SnarkySheep

I too am a city girl, but I would hardly start screaming and freaking out if I found myself in the company of a placid cow... Also, did anyone for a single second think the two would be on the roof and NOT get stuck up there?? That's such lazy writing. There's a fine line between funny and stupid, and this show just crossed it a few too many times IMO.

LOL, you forgot when Sarah decided she wanted to write a play...the moment it was done, her dad remembered he had an old Army buddy who was a director, and of course the guy immediately loved her work and set up a live performance (which was packed, naturally). After the show, we never again heard a single reference to Sarah's writing. At least the one good reality check This is Us had was NOT having Kate immediately hired for that high school chorus teaching job that Madison had referred her to. There is no way on earth that any school would hire her on the sole basis that she "really likes to sing" and "totally gets what teens are going through." I really loved that scene, with the principal acting kind of incredulous that Kate would even bother trying without a degree - and of course, Kate acting kind of incredulous that silly things like degrees should keep a Pearson from what they want.

I dunno...to me, the bar backstory didn't really fit too well. It might have if Abby had brought a few chairs out for Beth and her other lonely neighbors and kept it at that; but right now she is running a for-profit business based on said neighbors. I pretty much agree with Beth's assessment, that her relationship with Abby is less friends, more business. That doesn't mean Abby doesn't like her neighbors/customers, just that if they were not buying drinks from her, she most likely wouldn't have any relationship with them other than a casual wave from time to time. Also, the whole backstory really put Beth in a creepy light for me (not that she kinda already wasn't, what with her whole existence being drinking and hating on her kids). We learned that SIX YEARS AGO, this woman already wanted to get away from her husband and small kids so badly that she was sitting in a stranger's yard drinking every night?? I'm sorry, but this isn't haha sitcom stuff IMO, but heading right into "this woman needs professional help ASAP." Her behavior is not in any way normal.

Personally, I think they should have taken some of that programmer screen time and given it to Trish...I like the character, I think she seems nice and like she and Arthur could make a good couple. But we know next to nothing about her, except she owns a music store. Was she previously married? Does she have any kids? etc. Give the poor lady some backstory!

I'm guessing you mean Upton? I'm just surprised she is allowed to have all that hair flapping around while on the job...you'd think it would be a hazard, as someone could easily grab her by it.

What I want to know is what kind of retirement village has a van that they just let random residents drive?? Yes, these places do have vehicles, but in every one I've heard of, there is some staff member who is the official driver, and they take residents wherever they need to go (or announce some kind of general destination, like next Friday, we head to the mall, and whoever wants to come along, comes.) I can only imagine the insurance nightmare involved with having any number of elderly drivers randomly taking the wheel...

Yes, the actors seem likable, but the characters they are playing, not so much. For example, the blond woman - Beth? - seems to have two main personality traits, drinking wine and complaining about how much she hates her kids. At this point, they really should be expanding the characters more than that, rather than just falling back upon Established Character Traits. It's bad writing.

The best part of this episode? Barely even a glimpse of Joe

This. It's one of my biggest peeves how on TV, they always have the kids aiming for huge, top-notch schools, clear across the country - and if for some reason they aren't, it's because they are poor students (Haley on Modern Family) or otherwise made different choices. (For example, on Gilmore Girls, Rory only considered Yale or Harvard, and her ex Dean ended up at SCSU, because he's not wealthy and married young. As a CT resident, I myself attended CCSU and pretty much everyone I knew attended that, or one of the other state universities, such as SCSU. They are not in the least "loser schools," and we all got good educations without having to mortgage our souls to anyone.) On a side note, who else LOVED Izzy's bedroom?? I swear, the long-buried adolescent girl inside me just squee'd at that loft bed! It was like a picture out of Teen Magazine.

Same. I am so tired of all these "woke" teens on TV who are championing all kinds of causes (like Katie with her heart) and making intense speeches to the adults around them, yet who mysteriously don't seem to know anything about condoms. And seriously? The whole bit with Sarah telling Katie that if she doesn't want to give the baby up, then she can't just assume she'll go to college, she needs a game plan, etc. Katie was like, WTF? It's 2019! Teen moms can go to college, thankyouverymuch! She's really lucky she has such a patient and devoted mom, who simply explained her own long journey to her, rather than just screaming at her, which is what I would likely have done in that moment. Katie really needs a reality check, stat. Who does she think is going to be babysitting an infant while she goes off to pursue her art? With what money? etc.

Hey, if we were supposed to believe Billy Gardell was able to be an active cop on Mike & Molly, then I have no problem at all believing Nathan Fillion here...

IMO, though, the problem unique to this relationship is that they are both related to the same family; they will still have to see one another at family functions, and hopefully they won't make things awkward for Randall, Beth and the girls. It's not like most breakups, where you part ways and never see one another again. I don't know a thing about professional dance, but it seemed rather obvious to me that Beth can't just "open a studio" because she's suddenly decided it's her life's dream that she can't put off for another minute. I mean, just because she trained as a child/teen doesn't mean she's certified in whatever necessary ways (I'm not sure how the studio where she worked this season even took her...if someone signs up for classes, wouldn't you have to tell them how the instructor is qualified?) I presume that telling the students the instructor took lessons twenty years ago wouldn't really cut it.

In keeping with all the parallels on this show, I liked how the three programmers turned out to be one woman and two men, or one white person, one black and one Indian...just like Cara, Miles and Rakesh.

IMO it was a little odd - like they were trying to be regular shoppers but had clearly never set foot in a JC Penney in their lives.

Well, as Phil put it, Alex started taking college classes "12 years ago"...so it's not unreasonable to think she might have earned enough credits to graduate even with missing a semester.