S02.E16 : This Must Be the Place

[greekmom]

Quote

On a special day for the Mularkey family, Tully reflects on decades of work, love, grief and joy alongside her best friend.  Kate faces the unknown.

 

[CarpeFelis]

I binged all of part 2 yesterday and don’t recall which episode this happened in so I’m commenting here. The fakeout really pissed me off. We have Tully and Kate getting ready for Marah’s wedding and think she survived, and then discover Tully was just imagining the conversation they’d be having if she were still there.

Also wondering just how realistic Kate’s death was. It was wonderful that it was so peaceful and in a beautiful place. But really, with mets in the brain, it seems far more likely she’d have been bedbound because of multiple seizures (rather than the show portraying that she’d only had one). And also, no glasses yet she sees an eagle flying by in sharp detail?

[CSunshine76]

I just finished watching. The show gutted me, I was bawling. 
 

However, I agree with the fake out at Marah’s wedding. That pissed me off.  Also Tv deaths are never real, and having watched my Mom die from cancer, I’m okay with that. Reality is far worse than anything they can portray on TV. I liked the peaceful ending they gave Kate.

[CarpeFelis]

20 minutes ago, CSunshine76 said:

Reality is far worse than anything they can portray on TV. I liked the peaceful ending they gave Kate.

I liked it, too, just wondered how far from reality it was.

[TiredMe]

I didn’t believe the takeout for a second. So I didn’t feel betrayed. It was a tough watch. I’m glad Tully ended up with Danny.

[memememe76]

I liked the ending. Ultimately, the main timeline was the only one I was interested. I was also tired of every romance involving some type of betrayal. I also liked how the two moms were betrayed. Sarah Chalke can kinda grate at me times (she can be so manic) but she portrayed calm and solemnity very well. Heigel reminded me how much star quality she has, she really needs a show that showcases her gifts. 

[madpsych78]

I felt like Season 1 was Heigl's season, but this second part of Season 2 was Chalke's season. She just brought it. 

[dmc]

I feel the need to comment because when this show came out I gave it a scathing commentary for basing female friendship on being fighting over some dumb guy whose never worth it.  But it slowly won me over.  I hated Tully but by the end I was team Tully for life. When Kate died, I sobbed so hard.  It’s such a good show but Tully is a hard sell.  But in the end, I was rooting for her hardcore. 
 

 

[tinderbox]

I watched all episodes of this show specifically for adult AND young Tully along with young Kate.  Great performances by all three women.  I never quite warmed up to the adult Kate character or Sarah Chalke, in particular.  However, I loved and appreciated almost everything about this show.  It was a good run.  

[greekmom]

I didn't buy the fake out but I totally forgot that Marah was gay (freaking gaps in seasons) so it threw me off for half second when I saw 2 brides.

I would have liked for Tully and Danny to do a quick wedding for Kate to have attended before she died. The whole will they or won't they was stressful.

 

 

[dubbel zout]

The fakeout annoyed only in that I would have been really angry if Kate had lived. That would have been too fairy-tale a resolution to her story. I was fine with her having a "pretty" death, as I don't think we needed to see how horrible it can be. I loved that gray blanket she had at the end!

I enjoyed the moms reaching some sort of détente. They'll never really like each other, but they can appreciate the places each has in the lives of their daughters. Margie (with an uptalk on the second syllable, hee) getting stoned was hilarious, as was her saying "Fuck it!" during the moon ceremony. It was nice to see that both women made some positive forward steps in their own lives.

I'm not sure how much Kate and Tully grew, tbh, but I enjoyed the journey. I like that they tempered each other. Kate could be maddeningly passive, but Tully knew how to push her just enough to get her on the right path, just as Kate could dial back Tully from some of her worst impulses.

Once the wedding fakeout was revealed to be fake, I knew Kate would die, so that didn't get me crying, but as soon as "Dancing Queen" on the Firefly Lane Mix kicked in, I started crying. The whole box Kate left for Tully was perfect. Love the color David Cassidy picture with the Kiss This sticky note on it. 

[greekmom]

They did fake out the box as well. When Johnny was making the list, Kate wanted Virginia slims, ipod, photo of David Cassidy, etc.

But when Tully opened the box it was a joint and not the Virginia slim cigarettes.

 

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, greekmom said:

But when Tully opened the box it was a joint and not the Virginia slim cigarettes.

I wondered if that was a continuity error? Or maybe we're supposed to think Kate changed it after they got high with their moms?

[Anela]

Okay, well now I resent the real fake-out at the end of the previous episode.I watched this last one, thinking it wouldn’t be sad.  How stupid am I?

I started watching this on the day it premiered in 2021, and found out later that my aunt had died.  Breast cancer that had come back, and spread to her brain (a tumour). She stopped treatment in 2020.  

I’m glad that Margie and Cloud are now friends. 

[Anela]

Oh, I love Danny, too. I’m glad that Tully didn’t keep pushing him away.

[Jillybean]

The misdirects with this show started with the very first episode of Season 1 and just became more and more blatant by the end of S2. Overall, this was very emotionally manipulative and felt like they were trying (and failing) to follow the This Is Us playbook, especially with all the flash-forwards obviously designed to mislead the viewers. The show is very loosely based on the books but really just dropped the book characters into different storylines. The adult Tully and Kate didn't seem like the people that teen Tully and Kate would have become. 

On the positive side, I really don't like Heigl but she was good in S2 even if all her wigs throughout the series were terrible. Chalke was good. I wondered why a lifelong blonde's hair grew back brown.  I hope the closing scene doesn't permanently ruin "Dancing Queen" for me.

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, Jillybean said:

I wondered why a lifelong blonde's hair grew back brown. 

Chemo can change your hair at the molecular level. I had straight hair all my life, but after umpteen rounds of chemo, I now have definitely curly hair. It's bizarre. Also, I'm not sure we were supposed to think Kate was a natural blonde, and chemo also can make your hair extremely fragile. Bleaching is out unless you want all of your hair to break off.

[funnygirl]

On 4/29/2023 at 3:42 PM, TiredMe said:

I’m glad Tully ended up with Danny.

I loved the Sportsman, and I'm so happy that Tully found her match with him.

And though we didn't see Danny at all in the timeline for Marah's wedding (at least I don't recall seeing him?), we did hear him knock on the door and call out "Tallulah Rose" after Tully's fantasy of talking to Kate. I always loved when he called Tully that. 

I only wish we got to see Tully and Danny get married. For goodness sakes, we saw damn near everything of Kate and Johnny, it would've been great to see Tully reach that milestone after all she's been through. 

Edited May 2, 2023 by funnygirl

[CarpeFelis]

On 5/1/2023 at 6:50 AM, dubbel zout said:

Also, I'm not sure we were supposed to think Kate was a natural blonde

Yes, we were because teenage Kate was blond and her mom definitely did not come across as the type allow her to bleach her hair.

[dubbel zout]

Being a blonde as a young woman doesn't mean you're a blonde as an adult. Source: Young blonde me.

Anyway, we saw roots on adult Kate, so she did do some highlighting, at minimum. 

[Snow Fairy]

I was a blond kid and teen. After pregnancy my hair turned brown.

Weird things happen.

I never heard of the book, started watching the show thinking it would be light fun. Damn was I wrong

 

But I liked it

[Shermie]

On 5/1/2023 at 7:53 AM, Jillybean said:

I wondered why a lifelong blonde's hair grew back brown.

Even natural blondes have darker roots. Kate’s hair was very short; if she had remained a natural blonde into adulthood (not necessarily likely), longer hair would have been lighter. Source: Every blonde I know, including me.

On 4/29/2023 at 2:30 PM, CarpeFelis said:

wondering just how realistic Kate’s death was.

An actual person dying probably would have fallen over sitting in a chair, since there’s no muscle tone anymore. They could have made it more realistic by having Kate lying in a lounge chair, leaning back with her head. Such a simple solution. I agree with whoever said that it would have pissed me off if she had survived because that would have been ridiculously unrealistic. All the fancy new treatments in the world aren’t going to save you if your cancer has metastasized to the liver, stomach and brain. 

Overall comments on the show:

Katherine Heigl is gorgeous, just luminous. Agree that she needs more to do. Not sure what “bad wigs” someone mentioned is talking about. I never notice wigs but it sure seems to be an internet peeve.

Loved Margie and Cloud at the end around the fire. (Paraphrasing) Cloud: I never imagined I’d be tempted to do drugs by Marge. Margie: It’s Margie. Mar. Gie. Gie. Gie! (Giggles)

Randomly wondering why so many tv families only have one kid when it’s so unrealistic, especially for shows set in the olden days (60s, 70s, 80s, etc). Yes, kids per woman is under 2 nationally, but for women who actually have kids, it’s more like 2-3. Yet on tv, most families have one kid unless a second kid is needed for plot purposes. Someone like Cloud, with her irresponsible free-wheeling lifestyle, should have had a couple other kids over the years. 

Also wondering why the writers chose to have both Kate’s brother and daughter be gay. I don’t care, but statistically it seems unlikely. 

Overall, I loved this and binged the final episodes as soon as I had time. I’m glad there are so many quality shows where the focus is on the women (Firefly Lane, Dead To Me, Good Girls, etc. etc.). Of course, there are men but they are secondary to the women’s stories.

I also really liked the shorter run - 3 (yes, I know, technically 2) seasons is perfect. Season 1 - set up the stories, season 2 - throw in all the conflicts, season 3 - wrap it all up. British shows are much better at keeping things short and sweet. Many American shows just drag on and on. Firefly Lane was the perfect length.

[Harvey]

I really liked the scene where Tully asked Danny to not move away. It was interesting to say because in pretty much all other media they always make such a big deal out of this notion ~ that you can't ask someone not to move away to pursue their professional goals, because for sure they will end up resenting you ~ but that was not the case here, Tully even explicitly said that he is staying in town for her.

[MadyGirl1987]

Thinking on it, and did anyone else find themselves annoyed that Tully noped out of the funeral. I mean, I get that grief affects people in different ways, but I felt like it was making it a bit about her and focusing on her grief? My mother died of breast cancer herself,  and I would have given serious side-eye to any friend of hers that would have done that at her funeral. Grief is hard and messy, but it seems wrong to tell someone's grieving husband YOU are so affected by the death you can't go into the funeral.

[Anela]

11 minutes ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Thinking on it, and did anyone else find themselves annoyed that Tully noped out of the funeral. I mean, I get that grief affects people in different ways, but I felt like it was making it a bit about her and focusing on her grief? My mother died of breast cancer herself,  and I would have given serious side-eye to any friend of hers that would have done that at her funeral. Grief is hard and messy, but it seems wrong to tell someone's grieving husband YOU are so affected by the death you can't go into the funeral.

I almost didn't go to my mum's funeral, because I was in hard denial. I got up and showered quickly, and threw my clothes on, when dad woke me up to say they were leaving. 

But, yeah. She knew her longer, but her daughter had to say goodbye to her mother, much too young, and she went. 

[dubbel zout]

A very close friend of my mom's didn't come to her service, and I was fine with that. There were enough teary people to deal with the way it was. 

[nichelle]

On 4/29/2023 at 1:30 PM, CarpeFelis said:

I binged all of part 2 yesterday and don’t recall which episode this happened in so I’m commenting here. The fakeout really pissed me off. We have Tully and Kate getting ready for Marah’s wedding and think she survived, and then discover Tully was just imagining the conversation they’d be having if she were still there.

Also wondering just how realistic Kate’s death was. It was wonderful that it was so peaceful and in a beautiful place. But really, with mets in the brain, it seems far more likely she’d have been bedbound because of multiple seizures (rather than the show portraying that she’d only had one). And also, no glasses yet she sees an eagle flying by in sharp detail?

I hated the fake out too. It just felt manipulative and who needs that. 

As far as the TV version of death, I was okay with it and appreciated the serenity at the end.  I don't think she actually was clear eyed enough to see an eagle. Rather, I took it as a beautiful day filled with the sights and sounds of life. The water, birds, trees, people, fish, etc. all represented nature in its full glory while another life passes. 

I liked this show a lot more than I thought I would when it premiered.

[Cosmocrush]

On 5/5/2023 at 2:09 PM, Snow Fairy said:

I never heard of the book, started watching the show thinking it would be light fun. Damn was I wrong

Same.  Kate and Tully were my age and grew up in the same part of the world I did (PNW) so I liked it immediately.    I never dreamed this would have a Beaches ending.   I hated that but by then I was waaay too far into this show.    Thought about reading the book, now I'm going to pass. 

So in the end I liked it but would have definitely preferred a different ending.  

[QQQQ]

I didn't go to my grandma's funeral (she died at age 99, when I was in my 40s). She was truly one of my favorite people in the world, but I just couldn't do it. We'd discussed it prior to her death (she brought it up). She knew how upset I would likely be and told me she completed understood if I didn't attend. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by QQQQ

[Cosmocrush]

On 5/14/2023 at 4:16 PM, QQQQ said:

I didn't go to my grandma's funeral (she died at age 99, when I was in my 40s). She was truly one of my favorite people in the world, but I just couldn't do it. We'd discussed it prior to her death (she brought it up). She knew how upset I would likely be and told me she completed understood if I didn't attend. 

And Kate knew Tully might feel the same way; that's why she had Johnny gather the items in the box for Tully to remember her privately with shared fun memories.   That was nice, although I still think Tully was a way better friend to Kate then Kate was to Tully.  

[MadyGirl1987]

3 hours ago, Cosmocrush said:

Tully was a way better friend to Kate then Kate was to Tully.  

Can I ask you why you think that? I'm just curious since, to me, Tully seemed to dominate the relationship between her and Kate and I see Kate as the better friend. I also can't forgive her for putting Marah in danger with the crash, since, even though she deflected blame from herself saying she wasn't found at fault, it was her fault Marah was at the party and needed to get out of the situation. If she had listened to Kate, Marah wouldn't have been in that car accident.

Isn't it interesting how people can watch the same show but come away with different takes?

[Cosmocrush]

1 hour ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Can I ask you why you think that?

I started thinking that last season at Kate's Father's funeral; when Kate screamed at her that she didn't belong there, that she couldn't be there.   As Tully said, Kate referred to Tully as family for decades and Tully felt that way but Kate did not. And funeral drama comes without do-overs.   Then of course the way Kate completely cut Tully out of her life  UNTIL she needed her friend. 

In a list of everything Tully did for Kate versus what Kate did for Tully I don't know it but I feel like Tully's list would be longer.   Tully never cut Kate out, and Kate was ready to cut Tully starting with Tully's lie about Cloud having cancer. That seemed kind of heartless to me. 

Finally, I thought the thing with Marah could have/should have been talked out since fortunately Marah was not hurt.  She wasn't a toddler, she was a teenager and had some responsibility especially since Tully rescued her from the frat house.    It was an accident, with lessons learned.   It really bugged me that Kate didn't forgive Tully until her diagnosis. 

1 hour ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Isn't it interesting how people can watch the same show but come away with different takes?

Yes!  That's one reason I enjoy this forum. 

[CountryGirl]

Having read the book, I knew what was coming, but I had some ugly-cry moments watching the finale last night. And some smiles and laughs, so that's as it should be.

I knew the Kate seemingly being alive in 2016 was a fake-out and it didn't bother me. It's only natural to picture your loved one as still being alive from time to time. For example, on my wedding day, I imagined my brother walking me down the aisle and pictured him as I closed my eyes and took a breath in the moment before his son (his only child) walked me down instead. 

Tully's anger when realizing there won't be a clinical trial, there won't be any more treatments, that Kate is coming home to die was palpable and I remember how I was not amused that KH was going to be playing Tully, but damn if she isn't every inch the perfect Tully Hart. 

Kate feverishly working to finish her memoir, Firefly Lane, and wanting them all, Marah especially, to remember her, especially the time before she got sick, touched me.

A feeling abandoned Tully hears from Cloud's probation officer that Cloud is out of jail but hasn't contacted her and Kate reminding her "we're family." A perfect callback to the S1 finale when Kate clung to Tully. 

The surety of youth when Kate says they will go to college together, get married (to the Cassidy brothers LOL), and have babies at the same time. That they will grow old together. Okay, I started tearing up here. 

Present-Day Tully reminding Kate of their deal and that she will never be ready to live without her.

Later, when Kate is home again, and Tully bundles her up in her wheelchair to fly her down to the bottom of the hill by the house and we flash back to the teenagers riding bikes on Firefly Lane and those moments are this show's heart. The feelings of friendship and love and nostalgia in one beautiful, tragic package. 

I did get a lot of laughs with them getting high and their mothers joining in. Marg-EEE and Cloud have never been close but they both love their girls so much. Cloud remarking how of all moments for her to be sober.

Oh, that moment where Kate, thinking Marah is a little girl, asks Johnny if he washed her witch costume. That was a gut-punch.

Kate encouraging Tully to get her head out of her ass where Danny was concerned and Tully actually doing it. 

I knew Kate would pass on when Tully went to get the tea but what a beautiful moment as she took her last breaths, the beauty of the world all around her, and I like to think she went then because she knew Tully would never let her go so long as she was in her presence.

The box of mementos....oh my goodness and their song on the iPod. Just perfect.

So I'm going to dry my tears and think of my lovely TullyandKate and the series that did them justice.

 

 

 

[Michichick]

I just binged the second half of season 2 today, except I stopped this final episode a few minutes in when it became apparent that Kate was going to die. Thanks to everyone who posted here so I know how things ended up without having to watch the episode. Just hits a little too close to home for me, but I’m glad to know how the show ends.