S01.E12: The Big Day

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

An exhausted Rebecca forgets Jack's birthday, as their triplets' due date quickly approaches; Dr. K struggles to cope with the loss of his wife; and the firefighter who brought Randall to the hospital fights to save his marriage.

Promo:

[pennben]

Of course Rebecca screws up and forgets Jack's birthday.  Of course she does. Honestly show, be better, now we know it's just another act in support of his sainthood that Jack is happy with the terrible towel.

Edited January 11, 2017 by pennben

[chocolatine]

That makes no sense, they celebrate his birthday in the series premiere right before Rebecca goes into labor. 

[pennben]

I had just edited my original post remembering that fact....it will play as another "look at how great Jack is" moment, assuming the writers stick to form.

[OtterMommy]

Um, how exactly does she forget his birthday?  The fact that she gives birth to 3 babies on his birthday is kind of a big deal.

This makes no sense, but I guess we'll have to see how the episode plays out.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

Um, how exactly does she forget his birthday?  The fact that she gives birth to 3 babies on his birthday is kind of a big deal.

This makes no sense, but I guess we'll have to see how the episode plays out.

She forgets it before labor starts, which you can only tell because it says 'as the triplets due date quickly approaches'.  

I have no interest in Dr. K's stories.  I like McRaney fine but he's more OTT and sappy than the rest of them in this.  

[OtterMommy]

1 minute ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I have no interest in Dr. K's stories.  I like McRaney fine but he's more OTT and sappy than the rest of them in this.  

Yeah, I'm not sure why the show is going there.  Dr K is interesting as the person who sort of passed through the characters' lives, but I don't see how examining HIS life plays into the central plot of this show in any way.  I'd much rather have more Big 3 Coffee Klatches

[Guest]

Plus, marital problems of a firefighter.  It's probably not a good sign that I have more interest in the random firefighter's story than Dr. K's.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

She forgets it before labor starts, which you can only tell because it says 'as the triplets due date quickly approaches'.  

She doesn't though. In the premiere she's singing Happy Birthday and doing a sexy dance for him, they start getting getting busy, and that's when her water breaks.

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

She doesn't though. In the premiere she's singing Happy Birthday and doing a sexy dance for him, they start getting getting busy, and that's when her water breaks.

Right, but we weren't shown that entire day.  I'm assuming this ep will show us earlier in the day, and she realizes she didn't remember it or he points it out.  Like they wake up and he realizes she doesn't know it's his birthday and he lets her know, or something.  Or for that matter they could be referring to a prior day when she forgets it, as in on Monday she forgot that Tuesday was his birthday.   

Edited January 11, 2017 by Guest

[HeyThere83]

Finally going to get the backstory on that firefighter. Took long enough!

[Tiger]

On 1/11/2017 at 0:21 PM, OtterMommy said:

Yeah, I'm not sure why the show is going there.  Dr K is interesting as the person who sort of passed through the characters' lives, but I don't see how examining HIS life plays into the central plot of this show in any way.  I'd much rather have more Big 3 Coffee Klatches

 

On 1/11/2017 at 10:51 PM, HeyThere83 said:

Finally going to get the backstory on that firefighter. Took long enough!

I think we're getting an episode mostly focusing on side characters because each episode is taking a long time to produce (12 days as opposed to the usual 8), and despite the shorter episode order NBC wants to air all 18 by the end of Feb.  

[CofCinci]

Backstory on the Firefighter and more Dr. K?!  What focus group suggested this shit?  The same one that wants Toby around?  They are only attending the focus groups to get free tickets to LA attractions.  It's clear that they're just circling the 'C' selection in whatever questionnaire they're handed.  Next week will follow what happened in the bar restroom after Jack and Rebecca finished conceived the triplets.  What about the bus driver who identified William as 'Shakespeare'?  Can he get an episode too? 

I'm going to guess that Firefighter is a shitty dad and shitty husband -- then he finds this abandoned baby and his life is changed.  No more drinking and beating!  Was this produced by Kirk Cameron?

How many episodes is Gerald McRaney signed for?  Can Dr. K die already?!

Edited January 16, 2017 by CofCinci

[HeyThere83]

No way would they write somebody like the firefighter like that. So far the only villains on this show are Jack and Rebecca's parents and I guess now Olivia and these are all to make the love stories of Jack/Rebecca and Kevin/Sloane more epic, not to produce a diverse group of characters. But it's definitely going to be a my life has more meaning now or meaning again kinda thing with these characters.

Edited January 16, 2017 by HeyThere83

[Guest]

1 hour ago, CofCinci said:

What focus group suggested this shit?  The same one that wants Toby around?

Kind of funny... In this week's People, there's a sidebar with Chris Sullivan saying he never dreamed Toby would be so loved.   He said his waitress even asked him if Toby was going to survive the heart attack.   I feel like that's not necessarily expressing love.

[OtterMommy]

Just now, Winston9-DT3 said:

Kind of funny... In this week's People, there's a sidebar with Chris Sullivan saying he never dreamed Toby would be so loved.   He said his waitress even asked him if Toby was going to survive the heart attack.   I feel like that's not necessarily expressing love.

This isn't the only show that I watch where there seems to be a deep divide over certain characters.  I think--in both cases--tweets unfortunately speak louder than words.  I also think--in both cases--the show runners, or whoever makes the decisions--would do well to log off Twitter.

[methodwriter85]

I don't hate Toby, but this show clearly seems to think he's a loved character.

Every time this show brings back Dr. K, I get terrified that this is when they finally reveal that Kyle was alive all along.

Edited January 17, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Guest]

8 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

reveal that Kyle was alive all along.

I'm confident this will never happen but I said that about the election, too.  Hopefully tv writers are more predictable than voters.  

[methodwriter85]

What gives me pause is that this is being run by Ken Olin, who ran Brothers and Sisters, and that kind of twist is exactly the kind of shit that show would have loved doing.

[J0nas3]

Shutup shutup Shut UP Miguel!

Okay, it got better (didn't see Miguel) so that won't be all my thoughts. 

[mtlchick]

I may or may not have used the DVR a few times when Jack was disrobing (looks around while whistling.) 

Interesting episode though there was a lot of heavy baggage; in a twist of its own, Randall was given up TWICE on the same day!  But outside of Dr Major Dad, I wasn't feeling this one much. 

[WhosThatGirl]

Man, why do they keep bringing Miguel around? Anytime they bring him around, I hate the character more.

[elle]

On 1/11/2017 at 0:23 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

An exhausted Rebecca forgets Jack's birthday,

Can you blame her?  Poor woman!

I want to see the big three as adults dancing to Stevie Wonder!

Ah, the simple joys of wrapping yourself in the phone cord while you rant to a friend (or a friend's answering machine)

Is Randall a week or two older than his siblings?  Didn't his dad try to take care of him for a while.

The one thing I did not like was Dr. K's kids trying to get him to "go out with a friend".  Maybe if the anvil wasn't so heavy on the "get a girlfriend" side, I could see them encouraging him to get out and socialize, but really you can not make a decision like that for someone else.

Is anyone else wondering what a banana muffin with twinkie cream frosting and sprinkles would taste like?

Edited January 18, 2017 by elle

[SimoneS]

This show kills me. It is so schmaltzy. I should be annoyed at being emotionally manipulated, but instead it totally owns me. I missed the siblings for a minute, but Jack and Rebecca, Dr. K. and the firefighter's stories sucked me right in. I loved that Dr. K moved on and back into life and that the firefighter and his wife decided to start over.

Mandy Moore was the star in this episode, although Milo was great also. I loved Rebecca's convo with her friend's answering machine and then the guy in the liquor. Her monologue to the babies was poignant. My heart broke for her when Jack told her that they had lost one of the babies.

[Spartan Girl]

I like learning more about the nice Dr. K. Thank goodness he threw out all those pills.

I don't blame Rebecca for being cranky and forgetting Jack's birthday, even if she was being mean. Any excuse to see naked Milo is fine with me.

I still don't like Miguel. If they want to kill off Jack, fine, but why have Rebecca end up with Miguel? He just comes off more and more as a Johnny Come Lately. It's fine to remarry after losing a spouse, but it's also fine NOT to remarry either. All I'm saying...

Edited January 18, 2017 by Spartan Girl

[stonehaven]

Yeah.....Mandy Moore owned me...and that is something I never thought I'd say in my life...

Her conversation with her kids brought me to tears..reminded me of something my Mom would probably have said to me....and I swear I had a vague memory of her rocking me and talking to me when I was 4 or so..over 40 years ago....This show really can get me digging into my memory bank..

[CofCinci]

3 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

What gives me pause is that this is being run by Ken Olin, who ran Brothers and Sisters, and that kind of twist is exactly the kind of shit that show would have loved doing.

Yep. I'm worried we are going to get a Ken Olin twist.  Are Kate and Randall going to start dating? Is there a Rimbaldi Machine in Pittsburg and that's why we see these multiple timelines?

[methodwriter85]

It's kind of sad to watch that speech from the pilot that the doctor gave Jack and realize that Jack is never going to man in his 70's like the doctor. (The wife died at 70 so I'm assuming the doctor is somewhere around there.) If we go with the idea that Jack is dead by 2006, the oldest he's getting is his early 60's.

So the birthdate for the triplets is August 31st, 1980. I always thought their birthday was October. The pilot had such a fall feel to it.

Not to nitpick, but the Empire Strikes Back came out in May, and Ordinary People came out in mid-September. Oh, well. I mean, the movie still had to be in the theaters then, and there could have always been previews for Ordinary People.

[againstthewind]

I went into this episode not expecting much since I heard it was basically a standalone.

However, I'm crying nearly as much as I was after the damn football episode. It was nice to see some of the pilot with perspective (Jack will never be able to talk to a young man like that...sob).

I didn't think much of Mandy beforehand, but she slayed. Her monologue to those babies was so poignant and I understand exactly how she was feeling.

Major Dad for the guest star Emmy?

Edited January 18, 2017 by againstthewind

[WhosThatGirl]

I love Jack but one thing is constantly bugging me is that he is ideal. He's damn perfect. He has no faults, at least not really. A lot of this may be because from what I've gathered I'm guessing his death happens early on enough for the big three to remember him as such but still... he has no real layers of complexity right now. I'm sure he's over perfect for his reasons of his jackass father but Rebecca had her mom and she is by no means perfect. Its been shown quite constantly her imperfections. Jack hasn't shown much, if any.

[againstthewind]

2 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

I love Jack but one thing is constantly bugging me is that he is ideal. He's damn perfect. He has no faults, at least not really. A lot of this may be because from what I've gathered I'm guessing his death happens early on enough for the big three to remember him as such but still... he has no real layers of complexity right now. I'm sure he's over perfect for his reasons of his jackass father but Rebecca had her mom and she is by no means perfect. Its been shown quite constantly her imperfections. Jack hasn't shown much, if any.

I'm quite certain they are coming. I feel like this show would definitely build someone up to make their downfall much more heart wrenching.

[mtlchick]

Quote

Yeah.....Mandy Moore owned me...and that is something I never thought I'd say in my life...

She went from "Britney/Christina could have been but not really" to "Get those acting awards, girl!"

 

Quote

 He's damn perfect. He has no faults, at least not really. A lot of this may be because from what I've gathered I'm guessing his death happens early on enough for the big three to remember him as such but still... he has no real layers of complexity right now. 

We saw that Jack had some drinking issues a few years later, but that happened over time. 

[WhosThatGirl]

2 minutes ago, againstthewind said:

I'm quite certain they are coming. I feel like this show would definitely build someone up to make their downfall much more heart wrenching.

I suppose you are right. They did bring up how he drank a lot-maybe excessively? Rebecca complained about it but more in a "you make the choice to go to the bar after work when you could be here" but he kicked it in the same episode and since then we've been back to that time frame in episodes and things seem.. okay. So. I keep expecting it to come back up or resurface.

[TobinAlbers]

B&S had 3 good seasons before it went off the rails with the reveal of a second affair baby so I'm gonna enjoy TIU until then.

But I do mourn the poor lost Kyle. I don think it's outside the realm for them to do a what if episode so we see what might've happened if he'd lived and Randall had gone into the system or been adopted by someone else-maybe even Joe and his wife if they remained together and found Randall still without a family.

Jack freezing midbite when he saw Rebecca's reflection with a 'if I don't  move she won't see me oh God what's about to happen' look had me laughing a good five minutes. Milo played that reation/fear brilliantly.

And then he hits it out of the park in telling Miguel and his buddies he ain't about that complaining life. The look on Jack's face as he listens to them changes from 'I'm listening' to 'You guys are asses. I'm out.' He loves being a husband and dad warts and all. It's like he KNEW that he may not be around long enough to see it all. Gah.

Mandy Moore and McCraney got their Emmy moms in the bag in this one. Man was Dr. K's pain so real. I did love that as the Golden Girls taught me that widow was wanting to put meat on his widower bones at just beyond the one year mark! 

Joe the fireman. Gah, he asked for his miracle to save his marriage and thought it came in the form of a child. He wanted Randall. Goodness how he wanted him to be the fix! But his wife abruptly but rightly told him a baby wasn't the fix. But he did get his miracle from Randall in that his actions still gave him the miracle in that his wife wanted to try. She recognized her husband was a good man and wasn't ready to throw them away. Hope we see them older and in present day. AND Joe passed on the miracle of Randall to the Pearsons and them forging ahead gave Dr. K the courage to move on and try to keep living as well. Miracle Randall hit a triple!

Teddy the liquor store man should've bought Rebecca a cake from a bodega and put it and her into a cab back home.

Edited January 18, 2017 by TobinAlbers

[WhosThatGirl]

I loved brothers and sisters until they changed the whole affair storyline and said the extra sibling wasn't the the actual extra sibling. I thought that was stupid and changed the whole show.

I wouldn't mind a what if episode. Plently of shows do twist episodes like that as fillers to fill out a season. 

[Artsda]

I loved seeing the all flashback episode. Jack was amazing in the golf shop. 

I detest Miguel everytime he appears. Him in this episode just makes me more angry that Kevin gave in at Thanksgiving and let him take over Jack's tradition. He doesn't deserve it and never should have been allowed to.

 

 The firefighter's story was a great added touch. Also loved the backstory of how Jack saved the Dr as much as he saved them.

[kat165]

Did not like this ep at all. I look forward to Randall every wk and could care less about Jack and Rebecca. Nothing of importance was revealed. I don't care about folksy Dr. K or the fireman. The past flashbacks are good in small doses. I do like Jack but a little Mandy Moore goes a long way. This was overload and not very interesting at that. Trite, cliched stories with a huge gooey schmaltz filling. I did choke up a few times but I'm unfortunately I'm an easy crier. I was pissed at myself each time and felt manipulated.

Edited January 18, 2017 by kat165

[Amethyst]

Although I can't buy Mandy Moore as modern day Rebecca, her speech to the babies was the best acting she's done so far.  Very moving.  Rebecca is a difficult character to like, but at least she can recognize how flawed she is.  

I can't say the same for Miguel.  Unfortunately, knowing that he eventually ends up with Rebecca puts a poor light on his character no matter what he does.  He and his golf buddies came off as jerks, and he doesn't need the help looking worse.

Joe's story was nice, but it also felt...superfluous?  I think this show has ruined me on twists; I was expecting his wife to be Dr. Folksy Charm's daughter or something grander.  While it was nice to see how the Pearson family has affected others, that story didn't feel necessary.  Still, it was nice to see Joe and his wife starting over.

Speaking of the good doctor, yay for him going out with Phyllis! That was her name, right?    

 

2 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

I love Jack but one thing is constantly bugging me is that he is ideal. He's damn perfect. He has no faults, at least not really. 

Rebecca did mention his drinking when the kids were little, I think that's going to play a bigger role in the story as it goes on.  Something tells me that the looming Rebecca/Miguel pairing has something to do with this, too.  I really want to know how those two ended up together.  They had to have been together for a long time if Randall's daughters refer to Miguel as "grandpa," and it seems like Miguel was holding a torch for Rebecca since the Pearson kids were little.  Wonder if Randall's daughters even knew Jack. :(

But I know what you mean.  It's been shown numerous times that Jack is an amazing father and husband, so it feels like they're setting him up for a major fall when he does inevitably screw up.  

Edited January 18, 2017 by Amethyst
Edited for clarity!

[againstthewind]

This is leaning into personal things, but I like how it shows how Jack's existence affected Dr. K. I've been having a rough go of it lately after a bad breakup, and had one of those "What am I doing here?" moments rather recently. Well, I said that to my best friend who happens to be engaged to my cousin. If I didn't exist, I wouldn't have introduced them.

Maybe that's why I cried so hard at this episode. 

Edited January 18, 2017 by againstthewind

[Court]

Shut up, Miguel. 

[SimoneS]

I have never understood the hate directed at Toby, same with Miguel. The characters are just there.

Edited January 18, 2017 by SimoneS

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

I may or may not have used the DVR a few times when Jack was disrobing (looks around while whistling.) 

I took pictures of the pauses....

I kind of wish that when I logged into an episode thread it wasn't 50 posts of just speculating.  That doesn't really seem appropriate for the episode thread, and it all turns out to be inaccurate or undue outrage anyway.

People here talk so much about Jack's drinking.  Is this something we EVER see?  If Jack's so called "Drinking" doesn't affect anything I wonder why so much talk surrounds it. 

I really thought Mandy did a great job with her shock over losing Kyle.  That was so heartbreaking but really well done.  I was impressed.

The portrayal of Jack being a good father and a good husband does not bother me whatsoever.  

Quote

I have never understood the hate directed at Toby, same with Miguel. The characters are just there.

Toby is one of the least "characters (who) are just there" characters that I've ever experienced on television, personally.

Miguel, to me, is just kind of just there, but I totally understand the feelings towards him because of his position as the interloper.

Edited January 18, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[DearEvette]

A first I wasn't feeling this episode, until I suddenly was.  Really like how it unfolded and honestly, I know it is schmaltzy but dammit, I just love the basic decent humanity of everyone on the show.  When it feels like there is such a lack of empathy IRL sometimes, this just works for me now.

I like how the fire-fighter's story unfolded and how even though his wife rightly knew that Randall wasn't the answer to fixing their marriage, he actually was in a way.

Nice episode.

[WhosThatGirl]

We saw Jack drinking a little briefly in the one episode. That's why I'm not sure if it's going to be a thing. It's the only time he ever showed an imperfection of some kind and I stated in my above post that I don't know if Rebecca was upset about the excessive drinking or that he made a choice to go out to a bar instead of coming home right away. Also brief mention of it in The Pool episode, Jack said no beers were going to be in the cooler.

Edited January 18, 2017 by WhosThatGirl

[elle]

33 minutes ago, Amethyst said:

Speaking of the good doctor, yay for him going out with Phyllis! That was her name, right?  It's better than the Supermarket lady.  

Wasn't he having dinner with the lady he spoke to at the supermarket?

[Amethyst]

1 minute ago, elle said:

Wasn't he having dinner with the lady he spoke to at the supermarket?

Sorry for the confusion, I meant calling her Phyllis is better than calling her "the supermarket lady."  :)

[Tiger]

I want a "filler" episode of Beth visiting her family.  

Dr. K talking to wife and then packing her stuff had me crying crocodile tears.  

I'm already rooting for horse trainer guy.  Anything to get her away from king douche.

[3 is enough]

Didn't Kevin say a few episodes back that Jack died when he was 15?  That would make him around 50 when he died, and Rebecca only 44 when she lost him.  

[CleoCaesar]

I liked the episode, or at least the Jack and Rebecca scenes. I was glad to get a break from the dysfunctional 2017 present adults: toxic Toby, dumb Kevin, mess Kate, manic Randall, saintly William, and Kevin's annoying women. The only thing I missed was Beth's snarkiness.

But oh my God, I have diabetes from this show. It's like the Hallmark Channel and Shonda Rhimes had a baby. The saccharine monologues, the stupid speeches. Gah.

Mandy Moore is really, really good.

[DebbieM4]

Disappointing episode, IMO.

Clearly I'm in the minority here (at least so far), but I thought there was way too much Rebecca.  From the beginning, I've been lamenting that someone else wasn't cast in the role.   Mandy Moore so completely doesn't do it for me.   Superb acting by the rest of the cast week after week, but I never feel that way about her.   More often than not,  I find her to be boring.

The Dr. K part was okay, but too schmaltzy.  And I generally like schmaltz!  The firefighter and his marriage was too much of a reach.  There's no need to go off on so many tangents.  I get it - What happened with Randall ended up being life-changing for several people.  Wonderful.  But I'm really only interested in the main family, and I really love seeing present day far more than the past.

Waiting a whole week and not seeing grown-up Randall, Kate, and Kevin was disappointing.  This episode seemed like a throwaway to me.