In the beginning of February, I watched the series finale of Parenthood. And I cried until my muscles ached and my eyes were raw. Not because the end was particularly sad. Actually, quite the opposite. A satisfactory end – but I couldn’t stop crying.
It’s just, I’ve grown to care for these flawed people and their love for each other. This family that gets too involved in each others business, out of love. And I talked about this with Jonatan, my cousin, once. How we both enjoyed the show to a big part because it reminded us of our big Finnish family. Eccentric aunts and uncles, cousins and in-laws, always someone in a crisis, always someone putting their nose where it doesn’t belong, fights and peace-making and the big family dinners. And at the core of that: all the love. The wholeheartedness that runs in the family. There is a similar mentality, in the Braverman and the Ruohomäki families.
And the way the show manages to portray everyday life as something meaningful and interesting. Framing the ordinary to become extraordinary. Failing a maths test, fighting with a brother, winning a baseball game. How these small things can affect the big ones. I just feel that the writers of this show had an understanding for psychology and family dynamics that is rare, at least in American series. And I will miss it, now that it’s gone.
Katja Malmborg 