This Is Our Spoiler and Speculation Topic

[ShortyMac]

[chocolatine]

3 hours ago, mariah23 said:

How about Super Bowl Sunday?

Ugh, why are they doing that? Do they think they'll get better ratings?

[debraran]

It might have been something they didn't think out, but the steno book wouldn't be something Jack grabs trying to leave the house, I would think getting his kids out would be top priority and Rebecca. That's the only thing, it being bagged with his rings, etc. that made me wonder if Jack died later and not en route to hospital. Was he dead when she left him to look at the house?

[BlancheDevoreaux]

5 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Ugh, why are they doing that? Do they think they'll get better ratings?

I think it is because the show isn't going to air next week due to the State of the Union and then the Olympics being on most of February. I think that they wanted to get in the episode before March so they don't annoy the fans by dragging this death thing out even more. 

[Guest]

So it seems like Kate, her dog, Randall, and his date end up at Miguel's (maybe because Jack has to be rushed to the hospital).  Rebecca calls Miguel who tells the kids that Jack didn't make it (maybe she went to the hospital with Jack or met the paramedics there).  Then Rebecca goes back to the house before getting the kids.

[absnow54]

I'm wondering if Kate starts the fire because she is sneaking food and didn't properly turn of the oven or something in her rush to hide what she was doing.

Since we now know how the fire starts, and they showed the dog sleeping downstairs, I'm betting Jack dies because he goes back in the house to rescue Kate's dog. Especially given Kate's hesitation to adopt a new dog.

[nutty1]

Maybe Jack doesn't die in the fire.....isn't that so obvious?? Maybe Kate's dog runs out in the street and he runs out to save it and gets hit by a car. Kate always appears to be the guilty one.

[ForeverPluto]

It's very possible he doesn't die in the fire but ends up with some injury that proves to be fatal as a result of the fire. What if Jack sustained some kind of head injury due to something falling on him in the fire? I've heard of stories of people who sustain head injuries and appear to be fine afterwards, only to end dying some time later. I remember there was an actress (can see her but I can't remember her name!) who died this way years ago, only it wasn't in a fire though. She hit her head while on vacation and she said she was fine. Paramedics were called out and she even sent them away. Some hours later, she ends up brain dead. Perhaps they all made it out of the house and Jack succumbed to this sort of injury injury later on?

[jah1986]

50 minutes ago, ForeverPluto said:

 I remember there was an actress (can see her but I can't remember her name!) who died this way years ago, only it wasn't in a fire though. She hit her head while on vacation and she said she was fine. Paramedics were called out and she even sent them away. Some hours later, she ends up brain dead. Perhaps they all made it out of the house and Jack succumbed to this sort of injury injury later on?

Natasha Richardson, she was married to Liam Neeson at the time of her skiing accident.  Interesting theory about Jack.

[ShadowFacts]

There are so many ways it could go.  He has a minor injury, like needs stitches, or he needs to stay overnight for observation, then has a heart attack or anaphylactic shock from something and it's irreversible.  Randall did say he died when nobody was looking. 

[scatteroflight]

Have there been any hints about what's happening with Sophie? I know Alexandra Breckenridge just had a baby, but she was made a series regular for season 2 if I recall correctly, so despite last night's episode, it would stand to reason that Kevin and Sophie aren't actually finished. I don't know where you'd take it from where they left things, though.

[debraran]

She seemed hopeful in this article, was afraid to tell Fogleman but he was good with it. It does seem they tweaked the script though from what she said. Hard to keep hiding it so having her 'take a break" from Kevin might be a good thing.

It's tiresome if they don't have them stick this time, masochistic for her, but I hope they do get back together.

https://www.today.com/parents/us-star-alexandra-breckenridge-feared-she-d-get-fired-over-t118517

Edited January 25, 2018 by debraran

[debraran]

18 hours ago, nutty1 said:

Maybe Jack doesn't die in the fire.....isn't that so obvious?? Maybe Kate's dog runs out in the street and he runs out to save it and gets hit by a car. Kate always appears to be the guilty one.

I wish they showed more of her therapy at the camp, she touched on a lot of issues with his death but they decided to cut them out thinking it told too much. Why it had to be so hidden was maybe ratings driven but people would have watched either way. I have 3 or 4 coworkers that stopped watching last year because they felt it was turning into "what killed Jack' vs a show of a family you wanted to know better.

 

Who thinks the fireman comes back to the house that brought Randall to hospital?

[ForeverPluto]

9 hours ago, debraran said:

I wish they showed more of her therapy at the camp, she touched on a lot of issues with his death but they decided to cut them out thinking it told too much. Why it had to be so hidden was maybe ratings driven but people would have watched either way. I have 3 or 4 coworkers that stopped watching last year because they felt it was turning into "what killed Jack' vs a show of a family you wanted to know better.

 

Who thinks the fireman comes back to the house that brought Randall to hospital?

I do!! I just wonder if he will still be a fireman or if he's moved up in the ranks? Perhaps by the time of the fire, he might be fire chief or even fire commissioner?

[gonzosgirrl]

I feel like Jack's ultimate death has to be something Kate would still feel guilt for twenty years later, because to me, she's self-centered enough that she wouldn't carry that for nothing. Yet the rest of the family doesn't seem to overtly blame her. And while we've had plenty of red herrings, her PTSD about the dog was too overt to be a fake-out (IMO). So... it still seems to me it has to be the dog, and while she didn't ask Jack to go after him, Jack does it because of her. My other thought is that maybe she doesn't realize Kevin isn't home and insists Jack go back in for him? Might explain Kevin's guilt more than just not getting to say he was sorry.

[Kbford14371]

I don’t think he dies in the fire. I think the scene at Miguel’s with the red head is a different night. Randall has a different sweater/shirt combo on in that scene than he did in the that’ll be the day episode. They are all fully dressed at Miguel’s. If they were sleeping when the fire started, how did they all get fully dressed. I guess they could have extra clothes at Miguel’s. 

[ChicksDigScars]

On 1/24/2018 at 1:01 PM, ShadowFacts said:

There are so many ways it could go.  He has a minor injury, like needs stitches, or he needs to stay overnight for observation, then has a heart attack or anaphylactic shock from something and it's irreversible.  Randall did say he died when nobody was looking. 

Shit.  Like Denny.  Those of us that watch Grey's and This Is Us are having a BAD week. I think I went through a half gallon of ice cream in two days. 

[Blakeston]

I can't imagine Jack being alive for a significant amount of time after the fire, unless he's comatose or otherwise unconscious. If he was alive and conscious for even a day afterward, there goes the writers' idea that Kevin's last words to Jack were awful (and that he's never been able to make amends).

[laurakaye]

On 12/29/2017 at 2:11 AM, GSMHvisitor said:

Can you give away if we're actually gonna see something of the direct aftermath of Kevin's arrest? Like Beth and Randall's anger, Kevin's remorse and how Tess is doing? Or is there a time jump and we start the episode in rehab?

The above post is nearly a month old, and I confess that I kind of forgot about Kevin's DUI, since - unless I wasn't paying attention - he was never arrested?  I mean, we see Kevin driving drunk with Tess in the car and then it's therapy time, no mention at all of Tess, and now Kevin and Randall are playing Bob the Builder together and everything's fine?  I have no way to compute how much time has passed since the DUI and Randall taking over the building.  Weeks?  Months?  No clue.  None.

 

3 hours ago, Kbford14371 said:

I don’t think he dies in the fire. I think the scene at Miguel’s with the red head is a different night. Randall has a different sweater/shirt combo on in that scene than he did in the that’ll be the day episode. They are all fully dressed at Miguel’s. If they were sleeping when the fire started, how did they all get fully dressed. I guess they could have extra clothes at Miguel’s. 

I have read so many posts like this (no offense intended to @Kbford14371 whatsoever, because I have posted similar ideas)...but it often seems like we have to do a lot of reaching and searching as to how something happened based on the way that it's being presented to us.  I am all on board for a show peppered with interesting clues, but the "clues" that I've seen up to now have either been plain confusing or dead ends, and we are left to connect the dots in our own minds.  I feel like a good show that bases its major plot on clues shouldn't force us to try and come up with so much on our own.  If they proclaim that "all will be revealed in the end," they might risk losing viewers because we've forgotten those all-important clues, or we simply don't care anymore.

Edited January 26, 2018 by laurakaye

[chocolatine]

2 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

The above post is nearly a moth old, and I confess that I kind of forgot about Kevin's DUI, since - unless I wasn't paying attention - he was never arrested?  I mean, we see Kevin driving drunk with Tess in the car and then it's therapy time, no mention at all of Tess, and now Kevin and Randall are playing Bob the Builder together and everything's fine?  I have no way to compute how much time has passed since the DUI and Randall taking over the building.  Weeks?  Months?  No clue.  None.

We saw him get pulled over, and in the therapy episode, when Kate said she "let" Kevin get sent to therapy, Toby replied, "well, technically, the judge let him." So I think it's fair to say that he was arrested.

[laurakaye]

1 minute ago, chocolatine said:

We saw him get pulled over, and in the therapy episode, when Kate said she "let" Kevin get sent to therapy, Toby replied, "well, technically, the judge let him." So I think it's fair to say that he was arrested.

Thank you, I didn't hear that.  I wish we'd seen a little bit of the direct aftermath.  I feel like Kevin got off way too easy.

[chocolatine]

Just now, laurakaye said:

Thank you, I didn't hear that.  I wish we'd seen a little bit of the direct aftermath.  I feel like Kevin got off way too easy.

Yes, we got robbed. There would have been a jail scene, a ton of bad publicity - TMZ, etc. - not to mention Randall and Beth's immediate reactions. 

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, laurakaye said:

The above post is nearly a month old, and I confess that I kind of forgot about Kevin's DUI, since - unless I wasn't paying attention - he was never arrested?  I mean, we see Kevin driving drunk with Tess in the car and then it's therapy time, no mention at all of Tess, and now Kevin and Randall are playing Bob the Builder together and everything's fine?  I have no way to compute how much time has passed since the DUI and Randall taking over the building.  Weeks?  Months?  No clue.  None.

Well, we know the DUI took place just before Thanksgiving and the next episode started sometime in January, and I suspect Kevin was in rehab for 30 days, at least, until Family Day. So it's been about a month and a half, perhaps closer to two if they skipped a few weeks between Randall's plan to become landlords for the building and actually going through that process to hold a building meeting.

It is odd for Kevin and Randall to be chummy again, I agree with that. We missed a whole lot in the middle, but I lean on the side of things not being fine between them. I think Randall is still trying to be supportive of Kevin and is treading lightly around him, but I can't ever forget how Randall expressed his very real feelings about not thinking that Kevin has a drug addiction. He never apologized for that, which makes me feel like Randall still doesn't really get it. Kevin DID butt in with helping Randall out on the building. He showed up and just jumped right into it without waiting for Randall and Beth to really say anything. But, on the other hand, Kevin is trying to find ways to keep himself busy so he doesn't start drinking or doing drugs again, so his thought process is that helping Randall out on his building is the perfect way, especially since Rebecca and Miguel were conveniently missing from the episode (I know that they left a note, but I can't remember what it said). 

It's why I think there will be another confrontation between Kevin and Randall/Beth at some point. I can't imagine Randall and Kevin are all good right now. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

We saw him get pulled over, and in the therapy episode, when Kate said she "let" Kevin get sent to therapy, Toby replied, "well, technically, the judge let him." So I think it's fair to say that he was arrested.

I think too in the family therapy session didn't someone make a jab at Kevin with something like, "You're the one in court ordered therapy." 

I'm fine with the time jump.  I had no desire to see Kevin publicly humiliated again, or in jail or court.  (Randall, maybe...)

[laurakaye]

29 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think too in the family therapy session didn't someone make a jab at Kevin with something like, "You're the one in court ordered therapy." 

I'm fine with the time jump.  I had no desire to see Kevin publicly humiliated again, or in jail or court.  (Randall, maybe...)

Neither did I, but I sure would've liked to have seen something go down between Randall and Kevin, since we have been shown that the two of them weren't very close  growing up.  Since this show's focus is on the Big Three, I was sure we were going to get some fireworks from those two.  The therapy session was close, but if there was ever a time for some great back-and-forth dialogue, I would've liked to have seen it go down between the brothers...not to mention some serious rage from Beth and especially anger or fear from Tess.  I feel like some potentially awesome moments were glossed over.

[debraran]

On 1/25/2018 at 3:07 PM, ForeverPluto said:

I do!! I just wonder if he will still be a fireman or if he's moved up in the ranks? Perhaps by the time of the fire, he might be fire chief or even fire commissioner?

And I know he'd remember him since it was a big event in his life if he followed up on it.

Just like this show to have him be the one to get him to the hospital or something like that.

[NutMeg]

8 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I can't imagine Jack being alive for a significant amount of time after the fire, unless he's comatose or otherwise unconscious. If he was alive and conscious for even a day afterward, there goes the writers' idea that Kevin's last words to Jack were awful (and that he's never been able to make amends).

Unless the last words we heard and the ominous "I'll talk to him tomorrow" are again red herrings, and there is another set of last words - the last last words - coming up. After the fire and with Jack still alive.

[debraran]

Some pics from Super Bowl show but just of Randall and family and Kevin mediating. (You mean it's not ALL Jack??)  : )

https://www.today.com/popculture/see-1st-pics-us-super-bowl-sunday-episode-t121792

[GypsyPeach]

Pure speculation: I think we will get all the answers about how Jack dies in the Super Bowl episode. However, I think they will also sucker punch us and show us another death. The conversation that Kevin and Randall had while working on the apartment about how Randall has never pictured himself as an old man and how he can’t imagine outliving his father, Jack, had me worried. I feel like that was foreshadowing and Randall is going to die. We’ll see a flash forward to his funeral, and then season three will be all about the mystery of how and why Randall dies.

[methodwriter85]

14 hours ago, GypsyPeach said:

Pure speculation: I think we will get all the answers about how Jack dies in the Super Bowl episode. However, I think they will also sucker punch us and show us another death. The conversation that Kevin and Randall had while working on the apartment about how Randall has never pictured himself as an old man and how he can’t imagine outliving his father, Jack, had me worried. I feel like that was foreshadowing and Randall is going to die. We’ll see a flash forward to his funeral, and then season three will be all about the mystery of how and why Randall dies.

I honestly can't see them doing that. This entire show seems to be built around Randall, unless they suggest that Randall dies 10 years from now.

[Pallas]

I do think it's possible that the story will introduce another ongoing, life-and-death Pearson scenario, and fairly soon -- but not on the night that Jack dies on us.

Best Pearson Super Bowl Sunday indeed, Jack. Don't let that chili get cold.

[tinderbox]

15 hours ago, GypsyPeach said:

Pure speculation: I think we will get all the answers about how Jack dies in the Super Bowl episode. However, I think they will also sucker punch us and show us another death. The conversation that Kevin and Randall had while working on the apartment about how Randall has never pictured himself as an old man and how he can’t imagine outliving his father, Jack, had me worried. I feel like that was foreshadowing and Randall is going to die. We’ll see a flash forward to his funeral, and then season three will be all about the mystery of how and why Randall dies.

I don't see this happening BUT I remember being blindsided at Gary's unexpected and tragic death on "thirty something" so many years ago.  We were all concentrating on the health ( life and death cancer situation) of another main character when, out if nowhere, Gary died.  So, I will keep an open mind, considering this set of writers!

Edited January 27, 2018 by tinderbox

[debraran]

Why bring the brother into it at all unless there will be a lot more flashbacks with Jack. The hidden picture in the garage, the flashbacks, the anger.  I wonder if he suffered any PTSD symptoms and if the fire would bring that out.

[Pallas]

From a post of mine in the Jack/Milo thread: 

Quote

We don't see where Jack's memorial service was held. In fact, the shots were deliberately close up and in that sense, "cropped." I"m guessing that the service was held at Arlington. And (yet another) portion of Jack's ashes buried there, with Nicky. "You should always look after your brother." 

@ShadowFacts replied, 

Quote

Had not thought about it until just now, but Jack will be eligible for military honors no matter where the service is.  That's another tear-inducing moment right there.  But yeah, with his brother...

Full military honors are going to happen as Super Bowl Sunday draws to a close. 

And I wonder if, in the hospital, Jack will have visions of his brother's death -- and this time, "die" saving him.  He makes amends with Nicky, even if there's nothing to forgive.

[Crs97]

When my dad died, the military honors given to him for serving during Korea were his rank given on his tombstone, a gravesite in the military section of the cemetery, a flag (already folded) near his casket, and IIRC a representative might have met very briefly with Mom sometime before the funeral to pay his respects.  If we see a full gun-saluting and flag-folding ceremony at his funeral, I will probably be highly annoyed rather than emotional.

[Aloeonatable]

1 hour ago, Crs97 said:

When my dad died, the military honors given to him for serving during Korea were his rank given on his tombstone, a gravesite in the military section of the cemetery, a flag (already folded) near his casket, and IIRC a representative might have met very briefly with Mom sometime before the funeral to pay his respects.  If we see a full gun-saluting and flag-folding ceremony at his funeral, I will probably be highly annoyed rather than emotional.

When my father died, he had a 21 gun salute and taps played on a bugle (by a very close friend of his.) He was a World War II vet and is buried in a military cemetery. It could have been because I had a brother who was career military and a Lieutenant-Colonel at the time, though I think the cemetery offered that to all vets. My mother received the folded flag too. 

[ShadowFacts]

3 hours ago, Crs97 said:

When my dad died, the military honors given to him for serving during Korea were his rank given on his tombstone, a gravesite in the military section of the cemetery, a flag (already folded) near his casket, and IIRC a representative might have met very briefly with Mom sometime before the funeral to pay his respects.  If we see a full gun-saluting and flag-folding ceremony at his funeral, I will probably be highly annoyed rather than emotional.

My dad recently died, was Korean era, and had 3 volleys, taps and flag-folding ceremony.  My Vietnam era cousin had the same.  I think all vets are entitled to that, and it may have been a matter of the local VFW or Amvets post just not having enough volunteers.  

[debraran]

Someone at work brought up suicide which wasn't something anyone wants to think of and it's not "hero" which they like Jack to be. She has a better memory than I do and she reminded me of this:

Let's cast our memories back to season one's Christmas episode. Randall's office party takes an unexpected turn when he stumbles across a co-worker (played by Westworld's Jimmi Simpson) contemplating suicide from the rooftop. Randall had to literally talk him off the ledge, and referenced the loss of Jack in doing so, telling Simpson's character that it's his job as a father to stick around for his daughter. The scene was effective, because these actors are incredible, but also felt kind of random, especially because we'd never seen Simpson in the show before (and haven't seen him since). What if this wasn't a random aside, but a little bit of foreshadowing?

Kate wouldn't feel guilty about that since she didn't start the fire, but I can't imagine someone hasn't hit on it.

[Pallas]

In the S2.E13 thread, Debraran said,

Quote

 

From the 20's episode:

"Where are you at?" Kevin asks Kate, revealing he hadn't had an audition in nearly a year. "You still sittin' in your car, eating fast food and staring at where the house used to be?"

"He's gone," Kevin continues. "OK? And he's not coming back. Even if you sit there, in the exact same spot where you were when he left… he's not coming back."

Is "left" a euphemism for died?

Also when Randall said, "We took our eyes off of him for a second and he was gone" That stuck with me, did they lose him in an explosion or accident while not looking? Just an odd statement or maybe looking for something not there.

 

I think "left" is deliberately ambiguous but will turn out to mean, "left in the ambulance."  I'll never believe that the kids we saw sitting at Miguel's -- and Miguel himself, deeply concerned but not distraught -- had just seen their father blow up or burn to death. Randall also said that Jack died alone.

15 hours ago, debraran said:

Someone at work brought up suicide which wasn't something anyone wants to think of and it's not "hero" which they like Jack to be. She has a better memory than I do and she reminded me of this:

This thought is sinful, because it is so cheesy...At the hospital, Rebecca receives the news that Jack's brain was too long deprived of oxygen for him to recover. She has a decision to make, and leaves the room to go discuss the options available. While she is gone -- to spare her this choice, and his family the lifelong care of him -- Jack simply wills himself to take his leave. 

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, debraran said:

They have discussed his death, he knows how it happened, but not details in the beginning. She didn't want to rehash it which is understandable but at least she tried at the camp to get through it. Maybe the therapy session they butchered with editing because it told too much, will come back in flashbacks. I also welcome that the death can be discussed now, what a door to so many questions and flashbacks that were held off on earlier.

I was reading that quote again from Kevin to Kate about being stuck, when she sat in front of where their house was and thought, he was too, but in a different way. He physically went on but with lots of baggage. From the 20's episode:

"Where are you at?" Kevin asks Kate, revealing he hadn't had an audition in nearly a year. "You still sittin' in your car, eating fast food and staring at where the house used to be?"

"He's gone," Kevin continues. "OK? And he's not coming back. Even if you sit there, in the exact same spot where you were when he left… he's not coming back."

Is "left" a euphemism for died?

Also when Randall said, "We took our eyes off of him for a second and he was gone" That stuck with me, did they lose him in an explosion or accident while not looking? Just an odd statement or maybe looking for something not there.

 

From the episode thread.

I'd forgotten about Randall's line. If it wasn't just a poetic turn of phrase, then this line, combined with the odd scene at Miguel's where Kate and Randall are dressed in clean clothes and the red-headed girl is with them, suggests there is a short window between the fire and Jack dying. Maybe he succumbs to an injury they didn't think was life-threatening? They leave him at the hospital and then....

ETA: In re-watching the scene where Rebecca pulls up to the burned-out house, I realize there is still a firefighter and (maybe investigator?) mulling around the front. That also suggests a fairly short time frame, otherwise they wouldn't be there at night. So Jack is injured or has serious enough smoke inhalation to be taken to the hospital. Enough time passes that the kids are dressed and clean, as is Rebecca, yet not enough for them to have located Kevin. It's hard to imagine the kids leaving the hospital, or not going in the first place, if they thought Jack's death was imminent. So yeah, now I'm as puzzled as ever, but more convinced that Kevin's 'he left' and this line of Randall's were not meant to be literal. 

Edited January 28, 2018 by gonzosgirrl

[debraran]

On 1/28/2018 at 9:44 AM, gonzosgirrl said:

From the episode thread.

I'd forgotten about Randall's line. If it wasn't just a poetic turn of phrase, then this line, combined with the odd scene at Miguel's where Kate and Randall are dressed in clean clothes and the red-headed girl is with them, suggests there is a short window between the fire and Jack dying. Maybe he succumbs to an injury they didn't think was life-threatening? They leave him at the hospital and then....

ETA: In re-watching the scene where Rebecca pulls up to the burned-out house, I realize there is still a firefighter and (maybe investigator?) mulling around the front. That also suggests a fairly short time frame, otherwise they wouldn't be there at night. So Jack is injured or has serious enough smoke inhalation to be taken to the hospital. Enough time passes that the kids are dressed and clean, as is Rebecca, yet not enough for them to have located Kevin. It's hard to imagine the kids leaving the hospital, or not going in the first place, if they thought Jack's death was imminent. So yeah, now I'm as puzzled as ever, but more convinced that Kevin's 'he left' and this line of Randall's were not meant to be literal. 

 

Yes, first thing Randall thinks of is calling his friend? Kevin still doesn't know and they all have clean clothes and are crying quietly. How does Kate get to Kevin,they let her drive? Miguel leave the others? So many blanks.

 

On 1/28/2018 at 9:41 AM, Pallas said:

In the S2.E13 thread, Debraran said,

I think "left" is deliberately ambiguous but will turn out to mean, "left in the ambulance."  I'll never believe that the kids we saw sitting at Miguel's -- and Miguel himself, deeply concerned but not distraught -- had just seen their father blow up or burn to death. Randall also said that Jack died alone.

 

Randall said he died alone? That's sad. Either alone in house, car or hospital but still sad. I think the funeral will be a couple of weeks off, if he's cremated, no rush.  Was he saying that to someone outside of the family?

[chocolatine]

28 minutes ago, debraran said:

Randall said he died alone?

Not quite. When William's condition deteriorated, he told Randall he would leave because he didn't want the girls to see him die. Randall objected because he didn't want William "to die when nobody is looking." That led to speculation that Jack died when nobody was looking.

[debraran]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

Not quite. When William's condition deteriorated, he told Randall he would leave because he didn't want the girls to see him die. Randall objected because he didn't want William "to die when nobody is looking." That led to speculation that Jack died when nobody was looking.

Ok, that makes sense, he said we looked away and he was gone. Milo said it's pretty gut-wrenching, but I hope its not in his hands but just something that happened he couldn't help. I find in This is Us , the stuff they throw at you is rarely what it is. Let's show the candles, the fuse box, over and over, so you kind of knew it wasn't that but in the ball field.

[JenE4]

On 1/26/2018 at 11:33 AM, laurakaye said:

The above post is nearly a month old, and I confess that I kind of forgot about Kevin's DUI, since - unless I wasn't paying attention - he was never arrested?  I mean, we see Kevin driving drunk with Tess in the car and then it's therapy time, no mention at all of Tess, and now Kevin and Randall are playing Bob the Builder together and everything's fine?  I have no way to compute how much time has passed since the DUI and Randall taking over the building.  Weeks?  Months?  No clue.  None.

 

I have read so many posts like this (no offense intended to @Kbford14371 whatsoever, because I have posted similar ideas)...but it often seems like we have to do a lot of reaching and searching as to how something happened based on the way that it's being presented to us.  I am all on board for a show peppered with interesting clues, but the "clues" that I've seen up to now have either been plain confusing or dead ends, and we are left to connect the dots in our own minds.  I feel like a good show that bases its major plot on clues shouldn't force us to try and come up with so much on our own.  If they proclaim that "all will be revealed in the end," they might risk losing viewers because we've forgotten those all-important clues, or we simply don't care anymore.

The continual foreboding voiceovers in the previews is what makes me think that the next episode will NOT end with Jack dead...because wasn’t that supposed to happen in THIS episode—plus another half dozen times when the preview narrator told us “all your questions will be answered” and “this is the moment you’ve been waiting for”? No they were not, and no it has not. I love the show, but i’m no longer going to pay attention to the previews—namely to the narrator who sits on a throne of lies. Fake news!

Also far all of these “big reveals” that supposedly answered all of our questions ends up NOT actually being the full story or seemingly unrelated to the story, or we forget about entirely by the time they revisit that detail 6 episodes later. For instance, this past episode they showed a flash of that cute little boy that, oh yeah, Beth and Randall will supposedly adopt/foster when they showed him after Deja went back with her mom—but I totally forgot about that...and maybe it wasn’t even the SAME kid. And I will forget all about him once again by the time they’re done playing Property Bothers and go back to the adoption storyline.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I would sign on for a show in which we NEED to look for clues and track background characters and strategically placed items, etc. I was a HUGE Lost fan and my first TV chat room experience was with a Lost site in which we analyzed screen caps, read books and performed other types of research. I just didn’t think This Is Us is that kind of a show. It’s not REALLY—it seems to be more about setting up red herrings and twist endings and amping up the feels. But after the show, I have a difficult time remembering what was the big takeaway details and what were the red herring details that I should probably purge from my brain lest I not confuse myself for future tie-ins. Ok, granted, everyone is freaking the heck out over crockpots, but otherwise I could see myself being fuzzy on oh, the jukebox seemed important... This isn’t the best example to prove my point. 

Regardless, i’m 50/50 on whether Jack will ACTUALLY die in the fire. I honestly think he will not, but if THIS was supposed to be the episode in which it happens and NOW they’re trying to say THE NEXT episode will be it in a Super Bowl lead-in special, I feel like they kind of raised the stakes here that they HAVE to have Jack die in that one. 

[Optimist48]

43 minutes ago, JenE4 said:

The continual foreboding voiceovers in the previews is what makes me think that the next episode will NOT end with Jack dead...because wasn’t that supposed to happen in THIS episode—plus another half dozen times when the preview narrator told us “all your questions will be answered” and “this is the moment you’ve been waiting for”? No they were not, and no it has not. I love the show, but i’m no longer going to pay attention to the previews—namely to the narrator who sits on a throne of lies. Fake news!

Also far all of these “big reveals” that supposedly answered all of our questions ends up NOT actually being the full story or seemingly unrelated to the story, or we forget about entirely by the time they revisit that detail 6 episodes later. For instance, this past episode they showed a flash of that cute little boy that, oh yeah, Beth and Randall will supposedly adopt/foster when they showed him after Deja went back with her mom—but I totally forgot about that...and maybe it wasn’t even the SAME kid. And I will forget all about him once again by the time they’re done playing Property Bothers and go back to the adoption storyline.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I would sign on for a show in which we NEED to look for clues and track background characters and strategically placed items, etc. I was a HUGE Lost fan and my first TV chat room experience was with a Lost site in which we analyzed screen caps, read books and performed other types of research. I just didn’t think This Is Us is that kind of a show. It’s not REALLY—it seems to be more about setting up red herrings and twist endings and amping up the feels. But after the show, I have a difficult time remembering what was the big takeaway details and what were the red herring details that I should probably purge from my brain lest I not confuse myself for future tie-ins. Ok, granted, everyone is freaking the heck out over crockpots, but otherwise I could see myself being fuzzy on oh, the jukebox seemed important... This isn’t the best example to prove my point. 

Regardless, i’m 50/50 on whether Jack will ACTUALLY die in the fire. I honestly think he will not, but if THIS was supposed to be the episode in which it happens and NOW they’re trying to say THE NEXT episode will be it in a Super Bowl lead-in special, I feel like they kind of raised the stakes here that they HAVE to have Jack die in that one. 

Fogelman and the actors (Mandy, Milo, etc.) have pretty much said straight out that the next episode will provide fans with the answer to the question of Jack’s death.  

[Valjean3902]

I would bet my left boob, that Jack does not die in the fire, at least not directly.  The stuff on Rebecca's seat as she drives past the burned out house are not things a man would have on him in the middle of the night as he grapples with a fire.  He would have his wedding ring on, but he wouldn't being wearing a watch or have keys and a notebook.  My guess is that Jack gets out of the fire just fine, and he goes on a bender and something happens, or he goes back to the house to look for the dog and a beam falls on him or something.  Yes, I know Kate has the dog in the Miguel house scene, but the dog could have found her as Jack was still looking for it.
 

[debraran]

Kevin once or twice said he had nothing from his dad but his necklace, he destroyed the airplanes, etc. The anger could have been over him dying or maybe how he died, but understandable. What did Rebecca do with his ring or watch? I would have wanted one of my sons to have it, maybe who got married first, unless she couldn't part with it. Or the watch. Time will tell but she didn't wear the ring it as my Mom did around her neck and it was special.

I think although it was wooden, his hutch will save the tapes since they seem to have those in the future and some pictures. Randall takes one album they have shown later even as adults. He has it on his lap at Miguel's. There also might have been tools and things from his garage, not so much sentimental but a part of who he was.

The notebook just might have been in the car since he used it at meetings or it might have been a work one and not his AA notebook. I remember Kevin wanting him to put it away when the college recruiter was coming, like he was going to go through his things, but showing how acutely   aware he was of a weakness in his father, a hard thing for kids to acknowledge at any age.

[nutty1]

As long as the dog doesn't die!

[ShadowFacts]

5 hours ago, debraran said:

I think although it was wooden, his hutch will save the tapes since they seem to have those in the future and some pictures. Randall takes one album they have shown later even as adults. He has it on his lap at Miguel's. There also might have been tools and things from his garage, not so much sentimental but a part of who he was.

I wonder about that album Randall has on his lap at Miguel's.  I can't imagine anyone grabbing much to take on the way out, not with the way that fire was spreading and raging.  That would suggest going back in later after the fire was put out, but that doesn't seem likely, as we saw the firefighters still on scene that night when Rebecca pulled up in the car.  The kids are neatly dressed, not bedraggled in any way, so how/when did they change clothes and look so neat at Miguel's?  We know it must be the same night because they are talking about finding Kevin. 

[Pallas]

6 hours ago, debraran said:

What did Rebecca do with his ring or watch? I would have wanted one of my sons to have it, maybe who got married first, unless she couldn't part with it. Or the watch.

I think Kate has Jack's watch. She wears a large one, and the camera has seemed to focus on it, more than once. Especially when Kate and Rebecca finally clasped hands in Toby's car in LA. The ring Rebecca may give to Kevin when he (re)marries (Sophie). I doubt she was ready to give it to Randall when he married Beth, nor am I sure that Beth would have embraced the idea back then.

 

6 hours ago, debraran said:

I think although it was wooden, his hutch will save the tapes since they seem to have those in the future and some pictures. Randall takes one album they have shown later even as adults. He has it on his lap at Miguel's.

The hutch for sure, but I wonder if the album belongs to Miguel. Full of pictures of the two families (and I agree that Allison is probably his daughter), when both kids and parents were young. 

6 hours ago, debraran said:

The notebook just might have been in the car since he used it at meetings or it might have been a work one and not his AA notebook.

It was definitely a work notebook, judging by its cover. As stated upthread, we saw him write Kevin's note on one page (for sure) and then stick the pad in the back pocket of his jeans (I think).