After a two-season struggle to figure out if he has Asperger’s, it seemed like Ray Romano’s character finally reached a conclusion on Thursday’s episode. But showrunner Jason Katims told BuzzFeed News it’s still unresolved.
Colleen Hayes / NBC
With Parenthood's sixth and final season underway, many storylines revolving around the beloved Braverman family are beginning to find resolution. Joel (Sam Jeager) and Julia's (Erika Christensen) marriage seemed to have taken a turn at the end of Episode 7; Kristina (Monica Potter) and Adam (Peter Krause) have successfully built and opened a school for kids like their son Max (Max Burkholder), who has Asperger's; Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) is dealing with heart problems that have been teased since the show began; and Hank (Ray Romano) seemed to finally reveal that he is also on the autism spectrum. But according to Parenthood showrunner Jason Katims, that last plot point is not resolved. "His diagnosis hasn't changed," Katims told BuzzFeed News.
Hank was first introduced on Parenthood at the start of Season 4 when the Bravermans hired him to take a family photo. In his debut episode, Sarah (Lauren Graham) heads to his studio to drop off a deposit and, in the process, convinces Hank to hire her as his assistant. It's a quick exchange and one in which Hank seems both annoyed by Sarah's peppy attitude and somewhat preoccupied. But then, Hank shares a scene with Max, Kristina and Adam's middle child whose Asperger's diagnosis took place at the beginning of the series and has been closely followed since. Hank and Max seem to bond almost immediately. "You're a little weird," Hank comments as Max puts olives on his fingers. "Yep," Max replies. "I like you," Hank adds.
At the end of the episode, after firing Sarah for having no photography skills, Hank, in a very roundabout way, hires her back because, as he put it, he "hate[s] talking to clients. [It makes him] a little sick to [his] stomach sometimes." Social anxiety isn't a rare characteristic, but it's a prime one for someone on the autism spectrum. As Season 4 progressed, Hank developed relationships with other Bravermans as well, but the writers also dropped behavioral clues, hinting that Hank may have the same disorder as Max.
Sometimes, Hank seemed to have successful social interactions, like a one-on-one talk with Sarah's son Drew (Miles Heizer) after Drew gets dumped. "It's OK to be sad," Hank tells him. But people on the spectrum often have difficulty dealing with emotions, instead focusing on the rational. Many people with Asperger's are unabashedly honest and direct, something Hank later exhibited when he told Sarah that the brownies she made him are "honestly, mediocre."
NBC via parenthood-gifs.tumblr.com
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