“Life is short. You cannot know how impossibly fast it goes by. Cherish every minute of it.”
“Life is short” is something that comes up quite often in “How Did We Get Here?” It’s an episode about life in general, about what happens when the realization hits, about what happens when you’re forced to confront the notion of death. As we move into the homestretch of the series, Zeek’s situation becomes not only a gut-wrenching scenario in and of itself, but also a catalyst for the rest of the family; these characters are faced with mortality right in front of them, and as a result, they begin to reevaluate where they are in life and what they want to do.
Of course, doing what they want is not necessarily solely an individual choice. Yes, life is short, but the important thing is that you realize that life is still life. The important thing is that you grasp ahold of the people you care about and tell them what you want to do; after all, they care about you and want what’s best for you. We get that in lovely parallel scenes between Crosby and Jasmine and between Adam and Kristina, and in one of my favorite scenes of the series, mothers and daughters and wives give their advice to Amber. Crisis may tear people apart, but oftentimes, it brings people together. That’s exactly what we’re seeing here.
For Hank, he’s someone who definitely wants to be able to have those kinds of moments with family. “I just want to be there for your mom,” he says, but he’s unsure of how to go about it; he wants to emulate Joel by bringing coffee and explaining what’s going on and comforting people, but he stumbles in that arena. At the same time, though, he has his own moment of connection with Drew, who eventually admits that he really likes Hank and that Hank’s the best guy Sarah brought home. This most certainly ties into the parking lot proposal later on, as Hank feels like he’s part of something, like he has people who care about him, like he has people who will support him and have his back in life. Right now, the proposal status is “We’ll talk about it”, but like Joel says as he and Hank clink glasses: “Good luck to us.”
In the end, it all comes back down to Zeek Braverman. In a heartbreaking scene, he asks Mellie: “How the hell did we end up here, like this? I just wish we could go back a couple of years, just, you know, you and me. Have some fun, you know?” That is the essence of this episode and of this show, and this idea will be the driving force for the future of the Bravermans. Life is short, and if you don’t take it upon yourself to experience–to truly live–then life won’t be as rich as it can be.
GRADE: A-
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-I must say, the transition from Adam and Camille in the chapel to those upbeat opening credits was pretty jarring.
Next Episode:
“There was a crash, and everyone is now dead.”
May God bless and keep you always…
– “Reminders, Defeats” by Jesse Marchant is the song at the beginning of the episode.
-I haven’t covered this show in a while. I’m planning on reviewing these last three, though.
-Haddie? No.
-Happy 100 episodes!
-3 more.
Photo credit: NBC, Parenthood
Polar Bears Watch TV 
I’m really going to miss this show when it is gone. Feels like they are really drawing this out with Zeek though (assuming he is going to die before the series ends). Not that I’m wishing death on him or anything! It just has my feelings swirling about. Other than that I liked the episode. I love watching Hank’s progress this season. Really happy that Julia and Joel are working on reconciling. Hoping Adam and Crosby stick with the Luncheonette. And really hoping we see Haddie again before the end! Great review. Nice to see you’ll be reviewing the last few.