'Parenthood' finale react: A house is not a home

Even though I knew it was coming, losing the Braverman house hurts, guys. It hurts bad. Let’s be honest: Next to Joel, it was arguably my favorite thing about this show. Okay, that’s taking it too far, but I am going to miss that beautiful house for a number of reasons, and I didn’t even grow up there!

That being said, losing the house was not the thing that made me cry the hardest in this episode. Nope, that award (not surprisingly) goes to Mae Whitman and Matt Lauria. At the hospital, we finally got to meet Ryan’s mother, who was not only an awful person, but also came bearing awful news. Ryan had been discharged from the Army and was heading back to Wyoming with her. And when Amber — Ryan’s non-wife (sorry, hospital) — asked him about it, he revealed just how he was injured. Spoiler: It’s not as badass as you probably thought.

After a night of partying, Ryan got behind the wheel of his truck drunk, ran a red light, and here he is. Luckily, the Army was cool about it and gave him a medical discharge as opposed to a dishonorable one. Regardless, he was still going back to Wyoming, because as he put it, it was his only option. Ugh, when Amber started to cry and he held her and talked about how it’s not for her of fix? Yep, that’s when my tears started. Then it all culminated in the two of them kissing through sobs. However, I will note that I stopped crying when things got weird. It was such a beautiful scene, but then they were having trouble kissing because they were sobbing, and Ryan seemed to be in pain, and then they slept together? With a cast on his leg? I’m confused. But by the time they said, “Bye buddy” to each other, I was crying again.

Back in Berkeley, Haddie brought her “super awesome best friend” Lauren home from college, a.k.a. she brought her girlfriend home from college. And in the least shocking moment of the episode, nobody had a problem with it. Come on, Haddie. You had to know you live in the coolest family ever.

And you know what the coolest family ever does? Makes the most of moving all the stuff out of their childhood home. I for one loved watching Crosby and Adam bobsled down the stairs and act like kids one last time. I also loved watching Drew being forced to help move. But the trick was, at the end of it, Zeek gave Drew the keys to the Pontiac so that he could visit Natalie in Portland. Apparently it had been his plan all along. Once again, Zeek wins the grandpa of the year award.

And, of course, Joel wins every other award in my book. After Victor won that essay contest, Joel and Julia couldn’t help but have an amazing day together. And their handhold was everything. My only complaint was that Joel didn’t show up to family dinner at the end. Did someone not tell him about the location change?! Come on, guys! Somebody text Joel!

Final thoughts: Drew picking up Natalie was crazy impressive, and I’m not sure how I feel about Sarah and Hank. I want to like it, but I’m scared. (Also, I still love Carl.) And finally, is Amber pregnant?! Because as much as I’m all about Ryan going and getting his life together only to come back and win his woman back, this feels a bit dramatic to me. Plus, that was the strangest sex scene with which to get pregnant.

Maybe I’m just being weird. You all tell me — what did you think of the Parenthood finale? Sound off in the comments below!