This Is Us- Season two

[SaintsManiac]

I just finished the episode. I haven't gone through the thread to read everyones thoughts yet, I wanted to write mine.

In spite of how tragic the episode was, it was written with such beautiful loving scenes in spite of Jack Dying. This was one of the best episodes for me, so heartfelt and loving. Omg, When Kate told Toby how wonderful he was, it was so touching, she found someone just like her dad and she finally realized how lucky she is.
Keven reconnecting with Rebekah and his dad again was awesome, 20 years of hurt finally healing.

BUT Randall, oh my gosh that was just so good. When they show that its Tess who is the Social Worker, I lost it. Randall as the older dad looking at his daughter as a woman awesome. That hit me so much. Because when he was sitting on the bed with her, I thought to myself you have no idea how soon she will be an adult, it goes by so fast as we are too busy doing life to realize it.

Just a great episode, now off to read all of your thoughts!!!

Agreee with you 100%!!!

 

[Mizzoufan]

LOL they’d been dating for ten minutes. Kevin I could see having clothes at a girlfriend’s house but Randall?

Honestly, the clothes aren’t what bothered me about the episode. For *me* the episode felt like an explanation that failed. It just didn’t work for me.

It doesn't bother me at sorry it bothers you so much.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Oh I get that and I think he did too but I still felt bad for him. Imagine being told you can’t grieve for your best friend.

I just watched the aftershow and Mandy Moore didn’t know that Milo would be there when she came into the room. So that reaction was pretty authentic. She said they used the first take.

But she didn’t tell him he couldn’t grieve. She told him he could come in with her if he could be strong, but if he couldn’t, he needed to take a walk around the block and come back. She was giving him that moment without judgment. But she’s right, as their mother, as them being the adults, they had to go in there strong. They could break down later, like she did, but not right then.

 

[Grmnshplvr]

let me start with what I loved...randall cracks me up "oh is third person randall coming to the party too" "he got here early" LOL and Beth stepping on Mr Giggles, he aint giggling any more lol Loved the flash forward with Tess as a social worker as well....the actress that plays her looks amazingly similar to her younger self.

Now what I didn't care for, I hated that his death was so predictable, this show thrives on plot twists and I failed to think the fire killed him because it was so obvious, the dog, the tape, all of it....I hate that the biggest moment of this show was done like that - her biting the candy bar, I know she mentioned it later that it haunts her, I just hate that they even put it in there. Mandy moore is not my favorite actress and my dislike of her probably makes that stand out to me even more...I guess I just didn't "buy" her response to his death, or when she told miguel....the whole thing just seemed poorly done in my opinion.

I wont even get into how did he make it downstairs to get the dog? Why not jump off the roof, open the front door, the dog was downstairs and somehow survived the fire....I don't know I just was feeling a bit let down

 

[Grmnshplvr]

Also, can I just say I HATE when I hear people say "be strong for the kids" "I have to be strong for the kids" It's OKAY for your children to see you lose it, especially in moments like that! I see so many kids not know how to react to something because the adults around them are so scared to allow them to see real emotion! It's ok for them to realize sometimes life is sad, and sometimes we cry, breakdown, and then we show them life still goes on. Its important for kids to see that.

 

[wenrob]

It doesn't bother me at sorry it bothers you so much.

I said in the post you quoted that it DIDN’T bother me that much.

But she didn’t tell him he couldn’t grieve. She told him he could come in with her if he could be strong, but if he couldn’t, he needed to take a walk around the block and come back. She was giving him that moment without judgment. But she’s right, as their mother, as them being the adults, they had to go in there strong. They could break down later, like she did, but not right then.

I’m not knocking Rebecca, I just felt bad for Miguel. That was one of the scenes that elicited empathy from me.

 

[anniemae]

let me start with what I loved...randall cracks me up "oh is third person randall coming to the party too" "he got here early" LOL and Beth stepping on Mr Giggles, he aint giggling any more lol Loved the flash forward with Tess as a social worker as well....the actress that plays her looks amazingly similar to her younger self.

Now what I didn't care for, I hated that his death was so predictable, this show thrives on plot twists and I failed to think the fire killed him because it was so obvious, the dog, the tape, all of it....I hate that the biggest moment of this show was done like that - her biting the candy bar, I know she mentioned it later that it haunts her, I just hate that they even put it in there. Mandy moore is not my favorite actress and my dislike of her probably makes that stand out to me even more...I guess I just didn't "buy" her response to his death, or when she told miguel....the whole thing just seemed poorly done in my opinion.

I wont even get into how did he make it downstairs to get the dog? Why not jump off the roof, open the front door, the dog was downstairs and somehow survived the fire....I don't know I just was feeling a bit let down

I thought the same thing! Jump down, it wasn't that far. I can see why Kate feels bad because she cried so hard for the dog, and Jack and Kate had a really special bond and he would do anything for her.

So when we saw a social worker talking to a little boy a while ago, after Deja left and Randall and Beth said maybe they will get a boy next time, I am guessing that was Tess and this lithe boy in current time line?

I loved seeing Deja again.

 

[Poohforyou]

Also, can I just say I HATE when I hear people say "be strong for the kids" "I have to be strong for the kids" It's OKAY for your children to see you lose it, especially in moments like that! I see so many kids not know how to react to something because the adults around them are so scared to allow them to see real emotion! It's ok for them to realize sometimes life is sad, and sometimes we cry, breakdown, and then we show them life still goes on. Its important for kids to see that.

As someone who lost a parent when I was 8 I'll just have to disagree with you.

A little crying is fine but had my mom broken down in front of us I would have been terrified. What we needed was for her to be strong and let us feel that we were safe and we were going to be ok.

I know she went other places when she just couldn't handle it and I'm grateful for that.

I know how to grieve but I also know how to survive.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I think I am a bit disappointed as well in the episode. So much hype and.....then I felt let down after it was all said and done. Part of it was that Jack has been dead and now we just needed to know how it happened to close the gap. It bothered me that they made him out to be more of a super hero coming out the front door than realistically could have happened. If the flames were coming up the stairs how did he get downstairs? That bothered me. I can see Rebecca's response being what it was - eating the candy bar. When people are in shock they do strange things. I personally would have ran to jack in that hospital room instead of crying at the door. The love of her life died and she just stands there? No way. I love the Kevin scenes. I wish Kate would forgive herself and move on in her life. Everything seems to be about some trauma from her childhood and she can't move forward until she gets over some of her issues. I love Randall. Love him. I love Toby. He's great to put up with Kate. She is immature to me.

 

[Pugsly]

Thanks - I've never seen this! And such an important scene for the show... good grief, how the heck did I miss this entire episode?? Need to watch it when I get home from work!

I think I missed this entire episode too and I don’t know how! This was so meaningful to the whole theme of the show.

 

[Grmnshplvr]

I think I am a bit disappointed as well in the episode. So much hype and.....then I felt let down after it was all said and done. Part of it was that Jack has been dead and now we just needed to know how it happened to close the gap. It bothered me that they made him out to be more of a super hero coming out the front door than realistically could have happened. If the flames were coming up the stairs how did he get downstairs? That bothered me. I can see Rebecca's response being what it was - eating the candy bar. When people are in shock they do strange things. I personally would have ran to jack in that hospital room instead of crying at the door. The love of her life died and she just stands there? No way. I love the Kevin scenes. I wish Kate would forgive herself and move on in her life. Everything seems to be about some trauma from her childhood and she can't move forward until she gets over some of her issues. I love Randall. Love him. I love Toby. He's great to put up with Kate. She is immature to me.

I agree, Kate is kind of annoying, and very selfish. I'm so glad she seemed to have a break through yesterday realizing how great Toby really is and telling him that.

and I agree I couldn't just stand there with his body laying right there, i know I would have ran to him and held him

 

[Grmnshplvr]

As someone who lost a parent when I was 8 I'll just have to disagree with you.

A little crying is fine but had my mom broken down in front of us I would have been terrified. What we needed was for her to be strong and let us feel that we were safe and we were going to be ok.

I know she went other places when she just couldn't handle it and I'm grateful for that.

I know how to grieve but I also know how to survive.

I agree at 8 it would be scary to see your mom breakdown, but her kids aren't 8 they're 17...didn't come across as believably to me at all. We had a tragic horrific death in our family and the kids saw their mom react the way you'd expect someone to in that situation and they're ok, they were about the same age as these kids, a bit older. I just don't agree with the "be strong for the kids" I'm not saying don't get out of bed and shower and stuff but its ok for kids to see you cry.

 

[OhMari]

I thought both older and younger Rebecca were well played tonight. I like that they've softened older Rebecca up and gotten a new wig recently. She's smiling more and her interactions with the kids are more natural.

Maybe they read some of our comments. Grief can make a person older than they should be, maybe they are going to make her the hip person she was, while the kids grew up.

 

[piglet1979]

Also, can I just say I HATE when I hear people say "be strong for the kids" "I have to be strong for the kids" It's OKAY for your children to see you lose it, especially in moments like that! I see so many kids not know how to react to something because the adults around them are so scared to allow them to see real emotion! It's ok for them to realize sometimes life is sad, and sometimes we cry, breakdown, and then we show them life still goes on. Its important for kids to see that.

I disagree too. I have a daughter with anxiety and we were in a car accident a few years ago and I got hurt. I had to be strong for her. If I lost it in front of her she would dive deeper into the rabbit hole. Yes she saw me cry, yes she saw me in bed for several days but she didn't see me when I had a break down because it was all too much for me to handle. She needed to know I was ok and that everything would be fine if I wasn't with her.

 

[kimblebee]

I think I missed this entire episode too and I don’t know how! This was so meaningful to the whole theme of the show.

It was the first season. It was when William was living with them and then Kevin moved in too. They were sitting at the kitchen table talking about..something..and Kevin said basically when you’re dead you’re dead, not realizing the girls we’re thinking about William. In that clip,too, we see for the first time Randall packing up Williams belongings. It was one of the first flash forward scenes (I think).

 

[OhMari]

She gets off the phone and puts the dollar in the candy machine. She is fiddling with the dollar and she does hear her name and she looks over her shoulder, but then the dollar finally goes in.

 

[Music City Mama]

I don't know why Kate never had the vcr tape copied or put on DVD or something. I completely understand why she wants the tape...Jack made it/touched it. But I would do anything to protect something so precious to me like that so that I would never have to be without it.

Yeah, I understand wanting to keep the VHS tape, but it doesn't make sense that she didn't have it digitized by now, just to make sure she always had a back-up. Also, gotta love how Toby knew someone who does just that thing and he's available on Sunday, LOL.

I thought that Jack coming out the front door with the dog and a bag of photos albums was too far fetched. There is no way he could have done that in a blazing fire that had started downstairs. They couldn’t even make it to the stairs, let alone him finding the dog, finding the mementoes, and walking out the front door without a burn on his body, That just went over the top which disappointed me.

Completely agree.

I wasn't expecting more than what it turned out to be, so I'm not disappointed at all. I did think that if Jack had smoke inhalation to that point that he would've at least been coughing in the ambulance, but he wasn't coughing at all. I kind of thought they'd do what they did on the show "Nashville" where the main character escapes a crazy psychopath, only to be killed in a car accident on the ambulance ride to the hospital.

I don't cry that much during any of the episodes, but when Rebecca was in denial that he had died and she thought the doctor had them confused with someone else, but then she went to the room and saw him, that got me. Also, when she had to tell the kids and when Kate had to tell Kevin. I had to be the one to tell my little brother of our older brother's unexpected passing a few years ago, and that brought back some memories.

Loved the flash-forward with Tess. I couldn't understand for the life of me why they kept showing that little boy only to have him with different foster parents (instead of Beth and Randall), but then it made sense.

 

[PollyannaMom]

let me start with what I loved...randall cracks me up "oh is third person randall coming to the party too" "he got here early" LOL and Beth stepping on Mr Giggles, he aint giggling any more lol Loved the flash forward with Tess as a social worker as well....the actress that plays her looks amazingly similar to her younger self.

Now what I didn't care for, I hated that his death was so predictable, this show thrives on plot twists and I failed to think the fire killed him because it was so obvious, the dog, the tape, all of it....I hate that the biggest moment of this show was done like that - her biting the candy bar, I know she mentioned it later that it haunts her, I just hate that they even put it in there. Mandy moore is not my favorite actress and my dislike of her probably makes that stand out to me even more...I guess I just didn't "buy" her response to his death, or when she told miguel....the whole thing just seemed poorly done in my opinion.

I wont even get into how did he make it downstairs to get the dog? Why not jump off the roof, open the front door, the dog was downstairs and somehow survived the fire....I don't know I just was feeling a bit let down

I get the candy bar. She was in complete shock, and continuing to eat the candy bar was kind of a sign of her refusing to accept what the doctor had just said. I can see myself like that.

But I'm with you on Jack coming out the door. I don't know how he could have gotten down, and why would he grab "things" before the dog? (I'm assuming he must have, since he wouldn't have two hands to stuff the bag after picking up the dog, and I'm also pretty sure some of it was upstairs.) I expect it was an attempt to throw in a twist just because we'd expect one there.

But I loved the real twist, jumping to Tess in the future!

Actress who plays adult Tess:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7021141/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

And we actually already saw her (in the Episode "Number 3") without even realizing it!

 

[Dentam]

I kind of thought they'd do what they did on the show "Nashville" where the main character escapes a crazy psychopath, only to be killed in a car accident on the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Off topic here, but actually, the main character died later in the hospital and after they thought she would survive the car accident.

 

[Grmnshplvr]

On another note, now that we see they'll be flashing forward 20 years, present day, and 20 years past I can see this getting confusing but I suspect there will be another character death and next season will go similar to this one, only we'll be trying to figure out who and how.

all I know is they better not kill Toby!