'Parenthood's Joelia is Divorced, But Not Over

Talk about an emotional roller coaster for Joelia during Thursday night's new Parenthood episode "Lean In." A still-hurting Julia actually signed the divorce papers and urged Joel to stick to their plan and do the same. He reluctantly agreed, making Joel and Julia officially divorced. Of course, because Joelia loves to leave fans as conflicted and anxious as their own aching hearts, Joel & Julia immediately furiously kissed as a newly-divorced couple. What will become of these two?! (There's only four episodes left, you two! Figure it out!)

Before we can even begin to try and answer that, let's rewind a little. Julia was getting pressure from her beau Chris who assured her that she didn't owe Joel any favors and that he wants something more from their relationship than she's giving. "I still think you're in love with your husband," he snapped, before walking out on her, presumably for good. (Jeez, Chris, the whole guy-walking-out thing is kind of a sore subject for Julia, or have you not been paying attention this season?)

But Chris was hardly the only man in Julia's life pressuring her to make a decision to sway in his favor. Joel asked Julia to meet him at their favorite restaurant, where he looked hopelessly optimistic reminiscing about the old days. The conversation took a sharp turn to super depressing when Joel brought up Ed, and their split, and how everything was basically his fault.

Joel laid his cards on the table, with a single tear running down his face, just to really drive it home. "I made a vow that I would uphold our marriage good times and bad and I failed. I failed you. I felt such shame," he told her. "So long as your my wife, I am gonna do everything in my power to uphold those vows." Joel finally wrapped up his speech with a promise: " I love you so much, I have never stopped loving you. I'm gonna honor you for the rest of my days if you'll have me." Julia's response? "I'm gonna go." Yikes.

In fact, Julia goes right to her mother's house to talk about all things Joel. Camille puts things simply for Julia: "You know what marriage is? You know what it's about? Forgiveness." But Julia puts it in even simpler terms: "I don't think I can." Judging from that seriously hot kiss that takes place at Joel's apartment after their emotionally-charged divorce papers signing, maybe she can.

Photo: Colleen Hayes/NBC