'Parenthood' Cast Talks Final Season, Will Joel and Julia Finally Reconcile?

By
ETONLINE

There's only four new episodes of Parenthood before we bid farewell to the Braverman family.

For six seasons the show has authentically portrayed the highs and lows of the Braverman clan and has managed to make everyone who watches it weep. From Max's (Max Burkholder) Asperger’s journey and Kristina's (Monica Potter) brave battle with cancer to Zeek's (Craig T. Nelson) heart scare and Amber's (Mae Whitman) surprise pregnancy, the writers have taken the fans on quite the emotional journey throughout the series run. But arguably no story line has been as divisive as Joel (Sam Jaeger) and Julia's (Erika Christensen) failing marriage this season.

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ETonline recently caught up with the cast to talk about the final season and while mum's the word on whether the couple will get back together, the stars admitted they are as affected by the drama as much as we are.

"We're torn up about ourselves," Christensen said. "We were gutted over the course of the last 20 episodes."

"It's the least amount of fun we've had on the show and we've had a lot of fun," Jaeger added. "It's kind of fun wrapping it up and really, we want to see where this couple ends up as badly as our fans."

Christensen and Jaeger revealed that they've refrained from asking the writers for any clues as to how the relationship will play out the rest of the season.

"We haven't really asked the questions about 'what happens?'" Jaeger said. "We want to find out as we're doing it."

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While the series is drawing to an end, Lauren Graham says that the emotions are high but that the close-knit cast and crew are cherishing every last minute together.

"There's kind of an ease and real generosity [on set] and you can feel people kind of enjoy this for the last days," she said. "I honestly treasure these relationships as if they were my family and if you told me they weren't my family, I wouldn't believe you."

The real magic of the show is the chemistry between the cast mates, and Graham's on-screen daughter Mae Whitman says the truth is this won't be the last time they'll be seeing each other.

"We've all really fallen into a pattern that feels like real families," she said. "I can sort of be here and not be sad or worries that I'm not going to see people again because it's really such a natural relationship."

But perhaps the cast member who's been most impacted by the experience is Ray Romano, who joined the series as Hank Rizzoli in season four.

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"When [Everybody Loves Raymond] ended I was going to therapy once a week," he revealed. "Three months after it ended I was going twice a week. I just realized I needed to do something that creatively is fulfilling for me and this was the only thing on television that I responded to."

Watch the full video for a sneak peek of tonight's winter finale and to find out where Monica Potter and Max Burkholder hope to find Kristina and Max by the series end.

The final season of Parenthood continues Thursday nights on NBC.

Tweet @DDirecto during tonight's episode & we'll cry together online.

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