Episode 3 starts with an introduction to Jimmy’s dad, portrayed by Emmy award winner Jeff Daniels. This is the first time the audience sees him, and he has an obviously estranged relationship with Jimmy as he constantly asks him about his love life. It has officially been three years since the passing of Tia, and Sophie is the newest woman in his life. Alice is the one who keeps bringing her up and Jimmy’s dad keeps asking questions. Jimmy pulls Alice aside to just let her know how much he loves her and that his dad is complicated. The thing with Sophie is just going to be on hold for now. 

Liz holds a meeting with Brain, Charlie, and Ava because D-Day (delivery date) is upon them. They have a lot of work to get done. Liz assigns everyone roles and introduces Kelly, the “other nanny” that will be with them. Ava then explains how she invited her mom to the delivery room, and that she’s not on board with what she is doing. This shocks them all. Brain is the one who is the most nervous, but Liz tells him that Derek will help him out regarding the carseat. Everyone gets to work. 

Sean is at his food truck and he meets up with Marisol. They need to talk about how badly things ended between them. Marisol just brushes off the serious talk, but still throws herself at him like nothing happened. 

While on a hike, Jimmy explains to Paul and Gaby that the relationship he has with his dad isn’t great as he doesn’t even wish him a Happy Birthday. They just brush him off, but Gaby explains how she thinks she screwed up with her most recent patient, Maya, as she isn’t returning her calls. Paul encourages her to just be herself, and she takes that advice and runs with it. Gaby then meets up with Sean as his new therapist since Paul stopped seeing him. She encourages him to look at things in a different perspective and to give Marisol a chance; that’s what he does. 

While searching for a carseat with Derek, Brain gets a text: Ava is in labor! Brian is happy, but very stressed. He explains to Derek that this isn’t how he imagined it at all. He wanted to be like a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, with everyone forming two lines. Derek yells at everyone in the store that Brain is having a baby, and to form two lines, Hudson style! Brian  goes to the hospital.

Ava is very uncomfortable, and Brain is the only one in the room with her as Charlie is stuck in Chicago due to a snowstorm. He calls Jimmy to calm him down, but nothing works. Jimmy decides to just pick Liz up and meet him at the hospital himself. Lawyer Stewart shows up at the hospital looking very concerned. He then tells Brian that Ava didn’t sign the final adoption paperwork. This sends Brian into even more of a frenzy. Nevertheless, Liz comes to the rescue and she’s able to talk Brain down. Derek even talks to him and tells him that parenthood is so beautiful, and to not worry about the adoption paperwork because everything will be fine. Ava has the baby and signs the adoption paperwork, realizing that she was incredibly grateful for Brian and Charlie. 

Paul tells Alice that he doesn’t think he’ll be around much longer to give her therapy sessions on their iconic bench. Gaby decides to fill that role for Alice, at least before she leaves for college. Gaby tells Paul that he’s amazing, and that everything is going to be just fine.

This episode was a bit all over the place. The baby was the main aspect of the episode, but there were also elements that felt more fast paced than others. This is specifically calling to Jimmy’s dad. This is the first time we see him in the series, but we immediately know that he and Jimmy don’t have the best relationship. We’re hungry for more, but we only got a little taste in this episode. However, this is only episode 3, so it’s very predictable that we’ll see more of Jimmy’s dad. We also want to see more of Sophie too. The storyline of Gaby and her newest client works well, and it looks like it will add character for Gaby as she is learning how to manage her emotions at work. Sean seems to be more stuck than usual as he is still living with Jimmy and trying to rekindle the relationship with his family. Brain and Charlie finally get their baby, and it looks like Ava is going to be a more prominent character this season as she wants to be part of their lives. The storyline of Paul getting sicker continues to be very sad, but all of the other characters are clearly doing their absolute best to make him feel better. This was a solid filler episode. 

7.5/10