S05.E11: One Small Step

[Pasta]

1 hour ago, debraran said:

In my CT doctor's office I work in, Docs still stay if you traveled to Florida for instance and had both vaccines, you still have to stay away 5 days unless tested. There have been people exposed before or right after vaccine who are positive and I feel like any virus, you can carry it to some degree. What each state does varies a lot and each office can do what they want. My head never stops spinning.

I assume Nicky had his vaccines a while ago and going to a relatives home is ok. I also will believe he was tested as he said numerous times.  ; )

I might have misinterpreted due to the very beginning - it looked a bit like he had crammed in the vaccination right before leaving:
* Both shots happen *after* weeks of travel preparation and crafting the gifts.
* The very last thing that happens before Cassidy wraps the present and drives him to the airport is the following dialogue at his second vaccination appointment: "It will be two weeks until you are fully protected, so if you're gonna see anyone, you need to continue testing." - "Got it. I'm going to California. My nephew named his kid after me." - "That's niiice." I interpreted that as his departure being really close. I also don't think he fully understands how getting two annoying shots plus all the testing reduces the risk, but doesn't eliminate it. To him, this virus is something other people are crazy about, and probably not something he is personally thinking through as relating to his interactions with people.

[Crs97]

I am having to handwave the idea that Madison and Kevin sent a zoom baptism invitation so far in advance that Nicky had time to build snowglobes, get shots 3-4 weeks apart, and still think he would be able to fly to California before the baptism happened.  Since it gets me Griffin Dunne, I am willing to do so.  I hope Kevin and Madison heard his speech;  Kevin is the best thing to happen to him!

I still don't think Rebecca deciding to back away from her son's biological father who has an addiction problem and suddenly starts planning sleepovers with Randall when she reaches out is necessarily the worst decision in the world.  Maybe she would have said something when he was an adult if Jack still lived.  Unfortunately, it seems like his death sent them all spiraling for decades.  I am mostly annoyed that her story is written that she made a horrible, selfish decision her son can hold over her head forever while St. Jack's decision to write off his brother for the rest of his life is glossed over as "it's not his fault!"   I hope at some point someone tells Nicky that his brother may have meant well, but did him wrong by ignoring the experts and trying to fix him himself and then blaming him for not being able to be fixed so easily.  It's okay to be mad at your dead brother/father/husband.  Just because someone is dead doesn't mean he always has to get the hero edit.

 

[madmax]

9 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I am having to handwave the idea that Madison and Kevin sent a zoom baptism invitation so far in advance that Nicky had time to build snowglobes, get shots 3-4 weeks apart, and still think he would be able to fly to California before the baptism happened.  Since it gets me Griffin Dunne, I am willing to do so.  I hope Kevin and Madison heard his speech;  Kevin is the best thing to happen to him!

This reminds me, who puts the Zoom info on the back of the invite?  Every Zoom invite I've seen has it front and center.

[Diana Berry]

On 3/23/2021 at 10:08 PM, AuxArx said:

As an art major who could never quite master the crafty stuff, the broken snowglobes after all that work just about killed me. 

Looks like we'll get a different family's story next week, but I want to see more of Nicky.  Maybe if they go to the dog park, Sally the animal lover, will be there.  I know that's too much of a coincidence, but that's the story I would write!

I think you are spot on.  Kevin brings up the dog park and the vet job.  In flashforward, Nicky wearing a wedding ring.  I’d love for them to meet up again and have a complete happy ending to his arc.

Really touching episode. What are those wet things in my eyes.  But most of all- No me me me Randall me me me!! 

[bros402]

18 hours ago, debraran said:

I wasn't thinking monologue when he was talking, I still wont re watch the car salesman episode or one where Jack goes on and on. Nicky's seemed "normal", but if he went on about the globes and what happened and what they meant and all that, okay, that's a Jack moment. 🙂

I like when you see or catch the little things, like Kevin seeing Nicky's hands clenching and stopping the jabber and telling him it was time for bed, he must be bushed.  Jack never saw Nicky the way Kevin did even in the trailer that day. I felt that's why even Milo seemed surprised but the writers wanted this guy's underbelly to be out there more.

 

Yeah, Nicky's monologue was normal person.

Kevin catching Nicky's hands was good - he caught that Nicky was tired/anxious without shining light on it

13 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I am having to handwave the idea that Madison and Kevin sent a zoom baptism invitation so far in advance that Nicky had time to build snowglobes, get shots 3-4 weeks apart, and still think he would be able to fly to California before the baptism happened.  Since it gets me Griffin Dunne, I am willing to do so.  I hope Kevin and Madison heard his speech;  Kevin is the best thing to happen to him!

I still don't think Rebecca deciding to back away from her son's biological father who has an addiction problem and suddenly starts planning sleepovers with Randall when she reaches out is necessarily the worst decision in the world.  Maybe she would have said something when he was an adult if Jack still lived.  Unfortunately, it seems like his death sent them all spiraling for decades.  I am mostly annoyed that her story is written that she made a horrible, selfish decision her son can hold over her head forever while St. Jack's decision to write off his brother for the rest of his life is glossed over as "it's not his fault!"   I hope at some point someone tells Nicky that his brother may have meant well, but did him wrong by ignoring the experts and trying to fix him himself and then blaming him for not being able to be fixed so easily.  It's okay to be mad at your dead brother/father/husband.  Just because someone is dead doesn't mean he always has to get the hero edit.

 

Maybe they wanted to wait a few months to see how the pandemic was doing before baptizing. Then you could say Nicky got shot mid/end of January, second shot mid/end of February, then he flew at least two weeks after that - so maybe this episode took place around when it aired

[circumvent]

On 3/26/2021 at 5:53 PM, Pasta said:

Am I the only one feeling nervous about after having shared all this love, Nicky might have brought Covid to the little family (and it killing Kate or Miguel)? From what I understand, vaccination doesn't keep you from passing the virus on, nor does a test done days earlier. What I read from the show makers didn't sound like it, I don't think major plot pieces will be part of the covid adaptations (given that the series had already been planned), but I also don't think the show would have made Nicky a role model for risk behavior if there were not at least a covid scare. On the other hand, I was concerned about Kevin attending the birth after having been through an international flight and a ride with a stranger and it went well. But as Madison, I would have freaked to have someone who has just travelled take off his mask in my family's home, whether he had refrained from eating and peeing on the plane or not.

I don't think the show will move in this direction. Covid was introduced in shows because it is part of life but I believe the writers want to continue to tell the stories more or less as planned before Covid.

 

On 3/27/2021 at 12:47 AM, Evangeline said:

Evidence so far indicates that it is effective at substantially reducing the risk of transmission. They no longer require people who have been exposed to Covid to quarantine if they've been vaccinated, which is most telling to me.

Actually the study that proposed that hasn't been peer reviewed yet, and there are several other variants popping up every day. The reduced risk that has been already accepted as concrete is for shorter interactions, not if someone who might be carrying the virus spends longer times in close contact, or several people in one room for a long period of time, even if distancing - like a school that doesn't have well-ventilated rooms

[Eureka]

12 hours ago, madmax said:

This reminds me, who puts the Zoom info on the back of the invite?  Every Zoom invite I've seen has it front and center.

We wondered why they sent a paper invitation for a zoom event. You have to type in the link to join that way and it’s no wonder Nicky was confused.

[Persnickety1]

I've watched every episode of this show after binge watching the first couple of seasons on Hulu.

I've often been in awe that Jack and Nicky, while they don't necessarily look alike, do have striking similarities in their appearance.

I don't follow anything about this show unless it drops into my FB newsfeed, so the only cast members I knew were Rebecca and Jack (he'll always be Jess from GG in my world).  I didn't know the names of the actors playing the other roles.

After this episode, I started realizing "Nicky" looked familiar to me but I couldn't place when or why. 

I was shocked to learn the actor playing Nicky was Griffin Dunne, "Shishka-Bob" from my all-time favorite episode of Frasier.  

I thought this episode was really good.  It held my attention, made me laugh in spots, and made me sad in others (the snow globes).  

This is one of the very few mainstream network shows I watch and it rarely lets me down.  

[Sake614]

On 3/24/2021 at 1:26 AM, watcher1006 said:

wondering if Cassidy could have given him some warning.

I thought the same but then remembered that Nicky didn’t tell her what the gifts were. So she couldn’t warn him about the restrictions.

[Sake614]

On 3/24/2021 at 12:09 PM, kili said:

Madison's doctor is the son of Sally and Nicky. 

I don’t think so. I think he’s the son of Dr. Gerald McRaney. Both OB/GYNs, and IIRC, Madison’s doctor had s picture of his father in his office. Or in the house. I forget which, but I remember thinking immediately that her doctor is his son. And speaking of her doctor, why didn’t he deliver her babies?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eureka]

30 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

And speaking of her doctor, why didn’t he deliver her babies?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe he wasn’t on call. My younger son was born on a Saturday and my doctor wasn’t on call so another delivered him.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Eureka

[KaveDweller]

On 3/27/2021 at 1:07 AM, LeisureTime said:

Am I misremembering? Because I thought 1. The kid's death was less "Nicky accidentally killed him"  and more "He died accidentally and Nicky couldn't stop it."(And yeah, it was reckless to be grenading fish and he was careless in his watching of the kid, but it's not like he accidentally shot him in the head or something.) And 2. WE know it was accidental...but Jack didn't, did he? I could have sworn that  a big part of the episode was Angry Fucked Up Nicky Has No Compassion For/Resents The People to such a degree that it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable for Jack to think that kid's death wasn't entirely an accident.  And I can see that being a lightswitch moment for Jack that the Nicky he knew is metaphorically dead if he could do something like that and absolutely refusing to engage with this person -- this monster -- that took his place.

You'd have to be a monster to intentionally kill a young child, and it seems really extreme for Jack to assume that Nicky killed that boy intentionally. I guess that does explain Jack's reaction, but I don't remember Nicky doing anything so terrible Jack would assume that.

[memememe76]

13 hours ago, Eureka said:

We wondered why they sent a paper invitation for a zoom event. You have to type in the link to join that way and it’s no wonder Nicky was confused.

Would Nicky have email? I think the card is a Madison thing, and Kevin would call him about it whenever the baptism takes place. Not sure when baptisms normally take place during the a baby’s development—right after birth or months later? 

[CrystalBlue]

36 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

Would Nicky have email? I think the card is a Madison thing, and Kevin would call him about it whenever the baptism takes place. Not sure when baptisms normally take place during the a baby’s development—right after birth or months later? 

Months later, at least in the Roman Catholic Church.  Protestant religions may be similar.

[ams1001]

7 hours ago, memememe76 said:

Would Nicky have email? I think the card is a Madison thing, and Kevin would call him about it whenever the baptism takes place. Not sure when baptisms normally take place during the a baby’s development—right after birth or months later? 

Depends on the denomination. And the people...My friend's daughter was 10 months and her son was almost 2 years old when they got around to doing it (they're Lutheran). Her brother's kids (his wife is Catholic) were under three months. (And some Protestant sects don't do baptism until they're teens or even adults.)

[Dminches]

There is so much of this show that I do not like, but this episode is definitely in the top 3 for the series.  It is so much better when they concentrate on a single character or 2 and really dive in. 

Both Griffin Dunne and Michael Angarano were amazing while tag-teaming on Nicky.  Poor Nicky has struggled his entire life.  Maybe his role as Uncle Nicky will provide him with some peace.  He also has Cassidy to thank for helping keep things together.

 

[Janie430]

So I did have to laugh that the dog in question getting showered was a Bernese Mountain Dog.  They weren't really as popular a breed in the 1960s.  

Michael Angarano and Griffin Dunne are amazing.  But my heart always breaks for Kevin when we see young Nicky - they would have been best buds - building models together, trading sarcastic jokes.  Kevin would have had that special connection with an adult that Randall and Kate got of always being the top priority, or the understood one.  I feel like the ways things worked out, in terms of who lost out the most, it was Nicky, Kevin, and then Jack.  But while Nicky's and Jack's losses were self-inflicted and were when they were adults, Kevin's wasn't and it makes me sad.

[tribeca]

2 hours ago, Janie430 said:

So I did have to laugh that the dog in question getting showered was a Bernese Mountain Dog.  They weren't really as popular a breed in the 1960s.  

Michael Angarano and Griffin Dunne are amazing.  But my heart always breaks for Kevin when we see young Nicky - they would have been best buds - building models together, trading sarcastic jokes.  Kevin would have had that special connection with an adult that Randall and Kate got of always being the top priority, or the understood one.  I feel like the ways things worked out, in terms of who lost out the most, it was Nicky, Kevin, and then Jack.  But while Nicky's and Jack's losses were self-inflicted and were when they were adults, Kevin's wasn't and it makes me sad.

Maybe this is why Jack wasn’t as close to Kevin.  Kevin could have reminded Jack of his bother.  

[Eureka]

20 hours ago, memememe76 said:

Would Nicky have email? I think the card is a Madison thing, and Kevin would call him about it whenever the baptism takes place. Not sure when baptisms normally take place during the a baby’s development—right after birth or months later? 

If he was asking how to use Amazon he at least had some access to the internet, so I assumed he probably would have email for that anyway.

[Boo Boo]

So during a pandemic, Uncle decides to hop a plane across country and visit, without asking, a couple that just had twins?  What?  Even he has the "big gesture" issue?

[gonzosgirrl]

52 minutes ago, Boo Boo said:

So during a pandemic, Uncle decides to hop a plane across country and visit, without asking, a couple that just had twins?  What?  Even he has the "big gesture" issue?

None of them seem to have had had any issues visiting each other (taking off their masks immediately upon entering any given room). At least Nicky had a valid reason for not telling them he was coming - his own doubts about whether he would actually be able to go through with it. And he took every possible precaution, a feat likely a lot more difficult for him than any of the others.

[chocolatine]

3 hours ago, Boo Boo said:

So during a pandemic, Uncle decides to hop a plane across country and visit, without asking, a couple that just had twins?  What?  Even he has the "big gesture" issue?

 

2 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

None of them seem to have had had any issues visiting each other (taking off their masks immediately upon entering any given room). At least Nicky had a valid reason for not telling them he was coming - his own doubts about whether he would actually be able to go through with it. And he took every possible precaution, a feat likely a lot more difficult for him than any of the others.

He also got an invitation to a baptism that he thought was going to be in person. So he didn't just up and decide to come visit, he thought he was invited to visit.

[Boo Boo]

3 hours ago, chocolatine said:

 

He also got an invitation to a baptism that he thought was going to be in person. So he didn't just up and decide to come visit, he thought he was invited to visit.

So no RSVP? Who decides to stay at new parents house b/c of a baptism invite? I mean, Uncle Nicky has PTSD but isn't an idiot?

(Edit:  Sorry I need to suspend disbelief!  )

Edited March 30, 2021 by Boo Boo

[Leeds]

On 3/30/2021 at 2:37 PM, Boo Boo said:

So no RSVP? Who decides to stay at new parents house b/c of a baptism invite? I mean, Uncle Nicky has PTSD but isn't an idiot?

(Edit:  Sorry I need to suspend disbelief!  )

I can understand the no RSVP - Nicky has hardly been shown to be good with social skills.  What I didn't get was no immediate offer by Kevin to put him up in a nearby hotel.

[chitowngirl]

10 hours ago, Leeds said:

What I didn't get was no immediate offer by Kevin to put him up in a nearby hotel.

Kevin knew what it took for Nicky to travel. And to Kevin, family stays with family. He wasn’t going to shuttle Nicky off to a hotel. After all, Nicky got vaccinated. Twice!

Edited April 8, 2021 by chitowngirl

[Leeds]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Kevin knew what it took for Nicky to travel. And to Kevin, family stays with family. He wasn’t going to shuttle Nicky off to a hotel. After all, Nicky got vaccinated. Twice!

Very good points!  I think my comment comes from having a certain feeling of kinship with Nicky as in I live a fairly isolated, very quiet and solitary life and personally I'd take a nice hotel room over a house full of newborn twin baby noise and chaos any day!

Edited April 8, 2021 by Leeds

[candall]

On 3/23/2021 at 9:30 PM, stonehaven said:

Loved this episode..funny, sad, heartwarming and everything. Loved Cassidy's speech to Nicky about him and Kevin both wondering if they pleased their father. I think that's why they get along so well. Nicky wouldn't have worked with any other Pearson. 

I hope we get more Nicky this season...and just a bit less Randall...

Really?  I totally had that pegged as Cassidy saying that Nicky and Kevin both wondered whether Jack would be proud of each, and hoped that he would be.

 

It made me cry--extra!--that Nicky might feel he'd finally made Jack proud by gathering his courage and jetting across the country to honor Jack's grandbabies.

 

And Kevin's finally following in his father's footsteps by being a good father and family man, so Cassidy's assessment is right on the nose.

Edited April 14, 2021 by candall

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm not able to read all responses, but I loved this episode. I loved young and old Nicky. I loved the speech to the babies, and I loved Kevin finding him there the next morning--and when the photo fell out. . .

I also enjoyed getting to see Cassidy again because of the way it was done. It was not some bump into Kevin/do they get back together. She was a friend to Nicky and I'm glad she has stayed connected to him. I loved her helping him and calming him when he thought about running away.

I felt the show did a great job of showing how jittery/anxious Nicky was from a young age, no doubt due to his dad. It was consistent and you could see the anxiety continuing but so glad he was able to get on that plane and not run when he felt overwhelmed at Kevin's. 

I love how this show developed the Kevin/Nicky connection. It did not bother me that Nicky didn't have gifts for Kate's kids. It was a big step for him to come out--it would be over the top for him to morph into a person who thinks about all the gifts he might should bring and his entire extended family. . . . 

I hope Nicky stays for a while and has the time to remake those snow globes

[ali59]

My husband goes to the VA here in New Hampshire.  They were giving away the vaccines like candy.  I found at after the fact that they were also giving them to spouses.  I had the highest risk factor in my family and ended up being the last one to get the vaccines.  Oh well.

I have a question.  Sally said she was going to drive up Mount Washington to look at the moon.  Is there a Mount Washington in PA?  As far as I'm concerned there's only one Mt. Washington and that's in New Hampshire and you can't just drive up to the top.

How many of you said "hit it" at the appropriate place in the song at the end?

Edited May 24, 2022 by ali59

[Pallas]

27 minutes ago, ali59 said:

Sally said she was going to drive up Mount Washington to look at the moon.  Is there a Mount Washington in PA?  As far as I'm concerned there's only one Mt. Washington and that's in New Hampshire and you can't just drive up to the top.

There is a route for cars. 

[ali59]

Quote

There is a route for cars. 

Yes, I know but you have to stop and pay and it's closed at night.  Today I don't think her van would even be allowed to go up.  There are a lot of vehicle restrictions.  Also it's a freakin scary drive.  I won't do it.  I take the Cog Railway up.

[Pallas]

Ah, the moon. Well, on that trip, Sally had a few surprises in store.

[millennium]

Glad that Nicky called out Miguel for his passive/aggressive stalking of Rebecca.  13 years my ass.  He was trying to make inroads on Rebecca only months after Jack's death.  Even the kids were seeing it, a la Kate's remark some episodes back about "will Miguel be bringing a sleeping bag?"

Miguel and Madison both rub me the wrong way.   Both started out as hangers-on, both broke into the family through marriage, both under unusual circumstances (Miguel marrying his best friend's widow and Madison sleeping with and then marrying her best friend's brother).   There's something underhanded about the two of them, IMO.

Still Team Sophie.