Nanners

Thank you! The biggest head scratcher for me was how this was at all a viable explanation of events - especially considering how savvy they’ve made Robert Wisdom’s character out to be. For one thing, Barry was still responsible for several other deaths that the police, including Janice, were uncovering. I’d have to rewatch, but I can’t imagine rewatching the interactions between Barry, Gene, and Det Moss and see that false narrative clicking together. Barry gave up so much information but not once did he try to pin his accused charges on the supposedly true perpetrator? And that his own son would be so quick to believe his father a murderer where the explanation of being a fumbling clown shooting wildly out the door while in a state of paranoia is such a more fitting scenario from what he knows of his dad.

Absolutely agree, I actually like him for his straight-forwardness. And correct me if I’m wrong, but while prepping after lambgate, I believe it was he who said something along the lines of loving the teamwork, despite the setback?

I kept wondering why she kept sleeping on her back!!! Though it has happened to me on my side if I’ve been really stressed and hadn’t slept well for days. So weird, I just posted on the previous episode thread about how validating it was to hear that my experience was real before I saw this episode, so I understood why she felt so good with Arthur. Don’t know why she stuck with that therapist though, even if he didn’t believe in ghosts there was obviously something super traumatic underlying her symptoms - hey, go confront your debilitating triggers, no big deal! He IS a quack.

All of this - so well said. I don’t know if it’s because it’s my time of the month or because I’m a therapist who’s been working extensively recently with clients with history of trauma and addiction, but this show is making me so emotional because it so beautifully illustrates the effects of both, especially this and the last episode. It’s understandable that without further context of their adult years that the audience would be less sympathetic with Steve and Shirley, but addiction is painful on all involved. And of course Luke would self-medicate, if not just for the instability and sense of abandonment at such an impressionable age. And of course Steven and Shirley would be disdainful or resentful since they were probably parentified as the older siblings. How unfair for them. I keep wondering if there aren’t any ghosts at all, and it’s all just an allegory for trauma. With trauma, flashbacks aren’t just dreams, they can be very vivid experiences (sounds, smells, etc) and often it manifests as fragments and images, especially in situations where one feels trapped and powerless. And all of the “no one believes me” is so reminiscent of when people do seek help when they’ve been abused, but family is in denial, because believing it would break their reality. And in real life, we’re all more likely to be Steve, looking for intellectual and rational explanations for a phenomenon that just doesn’t make sense. I remember how relieved I was to find out that sleep paralysis was a scientifically explained phenomenon, and I wasn’t actually being suffocated at night by a menacing presence. Actually Steve reminded me of that show Ghost Hunters in its early days when it was actually more about debunking - I loved that show because I legit believed in ghosts (child ofAsian immigrants here) and it was so reassuring. Seriously, this show obliterates This Is Us when it comes to family drama and sibling dynamics.

I actually grew up in the town adjacent to Alpine; parts of my town are basically the same neighborhood (I did not grow up on that side of the tracks). Alpine kids who went to *gasp* public school went to my high school. It’s so very true what Chris Rock said, many of my classmates parents were “just” dentists, lawyers, etc. There’s a wide range of luxury though, not every single house is necessarily breathtaking. I can see Randall’s house there, but with like a heated driveway. Though on the show it looks like a stereotypical gated community. Alpine is not gated and it’s more so hilly and woodsy. A classmate’s father apparently was the architect for Mary J. Blige’s house, but TBH, that house was uggo.

Remember when Randall could do no wrong? TIU is really ruining my crush w/ SKB. I thought they were being ambiguous about Deja’s father relinquishing his rights on purpose so you would think that Deja was trying to rekindle her relationship with her father, and might be successful like Randall was. And thank god Deja called bullshit on them being similar, that’s been annoying me since last season. I actually grew up one town over from Alpine and live outside and work in Philly now. Without traffic, 2 hours is pretty accurate, when there is zero traffic. But Bergen County is the most densely populated counties in the country, so ... And it’s funny that it takes 40 minutes from Alpine to get to NYC considering you can SEE NYC from Alpine, it’s a 10 minute drive to get to the George Washington Bridge ... it would take almost the same amount of time for me to get to NYC via train from Rutgers as driving in from Alpine area.

Like the penalties Kevin was supposed to suffer lol.

I hate everything Deja related. And I’d love to see a good plot about children “in the system”. But I feel like this show is too sentimental to handle such a complex issue with any depth. Deja feels like a caricature, she has no personality to me, just three modes: sullen, scared and apprehensive. I don’t see any chemistry with her and Randall’s family. When Beth told Kate that she fell in love with a little girl, it seemed so disingenuous to me. I’d believe it if she was like the girl from the first foster family, there was some life to her. And ugh, now they have her for good? What has to happen to make her disappear? I liked Kevin’s worst case scenario best, with he and Kate being those weird twins who get mistaken as spouses. ?