In 2016, my friends and I binge-watched Gilmore Girls in preparation for Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. Gilmore Girls is one of those shows that I always enjoy. In high school, I'd watch reruns on ABC Family daily while I waited for the newest episodes to be released. I have watched the show in its entirety too many times, honestly. It's a show I'll go back to when I'm bored or bummed. It's a show that I've bonded with many friends over. So, as my friends held regular Gilmore Girls marathons, I was awash with nostalgic joy. Shortly after, I read Lauren Graham's Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls and Everything In Between. It read like a conversation with an old friend. I wanted more, but I also wanted something new.
Enter Parenthood.
I had, of course, heard of Parenthood before, but I hadn't really felt compelled to watch it. Not, at least, when there were 1000 episodes of Parks and Rec on Netflix. But everything Lauren Graham said about Parenthood in her book made it a show that I wanted to see. Which is to say: she said Mae Whitman was in it and I'm half in love with Mae Whitman TBH.
So, I decided that I wanted to watch all of Parenthood this year. (This is the brilliant thing about having a list of things to do in a year rather than a resolution: you can put whatever silly random crap you want on it.) I began in January and quickly watched through the first two and a half seasons.
Then, in March, I moved. While I was moving, I didn't have much time to watch anything. And, when I did, I was busy binge-watching Drunk History (which, omg, is so funny and I totally recommend you stop reading this and go watch that instead like rn kthnxbye).
I was getting Parenthood from the library and, before I knew it, season three was due back (and not renewable!) and I wasn't done with it. Around this time, I discovered that one of my coworkers was also watching Parenthood. We'd started at about the same time, but she inched ahead of me at season 3. Moreover, we'd talked another coworker into starting it, too.
So, I had to return season 3, place another hold, and wait for it to come back in. One of my coworkers came in to work and announced that she'd finished the series and now missed the Bravermans. My other coworker edged ahead of me. Finally, season 3 came in and I quickly finished it.
While I was in season 4, my other coworker was moving quickly through seasons 5 and 6. She would come into work and make mention of something that would peak my anxiety. As it turns out, most of the people at my work had already seen all of Parenthood so conversations ran amuck as I finished season 4 and started season 5. (Season 5 is the worst. I mean, it's great, but it's terrible. It's long and anxiety inducing.) The conversations at work were vague, just enough for me to get more concerned about what was happening in the show. Then, everyone would refuse to give me any spoilers.
One of my coworkers advised me, "You'll want season 6 now. You'll want to watch it as soon as you finish season 5. And then you'll watch the entire thing in a weekend."
When I was pretty close to the end of season 5, season 6 came in. It was a Friday on a week that I wound up working both Friday and Saturday, so I only had a one day weekend (and that one day was Sunday which, for me, gets really occupied with church stuff). But, nevertheless, my coworker was right. I finished season 5 on Friday morning. That evening, I got home from work and just binge watched season 6 until it was a little bit too late. Saturday, I did the same thing.
I'd been warned by my coworkers that season 6 would make me cry. For some reason, I really didn't think that it would. But oh my word.
