Yeah, I'm definitely not saying he's right. I'm saying it's reasonable for him to feel and act this way. I have no issues with anyone upset over Joel's actions, but I vehemently disagree with the many fans here saying that it's out of character for him to behave this way.

Excellent post. This is also true of regular ol' introverts. There's nothing wrong with people that are perfectly happy being by themselves. Max's socialization can happen outside the classroom in (GASP!) actual social settings. If he enjoys working on his own and excels academically, what's the problem? I'd like…

The sun set. That was the point of the "going, going, gone" comments as she took the final shots…

You're right, but Joel serves two masters in that scene. Yes, he could have been better with Julia, but he also had to demonstrate to his boss that he knows interruptions like that are inappropriate.

"…because of one kiss?"

I see what you mean, but that's part of the mystery of Joel. We never really know what's on his mind, so you have to consider that this is probably something he's considered for a long time. Joel isn't a rash, impulsive guy.

Staying together for the kids… First of all, you could argue that that's what he's been doing up until now. Secondly, that's only healthy until your kids get to a certain age. Then they get old enough to see things as they really are and smart enough to know that their parents aren't happy, but are still…

They also weren't paying a fortune for Haddie's college back then, and Adam was making more money then, too.

He was never angry at her prior to this season? They've had MANY confrontations over her behavior in their relationship. The writers established the difficulties in their marriage starting pretty early in the first season and have underscored them many times since. Joel being very frustrated with Julia's obsessive…

I don't think his frustrations are about Julia's failings as a full-time parent at all. It's about her failings as a wife.

That's a reach. The concept of parenthood is present in nearly every storyline on the show. If it was always about a parent interacting directly with a child and vice versa, the show would be formulaic and would have been canceled years ago.

You get that that's the point though, right? This is fiction, LC. Julia and Joel's role reversal is a storytelling device. A huge part of this story is about Joel NOT being sympathetic. That's part of the role reversal. For the first time in their depiction of this relationship, the writers want to show you the…

I agree. Those scenes were overdone, and they missed out on something that would have worked better.

Oh, I totally agree with that. Don't get me wrong. My point is that she's suddenly bringing money up in a way that suggests that the reverse isn't true.

I don't remember that, but maybe you're right. I just don't see the cause-and-effect you're referring to. "It's hard to find work, so now we have to have a baby and I have to stay home 24/7 and you have to go and be overworked so your selfishness and lack of consideration will be at least somewhat justified…" Is…

I agree. I think those scenes would have worked even better without Crosby's misgivings. In his discussion with Adam it would have given Crosby a little more credit, being as it is that the Hank/Max connection is glaringly obvious. Even if Crosby didn't get the nitty-gritty aspects of it, the mere fact that he…

Okay, so why is it a one-way street? On the one hand we have 4 years of Julia completely ignoring or abusing Joel's feelings, thoughts, and needs on top of completely taking him for granted. And on the other hand we have a couple months of the shoe being on the other foot. So Julia gets a pass for several years of…

I disagree a bit. It's bad when there's a focus on blame and both parties are equally at fault or the issue at hand is born from circumstance. But when there IS someone to blame and that problem isn't dealt with, it just leads to more problems.

Joel is not blameless in this. You're missing my point, so let me put it another way…

Yeah, I see both sides of this one. It was nice to see Zeek externalize his concerns for once. This storyline wouldn't work if his worries were all about Camille not being there for him or the way he wallowed at times while she was gone. But the writers did a good job of giving him a purpose during her time away, and…