S01.E07: The Letter

[secnarf]

Quote

The origins of Joe Kimbreau's three paths are revisited in greater detail over graduation weekend in 2011.

Original air date: Nov 1 2021

[Bulldog]

Since all of these divergent storylines begin with Joe's college graduation, have they ever actually mentioned what Joe's college major was?  Seems that should have given him some idea of the career direction he would want to take. 

[LittleIggy]

52 minutes ago, Bulldog said:

Since all of these divergent storylines begin with Joe's college graduation, have they ever actually mentioned what Joe's college major was?  Seems that should have given him some idea of the career direction he would want to take. 

I don’t believe they have mentioned it. I would think it odd that his mother would want him to attend a music conservatory if he didn’t have an undergrad degree in music. That said, I know nothing about that field of study!

I enjoyed the episode. I wish they had shown Nurse (to be) Joe telling Jenny’s dad where to shove that check. Interesting to see the sister.

[nilyank]

I could have sworn that Joe told Amy when they met that he was a music major.

Nurse Joe: Eric gets Joe's lucky shirt and he and Amy hit it off. We find out that Jenny decides to have the baby to give a reason for her dying/very ill mother to live. Joe proposes, gives up his dream of musc and doesn't think a job as a cop pays well. Even though after a several months in the Police Academy (and with connections via his dad and uncle), he would a rookie cup by the time Jenny gives birth. Instead he is going to back school, and get a degree in nursing even though he majored in music. We also hear Joe tell Jenny that he was in love with her every year together at college

Rocker Joe: we find out that Bobby was Amy's political hero as a kid and thanks to Joe's encouragement, she make a strong impression to get another meeting when the job position was filled. We also see Amy encourage him to play what he loves in Billy Joel at his audition and being so happy with each other. Joe falls hard for Amy and we see Jenny track him down as she spots them together. Yep, Jenny won't tell Joe about the baby because he was with Amy. Hate Jenny in all versions.

Cop Joe: has a lot of guilt being thrown his way from uncle into becoming a cop and a mom to follow her music dreams at the conservatory. Eric didn't take Joe's advice or his lucky shirt, so he was flustered during his date with Amy. He could barely talk about his passion with food and just mention pizza so when Amy got the bad news of not getting to meet Bobby for the job interview, she ends the date early. This is why she barely remembers Eric ten years later. The date was bust and she was disappointed about losing her dream job. Meanwhile Eric heads to Joe's party and meets his future wife who does like pizza. Joe doesn't pick up the phone for Jenny because he thought that she was going to end their relationship. Jenny is all sad because Joe isn't answering her calls and her future husband tells her that he would have always pick up on the first ring. Again Hate Jenny as she really has no reason to keep her pregnancy secret from Joe.

[magicdog]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

I wish they had shown Nurse (to be) Joe telling Jenny’s dad where to shove that check.

Ditto!  I really wanted to see him tell the dad off!

8 minutes ago, nilyank said:

We also hear Joe tell Jenny that he was in love with her every year together at college

I  have trouble buying this since he had no problem blowing Jenny off in two timelines and fell in love in Amy overnight!

9 minutes ago, nilyank said:

Jenny is all sad because Joe isn't answering her calls and her future husband tells her that he would have always pick up on the first ring. Again Hate Jenny as she really has no reason to keep her pregnancy secret from Joe.

But she tried for a whole 24 hours to tell him the news!!!  Seriously, it wouldn't have been hard to at least text, "I'm pregnant".  At least we now know how she came to meet her husband in the Cop timeline who is raising Lucas as his own.  I had thought she would have met him later.  Interesting her mom was sick and presumably dying at the time of the pregnancy.

Nice to finally met his big sister, Celeste.  It would seem she does a lot of travelling so we may see her pop up again at some point.  We also see Uncle Frank definitely had a drinking problem (or at least one that escalated 10 years ago), and why in Nurse timeline, he went off the rails to Skid Row.

[Chaos Theory]

Texting “I’m pregnant” might have seemed harsh at the time.  It might have seemed to Jenny as a face to face conversation that just never happened and in both timeles she kept running into obstacles that might have changed her opinion about having the baby at all.  We j is in Rockstar timeline she saw Joe happy with another girl so she might have just decided somewhere along the way to give the baby up so not to get in the way of Joe’s dreams.   In cop timeline Jenny met another dude who might have convinced her to keep the baby and stay on her path.  I have no idea why people hate Jenny because of all the characters she is the one I like best.  It is actually Amy I hate. 

What I found interesting was how the same conversations happened differently if Joe was there or not.  When Amy didn’t get the original job she wanted. If Eric was there she just got sad and moved on but when Joe was there she talked her way into a meeting anyway.  

[nilyank]

4 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Texting “I’m pregnant” might have seemed harsh at the time.  It might have seemed to Jenny as a face to face conversation that just never happened and in both timeles she kept running into obstacles that might have changed her opinion about having the baby at all.  We j is in Rockstar timeline she saw Joe happy with another girl so she might have just decided somewhere along the way to give the baby up so not to get in the way of Joe’s dreams.   In cop timeline Jenny met another dude who might have convinced her to keep the baby and stay on her path.  I have no idea why people hate Jenny because of all the characters she is the one I like best.  

 

Because it was only day after she took the pregnancy test that she decided not to tell Joe about a pregnancy that she was going to go through with. In Rocker Joe, she didn't tell him because she saw him with Amy and it was not like he was living his dream of being the next Billy Joel singing outside of the bakery. In Cop Joe, she turns to another man who obviously has feelings for her and she will go on to marry this man and have him be the father of her baby.

In both versions, this was the day after she found out that she is pregnant. She decides to keep this secret from the man that she claims was her best friend through four years of college. She never gave him a choice because it was easier for her to turn to another man (Cop Joe) or not tell Joe because he was at the bakery with Amy. Selfish.

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by nilyank

[funnygirl]

Jenny had 9 months to tell Joe about her pregnancy in both Cop and Rockstar timeline. There is no excuse. 

Amy really does make everyone better. 

[magicdog]

4 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

In cop timeline Jenny met another dude who might have convinced her to keep the baby and stay on her path.

Question is why Jenny didn't continue her path in the Nurse timeline?  It wasn't much different than the cop timeline in that she was married and had a child with special needs, but still managed to finish her law degree, pass the bar and eventually join the city attorney's office.  Why not do the same when she was married to Joe?  Did having Joe as her husband inhibit her in a way the other guy didn't?

[saber5055]

This episode helped clear up timeline questions. But really Jenny, telling Joe you are pregnant during a huge party with tons of friends present was the best place and time? WTH kind of thinking was that. Count me in the I-hate-Jenny timeline. And because he doesn't answer your calls for ONE NIGHT when it's been declared he is YOUR BEST FREAKING FRIEND IN THE WORLD you decide to dump him 100 percent, plus you are calling on graduation night? Dude, give him a day for pete's sake and call him tomorrow.

I hated Joe's family for putting all THEIR demands on him the day he graduates. Maybe he wants some time to relax and celebrate. You know, with friends. They were making his graduation all about them. Geesh. PITA family.

I was waiting for the bakery owner to tell the two grifters begging for money outside their door to GTFO. What was up with that. And Joe strumming on a uke is crowd worthy? Please. But nice that Joe could fall in love with some chick overnight though, that shows fortitude and commitment. I guess his best friend and love interest Jenny was easily replaced.

I just ass-u-med Joe's major was music. Which makes him being a nurse somewhat stupid. I looked up wages for a NYC cop and NYC nurse and they are pretty close. Unless Jenny's dad made Joe a nurse overnight and gave him a bunch of bonuses, thereby supporting his precious daughter Jenny. Yeah dad, look how great that's turning out.

Nurse and Rocker timelines prove love doesn't last. How about getting a divorce in both of those timelines Joe. Isn't 10 years enough to be miserable with that miserable ball and chain around your neck dragging you down.

[JKL845]

Joe avoided Jenny's messages in the two timelines because he thought she was breaking up with him and he didn't want to face it yet. I think it's too soon to know exactly why Jenny didn't tell him, we don't have the whole picture yet. It looked to me that in the RockerJoe timeline she saw him with a crowd around him reveling in entertaining them. She probably realized too soon Joe, for both of them, and that's why she decides on adoption in that timeline. I saw it as more about his desire as a musician than about Amy but maybe we will see more in the future to clarify. Good episode. 

[izabella]

16 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

And because he doesn't answer your calls for ONE NIGHT when it's been declared he is YOUR BEST FREAKING FRIEND IN THE WORLD you decide to dump him 100 percent, plus you are calling on graduation night? Dude, give him a day for pete's sake and call him tomorrow.

I am calling Joe out for that, too.  Did he never return her calls and see her again after graduation?  Why would he drop Jenny 100% right after graduation, to the point he didn't even know she was pregnant in the timeline where she had the baby?  How did he never, ever speak to anyone who knew Jenny and knew she was having a baby, or had a baby?  Maybe I missed something because I find the three timelines very confusing.

[magicdog]

39 minutes ago, izabella said:

Did [Joe] never return her calls and see her again after graduation?  Why would he drop Jenny 100% right after graduation, to the point he didn't even know she was pregnant in the timeline where she had the baby?  How did he never, ever speak to anyone who knew Jenny and knew she was having a baby, or had a baby?  Maybe I missed something because I find the three timelines very confusing.

Eric did mention that Jenny ghosted them both since graduation.  Joe could have returned her call since it was obvious she made several calls and at least one voicemail.  Even if Joe wanted/needed alone time, he still could have called her back in a day or two.  Perhaps Jenny's dad intervened and told her to stop calling in two of the timelines.  He obviously has no love lost for Joe (for whatever reason).

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, izabella said:

I am calling Joe out for that, too.  Did he never return her calls and see her again after graduation?  Why would he drop Jenny 100% right after graduation, to the point he didn't even know she was pregnant in the timeline where she had the baby?  How did he never, ever speak to anyone who knew Jenny and knew she was having a baby, or had a baby?  Maybe I missed something because I find the three timelines very confusing.

Actually, IMO this is pretty stupid writing, with stupid nonsense in all three timelines. But then again, no one asked me.

I did think it interesting how much of a kid Joe looked with bangs. Hair style really is everything, isn't it.

53 minutes ago, magicdog said:

Eric did mention that Jenny ghosted them both since graduation.

If my best friend for years ghosted me the day after we graduated, I'd be way up in that person's grill, like WTH dude. I would not just go, oh, okay, I guess I'm ghosted. See ya then. Bye. NO WAY IN HELL!

Like I said: Stupid writing.

Edited November 2, 2021 by saber5055

[KaveDweller]

I am glad we saw why Jenny's path was slightly different in the two non-Nurse worlds. In one, Eric told her about Amy and she went and saw them together. In the other, Eric was busy with Amy and didn't go to her party. So she ended up staying home and visiting her dead mother and bonding with a different college friend (that she ended up marrying). I still don't like that she hid the kid from Joe.

I think it is funny that borrowing Joe's shirt help Eric's date with Amy go better, but I guess part of it was his confidence.

I hope we get to see the sister in the present. It hasn't been totally clear where she went, and it seems obvious they only decided to add her as a character a few episodes in. But I think it is interesting to see Joe interact with someone else.

[Chatty Cake]

There’s too many Joe’s and now they’re doing 3 flashback Joe’s. They are trying to pull some This is Us  jiu-jitsu on us.

[bybrandy]

I thought Uncle Frank telling Joe that his dad couldn't be his dad was an interesting statement as was Joe's dad writing the letters... an indication that maybe Joe'sdad was dirty?

[Jillybean]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:25 PM, Bulldog said:

Since all of these divergent storylines begin with Joe's college graduation, have they ever actually mentioned what Joe's college major was?  Seems that should have given him some idea of the career direction he would want to take. 

In the pilot he said he was a music major.

[circumvent]

This show is really bad, but that's why I watch it. It helps me through early morning workout. 

Joe saying that being a cop is bad pay defies reality in a way that not even this show can get away with. NY cops are a privileged class. Not sure if this is everywhere in the country but they retire after 20 years, with a great pension, and are not really accountable to anyone, as we all know by now. I am not sure if it is the same as cops in Maryland, but they make extra money and add to their pensions by arrest made. So, the more arrest, bogus or not, more money for them. I wonder there are so many people arrested for - I don't know - breathing on the wrong way, or why the unions love stop and frisk

[magicdog]

8 hours ago, circumvent said:

Joe saying that being a cop is bad pay defies reality in a way that not even this show can get away with.

As an ex-New Yorker, I must agree.  It would have made more sense for Joe to have become a cop if he married Jenny.  He would have received good benefits and salary decent (keep in mind NYC/State income tax which along with NY's cost of living would eat quite a bit of that).  They upped retirement option minimum to about 25 years.  If he lived with his mom (while married to Jenny and raising Chris) that would mitigate expenses somewhat.  As far as I know they don't get extra bennies based on arrest numbers (never heard of such a thing!).  However, they are subject to the Union and city contracts, which could affect pay and benefits.  I have a family friend who retired from NY LEO and his medical benefits were cut drastically since he retired.    

Edited November 3, 2021 by magicdog

[Lsk02]

On 11/2/2021 at 12:38 PM, magicdog said:

Question is why Jenny didn't continue her path in the Nurse timeline?  It wasn't much different than the cop timeline in that she was married and had a child with special needs, but still managed to finish her law degree, pass the bar and eventually join the city attorney's office.  Why not do the same when she was married to Joe?  Did having Joe as her husband inhibit her in a way the other guy didn't?

I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking in Nurse Joe timeline, either Joe refused to let her dad help them financially, even for Jenny’s law school, or her Dad cut her off for choosing Joe. We saw a bitter scene when her dad tried to give Joe a gift for her on his behalf, so I’m thinking in that storyline it was about Dad’s money. 
 

Maybe in Cop Joe storyline, either Ray/Roy or Dad paid for her law school? I’m guessing Dad definitely paid in Rocker Joe’s. 

[Cardie]

Nurse Joe timeline is the one in which both parents need to work to support themselves and the child, so Jenny delays law school and gets a job as a paralegal.  I think Joe doesn’t go to the police academy, not because the salary is poor but because being a cop is dangerous. He doesn’t want to leave a widow and child behind as his father did. I agree that his dad was into some bad stuff and probably took the other guy’s place in order to go out heroically before it became known. 

Amy seems to like being the power behind a successful man. She sort of invents Rocker Joe and in Nurse timeline Eric runs a high-end restaurant. If she and Cop Joe get together, she’ll probably fast track him for police commissioner! Jenny can be annoying but I do not trust Amy.

[nilyank]

9 hours ago, Cardie said:

Nurse Joe timeline is the one in which both parents need to work to support themselves and the child, so Jenny delays law school and gets a job as a paralegal.  I think Joe doesn’t go to the police academy, not because the salary is poor but because being a cop is dangerous. He doesn’t want to leave a widow and child behind as his father did.

I had actually that was the reason until this episode. He tells his mom that he is going to be father and that he can’t be a cop because it was apparently low paying (but not really since it is the NYPD).

Since he has to go back to school to get his nursing degree before he can work in the hospital, it is going take a few years. We know that Chris is going to develop medical Issues which will be high, but at this point Joe doesn’t so I don’t know he picks that path for his future.

[tennisgurl]

I would think that the reason Nurse Joe wouldn't want to be a cop was because it was dangerous and he would be worried about dying the way his dad did, leaving his kid without a dad like what happened to him, I don't know what a nurse makes in new York, but I cant imagine its a whole lot, at least cops get good benefits. I feel bad for cop Joe, it really seems like he didn't want to be a cop and instead got pressured into it by his uncle, who, to make it worse, we now know is a dirty cop. 

I didn't even realize that Joe had a sister, its weird that she hasn't been much of a factor in any of the timelines, even the Joe timeline where his family is all up in his business, I wonder if she turns up soon? Its sad watching the younger version of Rockstar Joe and Amy, they did seem like they really had something, while in their current timeline they have all kinds of problems. 

Jenny still sucks in two out of three timelines, its just so weird that she and Joe were supposedly best friends and then just mutually ghosted each other after graduation, apparently nit even following each other on social media or even sending a "hey, how's it going?" text. Jenny is the worst for it, apparently deciding that because Joe didn't respond to her calls in a timely fashion and that he played the ukulele with another woman, or because she met some other cute guy (which seems like a real dick, so I guess he reminds her of her dad) that he doesn't deserve to know his child, but its messed up that Joe never reached out either. Or maybe he did return her calls later and she just blew him off? Still very much not a fan. She had nine months to call again, she had no reason not to except for selfishness. 

Jenny's dad is definitely worse though, what a massively entitled prick, I wish we had gotten to see Joe tell him where to shove his check. Why does he even hate Joe so much? I guess its classism? 

Edited November 4, 2021 by tennisgurl

[magicdog]

23 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Why does he even hate Joe so much?

Hard to say.  It may be because:

1)Joe was a music major and to a practical doctor type, that may not be a good path to making a living.

2) He had a friends with benefits relationship with his daughter.

3) Said benefits got his daughter knocked up and derailed (or potentially derailed) her legal dreams.

[JKL845]

6 hours ago, magicdog said:

Hard to say.  It may be because:

1)Joe was a music major and to a practical doctor type, that may not be a good path to making a living.

2) He had a friends with benefits relationship with his daughter.

3) Said benefits got his daughter knocked up and derailed (or potentially derailed) her legal dreams.

Or maybe because he's just an Ordinary Joe 🤣

[bybrandy]

19 hours ago, nilyank said:

I had actually that was the reason until this episode. He tells his mom that he is going to be father and that he can’t be a cop because it was apparently low paying (but not really since it is the NYPD).

Since he has to go back to school to get his nursing degree before he can work in the hospital, it is going take a few years. We know that Chris is going to develop medical Issues which will be high, but at this point Joe doesn’t so I don’t know he picks that path for his future.

My guess is Joe doesn't start down a nursing path until Christopher's diagnosis.   I know so many people who have joined the medical profession after caregiving.  It would be odd for him to start school while dealing with Chris and Chris's care needs but I still sort of suspect that is what happens and Jenny in this timeline only has a year of law school left so she's staying in school for now.   She must leave after it becomes clear that Christopher has health issues.  

[OhSarah69]

This episode gave me a headache.  The sliding back & forth between the various "shades" of the various Joes...too much.  I do not buy Joe being what, 32?  Seems older to me.  On a shallow note, I also do not buy any of the hairdo's he has in any scene...they all look like hairpieces.  The letters from Joe's dad....I was expecting something earth-shattering....kind of a let-down.  Neither Jenny nor Amy is interesting enough to hold my attention...they are both so annoying, in all three Joe lives!  I cannot see what Joe sees in them.  Jenny is a blend of wishy/washy/bitchy (wishy??).  Amy doesn't know what she wants and is boring.  Though the other week when she expressed how she felt about kids probably not being in her life and her being ok with that, I thought she did a great job in that scene.  Not a huge fan of the Amy actress generally though, from other shows...she has a grating quality when she's on screen.  I do like the Eric character - he kind of lights up the screen a bit, which none of the other actors really do for me.  Will I watch next week?  Why yes, yes I will....I gotta see this show through and see whether the premise holds till the end of the season.  I can't imagine being interested past this season, though.

[bros402]

I liked this episode - I just hope they don't keep doing flashbacks, this was enough to educate us on the day of graduation.

With Jenny in Cop and Rocker timelines, she was totally out of line - she should have texted Joe or left a voicemail (I don't think she left one in either timeline?), not just ghosted him after taking a pregnancy test. Joe was scared of being broken up with so he was avoiding her calls, but Jenny could've gone "Joe, I have something that I need to tell you and it is very urgent, please call me ASAP."

Honestly, Nurse Joe timeline seems the best case scenario, at least to me. I think this show would be best with Nurse and Cop (then they could show the same thing from both sides) - even though Rocker does have a bit more indulging a fantasy.

I hope when we learn about the sister, it isn't a whole episode of flashbacks. This better not get to a point where we have Joe walking into the East River naked to scream at his dead dad (although that wouldn't look *too* crazy for NYC).

[Cryonix]

I found last weeks episode very confusing, going back & forth about Joe's graduation & I definitely agree with bros402 it was more than enough to educate us all on his graduation day. I had a headache at the end of it trying to sort out what was happening & when.

Let us just get back to the regular shows, although granted they sometimes get confusing as well & both Jenny & Amy are very annoying at times.

The kid playing Chris & Lucas is a very good actor for his age. 

[bros402]

6 hours ago, Cryonix said:

I found last weeks episode very confusing, going back & forth about Joe's graduation & I definitely agree with bros402 it was more than enough to educate us all on his graduation day. I had a headache at the end of it trying to sort out what was happening & when.

Let us just get back to the regular shows, although granted they sometimes get confusing as well & both Jenny & Amy are very annoying at times.

The kid playing Chris & Lucas is a very good actor for his age. 

I am hoping that we don't have any more full episode flashbacks - occasional flashbacks in episode, sure, but no episode long stuff

[circumvent]

On 11/5/2021 at 6:04 PM, OhSarah69 said:

This episode gave me a headache.  The sliding back & forth between the various "shades" of the various Joes...too much.  I do not buy Joe being what, 32?  Seems older to me.  On a shallow note, I also do not buy any of the hairdo's he has in any scene...they all look like hairpieces.

i found it annoying, having to follow a story I don't care about, a character that is so badly developed I don't understand why he is the main character, an actor who should be not being an actor. Following your shallow note, it is the same with the 5 o'clack shade int he rocker Joe timeline. It is so badly done, it looks like something a elementary school kid would do to play someone with a beard.

 

On 11/5/2021 at 6:04 PM, OhSarah69 said:

The letters from Joe's dad....I was expecting something earth-shattering....kind of a let-down.  Neither Jenny nor Amy is interesting enough to hold my attention...they are both so annoying, in all three Joe lives!  I cannot see what Joe sees in them.  Jenny is a blend of wishy/washy/bitchy (wishy??).  Amy doesn't know what she wants and is boring.  Though the other week when she expressed how she felt about kids probably not being in her life and her being ok with that, I thought she did a great job in that scene.  Not a huge fan of the Amy actress generally though, from other shows...she has a grating quality when she's on screen.

Yes, the letter was straight from the Hallmark Channel, or the Christian Movie Channel (is there one?). His father dies when Joe was a kid, that letter is to an adult. I don't think someone would write that letter, even with a dangerous job. They would write a letter to a kid, then update as time goes by. 

I agree with you about Jenny and Amy, specially Amy who is boring and has no appeal to me. Never saw the actress but as everyone else in this show, she is just bad.

[shapeshifter]

I had quit this show, but just watched this episode because I happened to see on Twitter/News that an astronaut with the last name of Kimbrough is riding SpaceX back to Earth now.
It was confusing, but, hey, at least they didn't have an astronaut Joe.🙃

[KittyQ]

On 11/2/2021 at 12:39 PM, magicdog said:

Eric did mention that Jenny ghosted them both since graduation.  Joe could have returned her call since it was obvious she made several calls and at least one voicemail.  Even if Joe wanted/needed alone time, he still could have called her back in a day or two.  Perhaps Jenny's dad intervened and told her to stop calling in two of the timelines.  He obviously has no love lost for Joe (for whatever reason).

The dad-interference plot worked better before everyone had a cell phone. In the old days, Joe could have called the house line and dad could have never passed along the message or even told Jenny that Joe had called. With cell phones, it is much harder to block a 3rd party from accessing your daughter. Not to mention: email, social networking sites (Facebook was a thing at that time, wasn't it?) not to mention old fashioned snail mail if all else failed (just don't put your name in return address - dad can't review ALL the mail!).

[KittyQ]

On 11/5/2021 at 3:04 PM, OhSarah69 said:

Not a huge fan of the Amy actress generally though, from other shows...she has a grating quality when she's on screen. 

I looked her up on IMDB - the only thing I've seen her in was The Stand, and I had a more positive impression of her there. Here, I'm inclined to agree that she's a bit grating. I can't tell if that's the actress or the role. I don't have strong feelings about the Jenny character, though. I guess neither one seems like she should be Joe's one and only.

 

[Lovecat]

On 11/2/2021 at 8:36 PM, Chatty Cake said:

There’s too many Joe’s and now they’re doing 3 flashback Joe’s. They are trying to pull some This is Us  jiu-jitsu on us.

Joe-jitsu?  :)

[eel21788]

On 11/3/2021 at 3:12 PM, Lsk02 said:

I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking in Nurse Joe timeline, either Joe refused to let her dad help them financially, even for Jenny’s law school, or her Dad cut her off for choosing Joe. We saw a bitter scene when her dad tried to give Joe a gift for her on his behalf, so I’m thinking in that storyline it was about Dad’s money. 
 

Maybe in Cop Joe storyline, either Ray/Roy or Dad paid for her law school? I’m guessing Dad definitely paid in Rocker Joe’s. 

My perception is that in all three scenarios, Dad threatened to cut her off financially unless she put the baby up for adoption.

Nurse Joe couldn't afford to support her through anything more expensive than paralegal training.

In Cop Joe her husband was a little better off financially but still couldn't afford an upper tier school or let her put in the hours she needed to make partner in her firm.

With Rockstar Joe, she agreed to one of those "9 month vacations in Europe" to keep the pregnancy a secret from everyone, then her father put her through law school once her "vacation" was over. 

[Ailianna]

On 11/17/2021 at 5:39 PM, eel21788 said:

In Cop Joe her husband was a little better off financially but still couldn't afford an upper tier school or let her put in the hours she needed to make partner in her firm.

The hours for an assistant DA aren't better than in private firms. People keep claiming she's less successful and implying that it's a lesser career. She made different choices in how to use her law degree, possibly based on her experiences after she told her dad about her pregnancy and that she wanted to keep the baby, and then raising a child with disability during law school. It's a different choice, not a lesser choice. 

[Camera One]

I thought it was a nice change of pace to have a flashback to graduation day.  It was an interesting concept to see how a single day could possibly unfold.  

Still, this backstory didn't fully clarify or justify some of the subplots.  For the cop storyline, it wasn't very clear why he didn't re-consider music again. 

Amy calling because she was "in the city that day" was confusing.  Where else would she have been?

We didn't even find out what his mom's friend from the music academy thought of his piano performance, though Joe didn't really seem that into it, for some unexplained reason (maybe because he only wanted to be Billy Joel the Second?).  I agree the dad's letter was rather generic, though it wasn't too surprising.

Joe was a jerk for not answering any of Jenny's calls, and it still wasn't very clear why by the end.  The closest to an explanation was Nurse Joe telling Jenny that he tried not to love her in Senior Year.  What did that even mean?  They did sleep together recently enough.  As others said, Jenny inviting him to a party to give him the news made no sense.  

So I'm guessing he basically became a rock star because Amy encouraged him to busk out in public, which increased his exposure.  He could have done that while studying at the music academy if he truly did love music.  

The sister looked a lot older than him.  It will be interesting to see why became of her in the three different timelines, where she has been MIA so far.

Jenny's father trying to buy Joe off was real nice.  

Edited April 4, 2022 by Camera One

[KaveDweller]

16 hours ago, Camera One said:

Amy calling because she was "in the city that day" was confusing.  Where else would she have been?

Amy, Joe, and Jenny went to Syracuse. It's a 4-hour drive from New York City. Joe and Eric went back to NYC after graduation because that's where they were from, but Amy was from Florida. It would not be expected that's she'd be in the city right after their graduation.

It's actually kind of weird to me that all of them immediately left campus to come to NYC. You'd think they'd stick around for a party in Syracuse.

[Camera One]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

Amy, Joe, and Jenny went to Syracuse. It's a 4-hour drive from New York City. Joe and Eric went back to NYC after graduation because that's where they were from, but Amy was from Florida. It would not be expected that's she'd be in the city right after their graduation.

It's actually kind of weird to me that all of them immediately left campus to come to NYC. You'd think they'd stick around for a party in Syracuse.

That makes so much more sense.  I am unfamiliar with the geography of the area... I actually don't think I have ever heard of Syracuse University.  

It seemed strange that Joe would miss his own party or that Jenny wouldn't be spending the rest of the day with hers.  Was the "beach" where Jenny was closer to the university?

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

That makes so much more sense.  I am unfamiliar with the geography of the area... I actually don't think I have ever heard of Syracuse University.  

It seemed strange that Joe would miss his own party or that Jenny wouldn't be spending the rest of the day with hers.  Was the "beach" where Jenny was closer to the university?

There is no beach close to Syracuse University, so I have no idea where Jenny's beach house was supposed to be. Maybe the Hamptons or someplace else closer NYC, since Jenny's family also seemed to live there?

Syracuse does have Lake Onondaga, but for years it was one of the most polluted lakes in the country. It has only recently gotten cleaned up and still doesn't have any kind of swimming beach.

I guess the writers were just like, "well, it's all in New York, that should be close enough." They should have just picked a fictional school because they got so much wrong about it. But I graduated from there, so it was nice to see represented somewhere.