Sometimes Parenthood has tried a bit too hard to make the point that Amber is “different” than other suburban teens, like a fresh incarnation of Six Feet Under’s Claire Fisher. With her chunky glasses and edgy/geeky attire, you’d have to be blind not to notice the visual cues that the show has been using to drive this point home with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
But watching the artsy, counterculture Amber shrinking inside herself, feeling ashamed that she was rejected by the two colleges to which she applied, makes her one of the more compelling Parenthood characters (certainly more interesting than the one-note Crosby) as she struggles with seeing her life’s plans blow up in her face.
From the series’ pilot episode, Amber has been depicted as a strong-willed, opinionated teen with a tender heart that’s protected by a layer of barbed wire. Despite her wild child, above-it-all vibe, Amber has demonstrated that she’s conscientious, like the time she called her mother when her friend (now ex-friend) got drunk at a frat party and needed help, as well as when she tried to protect her younger brother from having his heart broken by their flighty, selfish, largely AWOL father.
Amber has also shown an enormous capacity to be loving and forgiving, such as when she forgave her cousin Haddie for spearheading a humiliating bullying campaign against her at school which led to Amber being ostracized, physically struck and the victim of name-calling after Amber slept with a boy whom Haddie had dumped.
And here she is during this incredibly tense period of time and tumult for teens, when their peers are learning whether they got into college, and oftentimes feel as though they themselves, as people, have been accepted or rejected rather than just their applications. Amber — who, earlier this season, celebrated getting a 2250 out of 2400 on her SATs – now has to tell folks that she’s been rejected by the two institutions to which she applied, a metaphor for feeling like a pariah among her contemporaries, who doubtless didn’t earn a 2250 on their SATs.
In this recent episode, Amber was trying to soldier on by agreeing to accompany Haddie, Alex and Alex’s friend to the prom. (Pet peeve: People referring to that event as “prom,” as opposed to “the prom.”) She got all dolled up — looked fabulous — and played along with the prom rituals until her former friend Kelsey, who’d allowed her mother to think that going to a booze-filled frat party was Amber’s fault earlier in the year, brought up the subject of college and Amber was reminded of what she considers to be her personal, epic failure all over again.
Amber’s mother Sarah, who’s preoccupied with her potential professional success as a nascent playwright, doesn’t appear to fully comprehend how deeply Amber has been wounded. Amber’s Aunt Julia, for whom Amber was interning, hasn’t been able to provide emotional support either despite the fact that she found Amber hanging out in Julia’s boss’ car, high, during work hours. Julia’s got infertility issues of her own with which to contend.
How Amber chooses to deal with her life crisis should prove interesting. Previews for next week’s episode depict Amber acting out her self-loathing by engaging in destructive behavior. Will her mother notice or will the pressure that Richard Dreyfuss is applying to her to re-work her play obscure her vision? Will Amber have to resort to outrageous behavior to get the help she needs?
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Apr 06, 2011 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
