Amethyst

McRaney is 70; he has more wrinkles than I'm used to, but I don't think he looks excessively older or anything. Then again, I remember him from Major Dad, which aired in the (cough, cough) 90s. Maybe the cane makes him seem older?

Although I fell for Jack's speech hook, line, and sinker, it would have been pretty funny if the salesman didn't. He could have just rolled his eyes and said "Man, whatever. Come back when you have some real money."

Finally! I was wondering they were waiting until Spring.

Hugs to you. Scenes like those definitely hit too close to home. A friend of mine is the same way. He holds his breath and closes his eyes when he goes over a bridge, and he's been doing it since he was a kid.

These casting directors deserve a raise. I really thought I was hearing SKB's voice once or twice. Especially when Randall was arguing with Kevin at the funeral.

Welp, I cried this time. Especially when they all went to the tree. Made a difference that this one wasn't hyped up like the Super Bowl episode. I was so glad that Rebecca had that conversation with Dr. K. It was something she really needed to hear, from someone who understood her and Jack. During the first few minutes, I was rolling my eyes because of course Jack made the car decision without talking to Rebecca. Yeah, it's nice that he knew his family "belonged" in the Wagoneer, but it also made Rebecca look like the boring one again. Rebecca needed to understand that as painful as it would be, she could hold the family together on her own. I was sad to hear Kate give up the dog so easily, and even more so that Rebecca agreed with her. Figure they were both still in shock. But I was glad that Rebecca insisted that Jack's death wasn't Kate's fault, even if they both knew Kate wouldn't believe it. Puts the earlier scenes between them in an interesting retrospective. Anyone notice that Kevin didn't cry at all, during the funeral or when they scattered the ashes?

IA, although I don't think Randall's intentions were bad. I believe that he really does want to pass the Super Bowl traditions down to his daughters. But the party was so contrived. They could have just had a Puppy Bowl party for the kids and reserved the Super Bowl stuff for the adults. The only reason to introduce Mr. Giggles was to kill him off and have a funeral. Which apparently they needed to do right then and there? The Pearsons could have just excused themselves for five minutes for a quick goodbye and been done with it. Don't know why they needed to have everyone in the party watching. Oh, yeah, it was so Randall could monologue about Jack in front of a crowd. Which Beth put a stop to, thankfully. Enough already. No more monologues to strangers. I'm with you. Miguel has been on the fringes long enough. I'm really interested in how he figures into all this.

He was at Jack's funeral 20 years ago, not in the present.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I actually muttered "Oh fuck you" when they revealed the twist with Tess. I wasn't actually angry, I just couldn't believe they got that in. That got me more than learning of Jack's death. I actually missed the first five minutes because I wasn't sure about seeing the house go all Backdraft. But once I learned that Jack survived it, I'm ok with not seeing the fire scenes. And when the doctor wanted to keep him for observation, that basically screamed "red flag" for Jack. I'm glad this part is over. We finally know how it happened, and once the funeral is over, I hope the Pearsons can try to move on. Super Bowl Sunday sounds like a real depressing day for all of them. Once the shock wore off, I liked the twist with Tess. The older version looks just like her, and it was a nice way to end the episode, showing that she and Randall are still close, and that fostering meant a lot to her. And her talk with Randall was long overdue. His poor kids have been through a lot with losing William and Deja, and someone needed to speak with them. I hope Annie is OK. Maybe we'll get a flash forward for her eventually. I'm OK with Deja returning, because it feels like they're trying to slow the locomotive down. Randall has been all over the place for a long time, and it feels like they're trying to introduce something to the plot that is still familiar, like Deja. The little boy was cute, but I'm glad that he didn't end up being the foster kid for Randall and Beth. Randall breaking down during the lizard funeral was a given. I don't know why Beth OK'd this party in the first place, are little kids into the Super Bowl? The Puppy Bowl, maybe. Mandy Moore was incredible during her scenes at the hospital. Poor Rebecca had to be so confused, so I don't fault her reaction. Especially since she had to break the news to her children. Nice to see her and Kevin bonding during the game. But damnit, it's ok to let Miguel in on this, too! I'm amazed that Kate's tape was still intact. She's been playing (rewinding, pausing, etc) that tape for 20 years and now it goes kaput? Ok, show. I felt bad for Toby, because you could tell he wanted to let Kate know that Jack's death wasn't her fault, but she wasn't having it. That's hard for someone to stand by and listen to.

I think the Hortense thing is a running gag and they’re going to do this each season. This one was great, though. “Like a Lazarus back from the dead, I’m back, you pieces of shit.” Glad Dodo is back, too. Paget was really missed. Last season was a mess so I hope they are more cohesive this year

I just checked my Twitter feed and there were at least five notifications (in a row) about the episode tonight. I’ll be glad when this is over.

Oh, is that it? I rarely go to KFC anymore so I didn't know they were pushing new products. Still tastes like fried chicken skin with a sliver of actual meat.

I find the KFC commercials kind of confusing. It's cool that Reba McIntyre is doing the Colonel, but the moment you get used to one, they switch it up again. Weren't they trying them out longer before, like a month at a time?

I just did and it's there! Thank you for the heads up! I'm surprised they have it now, it strikes me as a fall dish. Maybe I'll give them another chance.

I agree that they play up the "you will cry" stuff way too much. In season 1, there are scenes that act like a gut punch, and they worked because you weren't expecting them. They crossed the line to treacly and manipulative way too many times now. Last season's promos said they would reveal how Jack died, so them not doing it at the end only made viewers mad. There are plenty of memories with Jack to film, so Milo isn't going anywhere. We've known for some time that Jack is dead, so why drag this out? If there's some greater mystery at hand here, I'm gonna be pissed. It's a TV show, not a theorem. People shouldn't have to study these episodes to understand them. But I think the writers know that viewers are fed up. For one thing, the show's Twitter handle used to be an actual box of tissues. Like, really? Were they serious? Thankfully, they got rid of that. And they knew viewers were angry that Jack's death was going to be held off even longer after being told the opposite. People aren't stupid. It might sound contrarian, but the more they talk about how emotional people will be, the less I want to watch.

Besides Panera's inane commercials hawking "good clean feeeuuudd", they have a habit of getting rid of the items I love. They replaced the Chicken Cobb Avocado salad with the disgusting Green Goddess Cobb, and got rid of the Soba Noodle Bowl and left the Wonton Noodle Bowl. Plus they tend to get orders wrong because they're usually so busy.

Randall’s house being a fixer upper is definitely more believable. I can see him installing the occasional ceiling fan or backsplash, not building the house from the studs.

I don't think Charlotte is some horrible person. If anything, her sending the pendant to Kevin was an act of genuine kindness, because she didn't owe him anything. In the context of the situation, the audience knows about the importance of Jack and the pendant, sure. But all Charlotte knows is that all Kevin pulls a hit it and quit on her in the middle of the night, only to return a short time later ranting about something he forgot. What was Charlotte supposed to do? Get down on all fours and start searching? I'd have told him to kiss my ass. Kevin had Charlotte's name crossed off his list before he got the pendant, so I'm wondering if Kevin wrote her or called her asking for forgiveness for how he treated her. We don't know if she was holding the necklace or decided to send it once it was revealed that Kevin was going through an addiction. We also don't know what kind of correspondence Kevin had with her. Did he ask for the necklace back or did he just apologize? A lot of what ifs that we aren't going to know. At any rate, I'm cutting Charlotte some slack. Kevin's baggage wasn't her problem, and given the situation, I don't blame her for wanting to be done with him. I wish her well. But now Kevin has the pendant, he's made amends, and that's all that matters.

A gummy candy, but not actual gum. They were ok. I was more of a fruit by the foot girl.

The new Gushers commercials. Maybe they took some tips from the Skittles pox, because nothing says "yum" like swallowing liquid soap, or squid ink. Apparently that stuff gushes? Gross. This is like watching people try to eat the laundry pods.

Few things upon rewatch that aren't fire related: Randall mentioned how worried he was to start a new career late in life. Iirc, he quit his job as a weather commodities trader because he was disrespected by his boss, plus Randall's breakdown due to William dying. Still, didn't he like what he did? He went to Tess' Career Day and (badly) rapped about how he loved his career. After William died, I thought Randall would break out and work solo, or start his own firm. Not leave the industry entirely for something that came up at the last minute. Yeah, Randall is impulsive but I can see why Beth is frustrated. Their life can't just be about William or Randall's personal issues. They have a mortgage and two daughters to look after. And the money situation is pushing it. I'm wondering if he got a severance from the firm. Sophie admitted that she should have realized something was going on with Kevin, since she was a nurse. I wonder if the writers were reading the boards, because that was a big complaint, hehe. Is Rebecca done trying to sing professionally? Sounds like she gave it up after that argument she had with Jack last season.

I really hope they don't go this way, although it did cross my mind. If they're going with the fire for Jack's demise, they need to stick with that, so the Pearsons can move on. They don't need to have any more mystery surrounding this, Kate's involvement(?) is enough. Clearly, it'll be devastating, and I'll be a hot flaming mess, but I would rather get this episode over with.

IA. I think that's why they took pains to show how the Pearson's got the Crockpot. By the time of the fire it was 19 years old. I was thinking the same thing! I just looked up #Crockpot on Twitter and people are losing their minds, lol.

The moment Jack dumped the kitchen towel by the Crockpot, I knew that would somehow start the fire. Even if the Crockpot wasn't that old. A sincere thank you writers, for those gratuitous shots of Sterling and Justin doing construction. Feel free to do that again. Good Lord, how much money would it cost to put up all those people in a hotel? Team Beth all the way, because Randall went way too far this time. Being a landlord is hard enough, but they have at least a dozen tenants to look after. If this is how they're ending Kevin and Sophie, I'm fine with it. Nothing against her personally, but these two have the chemistry of drywall. And it was poetic, Kevin ending something while gaining something else that he thought he had lost forever. Lena Waithe! I forgot she was making an appearance. Glad Kate kept Audio. He's such a cutie! The note definitely burned up. :(

This is one of few times I wanted to see the aftershow, so I'm glad to hear it's good. LOL, he really is talented. Definitely would have gotten more than a smile. But I expected more from that plot. I wonder if we'll see Allison (the red-haired girl) again.