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Parenthood turns 10: 10 episodes to watch to celebrate the Bravermans

By Natasha Gunawardana

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - NOVEMBER 07: The cast of "Parenthood" pose at NBC's "Parenthood" 100th episode cake-cutting ceremony at Universal Studios on November 7, 2014 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - NOVEMBER 07: The cast of "Parenthood" pose at NBC's "Parenthood" 100th episode cake-cutting ceremony at Universal Studios on November 7, 2014 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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Actors Monica Potter and Peter Krause speak onstage during the “Parenthood”  (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Actors Monica Potter and Peter Krause speak onstage during the “Parenthood”  (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /

10. Season 4, Episode 11, “What to my wondering eyes”

The cry factor in this episode is so high. Kristina makes a farewell video for her three children Haddie, Max, and Nora, in case she dies from her breast cancer. Her husband, Adam, comes across this video on her laptop when in the hospital alone.

Kristina suffers a complication (septic shock) due to her breast cancer treatment and is in critical condition. The goodbye video is absolutely heartbreaking. It is so difficult and frightening to watch Kristina share what she is going through and then see the camera cut across to her in the bed fighting for her life.

In the video, her words to Haddie and Max were so beautiful and touching. By the time she gets to baby Nora if you are not a total mess, then you will be after her words to baby Nora and her last words to all three of her children, “I’m so lucky I got to be your mom.” If you are still not crying here, then you are probably made out of rock.

If you are up for a good cry, you should watch this episode because I become an emotional wreck each time I watch it. In this episode, Jasmine and Crosby celebrate their first Christmas as a family; Sarah chooses between Mark and Hank. Ryan and Amber are having issues in their relationship.

Yes, a lot happens in this episode, but the main storyline and what I love in this episode is how Parenthood tackles Kristina’s health scare.

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /

9. Season 4, Episode 6, “I’ll Be Right Here”

Parenthood has always been a series about mixing sweet and sad moments into the same episode, and this episode was no different.

Like many fans of the series, I was so happy when Max wins and becomes class president. When Max became president, I had happy tears to see how determined and focused is to prove everyone wrong that a child with Aspergers can be class president.

His mother, Kristina, worked tirelessly with him on his class president campaign. Even though he only ran for class president to gain vending machine privileges, it was amazing to see Max achieve something great and fulfilled.

To make this moment even happier, the Bob Dylan cover song “Holy” played. Max winning was one of the best moments in the entire series to see his peers finally accept Max for who he is.

His winning speech is the icing on the cake because he says what it means to have autism and be Max Braverman. It is a true definition of triumph to see Kristina help Max with the finishing touches to his class presidential campaign even though she had her first cancer treatment the next day.

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