S06.E08: Guitar Man

[chitowngirl]

Kevin takes the twins to the cabin in hopes of proving himself as a father.

[ams1001]

• Kevin: "I really wanna be great at guitar."
• Kate: Yeah, well. [walks out and closes door]

Best laugh I've had all day.

[SunnyBeBe]

Do people who can’t sleep at night really go out and drive their car around?  I’ve seen it on tv plenty of times, but I’ve never known of anyone IRL who actually does that.  

Edited March 16, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[ItCouldBeWorse]

57 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

• Kevin: "I really wanna be great at guitar."
• Kate: Yeah, well. [walks out and closes door]

Best laugh I've had all day.

Maybe the kids would fall asleep more easily if all the lights weren't on.

Edited March 16, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[greekmom]

Felt like another filler episode.

It just doesn't seem that the story from where we left off to the fast forward of Kate and Phillip's wedding will ever happen.

 

[BuckeyeLou]

The scenes in the empty pool with the Teens were so good for insight into how they saw each other & the bond they had despite their differences.   Kevin was always messing up & his siblings knew that and accepted him.  Uncle Nicky is the best!  He knew what Cassidy was feeling.  Kevin had to finally "MAN UP" and be a grown up to take care of his kids & of his family.  I still think Kevin may not end up with anyone.  

[LexieLily]

No matter the situation the Pearson's can't stop themselves from speechifying. The man in the waiting room with Kevin was just waiting on news of his wife!

Big Three Homes isn't the Pearson Big Three, but Kevin, Cassidy and Nicky. Another puzzle piece of the flash-future falls into place!

Edited March 16, 2022 by LexieLily

[Liquid6]

I miss Lonnie Chavis this season 😢. I knew that he would eventually outgrow the role because he looks nothing like teenage & adult Randall, but he was always the best out of all of the child actors. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Liquid6

[Spartan Girl]

I had to laugh at the reaction of the guy in the waiting room after Kevin’s speechifying: “I’m just here to see my wife.”

Great performance from Jennifer Morrison,

[stonehaven]

Good episode and I swear Kevin is like his dad. Edie cracked me up with her "signals" to Kevin. Nicky makes every episode better. I'd love a spinoff of Kevin and Nicky....

[DoubleUTeeEff]

Nice to see Kevin getting a chance to parent on his own. Although I agree with everyone that it was pretty nuts to take them on a cross country flight alone.

Everything with Cassidy was sad. Glad Nicky is there to push her to get more help. And it seems like Kevin is going to start a kind of Habitat for Humanity type deal with veterans as the builders, which is pretty cool. I'm glad he has the opportunity to give back. I also like that he didn't give Cassidy the third degree and just listened. I think he was able to do that since he had been a screw up in the past and wanted to give someone the kind of support he probably needed at that time. I guess he got a little bit of it from Kate and Randall.

My favorite part of the episode was when Matty was trying to feed one of the twins and he just gave up and gave him or her a kiss on the head. So frickin adorable.

5 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Maybe the kids would fall asleep more easily if all the lights weren't on.

And Kevin stopped playing that damn guitar! I liked Edie shutting him down and putting on the record player. (Whoa, they still have a record player.)

6 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Felt like another filler episode.

It just doesn't seem that the story from where we left off to the fast forward of Kate and Phillip's wedding will ever happen.

Or find out what's happening with Deja! It is a "trilogy" so looks like Kate is up next. So we'll see what's happening with her and Toby next week.

[SunnyBeBe]

There are times you might want to stay all night with a person who’s in the hospital, but I didn’t get the point of Kevin staying.  Cassidy didn’t even know he was there.  He wasn’t even able to help her get to the bathroom or fluff her pillow.  He could have left and returned the next day.  I guess no one thought to do a psych evaluation.  I know what she said, but still……

[gameshowjunkie]

Really solid episode. Love Kevin's veteran construction company idea. The flashbacks all tied in so well to the present day situation. My favorite episode of the season so far.

[Blackie]

21 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

 I guess no one thought to do a psych evaluation.

 

Like the Dr thought it was just an accident to slam head on into a pole?

I try to be empathetic to people with babies on planes, because I have traveled with a baby (one time on business class due to the airlines error), but if I was sitting in first class and some dufous showed up with 2 babies on his own, I would be PISSED.

 

Cassidy looked BAD, Kevin could have at least prepared her son for that.

So Kevin got rid of his guitar? halleluah!

ETA: how was that painted picture supposed to dry in time for the kid to take it to his mom, unless they were using some technique I don't know about

Edited March 16, 2022 by Blackie
eta

[CdrJanny]

29 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Do people who can’t sleep at night really go out and drive their car around!  I’ve seen it on tv plenty of times, but I’ve never known of anyone IRL who actually does that.  

I did when I suffered from severe insomnia about 15 years ago.  A lot of times I would go to a 24/7 discount store or grocery store, better than going through the drive-through at Mickey D's (which I did a time or two).

[tomsmom]

Was anyone else hoping the hospital guy would tell Kevin to STFU??? 

What a useless episode.

[CdrJanny]

17 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Big Three Homes isn't the Pearson Big Three, but Kevin, Cassidy and Nicky. Another puzzle piece of the flash-future falls into place!

Love it!

[Eureka]

11 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

There are times you might want to stay all night with a person who’s in the hospital, but I didn’t get the point of Kevin staying.  Cassidy didn’t even know he was there.  He wasn’t even able to help her get to the bathroom or fluff her pillow.  He could have left and returned the next day.  I guess no one thought to do a psych evaluation.  I know what she said, but still……

Not to mention his babies at home who apparently don’t sleep well for him.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

41 minutes ago, Eureka said:

Not to mention his babies at home who apparently don’t sleep well for him.

Kevin was really relying on others to take care of his twin infants when he volunteered to stay at the hospital overnight and into the morning.  No telling when the babies might wake up and need attention.  God bless Edie.

Edited March 16, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[gameshowjunkie]

36 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Do people who can’t sleep at night really go out and drive their car around!  I’ve seen it on tv plenty of times, but I’ve never known of anyone IRL who actually does that.  

I  can't even imagine. I've heard of people driving their babies around to get them to fall asleep though.

[debraran]

I echo a lot of what was said, staying at hospital was silly but Kevin had to give speech ;). I liked how teen Kate hugged Randall and laughed in pool .  I rarely if ever saw that before.  Was sweet. 
I hope we see Kevin mature more soon.  He has so much garbage to sift through. Sophie’s mom always saw how special he was, encouraged him, told him not to ever settle for less.  Maybe he will flash back to some of that. 

[wonderwoman]

6 minutes ago, tomsmom said:

Was anyone else hoping the hospital guy would tell Kevin to STFU??? 

What a useless episode.

thanks! was starting to think it was just me.

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, gameshowjunkie said:

I  can't even imagine. I've heard of people driving their babies around to get them to fall asleep though.

My parents did that with my brother (and to a lesser extent with me, but he was born at the end of winter (today's his birthday, actually) when it was getting warmer, and I was born in the fall so the weather was less conducive to taking a baby outside at night when I was an infant...they walked a lot of laps around their tiny living room with me).

Where did little Randall disappear to at the pool?

[Crs97]

I really didn’t like anything about this episode.  Kate telling Kevin he was shallow and stupid?  Like she’s been making amazing life choices so far?  Nicky telling Kevin to do absolutely nothing but be and then literally pushing him aside to interrupt her monologue?  The Edie/Kevin and Kevin/Matty interactions were the only ones I liked.  Jennifer Morrison did a great job, but I can tell these three “This is [insert child’s name]” episodes are going to annoy me more than enlighten or entertain me. I’m just holding out for the one after, as I heard Kate say there were celebrating Rebecca and Miguel’s anniversary.

[LexieLily]

17 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Where did little Randall disappear to at the pool?

I thought the same thing! When Rebecca gave Kevin the creamsicle and sat with him on the bench, the camera panned to Jack in the pool with Kate. Where was Randall?

(Was this the pool trip where Kevin almost drowned and he had the lines about no one noticing him because they were too busy making sure Randall wasn't too adopted?)

Edited March 16, 2022 by LexieLily

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, LexieLily said:

I thought the same thing! When Rebecca gave Kevin the creamsicle and sat with him on the bench, the camera panned to Jack in the pool with Kate. Where was Randall?

And when Jack was teaching Kevin to swim, Rebecca was trying to coax Kate into the pool. But I didn't see Randall anywhere.

[Crs97]

IIRC, in season one didn’t they lose Randall because he had found the new group of friends on the other side of the pool?  Maybe they know he is with them and their families.

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Do people who can’t sleep at night really go out and drive their car around!  I’ve seen it on tv plenty of times, but I’ve never known of anyone IRL who actually does that.  

I have trouble sleeping and I have never gotten in my car. I have gotten up and cleaned or worked, but never driven. But I don't have PTSD, so I am not a great comparison for Cassidy.

Cassidy's ex must be thrilled that Kevin gave their kid that guitar.

I always liked Kevin, so I enjoyed this episode, but I feel like they are just delaying telling us who he ends up with to shock us rather than telling a good story.

[BuckeyeLou]

2 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

IIRC, in season one didn’t they lose Randall because he had found the new group of friends on the other side of the pool?  Maybe they know he is with them and their families.

Yes, I thought I remembered that Randall had found a black family & wanted to hang out with them & Rebecca came by & was happy to meet a family that Randall could relate to.

[ams1001]

10 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

(Was this the pool trip where Kevin almost drowned and he had the lines about no one noticing him because they were too busy making sure Randall wasn't too adopted?)

 

3 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

IIRC, in season one didn’t they lose Randall because he had found the new group of friends on the other side of the pool?  Maybe they know he is with them and their families.

I thought they were a little older when those happened. The look about five here; they were more like 8 at that trip, IIRC.

Maybe we'll find out during Randall's episode.

[mansonlamps]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Do people who can’t sleep at night really go out and drive their car around!  I’ve seen it on tv plenty of times, but I’ve never known of anyone IRL who actually does that.  

Yep!  I do it all the time. 

[LexieLily]

9 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I thought they were a little older when those happened. The look about five here; they were more like 8 at that trip, IIRC.

Maybe we'll find out during Randall's episode.

I think there were multiple pool trips we've seen, because there was also one where the mean girls tricked Kate into thinking that boy liked her and then called her fat, so she wore Jack's shirt.

[Mrs Shibbles]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Do people who can’t sleep at night really go out and drive their car around!  I’ve seen it on tv plenty of times, but I’ve never known of anyone IRL who actually does that.  

My husband does.  Especially during the pandemic and being stuck at home.

[Gemma Violet]

I thought this was a boring episode.  I just couldn't get into it.

[buttersister]

Milo did a good job directing, especially the teens at the pool and Matty and the twins.

Nicky and Edie for evah! 

Edited March 16, 2022 by buttersister
Autocorrect sucks

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Maybe the kids would fall asleep more easily if all the lights weren't on.

I did want to yell: "Kevin, find a place of your own!"  I thought it was ridiculous he is bringing those kids for sleepovers to Kate's home, where she also has two small children and presumably, Kevin's twins are very disruptive of she and her children's routine. 

The episode made me feel a little bad for Kevin.  So many people in his life apparently believe him incapable of caring for his own kids that even Nicky, out of all people, got his digs in. And as an aside, I will say I appreciate that many veterans have returned home with significant mental health issues and that there is nothing wrong with using that for a storyline.  Having said that, I feel like tv dramas rely a little bit too much on that trope to the point where you would almost think it was not possible for a veteran to return home without having significant emotional problems that leave them barely able to function. 

Quote

Kevin was really relying on others to take care of his twin infants when he volunteered to stay at the hospital overnight and into the morning.  No telling when the babies might wake up and need attention.  God bless Edie.

The woman is a saint.  I'm sure no one actually asked her if she minded taking care of Kevin's infants so he could learn a very important lesson by staying in the hospital waiting room all night.  Or if they did, she was simply told: "A Pearson needs something," as an explanation for why she was suddenly doing nanny duties.

[Aileen]

55 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

IIRC, in season one didn’t they lose Randall because he had found the new group of friends on the other side of the pool?  Maybe they know he is with them and their families.

They did, but this episode took place before that. I thought there was a grand opening sign up at the pool in this episode.

There was a throw away like about how Randall learned how to be a good swimmer at the Y, which is why I assume he wasn’t in the scenes with Jack and Rebecca. 

[Aileen]

14 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I was wondering about that too. This pool outing is a few years before the one where the Pearsons meet Yvette and Randall becomes friends with her sons. We know that Rebecca's mother is racist and doesn't consider Randall to be her "real" grandson, and that Jack's mother is dead, so who is watching Randall? Miguel and Shelly? And why? Does he have an ear infection?

Randall arrived at the pool with the rest of the family.

 

 

Oh, and the “Yeah, well,” from Kate as a response to Kevin wanting to be good at the guitar was amazing.

 

[ams1001]

13 minutes ago, Aileen said:

I thought there was a grand opening sign up at the pool in this episode.

There was.

[Jodithgrace]

I liked this episode because Kevin is my favorite Pearson, I won’t lie. But I did laugh out loud when Kevin started Pearsoning at that man in the waiting room. I mean, the guy could have been waiting for life or death news about his wife, but he has to listen to Kevin’s monologue. No matter what, Pearsons gotta Pearson. 

[ByaNose]

It was an ok-ish episode. I have always found Kevin to be the weakest of the 3. That said, a whole hour of Randall might make my head explode. LOL!!! Hopefully, Beth is heavily featured. I’m looking forward to seeing Kate next week with old Toby. Although, I think the breaking up of them & making him a jerk is a horrible storyline. Toby is my favorite (along with Nicky) and, I don’t like how he’s being written this season. 

[30 Helens]

Ha! at Kevin kevining all over the poor man in the hospital who has problems of his own, thank you very much. At least we know the writers have a sense of humor.

2 hours ago, greekmom said:

Felt like another filler episode.

A little boring, but I wouldn’t call this filler. They’re setting up the trajectory for everyone’s futures. For Kevin, it appears homebuilding will replace acting. I’m not sure Cassidy is his romantic end game, but she will be an important part of his future.

1 hour ago, Blackie said:

I try to be empathetic to people with babies on planes, because I have traveled with a baby (one time on business class due to the airlines error), but if I was sitting in first class and some dufous showed up with 2 babies on his own, I would be PISSED.

[snip]

ETA: how was that painted picture supposed to dry in time for the kid to take it to his mom, unless they were using some technique I don't know about

Get out of my head! My comment while watching the airplane scene was, “I thought the reason people pay for first class is they don’t have to deal with this shit!” But of course everyone understood, because it’s Kevin. And I had the same reaction to the five-inch globs of paint. That was a 2-day drying process, minimum. 

When teen Kevin talked about touching the drain, my husband told me how dangerous that is: “The suction is really strong! You get sucked in and you can’t get free! People have drowned!” 
Me: “That’s ridiculous. Who do you know that has ever had that happen to them? That’s an urban legend.” 

We went back and forth, he insisting/ me mocking, until Randall said to Kevin: “That’s an urban legend.” Then I laughed and laughed and laughed…

Best part of the show.

[Blakeston]

Nicky got nasty in his big speech to Kevin. If the signs were so clear to Nicky that Cassidy's PTSD symptoms were worsening, why didn't he say something before she imploded? I think he was angry at himself for not offering help, and then he took it out on Kevin.

What Cassidy described was a suicide attempt. It's one thing to drift off to sleep when you're driving late at night. It's another to realize you're falling asleep, and speed up, because death feels like sweet release to you. This was a very big deal, and I felt like it was downplayed.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Blakeston

[Gemma Violet]

13 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

We went back and forth, he insisting/ me mocking, until Randall said to Kevin: “That’s an urban legend.” Then I laughed and laughed and laughed…

 

I read an article once about an unfortunate person who this happened to.  He sat on the drain.  He survived but with a horrifying life-altering injury.  So it's not an urban legend--at least not in that case.

[Leeds]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

There are times you might want to stay all night with a person who’s in the hospital, but I didn’t get the point of Kevin staying.  Cassidy didn’t even know he was there.  He wasn’t even able to help her get to the bathroom or fluff her pillow.  He could have left and returned the next day.  I guess no one thought to do a psych evaluation.  I know what she said, but still……

Rationally, there's "no point" in him staying but it's what a lot of people, including myself, do or have done.  The feeling of impotence in these situations is dreadful, but there can be some feeling of involvement by at least being close by.  I hope you never have to be in a situation where you feel so helpless.

[SunnyBeBe]

50 minutes ago, Gemma Violet said:

I read an article once about an unfortunate person who this happened to.  He sat on the drain.  He survived but with a horrifying life-altering injury.  So it's not an urban legend--at least not in that case.

Me too. The case I know of happened in NC many years ago.  I wonder if it’s the same one.
 

There was a suicide awareness message at the end of the show.  It just seemed like bringing her into a private home instead of a mental health facility was odd.  

Edited March 16, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[Marley]

I’m barely hanging on with this show. Really only watching so I can see the end. This episode was so boring to me. So much filler. Another pool scene? Like enough lol.

[Dowel Jones]

5 hours ago, LexieLily said:

No matter the situation the Pearson's can't stop themselves from speechifying. The man in the waiting room with Kevin was just waiting on news of his wife!

I couldn't help but think of that scene in Airplane! where Robert Hays is going on and on and on about his troubles, with the predictable sight gags.

[kili]

Quote

We went back and forth, he insisting/ me mocking, until Randall said to Kevin: “That’s an urban legend.” Then I laughedand laughed and laughed…

People have died or been injured by pool drains. Probably not ones that big, but the small ones you can completely cover are a problem. The grand daughter of a former secretary of state died when she got entrapped by the drain of a hot tub. It took two men to pull her body free. I remember years ago they opened a wave pool in our area and a small boy died soon after when he got entrapped by the circulation system that creates the waves.

Jack distractedly teaches Kevin to swim and half-ignores him while he sinks, but gently cradles Kate and gives her his full attention. "And you're so busy making sure that Kevin is tough enough and Kate feels loved, and meanwhile, where's Randall? Oh, guess what? He's dead."

Everyone doubted that Kevin could care for his kids, but he's not going to learn if he drags a nanny along. He had the right idea. It was hard at first, but he had it worked out in the end. Franny got more screen time, so her babies were probably dealing with the filming better. When Matty kissed Granny when she wouldn't eat, that must have been an ad-lib. Great instincts.

I felt bad for poor Matty. He looked so lost with his Mom injured and being around all those strangers. I'm glad they brought the painting stuff back, but agree that card would have taken forever to dry. Maybe they brought it in the box.

That was the worst first class ever. There was hardly any room between the rows or the seats. 

Why tell Kevin to stay at the hospital and listen, then swoop in Nicky? I'm glad Nicky noticed the suicide attempt because the doctor didn't. "Julie gave us quite the scare when she accidentally consumed every drug in the medicine cabinet. She's resting now. You can come back tomorrow to visit her. Oh, and then there is George. Silly George thought he could jump off a 100 foot bridge. Silly. Silly. His legs are shattered, but he'll be fine to go home after lunch. Unlike Robert. Robert will be staying with for a few weeks after he fell into the path of a bus. Poor Robert had a rough week what with losing his job and his wife leaving him and his dog dying and then he got hit by the bus. Oh well, they say bad things come in threes....but that's four, what do they know?...so he should be through his run of bad luck now."

Edited March 16, 2022 by kili

[debraran]

I know this might have been a small ER type of place but really no reference to her mental state? Even my elderly mom gets mental and physical checks when she goes to local ER for falls etc. She's a vet and it was late. They might not talk about it but they check certain things. He didn't even ask them about what might have happened previously. That part was glossed over so Nicky would be the only perceptive one but not really what happens.

I watched promo for next week and Kate is saying she misses the old Toby and the show a picture of him younger and heavier. ( I forgot how much he changed and the stomach prosthesis he wore) I hope we don't get the "I liked you fat better" and it's more "I liked you here more" I've read about couples where one loses and they draw apart because one of the things they had in common, changes. It is much more complicated in their relationship but still was a shock for me to see that clip. I feel his past depression is never discussed and the fact Kate has to maintain her weight by not eating just low calorie foods is another. It's one relationship I thought had potential but they had it fall flat. I will never understand why Philip had to be.

Edited March 16, 2022 by debraran