This Is Our Spoiler and Speculation Topic

[debraran]

Oh no, that sounds awful. We don't need to see that and it's all speculation. Maybe he wants to stay on longer but don't let the element of what made the show wonderful season one, die under trying to be "new" and making it a show of twists and turns and what made it special, die slowly.

I see pics online of really cute birthday parties with the kids, one I've never seen, Kate has long hair and they are 2 maybe or 3. I'm hoping they have more flashbacks, not going into the future coming up.

In an article with producer:

Fogelman says one upcoming episode focuses on Jack's and Rebecca's wedding anniversary when their three kids are 10; another on “a side character” and the March 13 season finale features “a big family" plot. 

Next season, This Is Us will check in on the children a year after the fire, weaving that and other time periods together with contemporary stories of the adult Big Three.

“Once you know all the details of what happened to Jack, it makes the story lines even richer," Fogelman says. "And we’re excited to do that once the audience is no longer going, ‘How did he die?’ ”

eman they said:

Guess I'll be watching the finale on my birthday...hope it's good : )

Edited February 9, 2018 by debraran

[ChicksDigScars]

On 2/7/2018 at 3:01 AM, GSMHvisitor said:

Also because in hyping Jack so much they're constantly undermining Rebecca as a wife and mother and that annoys me. Like people have pointed out in the episode thread, she never gets to make any of the big life decisions. 

Also what about Rebecca's story? We're getting to explore Jack's entire backstory before he met Rebecca, but not hers. Guess it's just not interesting enough to be worth ecploring. Okay.

Well, she's sure as shit going to get to take charge now, since Jack is dead. And I think that the whole episode with the car was the beginning of that.  Driving over the bridge and not being able to close her eyes. Plus, they have yet to tell us just how she hooked up with Jack's best friend, and the fact that the kids were probably not very supportive of that. I see Kevin and Kate throwing all kinds of attitude around. 

 

And I like Mandy Moore and think she did an awesome job with Jack's death and aftermath, but I don't think she's as interesting, as far as back story exploration. But I suppose that they will, somewhat. Ventimiglia is a main character and with his being the only one that has a time limit, he could very well fall to a supporting role unless they dive into Vietnam and Nicky, and his upbringing, since there's no future past 1998 for him. The rest of the characters can live in the present for the entire run of the show. Plenty of opportunity for story lines for them.  They have to work to find ways to work Milo in, now that they've killed his character off.  And it's amazing how much they can "de-age" him simply by shaving off the pornstache. 

 

Since we also just had an episode with no adult Pearson kids involved, there probably will be episodes where Milo or Mandy are not appearing at all.  Especially since they both did so much filming for the past two episodes. Break time. 

 

My thought is that since Sterling K. Brown is looking like the critical break out star of the show, will he get more movie offers. Will he leave the show, eventually?  How will that be handled. Have they already thought of a doomsday scenario where one of the Big Three adult actors wants to explore other options. They already showed Older Randall with Adult Tess, so they can't kill him off before that. 

[chocolatine]

15 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

No. I'm willing for one episode of that, but not an extended storyline.

Only for one episode AND as long as they don't posit that the Big Three's lives would have turned out perfect if Saint Jack hadn't died.

[Dejana]

If I had to choose between the writers doing another timeline where Jack lives vs. Jack having a secret kid who shows up, I would pick the alternate universe.

I wonder how the show would handle Current Kate in an alternate universe storyline, though... The character's had weight issues as a kid but there's been the implication that Jack's death plays a not-minor role in her present size (of course, in real life there are a variety of factors to a person's weight). With Toby, the actor wears padding, but it's all Chrissy as Kate, so they can't really portray a physical transformation. They can posit that Kate would be the same size no matter what. She described starving herself as a teenager, and without Jack's death, she could have gone down a different path of disordered eating before ultimately arriving at the same place, 20 years later. I don't think they could cast another actress as Alternate Universe Kate without it being really controversial and also offending Chrissy.

Getting way ahead of myself with the AU speculation...

[ShadowFacts]

On 2/9/2018 at 4:44 AM, debraran said:

Fogelman says one upcoming episode focuses on Jack's and Rebecca's wedding anniversary when their three kids are 10; another on “a side character” and the March 13 season finale features “a big family" plot. 

I'm guessing the finale will be Kate and Toby's wedding.  With a twisty cliff-hanger regarding somebody else at the end. 

57 minutes ago, Dejana said:

If I had to choose between the writers doing another timeline where Jack lives vs. Jack having a secret kid who shows up, I would pick the alternate universe.

I would like neither of those, and would also hate if one of Kevin's old flames shows up with a baby. 

[PRgal]

On 2/9/2018 at 5:44 AM, debraran said:

 

Fogelman says one upcoming episode focuses on Jack's and Rebecca's wedding anniversary when their three kids are 10; another on “a side character” and the March 13 season finale features “a big family" plot. 

 

The "side character" must be Nicky.  

[debraran]

I assumed Nicky died or Jack would see him, but he didn't show Randall his name that I remember at the wall. (maybe he did) He told the boys before college about him, so the wall in DC was later. He made a special trip to see it.

Only because this show loves twists, do I even wonder about his status.  MIA? Why wouldn't the boys ask Jack about Nicky when he told them about him.

The only dialogue at the wall was :

He then sits down with Randall and tells him several details about his enlistment.

"I was 25 when I got drafted to Vietnam, not much older than you right now," Jack says. "It was on TV, the draft. My life changed on that TV. I don't talk about it a lot, I know. Even your mom, she doesn't know what I really did, what I really saw. It's just too hard, for all of us that were over there. It's just hard."

He then lets Randall know about his PTSD, which made him feel completely "out of place" when he returned from Vietnam. He imagines this is similar to how Randall feels in situations.

"When I got back, I was off-balance," Jack says. "I was out of place, in every place that I went. You're gonna find your balance, Randall. Then you're gonna lose it, and then you're gonna find it again."

Edited February 11, 2018 by debraran

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, debraran said:

He made a special trip to see it.

Many Vietnam vets visit even if they didn't lose a family member, they were in D.C. it would be more unusual not to visit for many vets.

[debraran]

\

7 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Many Vietnam vets visit even if they didn't lose a family member, they were in D.C. it would be more unusual not to visit for many vets.

 

7 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Many Vietnam vets visit even if they didn't lose a family member, they were in D.C. it would be more unusual not to visit for many vets.

I understand that but if he had an uncle who's name was on the wall, one his dad told him existed, I thought he'd show Randall. So the mystery of how he died, etc. will have to come out later. When someone asked Fogleman if Jack's dad should have mentioned his brother Nicky, he said, (again, they do this a lot) they trimmed the dialogue down to keep it a secret for now, but originally had him say more when Rebecca visited him

Edited February 11, 2018 by debraran

[methodwriter85]

11 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think Nicky will take up the better part of season 3.  I bet the side character will be a throwaway ep like last season's 'firefighter with the depressed wife' one.  

I think she'd be a little flattered if Lauren Graham portrayed her.  Heh.  She did have years to drop the weight herself so it wouldn't be quite as bad as casting a white actor in blackface as Randall or something.  

Lauren Graham is too old and she fucked with her face.

Maybe they'd instead have Kate die? It'd be interesting- like one family member doesn't meet an untimely death in this timeline, but somewhere else did. I could see that absolutely destroying Jack.

I do kind of like the idea that Kate would have been where she is no matter what.

Edited February 11, 2018 by methodwriter85

[Pallas]

18 hours ago, debraran said:

The only dialogue at the wall was :

He then sits down with Randall and tells him several details about his enlistment.

"I was 25 when I got drafted to Vietnam, not much older than you right now," Jack says. "It was on TV, the draft. My life changed on that TV. I don't talk about it a lot, I know. Even your mom, she doesn't know what I really did, what I really saw. It's just too hard, for all of us that were over there. It's just hard."

He then lets Randall know about his PTSD, which made him feel completely "out of place" when he returned from Vietnam. He imagines this is similar to how Randall feels in situations.

"When I got back, I was off-balance," Jack says. "I was out of place, in every place that I went. You're gonna find your balance, Randall. Then you're gonna lose it, and then you're gonna find it again."

Thank you for the quote, Debraran. So, all right. Jack and Randall were shown at the Wall, shown looking at the names on the Wall, but not shown touching a specific name on the wall. Yuck. All to preserve the non-mystery of whether Nicky died there.

Of course Jack and Randall touched Nick's name on the Wall. We now know that by then, anyway, the boys definitely knew about their uncle and his death in Viet Nam. The driving lesson and follow-up conversation about Nicky took place in the summer (judging not by the foliage or absence of coats but by the boys in shorts, sandals and no cast); the visit to the Wall took place the same autumn night that Kevin was injured, a few months before Jack died. 

Yes Kevin? What is it?

[debraran]

Jack never actually says his brother died exactly there and of course Fogleman is always vague but it seems so. In this interview, is it just me or are they just to much into mystery and not the chemistry and good writing of a family struggling to do the right things?

http://ew.com/tv/2017/10/24/this-is-us-jack-family-secret/

[Dejana]

19 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Lauren Graham is too old and she fucked with her face.

Maybe they'd instead have Kate die? It'd be interesting- like one family member doesn't meet an untimely death in this timeline, but somewhere else did. I could see that absolutely destroying Jack.

I do kind of like the idea that Kate would have been where she is no matter what.

 

Ooh, I love this idea!  In the mall episode, Kate described how she starved herself to fit into that dress and how she tried on a smaller size so she could go back to beating herself up some more. If Jack had lived, maybe she continues down a path to full blown anorexia and dies of that? Not only would Jack be destroyed, but he would probably blame Rebecca on some level, given her approach to Kate's weight throughout her childhood. Not all marriages survive the death of a child, either, so something like that could give Mandy and Milo and the rest of the teen cast great material.

But I also like the idea of Kate weighing what she does in the present day, even without some major life tragedy in her past (not everyone who is morbidly obese or beyond had some childhood trauma "make" them that way), or Alternate Universe Kate being a size 16 or so but not feeling any happier about her size than she does now.

 

35 minutes ago, debraran said:

Jack never actually says his brother died exactly there and of course Fogleman is always vague but it seems so. In this interview, is it just me or are they just to much into mystery and not the chemistry and good writing of a family struggling to do the right things?

http://ew.com/tv/2017/10/24/this-is-us-jack-family-secret/

 

Here's an interview Fogelman gave right after the series premiere that kind of spells out the ethos of the writers' room: 
 

Quote

“We kind of refer to it as ‘a dramedy version of Lost,'” Fogelman says. For example, “You’re going to get a real feeling of the evolution of a marriage” with Ventimiglia and Moore’s characters, checking in on them before the pregnancy, or with the three children living at home. (That’s why the facial hair worn by Ventimiglia during press rounds doesn’t match the 1986 scenes; only the mustache is constant.)  “You might even meet them in the present day,” Fogelman suggests, “as older versions of themselves.”

Fogelman, who mined similarly twisty territory with the film Crazy, Stupid, Love, concedes that what This Is Us aims to do is “very complicated.” But the potential for payoff was too irresistible. “If it works creatively, and I think it’s going to work, it’s going to be a really, really sophisticated attempt at a dramedy.” Born of a writers room populated by “playwrights and big brained people, each one smarter than the next,” he says, “We’re really trying to do something here.”

“We’re doing something really ambitious here in a medium that doesn’t always reward it,” Fogelman adds. And until the always unpredictable ratings roll in, “We’re being rewarded it for it simply by how great NBC is treating it[."]

 

Not lacking in confidence, are they? Still, Fogelman has been pretty up front about loving his story twists and being highly impressed with his abilities.

Edited February 11, 2018 by Dejana

[methodwriter85]

Wait, doesn't Jack specifically say that Nicky dies in Vietnam in the car episode? Although I wouldn't put it past this show to have Nicky somehow turn out to be alive.

[Pallas]

1 hour ago, debraran said:

Jack never actually says his brother died exactly there and of course Fogleman is always vague but it seems so. In this interview, is it just me or are they just to much into mystery and not the chemistry and good writing of a family struggling to do the right things?

True! Sigh. Like Jack's death not actually happening in the fire, we may have Nicky's death not happening in Viet Nam. I think Jack's line in "The Car" was that they "went to Viet Nam; he died."   

I think Fogelman is necessarily invested in the game of the PR campaign, whether or not he's into it.  With you, I hope the show doesn't up the ante on the gameplay over the story-telling. In gameplay, the writers and the audience are on opposite teams. That Ain't Us.

[ShadowFacts]

25 minutes ago, debraran said:

Jack never actually says his brother died exactly there and of course Fogleman is always vague but it seems so. In this interview, is it just me or are they just to much into mystery and not the chemistry and good writing of a family struggling to do the right things?

http://ew.com/tv/2017/10/24/this-is-us-jack-family-secret/

No, not just you, I'd rather see more character exploration without the mysteries.  And this isn't Lost.  I get that they want it to be like a page-turner, keep people coming back, but I'd prefer straight drama with more comedic splashes than what we've had recently. 

With Nicky, I guess we'll either see that Jack had a lot of survivor's guilt, or that their father took a turn for the worse and/or blamed Jack for the death.  Or maybe the father's nastiness propelled Nicky to enlist.  Nicky came back and overdosed, something like that.  We have seen flashes of actual combat action so there may be more of that and it could get into the territory of atrocities being witnessed.   I think whatever happens regarding Nicky will probably further humanize Jack (de-sanctify) in some way.  At least I wouldn't like to see him made more saintly or martyr-ish. 

[chocolatine]

40 minutes ago, Pallas said:

That Ain't Us.

This show is in dire need of a spoof, and this is the perfect title.

[Pallas]

7 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

This show is in dire need of a spoof, and this is the perfect title.

Hmmm. That Ain't Us or That's Just Them?

[ForeverPluto]

55 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

Wait, doesn't Jack specifically say that Nicky dies in Vietnam in the car episode? Although I wouldn't put it past this show to have Nicky somehow turn out to be alive.

I agree. I think Nicky will turn up alive at some point in this series. I keep thinking for some reason that Jack could have meant that the Nicky he knew died in Vietnam. I know war can do a number on people not just physically but mentally as well. Perhaps Nicky had a breakdown or just the overall effect of being the war just changed him for the worst personality-wise anyway. 

[Pallas]

28 minutes ago, ForeverPluto said:

I think Nicky will turn up alive at some point in this series.

Oh my. I hope not. I don't know. Would Jack directly lie to his kids? And a lie is what "he died" would be if Nicky only died metaphorically. Not to mention that if the surviving adult Pearsons are actually going to discover Pilgrim Nick, he'll be in his 70's, lost for 50 years...An overdose would work within the theme of Pearson vulnerability to addiction. And Jack's obvious guilt about surviving his brother.

Then again. So, I suppose, would a life of addiction somewhere unknown, perhaps on the streets. And the strays who finally find homes, when they need them most. Nicky as Clooney. 

But for now, anyway, I hope not and don't think so. 

[chocolatine]

18 minutes ago, Pallas said:

Oh my. I hope not. I don't know. Would Jack directly lie to his kids? And a lie is what "he died" would be if Nicky only died metaphorically. Not to mention that if the surviving adult Pearsons are actually going to discover Pilgrim Nick, he'll be in his 70's, lost for 50 years...An overdose would work within the theme of Pearson vulnerability to addiction. And Jack's obvious guilt about surviving his brother.

I don't know about Vietnam, but I know that in WWII some soldiers were mistakenly declared dead when they were technically MIA or captured as POW, some bodies were too badly mangled to be correctly identified, some soldiers suffered amnesia, etc. If Jack never saw Nicky's body, then there's a possibility that Nicky didn't die. We also don't have to wait until he's in his 70s, he could turn up shortly after Jack's death.

[Pallas]

21 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I don't know about Vietnam, but I know that in WWII some soldiers were mistakenly declared dead when they were technically MIA or captured as POW, some bodies were too badly mangled to be correctly identified, some soldiers suffered amnesia, etc. If Jack never saw Nicky's body, then there's a possibility that Nicky didn't die. We also don't have to wait until he's in his 70s, he could turn up shortly after Jack's death.

All true. But that would still mean Nicky wasn't flagged when he was released as a prisoner, or somehow otherwise left Viet Nam on his own. (Please, no switching of dog tags. We cannot say too little about that as a plot contrivance.) And yes, if he then lived incognito abroad or in the U.S., and then finally chose to return to Pittsburgh, that could have been after (he read about) Jack's death. This would simply mean we haven't seen anyone in the last twenty years of the story happen to mention him. Also possible. Plus the tie-in with Stallone: not as Rocky but as Rambo. 

I'm not excited. 

[chocolatine]

2 minutes ago, Pallas said:

All true. But that would still mean Nicky wasn't flagged when he was released as a prisoner, or somehow otherwise left Viet Nam on his own. (Please, no switching of dog tags. We cannot say too little about that as a plot contrivance.) And yes, if he then lived incognito abroad or in the U.S., and then finally chose to return to Pittsburgh, that could have been after (he read about) Jack's death. This would simply mean we haven't seen anyone in the last twenty years of the story happen to mention him. Also possible. Plus the tie-in with Stallone: not as Rocky but as Rambo. 

I'm not excited. 

I just hope that if the show decides to resurrect Nicky they don't turn him into a Don Draper character.

[methodwriter85]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

I just hope that if the show decides to resurrect Nicky they don't turn him into a Don Draper character.

I just hope he doesn't turn up in the form of Ken Olin. He is within the right age range to play Nicky and anyone who watched Brothers and Sisters knows he's not above casting himself into a show he's producing.

I will admit though....damn, late 80's him was hot. Geez. I would've been all over that.

[kassandra8286]

Did you notice in that EW article the interviewer made the assumption that Jack had kept Nicky's existence a secret from his family, including Rebecca, and the producer not only didn't correct him, but pretty much confirmed it? We know now that isn't true. While the kids may not know the details about Uncle Nicky, they know he existed. (I was glad to see that since I thought Jack keeping the very existence of a beloved brother secret from his family was unrealistic and unnecessarily melodramatic.) So I guess that means either 1) the TPTB aren't above lying to us in service of "the mystery" or 2) they're making things up as they go along. Or both. Heh.

[luna1122]

15 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I just hope he doesn't turn up in the form of Ken Olin. He is within the right age range to play Nicky and anyone who watched Brothers and Sisters knows he's not above casting himself into a show he's producing.

I will admit though....damn, late 80's him was hot. Geez. I would've been all over that.

Aw, I would not mind seeing him onscreen again. He's not Micheal Steadman anymore, but he's still cute in a bearish way.

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I have a feeling he meant the secret isn't Nicky's existence but the specific details of his death or possibly something else that happened in Vietnam with him. 

I have a feeling the Vietnam/Nicky story is going to make Don Draper's Korea experience look like nothing.

Why did Jack sneak into the garage and look at his brother's picture? I'm sure the metal box survived and I think I see Kevin with a box like that later. You don't have to talk about the war, but why hide the box in the garage?

[gonzosgirrl]

I wonder if the father had something to do with Nicky's death - thus Jack remaining adamantly unforgiving right to the end? Probably not by his hand, but by abuse/careless disregard after their return from the war?

Or, Nicky was the favoured son, and the father blamed Jack for not taking care of him (somehow), resulting in a permanent breach between them.

Edited February 13, 2018 by gonzosgirrl

[ShadowFacts]

14 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I wonder if the father had something to do with Nicky's death - thus Jack remaining adamantly unforgiving right to the end? Probably not by his hand, but by abuse/careless disregard after their return from the war?

Or, Nicky was the favoured son, and the father blamed Jack for not taking care of him (somehow), resulting in a permanent breach between them.

It could be a mix of things, including whatever happened in Vietnam.  We know that the breach wasn't so complete or permanent as to prevent Jack from asking his father for money.  We know the father was a verbally abusive alcoholic from when Jack was young.  Also, Jack was living at home after returning from Vietnam and before he met Rebecca.  So it's interesting how it will all play out.  I think they can get more dramatic juice out of having Nicky survive the war itself but die as an indirect result, than having him die in Vietnam.  But maybe not, they could have Jack guilt-ridden by something he thinks he did or failed to do in the war.  It is an interesting choice to me that the writers did not give Jack a military funeral.  I would have to think that was Jack's wish, or Rebecca's interpretation of what he would want, and there's a reason for it that's not just the writers screwed up/didn't plan very well for their future story path. 

[gonzosgirrl]

9 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

It could be a mix of things, including whatever happened in Vietnam.  We know that the breach wasn't so complete or permanent as to prevent Jack from asking his father for money.  We know the father was a verbally abusive alcoholic from when Jack was young.  Also, Jack was living at home after returning from Vietnam and before he met Rebecca.  So it's interesting how it will all play out.  I think they can get more dramatic juice out of having Nicky survive the war itself but die as an indirect result, than having him die in Vietnam.  But maybe not, they could have Jack guilt-ridden by something he thinks he did or failed to do in the war.  It is an interesting choice to me that the writers did not give Jack a military funeral.  I would have to think that was Jack's wish, or Rebecca's interpretation of what he would want, and there's a reason for it that's not just the writers screwed up/didn't plan very well for their future story path. 

Right, but between the time he asked for the money and the father's death, Jack got to a place where he didn't seem fussed enough to leave the camping trip (?) when he found out he was dying. Speculating that the permanent rift was centered around Nicky's death.

Sort of OT - is a military funeral for every vet an American thing? Both my father and brother were in the army (Canadian), my dad being a WWII veteran - but it never occurred to us to have any military type service when they passed, nor to bury them in a military cemetery.

[ShadowFacts]

2 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Sort of OT - is a military funeral for every vet an American thing? Both my father and brother were in the army (Canadian), my dad being a WWII veteran - but it never occurred to us to have any military type service when they passed, nor to bury them in a military cemetery.

Yes, military honors are available to people who served honorably, but not every vet wants that, and certainly burial in a military cemetery is not chosen by everyone.   In my father's recent case, the funeral director asked if he was a veteran, then arranged everything, no charge.  The local Amvets post did the honors on a volunteer basis.  Very impressive since these were mostly elderly guys themselves, on a cold, rainy morning. 

[gonzosgirrl]

1 minute ago, ShadowFacts said:

Yes, military honors are available to people who served honorably, but not every vet wants that, and certainly burial in a military cemetery is not chosen by everyone.   In my father's recent case, the funeral director asked if he was a veteran, then arranged everything, no charge.  The local Amvets post did the honors on a volunteer basis.  Very impressive since these were mostly elderly guys themselves, on a cold, rainy morning. 

That sounds lovely, and I'm sorry for the loss of your father.

I do understand that it's available to all military members, I was more wondering if it's so much the norm for them to choose it that it makes Jack an anomaly for not having it.

[ShadowFacts]

40 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

That sounds lovely, and I'm sorry for the loss of your father.

I do understand that it's available to all military members, I was more wondering if it's so much the norm for them to choose it that it makes Jack an anomaly for not having it.

Judging by the cemetery where my dad is, not a military one, there are many (mostly) men with military designations at their gravesites.  I think it was the norm in that generation.  I have a Vietnam era cousin, grave decorated.  Though that generation may have more who would have eschewed it.  Nowadays, I have nothing to judge by, but since it is all-voluntary there will be a mix of those who had a positive experience they would like memorialized, and those who had trauma and negativity they would not want association with after death. 

To answer your question, Jack would not necessarily be an anomaly, but it is something to take note of and I speculate it is on purpose and will come into play with whatever his Vietnam experience was. 

40 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I always figured that was more common for the career military types?  

Not in my dad's generation, these were mostly draftees who did their mandatory service, not career. 

[Crs97]

My dad served during Korea.  When he died the funeral home asked if he had served.  They arranged the military honors, but it was simply burial in the military section, his rank on the tombstone, and the already-folded flag handed to Mom at the wake.  We never asked him, but he wouldn’t have wanted more than that.  It is possible Mom was given options and chose that.

[dargosmydaddy]

Blind item from TVLine:

"An extremely popular broadcast drama that’s been on the air for less than three seasons is eyeing a season-ending plot that would find a pivotal character being diagnosed with terminal cancer."

A lot of people are speculating This Is Us  in the comments...

http://tvline.com/2018/02/20/the-walking-dead-season-9-the-whispers-spoilers/#more-916118

[Wings]

11 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Blind item from TVLine:

"An extremely popular broadcast drama that’s been on the air for less than three seasons is eyeing a season-ending plot that would find a pivotal character being diagnosed with terminal cancer."

A lot of people are speculating This Is Us  in the comments...

http://tvline.com/2018/02/20/the-walking-dead-season-9-the-whispers-spoilers/#more-916118

Pivotal character could be anyone no matter how small a part.  That is one of those words that can describe anyone.  

[chocolatine]

37 minutes ago, Wings said:

Pivotal character could be anyone no matter how small a part.  That is one of those words that can describe anyone.  

Exactly. It could be Dr K getting terminal cancer in his 90s. BTW, who wants to bet the blind item was planted by someone associated with the show to drum up suspense now that we know how Jack died?

Edited February 22, 2018 by chocolatine

[debraran]

25 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Exactly. It could be Dr K getting terminal cancer in his 90s. BWT, who wants to bet the blind item was planted by someone associated with the show to drum up suspense now that we know how Jack died?

That's sad, hopefully not true, let the man die in his sleep in season 4.  ; ) Please stop with the tear-jerky plots. I hope it's not This is Us and they hopefully wont turn it into a sappy soap opera and lose the wonderful beginning it had.  We had a death, a slew of addictions, a fire, a miscarriage, drunk driving, we can take a breath and have the happy episodes Fogleman keeps promising coming up.

Edited February 22, 2018 by debraran

[methodwriter85]

4 hours ago, Wings said:

Pivotal character could be anyone no matter how small a part.  That is one of those words that can describe anyone.  

I could totally see this show killing off Beth for the shock value. Ken Olin's show Thirtysomething was always intending to kill off one of the main characters while they were still in their 30's, and it was supposed to be Nancy with her cancer. According to Patricia Wettig, she was fine with leaving the show after 3 seasons, but then the showrunners changed their mind because they were getting an outpouring of support from cancer survivors. So they killed off Gary instead. I can see Ken Olin wanting to borrow a few storylines here and there from Thirtysomething and that's one I can see being on this show.

The only people that are guaranteed to stay alive for the next 20 or so years are Randall and Tess. Everything else is up for grabs.

Edited February 22, 2018 by methodwriter85

[Wings]

2 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I could totally see this show killing off Beth for the shock value.

Or Toby. 

[methodwriter85]

1 minute ago, Wings said:

Or Toby. 

I would think so, but Toby is basically Dan Folgelman's avatar. He so sees himself in that character as the schlubby Nice Guy who constantly comes up with Epic Romantic Comedy moments that are "charming", or at least wishes he could be like that.

Maybe it will be Miguel, making Rebecca a second-time widow.

[debraran]

4 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I would think so, but Toby is basically Dan Folgelman's avatar. He so sees himself in that character as the schlubby Nice Guy who constantly comes up with Epic Romantic Comedy moments that are "charming", or at least wishes he could be like that.

Maybe it will be Miguel, making Rebecca a second-time widow.

I think This is Us is the "Big 3" and without them, at this stage, the show would crumble.  I liked Thirtysomething back then but don't want to see old plots. I'm sure there are many though watching that never saw that show and it's fresh to them. I remember Michael Landon who did that too, stealing many plots from Bonanza for LHOP and saying with a long time show it's hard to not do that. This is Us is only beginning.

Mandy said the cancer scare for her was just to bring in the tree, but then Deja wasn't supposed to come back. Sterling said she wasn't on the "board" or something they see for future plots.  He hoped next year she'd be back and then there she is again. A lie or Dan F just said, let's rewrite this again.

I wonder if the vision he had for the show didn't go to much past the death of Jack and now he's working out plot lines.  I personally want to see older Rebecca happy with Miguel and I don't want Kate to have another reason for a breakdown with Toby going, so I'm hoping for a healthy group for another season or two.

[PRgal]

8 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I could totally see this show killing off Beth for the shock value. Ken Olin's show Thirtysomething was always intending to kill off one of the main characters while they were still in their 30's, and it was supposed to be Nancy with her cancer. According to Patricia Wettig, she was fine with leaving the show after 3 seasons, but then the showrunners changed their mind because they were getting an outpouring of support from cancer survivors. So they killed off Gary instead. I can see Ken Olin wanting to borrow a few storylines here and there from Thirtysomething and that's one I can see being on this show.

The only people that are guaranteed to stay alive for the next 20 or so years are Randall and Tess. Everything else is up for grabs.

I won't be surprised if Randall is going to die "young" (as in young-ish).  Sterling posted a pic of "old Randall" and the background kind of looked like a hospital room.  Maybe he'll get sick in his 50s.  

[ShadowFacts]

William had terminal cancer last season, so it would be repetitive to go there again, not that being repetitive doesn't happen on these shows.  I hope it's not about TIU at all.   Toby and Beth are their best bets for interjections of humor, and I wouldn't want to see them making Rebecca a ghost, so if the spoiler is really about this show, I'd rank Dr. K and Miguel as the most likely.  Unless they dive fully into flashforwards and then it could be anybody.  Or in flashback, it could be Nicky post-Vietnam who had Agent Orange exposure. 

[Lady Calypso]

The blind item says that someone gets diagnosed with terminal cancer. But on this show, we don't know WHEN in the timeline it happens. For all we know, this could happen in the flashforwards that they seem to be introducing. It could, then, be anyone, and it doesn't really disrupt the show all that much. 

I remember Sterling posting a picture of Future Randall in a room that looked like a hospital room. I could see maybe Beth being the one in that hospital room. Or maybe Kate or Toby. Since season 1 seemed to be about Randall, and season 2's been mostly on Kevin, perhaps season 3's going to be Kate's season. 

[balmz]

maybe it's tess or annie or audio who get terminal cancer 

[chocolatine]

Now that I think about it, it could very well be Beth. Remember when Kevin and Randall were having a heart-to-heart at the apartment building, Randall said he couldn't see himself as an old man, and Kevin replied that Randall has a kick-ass wife who wouldn't "let [him] die on her." It would be just like this show for Beth to die young and Randall to beat himself up for "letting" her die.

I doubt it will be Toby since he's already had a near-death experience.

[methodwriter85]

11 hours ago, balmz said:

maybe it's tess or annie or audio who get terminal cancer 

We know Tess is living out to at least her 30's. They did a flashforward to Tess and she looked like a thirtysomething.

Quote

Yes, if it's Beth it gives them the opportunity to go back to the well of "SKB doing grief and loss" that worked so well in Memphis.  

It also puts Randall in Rebecca's position of the grieving young spouse.

[Good Queen Jane]

According to EW, the character we will learn more about is Deja. And, if one of the characters does have terminal cancer, maybe it's Deja too.

[chocolatine]

Just now, Good Queen Jane said:

According to EW, the character we will learn more about is Deja. And, if one of the characters does have terminal cancer, maybe it's Deja too.

I really hope not. The poor kid has already suffered enough.