S02.E09: Time Stands Still

[readster]

26 minutes ago, debraran said:

I felt as odd as it was, this nucleus was all they had, he started living with her and his past or family etc was not part of the show. He compartmentalized but as a wife, I would want to know all I could about my husband. With google, I can't see how much is hidden anymore but he is the only one without a past really. Dave was one friend, I'm sure he had more. 

If he told her he kept an old apartment, maybe she'd brush it off or maybe she'd want to see it and he didn't want to mention who everyone was re the memorabilia. I honestly don't see her caring though if it wasn't about her. They had D closing a photo album and pretty much saying "I'm not in here or I don't know these people" something like that, and she closed it. And that was that.  I would have been pouring over it but it was written that way.

Right same goes with even Eddie's past drinking problem? He just had them? Was it from his party life? Did he have a family background? No, all we know from flashbacks is that Katherine and Him were happy, moved in the house and then he was apparently drinking so much, he missed the birth of his own son. Then vowed to NEVER DRINK AGAIN and then did that for 9 years but decided he tired of Katherine's same take out night after night and working to Pay ALL OF THE BILLS and he decided to jump into bed with Delilah. Who felt Jon was distant and had all these secrets. Yet, doesn't care about it at all when she sees what was what really lead to him committing suicide. Yet it's: "No, I need to move on. My family is important." Oh shut up! It's bad writing.

[candall]

I zipped through the first page and had some good laughs over the tower of toast.

My main observation, though, is that I'm happy and satisfied with the mechanics of the mid-season finale.  They resolved the Big Issues and pulled several threads to revisit in January.**   I look forward to Jason Ritter's secret more than Sophie's bitter kitten pique. 

**I still have quite a bit of residual anger at The Walking Dead, where they apparently found it hilarious to end the season on a huge cliffhanger so they could watch the internet burn down and smolder for a year.

#########

Geez, how many shows are on hiatus until the end of January?  What are we going to watch for the next two months?  They'll be dusting off Andy Williams Christmas specials.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, candall said:

Geez, how many shows are on hiatus until the end of January?  What are we going to watch for the next two months?  They'll be dusting off Andy Williams Christmas specials.

Most networks don’t want to burn any new episodes of their successful shows in December because of the holidays or in January because they want to save their ratings for February sweeps. 

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, debraran said:

  I would have been pouring over it but it was written that way.

"I'm not bad, I'm just just drawn that way." LOL.

But yeah, I would have been pouring over everything in that apartment - particularly because there were so many questions about his suicide. It seemed a very odd reaction to me.

[smartymarty]

20 hours ago, debraran said:

He compartmentalized but as a wife, I would want to know all I could about my husband.

Entire movies have been made about wives discovering their husbands' secrets when the husbands die, and unraveling the mystery over two hours. D had no curiosity.

Except for allowing Sophie to scream "you spoke at my father's funeral!!" why on earth did D have her lover speak at her dead husband's funeral? Mr. Smarty and I commented on that right when they revealed the affair partners. In hindsight, seems Gary would be the one to speak "for the family."

Edited November 25, 2019 by smartymarty

[kazza]

23 hours ago, readster said:

Right same goes with even Eddie's past drinking problem? He just had them? Was it from his party life? Did he have a family background? No, all we know from flashbacks is that Katherine and Him were happy, moved in the house and then he was apparently drinking so much, he missed the birth of his own son. Then vowed to NEVER DRINK AGAIN and then did that for 9 years but decided he tired of Katherine's same take out night after night and working to Pay ALL OF THE BILLS and he decided to jump into bed with Delilah. Who felt Jon was distant and had all these secrets. Yet, doesn't care about it at all when she sees what was what really lead to him committing suicide. Yet it's: "No, I need to move on. My family is important." Oh shut up! It's bad writing.

Thank you for articulating what's bothered me for a while as an inconsistency in the storyline. We've never seen the unreasonable, domineering Katherine that was portrayed by Eddie and his throwaway comment about the same Indian takeout every night.

So what drove him to the affair? 

• Katherine really was a jerk but had a massive personality change upon finding out about the affair. Possible but not particularly interesting for a tv drama.
• Eddie is a womanizer. Possible also but the writers don't seem to be going down that route. 
• Delilah seduced him. See, this would be interesting, but I can't for the life of me understand what anyone would see in her. 

Any of these would have been fine, but they haven't explored these backstories. We need more flashbacks. I can see why the current situation is compelling, but we don't have enough background to understand how they got here.

[debraran]

Oh please, Jon was working late one night, couldn't dote on Delilah while she ran errands for the kids,didn't notice she got her hair cut, some dribble she never discussed with him and Eddie said how he didn't understand Jon, he wished his wife was home getting dinner for him. She bats her eyelashes and tears up, woe is me, Eddie moves in to hug her, you can fill in the blanks.

How Eddie every could have done that to someone who never hurt him, not only keep on seeing her but planning to leave. Nothing about Delilah would make me imagine that. He also knew when they left their spouses, Sophie, Danny and Theo would be hurt and NO ONE cared then. So I find it hard to believe Jon's death really does more than add a little guilt. "Did he know" Eddie asked. Well yes, but he would have soon enough anyway. Such a dumb story line that could have been better.

Now Nash talks about Sophie making up for it, lets turn it on her now.

Edited November 26, 2019 by debraran

[iwasish]

On 11/22/2019 at 6:03 PM, Brian Cronin said:

Guilt over not being there for her after Dave's death. 

I wonder if he was going to marry Barbara in order to carry out some sense of misguided obligation to Dave. Then he met and fell in love with Delilah and because he “deserted”  Barbara, he left her that money. 

 

3 hours ago, debraran said:

Oh please, Jon was working late one night, couldn't dote on Delilah while she ran errands for the kids,didn't notice she got her hair cut, some dribble she never discussed with him and Eddie said how he didn't understand Jon, he wished his wife was home getting dinner for him. She bats her eyelashes and tears up, woe is me, Eddie moves in to hug her, you can fill in the blanks.

How Eddie every could have done that to someone who never hurt him, not only keep on seeing her but planning to leave. Nothing about Delilah would make me imagine that. He also knew when they left their spouses, Sophie, Danny and Theo would be hurt and NO ONE cared then. So I find it hard to believe Jon's death really does more than add a little guilt. "Did he know" Eddie asked. Well yes, but he would have soon enough anyway. Such a dumb story line that could have been better.

Now Nash talks about Sophie making up for it, lets turn it on her now.

Eddie was basically a house husband, earning a few bucks giving guitar lessons. Delilah fancied herself a neglected wife. They probably hung around together during the day airing their marital grievances and feeling sorry for themselves. Jon is ignoring Delilah’s ‘needs’ and Eddie is getting the cold shoulder from Katherine. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Eddie didn’t have a lingering resentment towards Jon, who was way more successful and seemed to have everything. And how many times do we hear about guys who make a move on their “best friend’s” woman? Especially guys who are very competitive. 
If Jon hadN’t killed himself, if Delilah and Eddie had left their spouses, how long would that relationship ship  have lasted?

[readster]

9 hours ago, iwasish said:

I wonder if he was going to marry Barbara in order to carry out some sense of misguided obligation to Dave. Then he met and fell in love with Delilah and because he “deserted”  Barbara, he left her that money. 

Eddie was basically a house husband, earning a few bucks giving guitar lessons. Delilah fancied herself a neglected wife. They probably hung around together during the day airing their marital grievances and feeling sorry for themselves. Jon is ignoring Delilah’s ‘needs’ and Eddie is getting the cold shoulder from Katherine. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Eddie didn’t have a lingering resentment towards Jon, who was way more successful and seemed to have everything. And how many times do we hear about guys who make a move on their “best friend’s” woman? Especially guys who are very competitive. 
If Jon hadN’t killed himself, if Delilah and Eddie had left their spouses, how long would that relationship ship  have lasted?

Plus, Sophia, David and Theo would have NEVER wanted to talk to their parents again after that. If anything, it would have drove Jon to still kill himself because he felt so "guilty" over PJ after 18 years. Katherine would have terminated visiting rights to Eddie and then Delilah would have left Eddie high and dry with Charlotte. Eddie would have probably drank himself into a coma and died too.

[LisaM]

I cannot stand Maggie. It felt wrong to say that when she was battling cancer but now that she is in remission, can she please just go away? It would be nice if she left Jason Ritter but I would sacrifice his presence on the screen to be rid of her. 

Loved Rome on the roof.  

I doubt we will ever see PJ and Barbara Morgan again. He served his purpose as a cautionary tale for Delilah to let her secret out to her kids. We'll probably hear a line about how Barbara took the money and PJ is at RISD (wasn't that the school he wanted to go to)? 

I would have liked to have heard Delilah talking to Sophie and Danny. What exactly did she say?

Perhaps Regina intends to adopt an older child so that she can continue to run the restaurant at the same time? I don't see two babies on the show at the same time. 

[Brian Cronin]

56 minutes ago, LisaM said:

I doubt we will ever see PJ and Barbara Morgan again. He served his purpose as a cautionary tale for Delilah to let her secret out to her kids. We'll probably hear a line about how Barbara took the money and PJ is at RISD (wasn't that the school he wanted to go to)? 

They set up the Sophie romance and now that they're officially not related, I imagine we'll see him again. I'll give Nash one thing, when it comes to suicide, THAT'S, like, the ONE THING that he gets right, so they rightly are going to have PJ off the books for a while since it would be unrealistic for a guy to try to kill himself and then just go back to life as normal. So I suspect we'll have a time jump and he'll eventually return as a love interest for Sophie. 

[readster]

11 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

They set up the Sophie romance and now that they're officially not related, I imagine we'll see him again. I'll give Nash one thing, when it comes to suicide, THAT'S, like, the ONE THING that he gets right, so they rightly are going to have PJ off the books for a while since it would be unrealistic for a guy to try to kill himself and then just go back to life as normal. So I suspect we'll have a time jump and he'll eventually return as a love interest for Sophie. 

Yes, because shows love to do that. They get one plot point right and then hammer it into the ground. However, I still think Rome's recovery is half assed as is Regina. Rome has depression and Regina has past issues that her mother doesn't want to face and she still has problems with. Hence forth, just giving her a kid even adopting an older kid isn't going to "magically" fix anything. Same with PJ, he was lied to his entire life because the asshole that was his stepfather was: "But it will be so hard to tell the truth." It's like Eddie's past drinking problem, it just existed, ended for 9 years until Jon killed himself. Then Theo once again, magically saves from going down that road again. WHY did he drink to begin with? You get why Katherine became a workaholic, why Rome was depressed, where Regina's problems were stemming from. Yet, Jon was because he felt survivor's guilt, Delilah wanted someone paying more attention to her and Gary just wants to help everyone, but himself. It's stupid!

[smartymarty]

Had forgotten about Maddie calling Eric to help her because "she had nobody else to call." First of all, everyone in the group helps each other, so I don't know why she couldn't have called anyone else. And second of all, she could have moved all by herself. A couple boxes today, then go back on her own or with a mover for the rest some day when she's arranged for Gary to be out. It's really simple.

Shows again how bad the writers are. Would have been more believable for her to say "I really wanted to talk with someone about the breakup, but not people who were Gary's friends first." And I know it's TV land, but one would think she has friends somewhere in the United States that she could call.

[gonzosgirrl]

29 minutes ago, smartymarty said:

Would have been more believable for her to say "I really wanted to talk with someone about the breakup, but not people who were Gary's friends first."

Did she not say something just like that (to Eric)? I'm beginning to zone out her scenes when she's not with Gary, so it's entirely possible I'm mis-remembering.

[luna1122]

Just now, gonzosgirrl said:

Did she not say something just like that (to Eric)? I'm beginning to zone out her scenes when she's not with Gary, so it's entirely possible I'm mis-remembering.

She did say that she didn't want to ask any of the 'group' because she didn't want to talk to them about the breakup yet, just in case it didn't stick.

PJ looks more like Eddie's kid than anyone else's (little Carl grew up awfully cute), but Eddie's got enuf kids. I would have liked to have heard what Delilah told them too. And yeah, i'd like SOMEONE to note that the day Jon jumped, D and Eddie were planning to blow everyone's world apart anyway, so just what did they have planned to say to the kids then?

Hate that Regena had to cave and want a baby. Only bad, damaged or selfish cold women don't want babies in TV-land.

I was oddly moved by both "Iris' and the "Against all Odds" cover this episode. (Against all Odds was my and my ex husband's 'song' and tho I don't remotely miss him, the song is still cheesy sad goodness).

[smartymarty]

I was hoping that PJ would be Gary's kid. Gary's DNA got on the sweater, Gary forgot that he'd deposited some "samples" back in college to earn money. 

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, luna1122 said:

I was oddly moved by both "Iris' and the "Against all Odds" cover this episode. (Against all Odds was my and my ex husband's 'song' and tho I don't remotely miss him, the song is still cheesy sad goodness).

I loved those songs too. The song from my ex was "When I'm 64" to which the answer was a resounding NO on both our parts. Still like the song though.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

That was some dangerous roof (such a low barrier). I could see people falling off of it randomly, if they just lost their balance or tripped. I was going to be super-mad if Rome fell.

[ams1001]

5 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I loved those songs too. The song from my ex was "When I'm 64" to which the answer was a resounding NO on both our parts. Still like the song though.

That's what was playing when my cousin and his wife cut their wedding cake. 

[Gothish520]

22 hours ago, kazza said:

Thank you for articulating what's bothered me for a while as an inconsistency in the storyline. We've never seen the unreasonable, domineering Katherine that was portrayed by Eddie and his throwaway comment about the same Indian takeout every night.

So what drove him to the affair? 

• Katherine really was a jerk but had a massive personality change upon finding out about the affair. Possible but not particularly interesting for a tv drama.
• Eddie is a womanizer. Possible also but the writers don't seem to be going down that route. 
• Delilah seduced him. See, this would be interesting, but I can't for the life of me understand what anyone would see in her. 

Any of these would have been fine, but they haven't explored these backstories. We need more flashbacks. I can see why the current situation is compelling, but we don't have enough background to understand how they got here.

Katherine was portrayed as very business-like and abrupt the first few times we saw her. She made a very insensitive comment about not expecting the memorial for Jon to be "an all-day" thing. 

I think she and Eddie just grew apart and had resentment towards each other for perceived faults. She may have resented Eddie for being a househusband, and he may have resented that she worked so hard and was not always "there" for him, stroking his musician ego when needed. An obvious lack of communication and understanding caused a rift which grew wider and wider. 

Delilah did make the first move. They fulfilled a need in each other. Affairs suck and there are no excuses for them - but there ARE sometimes reasons. People who engage in affairs are playing with fire, and many get burned, very badly. But I am not ready to paint every person who has an affair as a garbage human being. I have very close loved ones who are less than perfect people. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I loved this episode. It really brought the drama. Gary is way too extra but I understand his feelings with regard to Maggie. He thought they were both all in, on the same page - now that she's better, she's wavering. I guess I'm Team Gary on this one.

Regina wanting to adopt is both sweet and complete and utter bullshit. Why can't a woman say she doesn't want kids and mean it? Ugh, such a copout.

Sophie smashing the guitars was completely understandable, and Eddie gets it. When she picked up the red one I yelled out loud "Not the Stratocaster!" I'm not sure it actually is one, but it looked like it to me anyway, lol.

[debraran]

42 minutes ago, Gothish520 said:

Katherine was portrayed as very business-like and abrupt the first few times we saw her. She made a very insensitive comment about not expecting the memorial for Jon to be "an all-day" thing. 

I think she and Eddie just grew apart and had resentment towards each other for perceived faults. She may have resented Eddie for being a househusband, and he may have resented that she worked so hard and was not always "there" for him, stroking his musician ego when needed. An obvious lack of communication and understanding caused a rift which grew wider and wider. 

Delilah did make the first move. They fulfilled a need in each other. Affairs suck and there are no excuses for them - but there ARE sometimes reasons. People who engage in affairs are playing with fire, and many get burned, very badly. But I am not ready to paint every person who has an affair as a garbage human being. I have very close loved ones who are less than perfect people. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I loved this episode. It really brought the drama. Gary is way too extra but I understand his feelings with regard to Maggie. He thought they were both all in, on the same page - now that she's better, she's wavering. I guess I'm Team Gary on this one.

Regina wanting to adopt is both sweet and complete and utter bullshit. Why can't a woman say she doesn't want kids and mean it? Ugh, such a copout.

Sophie smashing the guitars was completely understandable, and Eddie gets it. When she picked up the red one I yelled out loud "Not the Stratocaster!" I'm not sure it actually is one, but it looked like it to me anyway, lol.

I like how Nash said "Sophie will pay him back" Is it too much to ask that Eddie had them insured? Is she babysitting or taking it out of her dad's money. I don't think out of control behavior is a good thing but she never had counseling, has a mom who can barely take care of herself, a father who is dead from an unexpected and violent death less than a year ago and the baby sister she thought was her dad and mom's,  is now her dad's very good friends child and her guitar teacher.  Give the girl some slack and save the money for a therapist.

This scene I lifted from FB still breaks my heart when you see Jon walk away. https://abc.com/shows/a-million-little-things/video/most-recent/vdka7750099

Edited November 27, 2019 by debraran

[Gothish520]

17 hours ago, debraran said:

I like how Nash said "Sophie will pay him back" Is it too much to ask that Eddie had them insured? Is she babysitting or taking it out of her dad's money. I don't think out of control behavior is a good thing but she never had counseling, has a mom who can barely take care of herself, a father who is dead from an unexpected and violent death less than a year ago and the baby sister she thought was her dad and mom's,  is now her dad's very good friends child and her guitar teacher.  Give the girl some slack and save the money for a therapist.

This scene I lifted from FB still breaks my heart when you see Jon walk away. https://abc.com/shows/a-million-little-things/video/most-recent/vdka7750099

I expect it will be something Sophie needs to do, for herself, when she finally has a chance to process everything. Hopefully therapy is in her future, as well as Danny's, and hell let's throw Delilah in there too. She needs a few truth bombs thrown her way. 

I'm not one who thinks that Delilah deserves to be raked over the coals repeatedly and I don't think she should be walking around riddled with self-loathing, but some overt acknowledgement of her behavior and acceptance of "punishment", for lack of a better word, is in order. Telling the kids is a good first step, and I do have to give her credit for finally doing so, as well as signing the paternity papers for Eddie. I wasn't sure she was going to willingly do either.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Gothish520

[Court]

Fuck Delilah. She has yet to apologize to take any responsibility. That comment to Regina about her not having kids was crap.

I'm supposed to buy that the hair from Dave was still on the damn sweater and that just happens to be the hair they tested? I dont think so. Even if unwashed, there would be a lot of other random hair, dust, etc. 

Since it can't be said enough, fuck Delilah. 

[readster]

13 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

Katherine was portrayed as very business-like and abrupt the first few times we saw her. She made a very insensitive comment about not expecting the memorial for Jon to be "an all-day" thing. 

I think she and Eddie just grew apart and had resentment towards each other for perceived faults. She may have resented Eddie for being a househusband, and he may have resented that she worked so hard and was not always "there" for him, stroking his musician ego when needed. An obvious lack of communication and understanding caused a rift which grew wider and wider. 

Problem with people who have no problem being the "bread winner" in the house is they just let things go on. It becomes so status quo and as we saw, Theo did enjoy being around Eddie more than Katherine. However, that's another thing, even though Nash originally wanted people to not like Katherine and understand more why Eddie and Delilah got together. Having her be: "Well, he was your friend and I have work to do." When you get to where Katherine is seeing that she doesn't have a real relationship with her son and that becoming partner at her firm really isn't going to do anything for her in the long run and outside her para legal. She pretty much hates everyone else she works with. Then you want to go: "Then what was the point?" Why didn't Eddie just say: "You know, I think you are ruining yourself over people who really would give someone else a promotion and throw you out the door?" "Why not change jobs or start your own practice?" Or Katherine saying: "Eddie, it's been fun, but really you have outgrown your concert/party life and Theo is getting older. Don't you want to do something?" 

  No, it was: "They just don't understand" cliche. 

[Clanstarling]

So, as a person (woman) who had no problem with being the breadwinner, and having a husband who was a great dad to the kids, a homemaker, and a musician, I kind of object to the characterization that we just "let things go." Like other women I knew who were doing the same thing, I was involved with my kids, did things with them both as a family and without my husband, and also did things separately with my husband.  (which my husband did when he was the working parent)

What I wasn't, was a  workaholic. Which is a different matter, and is not synonymous with being okay being the breadwinner. Just as being an at-home dad and musician isn't synonymous with being a needy douchebag.

That being said, in many marriages, no matter whether one person is the breadwinner, or whether both are, people do let things go because it's easier, or because they have no clue as to how to work on their relationships. Or, as in Eddie and Delilah's case, they were looking for something to distract and entertain them.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Clanstarling

[Dowel Jones]

16 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

When she picked up the red one I yelled out loud "Not the Stratocaster!" I'm not sure it actually is one, but it looked like it to me anyway, lol.

Yeah, I hope the production staff went to the nearest pawn shop and glommed a few lookalikes, instead of paying Guitar Center prices.

[Clanstarling]

38 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Yeah, I hope the production staff went to the nearest pawn shop and glommed a few lookalikes, instead of paying Guitar Center prices.

I assumed they were fake - at least I hope so. I definitely don't think they used a real Strat.

[Lastwaltz]

18 hours ago, debraran said:

This scene I lifted from FB still breaks my heart when you see Jon walk away. https://abc.com/shows/a-million-little-things/video/most-recent/vdka7750099

Wow, I don't remember seeing this scene - or at least it didn't make an impression on me then. It sure does now, though, yikes. Thanks for bringing it!

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Like other women I knew who were doing the same thing, I was involved with my kids, did things with them both as a family and without my husband, and also did things separately with my husband.

Hell, yes. I was the breadwinner (still am, though retirement is coming in a few years, thank god) and also Show Choir Mom, Drama Club Mom, dance school Backstage Mom at recitals -- all of it. My husband was Soccer Coach and got our daughter off to school and was there when she came home to get her wherever she needed to be and to hear about her day. It was hard on both of us at different times, but the truth is it's not easy to work and raise a family in most circumstances these days. 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Lastwaltz
more thoughts without a new post

[ParadoxLost]

On 11/23/2019 at 9:40 AM, Madding crowd said:

They need a better way to have new people join the cast. I do hope we hear more about Jon and his secret life and I don’t blame Delilah for being hurt and confused that her mostly absent husband had a secret apartment, secret financial dealings, an emotional attachment to his assistant and apparently millions of dollars to give to Barbara Morgan. There has to be more to this all in order for Jon to kill him self. 

At this point its starting to feel like every "new" person or B plot exists solely to teach one of the core seven a life lesson to explain a 180 degree change in their thinking or behavior.

I'm getting the feeling that the original plan for "explaining" Jon's death has been dropped.  Last season it felt like there was a big series arching mystery to be solved and nefarious goings on that would provide insight into why Jon killed himself.  I feel like they retooled that between seasons and now its just going to be left at the reveals that were given last season and that you can't really know why.

On 11/22/2019 at 3:10 PM, tennisgurl said:

I can get that, and I have felt for awhile that Maggie is half out the door now that her cancer is in remission, and got super invested in Gary when she thought they didnt have much time together, but he also really overreacted to her reaction. I dont blame her for not wanting to get married after only a year, but the two of them really needed to talk, and he got super angry super quickly and you cant really have a talk at that point. Generally I kind of side with Gary on these kinds of things, but he was pretty harsh pretty quickly here. 

Are you ever just reading along and then...wham!  You recall that Maggie is supposed to be some kind of therapist and you hate the writing even more than you already did.  

I know there is that cliche that psychiatrists go into that line of medicine to heal themselves but Maggie is kind of carrying it to an extreme.

On 11/22/2019 at 5:11 PM, cardigirl said:

it just really bugged me, and did not make me sympathetic towards Sophie’s pain in the least. I get that this news upsets her, and tears apart her world view, and that is not a small thing, but that kind of reaction is scary. Maybe that’s where her story is heading. 

Call me cynical but I think Sophie going right over to Eddie's and destroying property was nothing but the most expedient way the writers could come up with to make it seem like Delilah had a valid (not solely selfish) concern about telling the kids the truth.

[Clanstarling]

12 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Are you ever just reading along and then...wham!  You recall that Maggie is supposed to be some kind of therapist and you hate the writing even more than you already did.  

Yup.

[debraran]

On 12/1/2019 at 10:14 PM, ParadoxLost said:

At this point its starting to feel like every "new" person or B plot exists solely to teach one of the core seven a life lesson to explain a 180 degree change in their thinking or behavior.

I'm getting the feeling that the original plan for "explaining" Jon's death has been dropped.  Last season it felt like there was a big series arching mystery to be solved and nefarious goings on that would provide insight into why Jon killed himself.  I feel like they retooled that between seasons and now its just going to be left at the reveals that were given last season and that you can't really know why.

Are you ever just reading along and then...wham!  You recall that Maggie is supposed to be some kind of therapist and you hate the writing even more than you already did.  

I know there is that cliche that psychiatrists go into that line of medicine to heal themselves but Maggie is kind of carrying it to an extreme.

Call me cynical but I think Sophie going right over to Eddie's and destroying property was nothing but the most expedient way the writers could come up with to make it seem like Delilah had a valid (not solely selfish) concern about telling the kids the truth.

I think they changed a lot. I felt bad about that because I loved Jon's character and intrigue but hated the "soap" he made with Barbara and the rest. That's when I knew he jumped from drama to soap or maybe never wanted that.  All the business dealings were lost with Ashley and that did seem to push him over the edge so to speak. He thought he lost everything and was leaving money "just in case" to his family. He left equal amounts to all, I don't think he left Barbara more. Really Delilah got more since all 3 guys were supposed to give theirs to her. She got gifted a lot in her taxes that year. lol I also feel if Deliah met with Jon and showed him love and compassion, not leaving him, he might have changed his mind, IDK. They deliberately had you see Jon know and find Eddie's necklace but left the guilt to be there to break up the duo later. I just laugh though when people feel sorry for her when she was leaving the kids and Jon a day earlier. In some ways, the kids would grieve and be angry at her for being with Eddie, Jon's death just made it worse. They couldn't commiserate with him.  I feel Sophie would have acted out if her dad was alive, Delilah still cheated, didn't get any counseling or try with Jon (why are you pulling away?) still picked his best friend, still slept with someone who came over regularly and taught her guitar. Maybe guitars would have been spared, but not her words.

I blame Delilah for not knowing (or caring) about Jon's past. She couldn't have been very curious. I have seen pictures in my husbands albums or shoe boxes with letters or pics, old friends and girlfriends when we met. He told me many stories, good and bad of before of his past. Nash wants us to believe she took Jon from that day on and he was just hatched.

No one googled in that show at all. You'd think it was 1970. You can put in an address and find on free sites, who lives there, who lived there before, sometimes who lives with them. Barbara mystery was kind of dumb no matter how you looked at it.

Edited December 3, 2019 by debraran

[candall]

On 11/25/2019 at 12:26 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Most networks don’t want to burn any new episodes of their successful shows in December because of the holidays or in January because they want to save their ratings for February sweeps. 

Ah.  Explains why I suddenly have three episodes of Almost Family queued up on the DVR.

[Anela]

"Why would you keep something like that from me?"

Such great timing, they had with this... just as she's denying the truth to her children, because she a) doesn't want them to hurt even more, and b) she doesn't want them to hate her. 

 

As sad as I am for the kids, I was glad to see Sophie's reaction. I know they needed drama for the mid-season finale, but she had a normal reaction for anyone finding out her mum cheated on her dad, and not only that, with a friend who was more like family to all of them. Eddie was all goo-goo eyes over her mum, not that long ago, wanting to run off with her, too. The hurt for their spouses was bad enough, but those children deserved better, too.

[Sandman]

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 11:50 AM, izabella said:

Truly, no reason at all.  Certainly, once he started asking questions, they could and should have told him, but they should have told him when he was young that his stepfather was raising him because his dad died in 9/11. 

The unwritten rules of this group seem to be (1) anyone we meet immediately gets treated like family; and

(2) under no circumstances should anyone covered by rule (1) be told the truth about anything, for any reason whatsoever.

These people keep secrets like it's respiration.

Delilah, of course your children are going to be angry at you, you self-centred nitwit! They have a perfect right to be. I've been trying to resist the general hatred for Delilah, but she still hasn't taken responsibility for her own behaviour, and she's whining about it.

I think Chad's Heart Guy is in love with Maggie, and only talking to Probably Corneas Guy Buddy about it, because that's healthy...

Edited January 13, 2020 by Sandman

[BoogieBurns]

On 11/26/2019 at 11:11 PM, Court said:

I'm supposed to buy that the hair from Dave was still on the damn sweater and that just happens to be the hair they tested? I dont think so. Even if unwashed, there would be a lot of other random hair, dust, etc. 

I was positive Barbara was going to say "yeah, that's my sweater, you tested your own mom's DNA." (the strands of hair were long, so I figured that was the route they were headed)

[gonzosgirrl]

2 hours ago, BoogieBurns said:

I was positive Barbara was going to say "yeah, that's my sweater, you tested your own mom's DNA." (the strands of hair were long, so I figured that was the route they were headed)

That never even occurred to me. Good one!