Adam Drops The Mic On The Luncheonette

Remember last week, when Zeek was practically dead in the hospital and his options were basically "give up now" and "give up soon"? Well, he's home now, and apparently not being watched so closely that he hasn't grabbed a ladder and is stumping along the hallway with it. He finally accepts that getting up on the ladder to retrieve a shoebox from a hall closet might not be the best idea for him right now, so he calls Camille to come help him: apparently he wants to get his Reggie Jackson baseball so that he can pass it on to his great-grandson (off Camille's look: "Or great-granddaughter, wha, come on!") when he (or she) is born. Camille reminds him that she's heard him tell the story of this stupid ball more than she's heard the story of their wedding day, so she's a little dubious that he actually wants to pass it on to a baby, and he counters that this is their first great-grandchild, not some bullshit "ordinary baby." This gesture apparently strikes her as sufficiently symbolic -- a man getting rid of his most prized possessions? that's some pre-death cleaning house if I ever saw it plus DID YOU KNOW THIS IS THE FAREWELL SEASON OMGGGGG -- and gently reminds him that, at some point, they're going to have to discuss the options Dr. Gordon laid out in the last episode, but before they can make any kind of plan to plan, they look in the box.

There's no baseball, but there are these old...prescription pill bottles? I seriously thought that's what they were until after the opening credits, when Camille and Zeek bring them over to Adam's to give to Max as a fun project because, derp, they're film rolls.

At The Luncheonette, Adam and Crosby bemoan the fact that the thieves took their Janis Joplin portrait when she was their "spirit animal." But look, Crosby's got something else to hang in the space: it's a handsomely framed portrait of the two of them on their first day working together! Crosby gets all smooshy about their relationship -- "Three years later, I still don't know how to run a business, but despite that, I get to come to a place I love every single day because I have the greatest partner in the world" -- while Adam is like

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, and we officially have nothing left to lose!" Good luck with your handful, Adam.

Amber comes home to find a huge box waiting for her in the hall. When she rips the brown paper to see what it is, she finds a handwritten card: "For my kiddo's kiddo. Love you so much. -Dad." So Seth went to a store, bought this crib, taped a card to it, and then wrapped it in craft paper to ship it, instead of just ordering it from an online retailer and having it sent straight to her, like a normal person would? I guess maybe he screwed up his life SO much as a substance abuser that he can't get a credit card to shop online with, but still, that is a weird amount of effort to go to just so that she can have a card with his ballpoint-pen sentiments in it.

Hank is working the same as ever when Sarah -- after what must be several days, if Zeek is home -- brings up that terrible proposal and the fact that she still hasn't answered him. She's not sure that it didn't just arise as the result of the stress and sleep deprivation of the situation, since "it seemed very unplanned," but non-neurotypical Hank doesn't understand why she would want or expect it to be planned. He can't say anything better than what he said then: he loves her, he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, and he wants her for richer or poorer and all that other business. He grants that it did arise out of the high-pressure situation, but he also meant all of it, and now what happens next is up to her. Great, rising to these sorts of occasions is something Sarah's always excelled at.

Julia calls Joel to ask, "What are we doing?" He knows what she means but hadn't wanted to raise it in the aftermath of Zeek's whole thing, and when they try to discuss it on the phone, it's way too weird. He says they need to do it in person, she tells him to come over and quickly fixes herself up, and then they have a very adult, restrained, sober discussion about the complexities of their current situation.

Just kidding! Julia opens the door to Joel and they go to town on each other.

But Seriously, What Are You Doing?

Alert Type: Reunion Tour Alert.

Issue: Julia and Joel are...maybe technically divorced, since they actually both did sign the papers?

Complicating Factors: Every time they try to get together to discuss what this emotional backsliding actually means, they just end up fucking. Which would be fine if they didn't have kids in the mix, but they do, and one of them totally almost catches Joel in Julia's bed because they're so careless and sex-drunk.

Resolution: They agree to work on their relationship together and not say anything to the kids until they're sure they're not going to break up again -- something Joel is much more certain about than Julia is. "I will tell you this as many times as you need me to," he tells her, when they finally have the sense to meet somewhere they can't rip each other's clothes off. "I will never leave you again. I will never leave you."

Spoiler: I mean, there are only two episodes left? Maybe he will leave her again, but the show will be over before it can happen.

Bye, Girl. Bye.

Situation: Crosby and Adam are about to get this big fat insurance payout for the robbery at The Luncheonette.

What makes it awkward? Though Crosby is super-psyched about using this windfall to rebuild, Adam has run the numbers, and with Zeek's blessing, he's finally worked up the nerve to disclose his decision to his business partner. Who cries.

How is order restored? After Crosby comes home, trying and failing to put on a brave face for her, Jasmine secretly goes over to Adam's to implore him to reconsider. Reluctantly, Adam does, and finds some crazy new way to crunch the numbers, Michael Scott-style, that offer a projection that doesn't see them going back into debt again, even as Kristina cautiously tries to talk him out of making a business decision on emotional grounds, which is PRETTY HILARIOUS COMING FROM THE WOMAN WHOSE RESPONSE TO HER CHILD'S BULLYING WAS TO START A SCHOOL.

"I'm Not Rachem?"

Sarah, in the middle of amateurishly putting together Amber's crib, has snuck back to Hank's shop to retrieve his hammer -- apparently at a time when she was pretty sure he wasn't going to be there, because she's furtive as hell about it when he shows up and basically acts like she's desperate to avoid him. Having seen him, though, she has to let him know that she knows she still hasn't answered his proposal, but he brushes it off, saying he knows she has lots of reasons to say no. (I know I do.) Sarah quickly says it's not about that, but Hank won't be put off, "joking" that he'd like to hear her top three reasons to refuse his proposal, but Sarah explains that what she's thinking about are the bigger questions: "Do we communicate? Can we grow together?" Hank sadly says he's working on that, and Sarah says she knows, but before they can discuss it further, Max busts in with all of Zeek's old film rolls, demanding dark room time, and the spell is broken. As Sarah makes to leave, Hank checks that his friendship (or whatever) with Max isn't one of the reasons Sarah's contemplating ditching Hank, but she assures him that it's one of the best things about him, which is good, since Hank might be working on his communication and living in the world but MAX SURE AS HELL ISN'T, so it's lucky for him he's been accepted just the way he is!

Pros For Hank On The Pros And Cons List Julia Forces Sarah To Make

• stable
• kind
• funny (nope)
• good with the family (certainly not)
• taller than Sarah

Cons For Hank On The Pros And Cons List I Would Make

• bad haircut
• shitty kid
• ex-wife might be in love with him again
• can't say no to Max
• not Mr. Cyr

Surrendering Over France

A trip to Zeek's storage unit to try to find this baseball (wasn't the point of the move to San Francisco to live smaller? Throw out some of your shit, old man!) is the perfect venue for Drew to raise the issue he was grappling with in front of Hank last week: his festering guilt about having told Camille about Zeek's plan to take her to France. Drew even brings up his heartache at the thought of Zeek dying mad at him, but Zeek is perfectly sanguine about it, countering that whenever he does die, he'll probably be mad at someone. But he promises Drew that he wasn't thinking about that when he had his heart attack, and they have a nice (presumably gentle) squeeze as Zeek says you always get angriest at the people you love -- like Adam and Crosby when they were kids, who were so annoying running around screaming all the time that Zeek literally wanted to kill them, like, for real. He's in the middle of telling Drew all about what dicks they were when he finally stops dead (no pun intended), and Drew's sure he's having another episode when he announces that he just remembered what happened to the ball. Drew stops having a heart attack of his own and takes him home. Bye, all Zeek's shit! See you on Craigslist in about two weeks!

Make An Adult Friend

As Max works on the film Zeek gave him -- he thinks it's from a 1987 Berkeley College Parents' Weekend -- Hank muses about what he was doing at the time, and tells a story about being a beginner photographer in Sri Lanka when he happened to be on the scene when a terrorist bombing happened, which Max just thinks was cool. When an image of Sarah swims onto the paper, he realizes his guess was wrong, since Sarah didn't go to college: "According to my dad, she made a series of poor decisions in her twenties." Hank, who's hoping to be a poor decision Sarah makes in her forties, ruefully refers to the list of reasons he thinks she has not to marry him, grumbling, "I've got a list for her too." Without knowing what Hank is even talking about, Max suggests that she talks to much, which Hank agrees she does, though sometimes he thinks of her voice as part of the silence. First of all, I'm sure Sarah would love to hear herself described that way. Second, this is not a conversation to have with an adolescent boy. Call your hero Joel! Or another ADULT!

"Great."

Between Camille's stupid advice about marriage -- I mean, just look at the boor she married -- and her surprise to see that Hank figured out on his own to come over to Amber's and assemble the crib for her, Sarah is so overcome that she comes to a decision: "Yes." "Yes what." "Yes to the question you asked me."

Fine, Hank's relief and shock are cute. BUT THIS SHOULD BE MR. CYR AND WE ALL GODDAMN KNOW IT.

Julia is at a skating rink with the kids when she suddenly gets the feeling something's missing, and calls Joel! He's happy to hear from her! He wants the play-by-play! It's a comfortable phone call just like old times! And in this toque, you can't see Julia's weird hair!

Crosby is taking down his portrait of himself and Adam when Adam comes in, braying everything in his weird, hearty way at Dad Threat Level 5000! Crosby, still raw, is not okay with Adam acting like nothing's wrong, until he finds out nothing IS wrong: Adam changed his mind! They're going to continue running this business into the ground together! Wish we could have seen Adam share his final decision with Kristina! OH WELL!

And then we're back at the skating rink, where Julia looks up and sees that Joel's there! The kids are thrilled! When they skate off, Joel reaches for Julia's hand, which she gives! Then they kiss! The kids see and are super-excited! GREAT JOB WORKING OUT YOUR ISSUES, DUDES!

Camille is messing with all the photos Max developed -- shots of the Braverman kids that we viewers know quite well from the opening credits -- when Zeek comes in to tell Camille he remembered where the baseball is! He hid it in the rafters of the barn at the old house! They gotta go get it!

Wow, the people who bought the Braverman compound are real fucking pigs with totally undisciplined kids, if this junk-littered yard is anything to go by! Camille and Zeek watch fondly as these strangers' kids run around playing on their old lawn, until their pregnant mom calls them inside! Camille tells Zeek to go knock on the door and make this lady let him mess around in the barn (sure, Zeek, get right on up the ladder and get your shit back), but he says he's changed his mind! Having seen the kids made him realize that someday they're going to be playing in the barn, and they'll find that box with the baseball in it and "think they've found the hidden treasure. It's going to be the best day of their lives." Camille asks if he's sure, and Zeek is definitely sure he'd rather let these messy punks have his Reggie Jackson ball than the great-grandchild whose mom might want that thing to sell for diapers and GoGo Squeeze someday! But whatever! This way these kids can get it and maybe trade it to buy a few more bikes to abandon on what used to be a PRETTY NICE YARD, ONCE!