The head of he Braverman clan himself begins the episode in classic style, by announcing to his kids the night before his surgery that Amber is expecting a child. They’re surprised, of course, but Amber’s relieved she didn’t have to break the news to them herself. The next day, she shows up at Drew’s dorm at Berkeley to tell him, but he’s already heard. (He must’ve slipped in at home between episodes, because he’s been mysteriously absent all season.) She still hasn’t told Ryan the news and Drew agrees to drive her to Wyoming to do just that.
Meanwhile, Hank’s daughter Ruby is as sassy as ever and when Sarah takes her to the drug store across the street while Hank with preoccupied with work, the expected happens. Ruby slips a lip gloss into her purse, and Sarah, shocked, tells Hank that night. He can’t believe it, and when he tells Ruby’s mom Sandy, she thinks it’s because Ruby doesn’t have a father around. She tells Hank that if Ruby’s around, Sarah can’t be around either.
Back in Wyoming, Amber and Drew arrive at a random house out in the middle of nowhere and find Ryan, who looks like he’s aged five years since we last saw him. He’s living with his mom and their house is littered with bottles of beer and prescription drugs.
When Amber breaks him the news, he’s ecstatic and takes her on a walk down a road with no sign of life for miles, telling her he’s going to be with her every step of the way. At first, she’s convinced, but when she returns to Drew, who’s waiting at the car, he talks some sense into her. After all the time she’s spent with Ryan, she’s never been able to change him, and she finally realizes it, heading inside to tell him that he’s not ready to raise their child.
Back in civilization, Zeek’s getting ready for his surgery and is already feeling feisty. When an orderly asks him to take his ring off, he refuses. He finally does when he heads into the operation room in tears, while Millie looks on, breaking down in the hallway outside.
While he’s in surgery, Julia gets a “hospital survival kit” from her man friend, and she seems okay with it. When Joel calls to check in about her dad, she breaks it to him that she’s seeing someone, and he gets off the phone as quickly as possible. (Does this mean that the Joel/Julia saga is coming to an end? Is Chris the college–ex–coworker soon to be Chris the homewrecker?)
While they’re waiting for news about Zeek, Adam gets a call that Oliver Rome has abandoned his band at sound check in Albuquerque. He blames Oliver’s flakiness on Crosby, and tells him that he’s responsible for calling Oliver and making sure he gets it together—they’ve got a contract, after all. Crosby walks out of the hospital and tries to talk some sense into Oliver, but Oliver hangs up on him. When Crosby dashes off in his motorcycle and a dramatic driving scene ensues, it seem like he’s going to be the one who dies this season. He comes out alive (after falling pretty hard) and gets himself back to the hospital in time to hear good news about Zeek’s surgery. It was a success.
In another slow–motion, tear–jerker “Parenthood” ending, the Braverman family heads back into the operation room to watch Camille put Zeek’s wedding ring back on. He’s OK.
