brokenwing29

I was very quiet (had undiagnosed selective mutism) and that is the main reason I was bullied in middle school; kids zero in on someone who has some kind of weakness or has something different about them. El is a bit awkward and out of sync with other kids and I could buy that she would be an easy target. There were some aspects I found unrealistic, like on TV they always have the bullies making fun of the victim right in front of a teacher, and that only happened to me once. Also, the bullies in fiction are always some super popular, beautiful girl and that wasn't my experience either. I did feel El's pain and Angela did make me want to smack her, so the acting was good, even if the writing was not spot on.

I did like Annie's line on the other episode about it being okay to be quiet as long as you were still strong (or something like that), ,though I don't remember her character (when she was given any lines) being anything but a typical sassy little sister. There are a lot of replies to this thread I haven't read yet so I'm probably repeating, but I hope Deja got Annie and Tessa's okay about naming her baby William, in case they wanted to use it for any kids they might have in the future. Because, you know, they actually knew him and had a relationship with him. It was a good episode, though not as good as some this season (like the Miguel-centered one). I think because parts were filmed years ago, it didn't seem as much like a finale during those scenes...just typical Big 3 flashback situations we've seen before.

Correct... so it would be very unlikely that there would have been two Sophies in their class. It's just a detail, but if you and I can find this information easily, surely the writers who are getting paid to come up with character names could do the same.

Oh, so there were two Sophies when realistically (for their age group) there likely wouldn't even be one? Or anyone in their class named Ella (one of the names Kevin wrote on the Valentine)? I know, I know, I have a problem, but details like that drive me crazy. But yay for next week's long-awaited Miguel episode.

I seem to remember it was at a party. Sophie was Kate's guest but became better friends with Kevin. I think they were around ten in that episode.

We saw how Kevin and Sophie met and that wasn't it (plus, they were a few years older). I didn't feel it was earned (as someone else commented) with this rewrite. And they can't love who each other are "now" because they have no idea who that is - they just pulled Sophie out of thin air after umpteen episodes. She and Kevin didn't even keep in touch enough to know that she was divorced.

"It's been a minute since..." No, no, no. People didn't even say that 20 years ago, so I really doubt they did in the 60s. Dean's forgetting to put the car in park was pretty funny, though.

I wonder if their temporary separation might also be due to guilty feelings of "what would Jack think?"

Same here. Also Deja knew that Annie used to tell knock knock jokes and Deja hasn't been with them for seven years. So we'll have to assume that Beth was exaggerating for effect.

That's what I keep thinking. Yes, she deserved a loving and stable family like everyone else, but teenagers with behavior issues usually don't have much luck finding a forever home. That's not to say she should be the perfect child to be "worthy" of her family (and I find her complete turnaround a little unbelievable), but she is throwing away a great opportunity. Malik is even more annoying. I'll give them credit; the scene where Malik says to Randall something like, "I won't tell Deja what you said because I actually care about your relationship," did sound like something some punk know-it-all teenager would say...but god that kid is annoying. I hope people are joking when they talk about a possible spinoff. I learned a long time ago not to get attached to a Kevin love interest. They all kind of blur together. It would be nice (and more realistic with Kevin's character) if the show just ended acknowledging that some people don't have a "one true love" and that's not the end of the world. Kate was being awful to Rebecca, but Rebecca didn't respond appropriately. But that's okay too...their relationship also feels real and well thought out. Not everything on this show does.

I can't believe what they did to Rocker Joe's character in such a short time. Sure, Amy should have had an honest discussion with him instead of jumping in bed with Bobby, but how he has acted since he found out is just terrible. Trying to get with Jenny when she is married with kids? Really? At first I thought they were showing that Joe and Amy were the ones meant to be together, but after this episode I did at least think it was kind of nice that they were showing that a person can have different loves under different circumstances and one is not necessarily better than the other. But someone here said it looks like it would be Joe and Jenny in all the timelines...ugh, maybe that is where they were headed with that. Jenny kept mentioning how her client's daughter was Chris's age (and no, Jenny, that doesn't make you any more qualified to argue her case!), and I can't be the only one who thought they were setting up a third girlfriend for Chris haha. Got to show how inspirational this kid is and how he can get all the girls. I was at least more entertained by this episode than the last few, but if this was the series finale, I don't like how so many things were left hanging.

I don't see why Joe's son needs to be in all three timelines anyway. Yes, he was conceived before the timeline split so he would still exist, but Joe doesn't have to know that except in Nurse Joe. It seems redundant to have him deal with a similar storyline in all three universes. I think the show would be better (and easier to follow) if the major differences were not Joe's careers, but the people in his life. Cop Joe did not have to coincidentally reunite with Amy after ten years either...and they both remember each other...and happen to both be single and hit it off. He could have a different wife, life circumstances, different kids or no kids, dealing with different internal issues like maybe depression or addictions. Maybe the writers thought that would make the cast too big or make Joe seem like three different characters?

I understand Sally not filling out her facebook profile to say she is married, but why not give some indication that she is married after Rebecca said that Nicky had been pining for her all these years? Just a polite laugh and, "I'm married now, but I'd love to reminisce," to save that super awkward moment. But anyway, the plot device did give Rebecca, Miguel and Nicky some great scenes. I feel like the writers' decision to send Malik to Harvard was nothing more than, 'we want to show that he's really smart, so...Harvard, of course. We'll have him go to Harvard.'

Not to mention they have other children whose lives would also be disrupted...though in this universe, everyone from 1 to 100 seems to be a huge Joe Kimbrough fan, so they'd probably love it. Agree that they are getting really schmaltzy about the boy's character. It's not just biology that makes us who we are. Environment has at least as much to do with it, and he's the same in every time line. Also, I think about people watching at home who have similar disabilities thinking 'why isn't my life that perfect?' Okay, he is facing an operation in one universe, but they aren't really showing what it's truly like to be in that situation, or to have a child who is. They are working too hard to make him likable instead of making him seem real. Also, why is Music Amy just assuming she is going to have this baby? She was told she couldn't carry a child and has had multiple miscarriages. I mean, she probably WILL have it, or at least not miscarry until the last minute because it will cause more drama that way, but Amy doesn't realize she is a fictional character whose writers are insulting their audience's intelligence. I just feel like she'd be more wary and assume that the pregnancy won't end well. Too bad, I feel like this started out a decent show. I'm still interested enough to watch, but I don't know how many others will be.

I couldn't tell if the writers corrected their mistake in the pilot of having Kevin say he was in third grade during the Challenger explosion. The Big Three are six months younger than I am (assuming they were born in August 1980) and I was in kindergarten, not quite six when it happened and have no memory of it outside the Punky Brewster episode that addressed the tragedy. The individual desks the kids were in made me think they were going with the original timeline...sorry, things like that drive me crazy. I am not very interested in seeing Kevin realizing his feelings for Madison because he is jealous she has a possible boyfriend. I feel like this show, for all the problems the characters face at times, can be too idealistic with its perfect-love-conquers-all narrative. It's okay if they don't end up together. For instance, I find it hard to believe that Deja and Malik are still together being teenagers, long-distance AND his having a kid. It's actually kind of refreshing that Kate and Toby aren't going to have a perfect, forever marriage. I also like how they are showing Rebecca's dementia, depressing as it is.