Before we say goodbye, we have a few last requests for our favorite show. Let's tie up some loose ends, shall we?
Joel and Julia need to get back together
While, rationally, we understand that not all love stories last happily ever after, we need these two to work it out. For the kids, obviously. As awesome as it was to see Julia knocked off her throne of perfection, we don't enjoy seeing her so brokenhearted. Their separation was so poorly planned and handled, it's really messing with those kids. Can we maybe patch things up in hopes of helping the kids turn out normal?
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Sarah needs to settle down
Is she finally and forever over Mark Cyr? Can she and Hank finally have smooth sailing? Rumor has it that Hank's wife will return during the final season. Will that bring trouble? Will we say goodbye with Sarah (Lauren Graham) still single? There's nothing wrong with being single, don't get us wrong. But Sarah has never seemed to enjoy it, and we'd love to see her happy. For real.
We need to understand Haddie's storyline
Last season's ending featured a big reveal from college girl Haddie: a kind of pushy girlfriend. So is Haddie really a lesbian... or is she just going through a phase? While we fully support whatever decisions or experimentation she makes, we want to know once and for all whether this is a real thing.
The Luncheonette needs to succeed... or not
The Luncheonette storyline remains one of our favorites. It's been a great way for the show to incorporate cool music and awesome guest stars. Since its opening, though, it's been a roller coaster of ups and downs — like with any new business. In the final season of Parenthood, we'd love to see a definite success or failure. (Preferably success.)
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Amber needs to find happiness and Drew needs to smile
Can we talk about how messed up Amber and Drew are? Neither ever seem fully happy. Even at their peak, it's never lasted very long. A girl's happiness doesn't rest in a man, but we'd love to see things work out between Amber and Ryan. Failing that, we'd love another Friday Night Lights cameo — this time involving a night or two of fun with Tim Riggens Taylor Kitsch. Then, again, that might be weird, considering Amber is pregnant. As for Drew, we want to see where he goes in that new vintage car from Grandpa and, hopefully, know everything turned out in his favor.
There's one thing we don't need
Can we avoid a death or more cancer? There was a rumor last year that the final season would show a shift in family dynamics, and rumors all seemed to circle around the idea that Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) might die during the season. We don't want this! Death might be inevitable, but we don't want to have to say goodbye to Zeek any sooner than we have to. Even if, you know, it'd be nice to see Millie register how poorly she treated him last season.
Ready for the final season? We understand if the answer is "no." The beginning of the end of Parenthood premieres Thursday at 10/9c on NBC. Try to enjoy.