"Parenthood" is juggling a lot of plots these days. This week’s episode did settle a few of the Bravermans’ issues. Still, there are too many balls in the air right now, causing annoying Braverman behavior, namely an incessant amount of complaining family-wide. Granted, Crosby deserves a shout-out. It’s been rough times for the fella and he’s pushing through. The rest of the crew, however, needs to buck up. The following scale assesses the varying degrees of hardship the Bravermans faced this week.

Braverman Down: Is it really a hard-knock-life?

(Degree of difficulty on a scale of 1-5. 1 being blissful times, 5 being Drew’s first date.)

Drew: 1

Young love never looked more awkward and precious than when poor Drew tried to recover from Zeek’s casual dropping of the g-word. Girlfriend. Oh, Grandpa. When will he learn? Meeker and more unsure of himself than usual, Drew asked Amy to be his girlfriend, so as not to “confuse the elderly.” Though he fumbled, it seemed to work for Amy, who responded by kicking the bedroom door shut. Oh to be young and in love!

Sarah: 3

Speaking of juggling, Sarah has one too many love interests these days. Ahem, Seth. This week’s Sarah-Seth debacle has been in the works for what feels like 10 weeks. Finally, the ill-advised hookup transpired. Seth struck at the opportune time, during an intimate moment when the two found his birthday card to Amber on her eighth birthday. The kiss was short-lived and somewhat lacking in the passion these two seem to share. I feel for Sarah. She’s torn between good boy Mark and the father of her children, bad boy Seth. She can complain if she wants to. But for now the drama seems to be on the backburner, as Seth is once again out of the picture. 

Crosby: 4

Crosby really received the brunt of the writers’ wrath this week. First, he has to deal with unrequited love while navigating shared custody of Jabbar. Enter Dr. Joe Prestige. Yes, that’s his real name. Jasmine’s new hunky love interest is driving a wedge between Crosby and his family. Jasmine is further out of his reach than ever and Jabbar has a new daddy who wants to take him to football games and watch "Harry Potter" movies with him. Out of sequence! Crosby’s obsessive viewing of Potter films at work to catch up to Dr. Joe and Jabbar was one of the episode highlights. Despite his opening of the recording studio, life has been rough for Crosby, but he’s not moaning about it.

Kristina: 2

Kristina wins the award for most annoying Braverman of the week. Sure, she’s gained some weight since the baby and she’s involuntarily lactating at parties, but her moping is unwarranted. Of couse she’s jealous of the supermodel secretary Crosby and Adam recently hired. She needs to rise above this nonsense. She has the most loyal husband on the show. Or does she…the latest preview shows a shocking scene of Adam’s secretary coming on to him. Whatever the scandal, they’ll survive it. Perhaps the most touching dialogue this episode was Adam’s reassuring Kristina that she is beautiful, to which she responds, “you’re nice.” These two do marriage right.

The other touching moment came, surprisingly, from Seth. If you didn’t choke up as Amber opened all the birthday cards he compiled for the years of her life he missed, you probably don’t have a beating heart.

Now for the Braverman of the week. Drumroll please. This week’s award goes to Amber, who is also in the running for daughter of the year. Her kindness yet firmness with Seth was impressive, first letting him stay in her apartment, then telling him to scram for the sake of Sarah’s happiness. Way to go, Amber.

Honorable mention goes out to Julia, mostly for sitting this one out and not trying to claim every child she sees as her own.

Reach writer Becca Marshall here