SnarkySheep

While I understand that the flashbacks of William deciding not to interfere in Randall's life growing up were intended as a direct parallel to Randall's situation with Deja, I really saw them as two completely different situations. William knew that Randall had been adopted by a stable family, who gave him all the things that he had not been able to, and might possibly not in the future even if he was clean at the time (as we saw, William did go back and forth a few times into using). But Randall, on the other hand, knew that he and Beth could give Deja a better life than what she would have with her mother. Cute nicknames aside, we know that Deja has been in foster care a few times before, so her mom's current situation is not an isolated incident; it's an indication of general behavior. Re: Tess - She's a pretty big girl at this point, so I found it a bit difficult to believe that Kevin would not have noticed her in the backseat. She was literally right behind him! How drunk was the guy?? Good thing it was only Tess and not a murderer...

IMO it seems fairly obvious this is the goal...why else get rid of the wife? And WTF was that with Kyle and the meatball van? I get that it was supposed to be funny, but it just came across as really weird.

Personally, I know who Coldplay IS...I am familiar with a few of their songs. But would I recognize band members randomly out in public? No. So I found it a little hard to believe that literally EVERYONE who saw the guy immediately knew him and started gushing.

I had my doubts about Jo from a young age, given that serious boyfriend of hers from when she still lived in the Bronx -- forgot his name, but he joined the Navy later? -- and that professor she was dating later, the one who was widowed with a little boy. The fact that she didn't marry that professor (and IMO, were it RL, she totally would have) still sticks in my craw. But of course, Jo couldn't be married without changing the whole dynamic, so TPTB had her break up with him for some ridiculous reason and he was never mentioned again.

I was just thinking this! He's the only character we have yet to see in the middle years. Well, also Eleanor, but presumably she wasn't in touch with Alex during that time, so we won't see her.

In the next episode, The New Job, Alex specifies that Darryl's wife supports them well, allowing him the freedom to try their own company, etc.

I decided long ago that Season 2 - the first with the main regular cast - would be Season 1 in my mind. The actual Season 1 just feels like a totally different show.

You know, I've been watching this show since the pilot and I still can't figure out...what exactly is Kevin supposedly waiting for?

Yes! Didn't get to watch til today. I do like a bit of back story.

I'm a bit tired of seeing accidental pregnancies on TV shows - with characters that are well into adulthood, generally well educated and not exactly likely to have it happen. Yes, I understand that there are "oopsies" in real life as well. But according to the World of TV, you'd think it happened left and right. It's like a cop-out on TV, when they want to add storylines on a show but don't know how, so hey, let's add a pregnancy! (For example, Bones: a super-educated, super-practical scientist in her thirties wouldn't have used BC?) I'm having similar trouble believing that Kate and Toby would be in this situation.

Perfectly said! You're totally right - it's very obvious at this point that they are trying to recreate the success of the first show. And it also seems apparent that the vast majority of this show's viewership is the KoQ fanbase, so why not just put all your cards on the table and be done with it? Other shows have come back as reboots, such as Fuller House or Will & Grace. Why not KoQ?

All I could think during the time Jimmy was trapped was "how convenient he was in a huge clean restroom, not a stinky little port-a-potty!"

I didn't get why Alex was trying so hard to show she and Ben had a sexual relationship...didn't Claire and Phil stop by her dorm just a few episodes ago when she and Ben were quite obviously sleeping there together?

We still don't really know what the story with Alex's bio dad is, but we did get a little hint, when in the car Alex mentioned that he's "not used to having a dad." Either he died or walked out on them, but it was definitely long ago and he's not currently an active part of Alex's life.

Let's not forget that Gabby had been caught in the hospital wing collapse when Med began; so essentially this woman has been in TWO different building collapses within the past two years. Writers phoning it in much?

IMO that kind of makes sense, considering everything that's happened over the past couple of years...finding out his sick wife might not have died after all; Justin's death; Olive moving away with Daniel; now Erin leaving. This is a man with a lot of anger in him, and he literally has nothing left to lose at this point. Not at all imaginary...the Powers That Be have actually said that they made the show because of him. The whole storyline begs the question as to what happened to the Atwater parents. No one has ever said, but now I'm wondering if they were the victims of some kind of crime.

Count me among those who didn't care for the fake charity plot...and the way that the family rallied around so Ray wouldn't fall on his face with it. Yes, it's awesome that they wanted to support him, but NOT in this case. The family would have been 100% right to simply let Ray take the fallout for his lies.

ITA! For once, a show isn't going down the "Evil Stepparent" road. Ron seems to be a nice guy who is genuinely interested in doing what's right for Alex. Regarding the whole glamping trip - I found it a bit hard to believe that all these other parents had no issue whatsoever throwing down $3k for a bunch of 7-year-olds to sit around a campfire.

AuntiePam, they never said what happened to either Alex's dad or Justin's mom.

And how exactly did she plan to do that, considering that Jack didn't even HAVE a nut allergy? Don't you need a doctor's prescription? Speaking of Jack, have the writers ever been to an actual school cafeteria? That place looked like a fast food restaurant.

Exactly. I think the scene where Deja came into the girls' room to ask about the household pretty much nails their innocence - she's asking about what happens when you break the rules, and they're talking about losing iPad privileges. It seemed pretty clear that Deja wanted to know if someone would beat or otherwise hurt her, but Annie and Tess had NO idea. Aside from that - anyone else wonder how the family was approved to foster, considering Randall's recent mental breakdown? I mean, it literally JUST happened, and it was the result of stress. Having a foster child, especially when you've never dealt with one before, will no doubt be very stressful. But no one even mentioned this being an issue.

This was literally my first thought the second that Mullins guy walked in. Our household all said, "Haven't we already gone down this road before? Anyone remember the very beginning of Season 1? Severide was involved with some girl from the office. Again, recycled plot.

Right...but given all the people already on the trip, you'd think Alex and Haley would've had to sleep together.

Just saw the episode where Jo wants to marry her friend Enrico, after finding out he's in the US illegally and about to be deported... I dunno, but the whole thing just struck me as ridiculous. Did Jo REALLY believe that she and Enrico would only have to be married for "two days" before getting divorced and then he'd be able to stay? Jo is a smart girl; I find it really hard to believe that she wouldn't have researched the whole thing inside and out.

I don't care for the way that Leah's character is so suddenly BFFs with everyone...just walking into the house without knocking, being at Kendra and Chale's impromptu wedding with just family, etc. It seems way too forced. She's so chummy with everyone, but until the end of last season, we never even heard of her? Huh. And the whole "teenage daughter has a bra!" thing is a gag as old as time. If Kevin is so uncomfortable touching his daughters' undergarments, why not ask THEM to do their own laundry? Kendra is a full-fledged adult, and Sarah is 16/17. Surely she is capable of throwing a load into the washer after school.