[S05.E12: Both Things Can Be True]

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I so agree with you. I never thought Rebecca's life was perfect. She never had a voice. Jack orchestrated everything, every job, home they lived in, car they bought, vacation they went on.

At the same time, Jack never had a voice either. He sublimated so much of who he was to be a perfect husband and dad. He kept his past, his brother and his dreams firmly locked in a box. Bringing home Randall wasn't because he wanted Randall, it was him trying to fix what broke. To get back to perfection. All his grand gestures were to try and make Rebecca's life perfect (even though they were often what was not needed - his goal was some mythical perfection which didn't always consider Rebecca as a person). 

And all of that driving for perfection and grand gestures trapped Rebecca. How can she complain about the house he sacrificed to buy? How can she object to what he's worked so hard to accomplish? So, she sublimates her true desires and goes along. What happened to that young woman who asserted herself to date who she wanted and drove to California to start her singing career? In some ways, her dad was right. Jack is a broken person and any relationship with him would be impacted by that broken person. It's not to say that they didn't love each other, but in some ways they never really knew each other.

And this was passed on to their kids. Randall striving for perfection in school to the point of panic attacks and a major mid-life crisis. Kate's checking out from life because she can't achieve perfection (not continuing with her singing career, not having a remotely healthy relationship until Toby and gaining all that weight). Randall found Beth to be his Rebecca (he smothers her in many of the same ways Jack did Rebecca) and Kate waited endlessly for her Jack. 

Kevin is probably the least impacted. Sure, he's drifted, become an alcoholic and tends to be a people pleaser but he's also chased his dreams and told people "No". He went for the grand gesture with the Villas at Solstice Cove, but he happily changed plans when Madison said she didn't want it. The counselling helped a lot, but I think because he was neither parent's favourite, he wasn't as integrated in the family and was able to break the dynamic.  He's not invested in his grand gestures (and they are easy for him because of the money), so it gives the receiver the ability to reject them. Jack invested so much in his grand gestures, that it would be hard to reject them and not feel like you kicked a puppy.

Rebecca and Miguel may turn out to be the true love story.

[S05.E12: Both Things Can Be True]

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I guess that black family they became friends with after the first pool episode disappeared because they don't quite fit into their new narrative. 

Randall considered that family part of his family back in Season 1. They were featured in the photo he kept prominently displayed in his house. 

Randall's black teacher from last season also appears to have been forgotten. 

[S05.E12: Both Things Can Be True]

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Before we even started making a list, we talked about what we ideally wanted in general so we both knew what we were looking for. There's no way that one of us would have had a wedding planner book a venue that we hadn't BOTH discussed and approved beforehand.

Madison and Kevin did talk about it. After the wedding planner says that she pulled strings to book The Villas at Solstice Cove, Kevin says " This is what we wanted. This is our first choice." Madison responds less than enthusiastically and Kevin asks what is wrong and she responds "It’s just, um, I-I didn’t think we’d be able to book it." So, they had put the place first and Madison didn't want to get married there, but didn't object because she thought it would never happen anyway. Maybe she saw Kevin's excitement and didn't think he would like her idea, so she just went along with it. Maybe Kevin only put it first because it's a nice, desirable place and he has to have a wedding somewhere. 

Like you said, Madison had a place she wanted so she should speak up because it might be a comprisable option for Kevin (and it was). Kevin doesn't seem much fussed about the details, so he's leaving the planning to the wedding planner while he plays with his new kids and sends e-mails.  Madison doesn't seem to care much either, but did have a venue she liked and she will get it because she expressed a preference. No compromise necessary. 

[S05.E12: Both Things Can Be True]

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Yes, I vaguely recall his children nastily insinuating that Rebecca had some role in Miguel and his wife's divorce from years before.   (I think, in reality, they divorced before Jack died.)  They were very hostile. 

Yes, they were very obnoxious and it was Thanksgiving ("Six Thanksgivings"). When Rebecca apologized for accidentally bringing a dish with nuts in it (one of the dinner guests asked because he "gets a little allergic"), one of Miguel's kids said "First you steal my father from my mother, and now you're trying to kill my brother-in-law". Then Miguel gives one of his better speeches about how they can be rude to him, but not to her. In it he says  that they reconnected 10 years after Jack's death (and after Miguel's wife had remarried - they were definitely divorced by the time Jack died - Jack got sober at Miguel's bachelor place). 

It was nice to see that Nicky and Miguel bonded at the end. Miguel is such an understanding guy and realized that Nicky was more upset about being replaced. The Pearsons don't deserve Miguel.

If you think too much about it, why is Miguel planning the dinner without Rebecca being part of the planning? Is she getting the cups and ice? Of course, it's because the actress is on mat leave.

I can see why they need a trans-relational support group because I admit that it is hard understanding why somebody would rather have been raised by a bipolar mother she's never really communicated with (who either decided that she couldn't be a mother or had her child removed from her by social services for probably a good reason) rather than her adopted family who her only complaint against is that they are not the same race as her.  

Transracial adoptee support group - TAS Group? Maybe Harry Potter fans who wanted to do tool-assisted speed runs of the Harry Potter game? Maybe they they confused "Transracial" with "Transfiguration"? Maybe somebody just advertised the wrong time and place for a Quidditch game?

The big question is - did Alex and Tess save any poppers for Grandma?

Since Tess has her own room and Deja has her own room and Grandma is still there, either Annie sleeps in a cupboard under the stairs or that is a five bedroom house. Maybe six once Kelvin comes to stay. 

[S05.E11: One Small Step]

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I found it rather dubious that Nicky got vaccinated twice already, when he seems like someone who would be in no rush whatsoever.

Nicky got the vaccines for the babies, not for himself. Old pre-Kevin Nicky would have passively hoped COVID would kill him. Pre-baby Nicky was apparently motivated enough to try not to get COVID and to continue attending his meetings despite getting tested twice a week. Post-baby Nicky was so touched, he figured out how to use Amazon, re-honed his model making skills, fixed his luggage, booked a flight, got vaccinated (twice!) and flew across the country for the first time in 50 years. 

When Nicky responds "It was nothing" - it wasn't nothing. He probably did more planning and doing to get to Kevin's than he's done in decades. Nicky had to push himself pretty hard to achieve all he did to arrive on the doorstep. Even with his gifts destroyed and in the middle of a breakdown, he somehow pulled himself together, put his shoes back on, found something in the gift shop to buy and got on the plane. With lesser motivation, he would have just returned to his comfortable shell. 

[S05.E11: One Small Step]

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I'm pretty sure Rebecca never met Jack's parents, at least until Stanley was dying.

Rebecca met Jack's mom in the supermarket - Jack has rescued his Mom from Stanley and she wants some food to bring to her sister's place. They run into Rebecca who Jack hasn't seen since their awkward first date. Jack's Mom is also the one who knit the jumpers for the triplets when they get home from the hospital. 

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Sally reminded me of Jenny from Forrest Gump.

Sally reminds me of Madison's doctor's daughter. Both have a way with animals. Sally was on her way to live with relatives in California who had a farm with animals. Madison's doctor's daughter hangs out with animals on a farm. 

Calling it now: Madison's doctor is the son of Sally and Nicky. 

They showed us them having sex. Sally is heartbroken because Nicky didn't join her on her cross-country trip when she invited him. Nicky wanted to become a doctor (and is super smart) - just didn't have the money. 

If Randall's Mom can survive without William knowing....anything can happen.

[S05.E11: One Small Step]

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Kinda confused by Jack and Nicky’s post Vietnam relationship.  Was Jack’s entire justification of acting like his brother died because of what Jack believed happened with the young boy dying on the fishing boat?  I can’t remember if Jack or Nick ever tried to reconcile or talk when they got back home.  But what happened that made Jack write off Nick so completely?  Something more than his moral outrage that his brother was involved in accidentally killing the the boy from the village?  

I think Jack blamed himself for the child's death. Everyone (Nicky, Nicky's boss, Jack's co-soldiers) told Jack that Nicky needed real help, but Jack decided to rehab Nicky himself. He thought that a combination of making Nicky go cold turkey and some Pearson speechifying, Nicky would be alright after two weeks.  Nicky was not alright. He needed some proper counselling to deal with his trauma. So, when Nicky killed the kid, Jack knew he'd created the conditions for it to happen. Jack had brought him to the village and half-assed the rehab. Jack had been trying to save his brother, but instead destroyed him and a child died. That was too much for Jack to bear, so he translated the blame onto the helping and forgiveness of Nicky.  Jack could never forgive himself for what happened to the child, so he could never get to the point of helping or forgiving Nicky.

Jack locked Vietnam in a box as his Sarge suggested. He never dealt with the issues from Vietnam. It ate away at him from the inside, but because he kept it in a box, he could never heal. He feared "being left somewhere on Route 66" if he ever told Rebecca about what he really did in Vietnam. Rebecca wouldn't have done that, but Jack never really let himself be himself around his family. It was always a facade of the perfect husband and the perfect Dad. Hiding his drinking. Hiding his fears. Hiding his past. Hiding his brother. Always the hero. Always the fixer. His failure to fix Nicky and the consequences were to hard for him to face, so he locked it in the box.

Jack and Nicky were two traumatized kids from growing up with an abusive alcoholic. Jack ended up taking the protector role which he never relinquished while Nicky was the broken lamb. Nicky lived long enough to start breaking out from his role. The difference between Nicky in the present day and where he is when we see him at Rebecca's bedside shows he has a long way to go, but he makes it.

Nicky made the LEM model from pieces left over from his model airplane making. Kevin made model airplanes as a kid. So, that's another thing they have in common. Kevin said Jack made the planes with him (although, that episode showed Jack not helping in the flashbacks), so maybe that was partly a way of reconnecting with his brother? I hope Nicky continues model making - a hobby will probably help with recovery and those snow globes were awesome. They depicted the lunar landing and the dog that he washed with Sally (and probably Sally) - probably the last happy moments of his life.  The Apollo 11 parade was mid-August 1969 and the draft was televised in December.

 

 

 

 

[S05.E10: I've Got This]

Toby probably shouldn't be wearing a suit to his zoom interview for a tech job. If the partner who is interviewing isn't wearing a suit, that's a sign. Wearing a suit can make you look like a dinosaur and can send a subtle hint that your skills are as old as your dressing style. Smart casual is they way to go. And don't look so desperate. That can scare of the interviewers as well.

I'm not completely sure why he is doing the interview in a fake office in the garage either when he has to bring Hailey out there anyway.  Kate should have taken Hailey with her if Toby had an important interview.  Maybe he just usually does it there to get away from the kids.

Toby has often been prickly about Kevin's nonchalant spending. He blew up when Kevin booked out a restaurant for their birthday. I don't think Kevin is condescending about his money, he just doesn't seem overly possessive. He had no problems giving Kate his candy when they were trick-or-treating. It may be because Kevin thinks he can just get more or maybe Kevin is just not all that materialistic. He was happy to trade a luxury hotel for Randall's basement cot, so he seems pretty happy anywhere. He spends money to get what he wants, but he's happy to have less. Money is a tool for him.

Madison is really taking to being a Mom. Kevin should have at least asked about her family while he was waxing on about his.

Malik has to be careful with Jennifer. Courts like it when both parents are involved. If he keeps Jennifer out, the courts may award her partial custody. If he lets her in, she may become in love with Janelle and sue for partial custody. Unless Jennifer terminated her rights (which she would have done with adoption, but Malik fought her for custody), then she probably has a legal remedy to get back at least partial custody. That's going to be hard on Malik who has already taken on a lot of hard work. Tough for his parents who just want to protect their child and grand child. 

[Who, What, When, Where?!: Miscellaneous Celebrity News 2.0]

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I suspect, when they had the miscarriage/miscarriages last year, they looked into surrogacy.  They were in the process when Hilaria got pregnant and decided to continue it. 

I know two couples who had miscarriage after miscarriage. Their doctor's said their odds of carrying to term were slim, so they decided to adopt. The thought their chances of being picked were slim, so they kept trying. Suddenly, they were both selected by a birth mom and pregnant. Neither were guaranteed, so they proceeded with both and ended up with two kids born within months of each other. Lots of work, but both couples were so happy.

Alec may be hair-triggered, but do we really need to know all the mechanics? If his wife does have trouble carrying to term, does she need to publicly air that heartache? They aren't hurting anybody, so I think they can be allowed to keep their medical details private. They kind of have to announce the addition to their family because people are going to notice.

[Who, What, When, Where?!: Miscellaneous Celebrity News 2.0]

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Interesting. I bet they didn't have any intention of actually shooting someone, they thought that once the walker saw the gun, he would give the dogs up.

If they didn't have the intention of shooting him, they wouldn't have shot him. They could have left without the dogs. 

The fact that they had bullets in the gun meant they at least planned for the possibility of having to shoot somebody.

While it is silly to fight off thieves who want material things (because you don't know their moral code and they just might shoot you), I don't blame the dog walker for fighting back. Dogs are living things and become part of our families. It's not silly to fight off somebody trying to steal your children. While dogs are not children, they are also not handbags. 

I don't know if I could risk my lives for dogs I walked, but Fischer might be quite close to these dogs. He probably also thought nobody would morally bankrupt enough to shoot somebody to steal their dog.

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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I also wondered about the father. Did she even tell him?

Plot twist...it's Marc!

j/k (I know, I shouldn't even put that out there).

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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Where was a lawyer or an adoption counselor? Kate and Toby didn't have to sign off on papers? Only the birth mom? No one was involved in the legal aspect of this? It was just an agreement between birth mom and adoptive parents? This was laziness on the part of the writers to speed the episodes along. In real life it would have involved lawyers, counselors etc...to insure that the baby is going to a fit home. I'm sorry, this show has started to decline this season. These kind of slips are expected on most network TV shows but this one set a higher bar when it first debuted...

In its very first episode, this show had Jack suddenly deciding to adopt a baby when he was a first time parent to twins, one of his triplets had been born stillborn, Jack/Rebecca had not been vetted for adoption and nobody had figured out Randall's situation (for all anybody knew, he could have been kidnapped from his parents and then the kidnappers dropped him off when they came to their senses). IDK, but Hailey's adoption story seems more grounded than the one that kicked off the series which also seemed to be lacking in the lawyers, adoption counsellors and paper signing (the court case was much later).  The debut adoption did not set a very high bar.

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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I thought the same thing. We had to bring our car seat into the hospital and put the baby in it before we could take him home.

Are they still doing that? Somebody I knew recently had emergency surgery and they cut off their clothes. Initially, when I went to pick them up, I was told to bring clothes. Then, they called to say "Forget the clothes, we are sending her home in hospital pyjamas" because they didn't want to deal with me or clothes in the age of COVID.  She scored some seriously ugly pyjamas because they told us to keep them.

Given you are only allowed one guest for baby births and Kate was the guest, I wouldn't be surprised if the new rules are that they come out and look at your car seat rather than making you drag your COVID infested car seat in for an inspection. Or maybe they don't even check. COVID has caused many disruptions. They probably should inspect the car seat in the car anyway if they are trying to save lives. A new parent may be able to buckle a kid into a car seat, but it doesn't mean they are installed correctly.

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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While I laughed at her What, me pregnant? body, calm, competent quick-on-her-feet Madison is a one-of-a-kind on this show. So I’m not expecting this to continue

I thought this was a return to normal Madison. The one who sprung into action when she found out Kate was pregnant, found just the right bridal shop, planned a fancy Vegas weekend, planned a fancy remote wedding and was ride or die for her friend with cross-fit b*tch.  Madison gets things done. Her kryptonite is her own body and the pregnancy through her off because she had to cede control of her body to the process for the good of her future children. 

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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I'm starting to like Kevin & Madison together, which means something tragic is going to happen.

When Kevin is alone or with his previous girlfriends, he seems more like Jack. Trying to solve everyone's problems, being the one who is always sure of things and making the grand gestures. 

Madison brings out the Rebecca in him. For instance, in this episode, he was allowed to be less sure because she was so confident. It was Madison who saved the day with the photographer.  It was Kevin who got to rest. He got to be quieter and calmer. He was given space to find his place instead of desperately treading water (just as Jack regained his balance when he finally asked Rebecca for help).

Kevin still had the grand gesture of a proposal. He still installed the car seats on his own. He is still Jack's son, but we got to see some of Rebecca's son as well.

Madison allows Kevin to be more balanced drawing from both his parents. I really liked her in this episode.

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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Did the cop actually offer to help?  

The cop's first words were: "Hey, you need some help with that?"
His second words were help: "I think you got those in backward."

I'm a little surprised they didn't stick one of the car seats up front and have Rebecca ride between the other two. I wonder if that was to avoid modern day complaints where you can't do that because of air bags.  Even then, the car seats in the back would have been a little safer, but lots of people put the car seat up front so they  could keep an eye on them. I'm almost stunned three of those bulky car seats fit in the back seat of the car. Jack needs to install some little mirrors quickly.

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Has the pandemic made these episodes particularly difficult to write or edit?

Traditionally these shows use writer's rooms where they have whiteboards covered with ideas and bounce concepts off of each other.  While it is primarily one or two person's jobs to write an episode, everyone will chime in. That creates a sort of synergy which is harder to get over zoom (where rapid fire ideas just end up blocking each other from speaking).  So, I can see ideas being less refined or improved during the writing stages.

Plus, they need to keep the actors and on-set staff safe. That reduces the situations they can write. No more scenes set at movie theatres or premiers or restaurants. Fewer people in scenes. More scenes filmed over the phone. The show went from having a wide-open world to being enclosed in a number of homes with a few parking lot scenes. Beth is sitting on a hard plastic chair outside after just giving birth because filming inside a DQ is that much harder these days.

Editing is harder because they are taking longer to film giving the editing team less time to put things together.  They are probably also making fewer takes so that gives the editors less to work with while trying to make the fairly static scenes look more dynamic.

It's harder for me to go grocery shopping - I'm sure film making with all its new safety protocols is harder too. 

[S05.E09: The Ride]

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His purpose in following Madison and Kevin was presumably to get baby pictures. 

And given that Kevin is famous for being the Manny, I imagine pictures of him with his own babies would probably be the pictures that would generate the most from him. I'm surprised the pap didn't insist that Madison trade him "shirtless photos with the babies" pictures to get him to leave them alone on this day. Madison has taken to being a Mom like a duck to water. She likes taking care of people, so that makes sense. She didn't know what to do with herself when pregnant and gaining weight, but now that they are here, she has people to take care of.

When Beth was pregnant with Tess, Randall went blind from the stress (she told William this in the second episode). I'm a little surprised how nonchalant they are being with Annie. I thought Beth would be checking up on how Randall was doing stress wise while Randall would have been enjoying the moment more. Instead, he pesters his wife who just spent two days pushing out Annie for a third. Randall, read the room. 

Lots of people are getting laid off remotely these days (it probably beats being called into the office for the first time in 11 months just to be told you've been laid off).  Tech is doing pretty well though, so hopefully he is not laid off for long. Kate knows Kevin will help with finances, so that is why she isn't flappable on this topic. Toby generally walks on eggshells around her, so I'm not sure why he's calling her generally unflappable. If anybody in that relationship is unflappable, it is Toby. He is expected to just accept everything and accommodate everything. Kate needs to read the room about Ellie as well.

Jack was completely overwhelmed, but desperately trying to hide it. Although asking Rebecca to drive probably wasn't the best idea, it is nice that he recognized that this was a situation where he needed help. He rarely does that. Why couldn't he let the cop help him put in the car seats?

[S01.E09: Let It Be Him]

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I wasted my time listening for a plausible reason a pastor would be driving a Tesla.

Congregant left it to the priest in their will? Maybe it was the fisherman's other vehicle.

I found it interesting that the priest, while dead, managed to drive better than Cassie.  She was seriously distracted.

I think they just used a Tesla because it was a quirky way to make a getaway (having the priest drive) and based on those passed out drivers that have been on the news. Ronald was making the gas emitters after he killed the priest, so he had been planning on a getaway. He probably had the priest stashed in the Tesla before Cassie came, but how he managed to get past Cassie, it seems unclear. It may have taken an hour to round up the SWAT team, but surely Cassie kept monitoring the house. Maybe Ronald's ancestors were moonshiners and there was a secret tunnel out of the basement to somewhere he had parked the priest's car (which he moved as part of his planning)? I'm sure the show will never explain what happened.  

That's quite the paper route Erik had. Ronald's house seemed a fair bit out of town.

[S05.E08: In the Room]

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Probably just that it's a bit "old fashioned" (and hasn't come back into style). 

According to the US Social Security website, Frances is more in style than Tess.

Randall named his daughter after a ceiling fan, perhaps he thought there was an interesting story behind Frances? He might have been happier with the following response to "Frances?" "Yes, there is a story behind it. After I talked to the guy who I saved from a fire, he calmed me about missing the birth of my children. As I looked over at him to thank him, I noticed a La Crueset storefront behind him which proudly declared 'Made in France'. I knew then I would name my child after that store. I was going to go with Crueset, but I decided that reminded me too much of Cruela which I lost the part for, so I went with 'France', but tweaked it to 'Frances' when Madison looked like she was going to throw up. But, on second thoughts, she's named after the capital of Wisconsin, so why can't I name our daughter after a country. Do you think I should give her a 'Pearson' speech until she relents?"

[This Is Our Spoiler and Speculation Topic]

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Also, we saw kevin's son (we now know his name is Nick) but no sighting of Frannie.

We've seen Frannie. She enters Rebecca's room after Nick in this clip from the Season 4 finale (right after Madison tells Kevin they are having twins (1:49). 

[S05.E08: In the Room]

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I assumed Toby was waiting in the parking lot so he’d be able to see the baby in person at the first possible opportunity.

There was also the very real possibility that they wouldn't get the baby. I'm sure Toby and Kate wanted to be close to each other in case everything went south.

I'm sure they had a qualified baby sitter. I think it is okay for the parents to leave him for a short while so that they can support each other and meet their new baby.

Rebecca should have put the wet papers she really wanted to save in the freezer. The paper will freeze and the ice will sublimate out without the paper wrinkling.  Less running of the ink as well. Although, maybe those pictures were too far gone already (and the damage of that picture was part of its charm). 

[S05.E08: In the Room]

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I don't remember...I just tried to find a video of that scene but I have failed... maybe I need a good luck pig

Is this the scene you are looking for (Hailey meets Hope from Strangers Part Two). Jack just says, 'my sister'.

[S05.E07: There]

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Just wondering if you’re from California, because nobody who lives in the Seattle area for long refers to it as “the” I-5, just I-5.

Nope. Neither a Californian nor a Seattle-ite. IDK. "The I5" sounds right to me, so maybe people around here say it or maybe I'm just weird. All numbered highways are "the XX". It's interesting the little tells we have in our language.  TV show writers sometimes make that mistake.

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Or he's a tech billionaire who already owns a film studio (like Jeff Bezos) and lets Kevin star in/direct/produce any project he wants for the rest of his working life.

Or they will just ignore it. The TV channel head dude threatened to kill Kevin's career back in the day, but that didn't have much impact. He even got to do a final lap on "The Manny".  I will say that if I hired Kevin to be in my movie, I'm taking his phone away from him on important filming days. His family always has some kind of emergency that fouls up his day. Opening night for your play? Brother has an epic panic attack. Opening night for your movie? Either sister is fighting with brother about adoption or Mom has run off after fighting with brother. Big return to your old show? Brother is fighting with SIL and Sister/Mom are running off for a gig. Kevin's kids aren't even born and they have joined the fray. They are probably just having a fight in utero. 

[S05.E07: There]

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One actor's partner was expected to deliver 4 weeks after production on the film wrapped.  Why should they possibly see this as something to prepare for? 

It's a risk and risks should be analyzed as to their likelihood. A twin pregnancy being early is a high probability.

Productions are halted for a number of reasons. Sometimes actors are injured. Sometimes weather is a problem. Sometimes somebody who is part of the production dies (not necessarily even while on set). Right now, everyone should have a contingency plans due to COVID because exposures on set can cause the production to shut down. 

Kevin agreed to film the movie because it was being done in LA. If he had quit just as the production was moving to Vancouver, that too would have caused a delay. Moving the production to a foreign country during a pandemic and one of the stars has twins on the way? Seems like something one should plan for. 

I don't know of a place I've ever worked that wouldn't immediately tell the father to "go, go be with your fiancé" when their child was being born, much less 7 weeks premature.

[S05.E07: There]

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Okay, major suspension of disbelief for this episode. All the talk about whether Kevin could make it from Vancouver to SeaTac, I’m going to quietly point out that the Canadian border has been closed for almost a year. 

The border is closed to foreigners, not citizens. So Canadians have to be let into Canada and Americans have to be let into America. And the border is also open for essential workers like truckers transporting goods and medical staff (there are parts of Canada where cities huddle next to the US border, so some workers commute from one country to the other). The border is also open for Americans traversing to and from Alaska. The border is restricted, not closed. 

Since Kevin was travelling to the US and is a US citizen, he can cross at the land borders.