NBC has really been wracking up the body count during premiere week. On Tuesday, hit drama Chicago Fire saw one of its leads succumb to an injury in a bad fire. Now today, Parenthood showrunner Jason Katims is saying mortality will affect the final season throughout its 13-episode run. If there’s one thing that Parenthood does really well, it is tie in to the emotionality of being human. Now in its sixth and final season, it looks like Parenthood will be going out with a bang. Find out what we can expect from the premiere, below.
There’s a lot at stake leading into the Season 6 premiere of Parenthood. Amber is pregnant. Julia is picking up her life after separating from Joel. Adam and Kristina are trying to get their school finished as the deadline for the fall semester approaches. Hank’s ex-wife is set to return. There’s a lot going on, but Katims recently told THR that the final season will revolve around loss.
“The season is dealing with the potential loss of someone, I wouldn’t say we're saying goodbye to somebody. They're dealing with mortality. While we've touched on it in season four with Kristina (Monica Potter), we're dealing with it in a very different way in a way. This is something that affects the entire family and it informs what everybody will go through the whole season. Even the storylines that don't seem like they're going to be connected to that story, they're still affected by it. It's something that definitely influences the whole season.”
Since this summer. Katims has been teasing big changes in Season 6 that will have an effect on the Braverman clan. Parenthood has always had a lot of tearjearker moments, but it looks as if there will be more during the show’s final episodes.
“Tonally, the show will have pockets of humor and lighter moments throughout but overall the season will have a lot of gravitas because of the subject matter.”
Since it sounds as if death is on the horizon but not necessarily delivering a swift blow, my money is on Zeek having major health troubles. The man’s been dealing with heart problems for several seasons and the death or health issues of the patriarch of the family is the only potential plot I could think of that would heavily affect the lives of all of the main characters. I suppose Kristina’s cancer could come back, but that almost seems as if it would be a hasty retread thrown in because they couldn’t come up with anything else. Obviously, this is all surmising at this point, but luckily we should be able to find out
NBC’s Parenthood will premiere tonight at 10 p.m. ET. You can check out the rest of the fall premiere schedule, here.
