael Emerson (he was the exquisitely evil Ben on Lost) playing the quirky Amazing Andy in the recent episode of Parenthood. Andy’s exacting standards and lengthy requirements which had to be met in order for him to do a bug show at the Braverman’s was done well, with a mixture of humor (Andy’s bizarre retreat to the bathroom), sweetness (he was great during his show) and hope for Adam and Kristina as it dawned on them that people with Asperger’s, like their son, can grow up to follow their dreams and even run their own business.
However, any saccharine feelings that Max’s bug birthday party and the delightful Andy might have engendered were utterly exterminated by the creepy, desperate behavior of man-child Crosby who obviously doesn’t want to be a part of a committed, adult relationship.
Jumping into bed with Max’s aide? Really, Crosby? How could he not see that, aside from the fact that he’s engaged-yet-re-thinking-it, that picking his nephew’s autism aide as the person with whom to sleep would be a very bad idea and would have wide-reaching ramifications? Clearly he wasn’t seeing anything beyond his own anger and lust for the pretty young vulnerable thing in front of him. I was sincerely hoping that at least Gaby would put the brakes on anything going beyond flirtation, especially because Crosby was wearing that dumb, too-small hat. But, for some reason, she went for it.
I’ve been trying to decide which Parenthood pairing was worse, Gaby and Crosby or Sarah and her bossman fling.
Speaking of slimy, Sarah’s ex-husband Seth (who I’m trying really hard not to see as another wayward father like Christopher Hayden from Gilmore Girls leaving his ex, Lorelai Gilmore to raise their kid alone) is obviously going to mess up Drew emotionally and who knows in what other ways. It’s easy to see why Drew is attracted to Seth, the hip, authority-flouting rock star dude, as opposed to his mother Sarah, who’s on him about uncool stuff like doing one’s homework. By the way, John Corbett, who plays Seth, is doing the bad dad thing really well.
As for Julia and Joel, I’m hoping that they aren’t destined to traverse that difficult road of infertility. To paraphrase Liz Lemon, I don’t want them to go to there. I’d like to see this couple continue to explore issues related to Joel being at home with his daughter, Julia balancing her high-powered career with family and how these two, very different people can reach a consensus on how to raise their daughter. Their varying beliefs about God and heaven several episodes back, for example, was provocative as they’d clearly not discussed how they were going to deal with religion with their daughter.
Trying to and not being able to get pregnant is more overtly dramatic than delving into the less showy issues like gender, work and religion, but Parenthood seems to be the perfect venue for exploring the topics facing today’s parents. They can leave the over-the-top theatrics about infertility to shows like Brothers & Sisters.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Feb 16, 2011 @ 11:30 EST5EDT
I saw Crosby’s actions as pretty normal. Jasmine continually pushed him away and then took off. He was the one who was trying to talk the issue through, but she had not part of it. And, Gaby was a more than willing participant. She knew what was going on. It wasn’t like Crosby was hiding anything. That’s why I love this show. It is very realistic.
I expect the relationship with Seth will not be smooth sailing, but I hope they don’t take the easy route and have him end up bad. I’d love to see this be a story of redemption, especially because then John Corbett would be around more.