Parenthood is making it on to Best of 2012 lists, y'all. People are celebrating the Bravermans... influential people who sway executives to order more episodes and give extra money to shows. And after watching "What to My Wondering Eyes," is it really so surprising? My biggest complaint about this episode is that I don't get to sit around Zeek and Camille's Christmas tree (along with Max's sweet train) or wear new matching family scarves with the Braverman women. And where's my potty doll?

Seriously though, I'm relieved that Parenthood's winter break is relatively short (see you on January 8!), and I'm so excited to talk about this episode that I'm just going to jump right on in.

Chuckle
First of all, how hilarious is it that every member of the Braverman family's house is hugely decked out for Christmas? Like, isn't Halloween supposed to be the official family holiday? How much money is in Amber's decorations and yuletide eyeliner budget? Who the hell hung up all of the pristine decorations in Adam and Kristina's house? And if Kristina did, you know she had to be high, so why wouldn't we see that? I'm not even kidding; I counted no less than eight Christmas-themed mugs.

That said, the hardest I laughed all episode was when Santa asked once-nonbeliever Victor if he liked his sneakers, and then disappeared into the hospital mist. I actually audibly guffawed like a crazy person and -- I kid you not -- said "HO HO HO!" in triumph. I realize that there's a big "Without Pity" in the name of our site, but Parenthood does this kind of thing to me. I way say though, that if Zeke and Santa didn't pull a last-minute Hail Mary and Victor did, in fact, ruin the magic of Christmas for Sydney and Jabbar, I would have actually flipped out. On that note, I did love that all of the other kids were enchanted by Zeke's story while Max was just like, yeah whatever, you drones.

Speaking of Max... it had been way too long since he and Hank had a scene together. Both guys agreeing that they simply can't be the "go with the flow" sort of person cracked me up. Oh, and so did Max's obsession with Brookstone. Was it really good product placement, or just plain convenient press, because you know Max would love those massaging chairs?

But as for Hank and Sarah, I'm mostly arbitrarily putting their long-awaited hookup in the Chuckle category for a variety of reasons. One, Sarah signing the family portrait holiday cards while Camille looks on and just says "I'm not saying anything" was freaking hilarious. (Alas, I actually thought Hank's gift to Sarah would be their portrait with Mark Photoshopped out.) Two, Lauren Graham's elf outfit reminded me of Bad Santa, which was fun. Three, Hank describing the pretty basic compliments he gave to his disgruntled customer as "lying." Four, the Pathetic-Off: "I'm sitting in a mall and my daughter is in Minnesota, and it's Christmas." "I'm 42 and I just moved back in with my parents." And last but not least, five: I like to imagine that sad Mark is always sitting outside the shots we're seeing with a bunch of flowers, and every time he's about to make amends, Sarah and Hank share an incredibly tender moment. I bet he is so freaking sad right now. Really, though, those two didn't waste any time, did they?

Also hysterical in this episode: Nora "No Pants" Braverman. Crosby and Jasmine wanting to have another baby was obvious from the first moment Jasmine picked Nora up, but I did really enjoy Crosby whispering to his niece, "You're a trouble maker. Look what you started." I watched Nora's reaction like six times until I realized she that she is a toddler who was making nonsensical noises while her mouth was stuffed with cookies.

Cry
Okay, obviously I cried at the Kristina stuff, but it actually took me a while to get there. It wasn't until Adam praying "please don't take her away from me," which was one of those moments that makes me love this show so much. I'm not trashing religion here (I'm a believer myself, for what it's worth), but it is really nice to see this heavy of a Christmas episode on a primetime network series and have it be so secular. Also, Adam really did look like crap. And the whole tribe going into her hospital room while the music started turned me into the Pavlovian dog that I am, but come on: Max hugged his mom! Haddie came back! THE SCARVES!

I was not expecting Parenthood to take Amber and Ryan the direction that it went last night, but I am so glad that it did. The moment Amber realized Ryan had just drove her car home drunk, I actually yelled "Seth!" out loud to my TV. Everything about the scene, and the subsequent one later on Christmas morning, was so real and painful. On a lesser series, Amber would have accepted Ryan's apology for the sake of Christmas, and he would go and drink egg nog with Zeke. Fortunately, the writers here actually gave Amber real, earned agency. I wish I grew up with a character as strong and wonderful as her because her speech to Ryan about seeing her mom get dragged down by her dad was as important as it was heartbreaking.

Cringe
There were a few things that were obvious and came from a mile away that I can't ignore as a TV critic: the Snowpocalypse storyline that delayed Haddie's flight until the exact moment her entirely family was in her mom's hospital room. Then there was the ten millionth scene of Nora crying, Max screaming and Otis pooping, demonstrating just how crazy things can get in Adam and Kristina's house (in case you didn't know). Also, the stereotypical hospital drama paired with Kristina's video goodbye to her kids was just too damn much, especially considering -- and I realize how this sounds -- that Kristina's video probably could have been sadder. It was mostly just frustrating because we knew we'd be going through these motions, but on the bright side, Adam's interactions with Zeke were perfectly bad/good in that delicious Parenthood way.

Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your next show starts.