‘Parenthood': The one where Kristina finds out

As much as I like to joke about Braverman family get-togethers and dance parties, this episode could have used one. There was very little comedy going on in last night's episode, and many members of the Braverman clan needed a good laugh.

You know how I’ve been saying this whole "adopting the baby from the office coffee girl" thing isn’t going to go well? The other shoe's about to drop.

We begin with Joel, Julia and Zoe waiting at breakfast for the baby's father to show up. He blows them off, supposedly because he got called into work.

Julia and Joel check Facebook to see what’s up. There’s an amusing exchange about how the child they’re adopting will be a pretty, illiterate head-banger.

Joel goes by the dad's job to meet him. He seems harmless on the surface, but he makes a couple of comments about them really wanting the baby that seem like trouble. And he brings the trouble with him to dinner at Joel and Julia’s, wanting to change the terms of the agreement that Zoe has already approved.

And by “change terms,”  I mean “charge a fee for the child.” He tosses out a figure of $30,000. Joel is *thisclose* to reaching across the table.  I can’t begin to imagine what that must be like, getting your hopes up about an adoption, only to have someone’s greed endanger the plans.

Elsewhere, Adam and Crosby discuss Adam’s kiss with Rachel. Crosby is a bit smug about the whole thing, because Adam lectured him about flirting with the girl. He then proceeds to tell Adam the reasons he shouldn't tell Kristina, including how she's feeling about herself after having baby Nora. Unfortunately for Adam, Crosby is right about everything.

But when Adam finally does tell her, he wins the King of Bad Timing award. Despite all that Crosby said, Adam decides to tell Kristina about the kiss with the 20-something hot chick when Kristina is in the middle of discussing her plans to lose the rest of the baby weight.

What a fool! Fine, tell her, but find a better time. And when Kristina says she assumes Rachel is leaving, he says yes. But there’s this brief moment when you can see on his face the “Oh, I have to fire her, now?” look.

Crosby doesn’t want him to do it. He says the situation isn’t entirely Rachel’s fault - and he's right. How is it Crosby can have great insight about other people’s lives, but can’t get his personal situation straight?

Adam goes to talk to Rachel with the intent of firing her, but he can’t do it, instead telling Rachel he won’t hesitate to fire her if it happens again. Then, he chooses to lie to Kristina about firing her!

I don’t get it. Does he not understand that if Kristina calls and Rachel answers, the secret is out?

And yes, this is exactly what happens. I’m surprised Kristina didn’t hop in the minivan and speed down to the studio to deal with it. She waits to confront Adam about it when he gets home, and he has to explain everything. And he says all the wrong things when she asks if he’s attracted to the receptionist. This might be one of the most uncomfortable conversations any of these characters have had. She tells him she's done with having his back all the time, and later announces she's going back to work.

Apparently no one explained to Jabbar that Crosby and Jasmine are not only not living together anymore, but that they will not be getting married. They seem truly surprised when he asks when they were going to get hitched.

Jasmine says it’s not good for Jabbar to keep hoping for something that’s not going to happen. (It isn’t good for Crosby either.) So, they explain that some families have parents who are married and under the same roof, and others who have parents that live under different roofs.

They say they won’t be getting married, ever, to which Jabbar says he wishes they were an under-the-same-roof family. Poor kid, and poor Crosby. He sees that when he lost Jasmine, he also messed with Jabbar’s understanding of their family, and he feels like a bad father.

Jasmine and Crosby later discuss their concerns about raising Jabbar, but after a nice conversation and a glass of wine they end up in bed. I did not see that coming. Not so soon, anyway. So what is going on with Jasmine and Crosby? Or more to the point, what’s up with Jasmine?

Not that she was unjustified in breaking up with Crosby, but she seemed to be the one who was moving on. Crosby was doing well hiding his disappointment about it. And yet they still ended up in bed. If Jabbar was confused before, how are they going to explain that?

Even though Crosby and Jasmine hooked up for the night, I don't see happy endings coming from that. I see Crosby getting his hopes up, and Jasmine telling him it was a mistake.

I also don't see Joel and Julia getting that baby without a fight. As for Kristina and Adam, who knows? I don't see them splitting up, but there certainly won't be Braverman dance parties going on at their house any time soon.

What do you think?