S01.E12: The Big Day

[Armchair Critic]

Supermarket lady was in Rich Man Poor Man.

Continuity error - the cupcake was brown in one scene.

[Cardie]

1 hour ago, Amethyst said:

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

I thought Phyllis was the supermarket lady. (Oops, see others have gotten to this before me.)

There was a nice bit of meta when Dr. Folksy's son taed about the twist at the end of Empire Strikes Back. leading to a discussion of twists in a show that's all about them.

Once more we see that the writers believe that the best guys in the world are the ones who impulsively bring home abandoned babies or buy houses or fly cross-country just to surprise the women they love, who of course need no consulting. Sigh.

Given that William is a complete saint despite having been a drug addict, I doubt that revelation of a Jack drinking problem will tarnish his halo. I do hope that there will be some chink in his armor for realism's sake. 

I did like that wise old Dr. Folksy Charm was faking it to some extent, that he gives his lemons/lemonade speech just as he's been considering suicide.

I actually prefer the flashbacks to the 2017 scenes. I was between Rebecca's and Jack's ages in the 1980s and can relate. I just don't get millennials.

Edited January 18, 2017 by Cardie

[methodwriter85]

44 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

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.  

No, Kevin said that 15 is a rough age, and we've assumed that means that Jack died when they were 15. Right now we haven't seen any scenes with Jack and the triplets being older than 15, so it's the guess that he died then.

Quote

I actually prefer the flashbacks to the 2017 scenes. I was between Rebecca's and Jack's ages in the 1980s and can relate. I just don't get millennials

The triplets are actually kind of in this weird between stage between Gen Xers and Millennials. I have relatives and friends around their age and they never quite feel like they're in my generation- I think to be an actual Millennial, you couldn't have graduated high school before 2000. Born in '85, but I feel like I have more in common with people born in 1989/1990 than I do with people born in 1979/1980.

Edited January 18, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Lady Calypso]

So....show, when are we getting a more sympathetic Miguel like the showrunners promised? Because twelve episodes in, with only six more episodes in this season, and he's still a douche. But whatever; he's still pretty much a non-entity. 

I really liked the Jack/Rebecca scenes. I think this show has really been the Mandy Moore/Sterling K Brown show, since both characters have consistently gotten the best material to work with. I really do think that Mandy's doing a great job with what she's been given. That long take of her talking to the triplets was very well done.

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

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. 

We do see some of it, although a lot of it is just talk from Rebecca, Jack, and Miguel. The show never went deeper into his drinking, but I strongly believe that it'll be explore when the show gets renewed for season 2. I do take the discussions about Jack's drinking problems at face value; I have no reason to believe why it wouldn't be true. I just assume that Jack's flaws will be explored. He is presented as perfect, but I'm willing to bet that it'll change when the showrunners decide to explore Jack as a character. I do wish we got a little more with Jack in this episode, especially since we can't for the present day scenes. 

I liked the firefighter's story a lot. I thought it was interesting to see him believe that Randall was a sign of hope for his marriage with his wife, only to have her reject that idea. Although it did end up helping him in the end. I wonder if we'll see him again down the road, even if it's just one more time.

I liked Dr. K's story as well, and I do think it's sad to see the man still mourning his wife.

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

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 so agree with this. We have so many shows where almost all the characters are just bad people. We don't really have any of these feel good shows. Is it cheesy and schmaltzy? Of course. But in this day and age, we really do need more of these shows. There's so much violence and hatred and divided lines that I appreciate the cheesiness of it, but also the grounded feel of the show. It's really good in that way. Which is why 2017 has me taking on a new approach, which is to enjoy the love and joy. Especially on this show, flawed characters and all. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

If Jack's so called "Drinking" doesn't affect anything I wonder why so much talk surrounds it. 

They mentioned it in the script two or three times early in the season.  People wonder when it's going to come up again because if it never affects the story why would they have bothered mentioning it repeatedly like that?  

[memememe76]

I am siding with Miguel. Taking your best friend to play golf for an afternoon where the wife wanted to be alone to set up the house.  I don't see the problem here. 

Is the actress who played the fireman's wife in the US remake of Broadchurch? I think it was called Gracepoint? If so, it looks like we will see them again. Maybe she can be the kids' school teacher or the fireman helps with the football team. Or he helps with the adoption process.

That monolog up but Mandy was wonderful. 

[Emily Thrace]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

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...

My theory on Miguel is that after Jack died and his first marriage blew he decided Rebecca was a do over. I think he decided to be better for Rebecca and try to live up to Jack. Of course since Miguel is not Jack, its also kinda sad in its own way.

[Cardie]

10 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I think to be an actual Millennial, you couldn't have graduated high school before 2000. Born in '85, but I feel like I have more in common with people born in 1989/1990 than I do with people born in 1979/1980.

In 1980 there was a mini-baby boom and those born then and thereafter were originally called Gen Y. That term later dropped out of usage and Millennial was coined for those who came of age at the turn of the Millennium. So I see the Big Three as the leading edge of Millennials, sort of like Boomers born in 1946. (I'm a retired college professor and am particularly tuned into how 18-year-olds have changed over the decades.)

[Court]

He took Jack to golf, knowing he doesn't like golf and doesn't even golf! It wasn't about Jack at all. He just wanted to be all look how miserable your life is and it's only going to get worse. Here's how you can avoid your entire family!

Yes, you will want and need away time from them but the way Miguel went about it was gross. Shut up, Miguel.

[Squirrely]

13 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

No, Kevin said that 15 is a rough age, and we've assumed that means that Jack died when they were 15. Right now we haven't seen any scenes with Jack and the triplets being older than 15, so it's the guess that he died then.

The triplets are actually kind of in this weird between stage between Gen Xers and Millennials. I have relatives and friends around their age and they never quite feel like they're in my generation- I think to be an actual Millennial, you couldn't have graduated high school before 2000. Born in '85, but I feel like I have more in common with people born in 1989/1990 than I do with people born in 1979/1980.

It can vary depending on the source, but it's pretty widely accepted that Gen X ends around 1980. The Big Three were born in '79, so I'd definitely call them Gen X. 

[Court]

I was born in 83 and I do not consider myself a millennial or Gen X? It is a weird in between one for anyone born between 1980-83/84. I don't fit in either. We didn't have internet until I was a teen and when we did it was dialup. 

We had pagers, not phones. When we did have phones, they were the Nokia bricks. I bought my first phone and paid the bill myself at 18. 

But technology doesn't baffle us either. 

Edited January 18, 2017 by Court

[Dreamboat Annie]

Dear God.  This show.

I LOVE JACK.

[methodwriter85]

Funny how a few years can affect stuff...I never used a pager and had a cell phone all through high school. First it was a hand-me-down from my sisters, and then around '02 or '03 I got my own little Cingular phone. The first time I went on the internet was in the third grade in 1996, and by 1999 we had internet at my house, although because we were poor it took a long time for us to get broadband.

I do think those born in the late 1970's/early 1980's are kind of in this "between" stage between the two generations.

Anyway, the golf course scene was nice, because that was the first time I saw terrain on this show that actually looks like it could be western Pennsylvania!

[HeyThere83]

27 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

They mentioned it in the script two or three times early in the season.  People wonder when it's going to come up again because if it never affects the story why would they have bothered mentioning it repeatedly like that?  

Do you think it is going to come up again? I have wondered if the issues between Kevin and Randall, Randall and Rebecca, etc. will come up again. They just seem to move on from them. The drinking might come up again, but I can easily see it not. And I can easily see Jack's perfection being built up simply to have a greater impact (in other words, more tears) when the episode with his death occurs, and for Miguel/Rebecca to never ever overshadow the couple. That's why Miguel gets the edit he does. 

[Dreamboat Annie]

Quote

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

It makes total sense.  This episode filled us in.  It didn't waste time on what we were already shown in the premiere but rather filled us in on the day of the birth, which was Jack's birthday.  They were born on Jack's birthday and in the premiere we saw Rebecca was trying to "make it up" to Jack by performing her usual "birthday dance" for him.  Maybe the cupcake wasn't exactly the same, but it was all there.

[MsJamieDornan]

49 minutes ago, DebbieM4 said:

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.

Yes, if they start going in too many directions,,,i lose interest, quickly !

Tonights show just didn't do it for me, I found myself doing other things and missed some of it.

[ohjoy]

31 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

Is the actress who played the fireman's wife in the US remake of Broadchurch? I think it was called Gracepoint? If so, it looks like we will see them again. Maybe she can be the kids' school teacher or the fireman helps with the football team. Or he helps with the adoption process.

Thank you, I kept thinking her face looked familiar.

[MsJamieDornan]

27 minutes ago, Squirrely said:

The Big Three were born in '79,

They were born in 1980, they turned 36 in 2016.

[HeyThere83]

I realize one way those involved with the show sell it is as feel good and as though it is the only one on television. But it also tries to sell as just the realest thing ever, and HBOish, cableish instead of just embracing the fantasyland aspect of it full on. Which is fine to be, and people obviously are responding and crying, so no need to make it out to be something else. To me that really bugs. The other thing is that there actually are plenty of other feel good shows on the air such as The Middle, Modern Family, Fresh Off the Boat, Blackish, Speechless (GREAT new show), The Goldbergs, The Real O Neals. Those are just some comedies off the top of my head that have much more realism, plenty of diversity, good messages, and heartwarming family moments that feel natural and not forced. 

[Marley]

Boring episode. I love this show but why would I care to see an entire episode on the fireman that found Randall. I love interest in things quickly so please get back to better episodes show. 

Miguel annoys me as usual. I wish he would just go away forever.

I did not know Ken Olin is a part of this show. Kind of scares me because I loved Brothers and Sisters so much but then absolutely hated it after a few seasons. 

Weird about the Millenial talk because I'm born in 1987 and consider myself a millenial for sure but never would've thought of The big 3 as Millenials, but I guess they are just at the beginning of it.

[Amethyst]

11 minutes ago, Court said:

I was born in 83 and I do not consider myself a millennial or Gen X? It is a weird in between one. I don't fit in either. We didn't have internet until I was a teen and when we did it was dialup. 

We had pagers, not phones. When we did have phones, they were the Nokia bricks. I bought my first phone and paid the bill myself at 18.

But technology doesn't baffle us either. 

I still have my Nokia brick, lol.  It's a cute phone.  I miss cell phones having actual buttons to press.  

It's true about the weird generation gap.  No one can seem to define the exact cutoff date, I read that those born in 1979-2000 are the Millennial generation, which is pretty sizable.

[Court]

Just now, Amethyst said:

I still have my Nokia brick, lol.  It's a cute phone.  I miss cell phones having actual buttons to press.  

It's true about the weird generation gap.  No one can seem to define the exact cutoff date, I read that those born in 1979-2000 are the Millennial generation, which is pretty sizable.

I also have it. The kids play with it. Those things are indestructible. I think 1980-83/4 is the in-between or I've seen it called Generation Catalano.

I loved having buttons to press, I didn't use a touch screen until about 5/6 years ago.

[izabella]

5 minutes ago, HeyThere83 said:

Those are just some comedies off the top of my head that have much more realism, plenty of diversity, good messages, and heartwarming family moments that feel natural and not forced. 

I think it's harder to find that on dramas these days.  I am glad this show is on because murder, crime, medical gore, and zombies is far more prevalent.

I noticed Rebecca confirmed she conceived in the bathroom of the football bar when she yelled at Jack for impregnating her there. 

[OtterMommy]

That was....nice.  I mean, there were some laughs and it was touching, but I really don't know what the point of it was. Honestly, I don't care that much about Dr. K or the fireman, and we didn't get anything new about Jack and Rebecca.  The adult Big Three were completely absent, which was a let down after the awesome coffee scene last week.  

Honestly, it felt like a filler episode--like they had their run extended to 18 episodes, and then realized they only had material for 17, or something like that.  Thinking about it, it was actually kind of strange...

[Lady Calypso]

21 minutes ago, HeyThere83 said:

Do you think it is going to come up again? I have wondered if the issues between Kevin and Randall, Randall and Rebecca, etc. will come up again. They just seem to move on from them. The drinking might come up again, but I can easily see it not. And I can easily see Jack's perfection being built up simply to have a greater impact (in other words, more tears) when the episode with his death occurs, and for Miguel/Rebecca to never ever overshadow the couple. That's why Miguel gets the edit he does. 

I think it will. Don't forget that we are only twelve episodes in. This show is guaranteed a second season. Hell, I think with the ratings so good, it could make it to five seasons. At the very least, it'll last three seasons. They have time to address all of these issues. We'll see Randall/Rebecca's issues continue in the present day. We're going to see the flashbacks with Kevin and Randall. I have no doubt that they'll want to explore Jack's drinking, but they could wait until after they show his death episode. Maybe their plan is to build up Jack as a great character so we feel for his death. But once that big moment's over, then they'll have all the time to flesh out his character to make him less perfect. 

But their issue with Miguel right now is that he's not being portrayed as very sympathetic. Without much of a backstory or knowing about his own life, his actions seem to make him look like a dick. He should be getting a better edit if the show really wants us to sympathize with him and understand him as a character. The show has not been doing that. 

[Artsda]

Quote

I am siding with Miguel. Taking your best friend to play golf for an afternoon where the wife wanted to be alone to set up the house.  I don't see the problem here. 

The problem is, he wasn't taking him to play golf as a birthday fun trip for Jack. He was buying him golf clubs as a way to avoid his wife and leave her with 3 kids in the future.   So he could be apart of the "we are bad at golf and do it just to spend 4 hours away from our wife & kids" group. 

[UsernameFatigue]

This seemed like a filler episode to me, and I was either bored or annoyed by most of it. 

I hate it when the writers use phrases that were not used in 1980, like "it blows". Also the supermarket lady had a hairstyle that you would see now, but not in 1980. I also hated the whole scene of Miguel trying to get Jack to buy golf clubs and shoes. Stupid, stupid writing. Jack has no interest in golf, and it is a sport that takes a lot of time to get even halfway decent at (and many people never do). Why would someone expecting triplets invest a lot of money in a sport that he is not going to have any time to play, and has no interest in to start with? Even Miguel would not be that dumb. Ugh. 

[scarynikki12]

I think Joe the firefighter's story served two purposes.  First, this episode was about what the major players on that day were doing and Joe, while on the bottom of the list, was a major player since he brought Randall to the hospital.  Second, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a plan to explore a What If? scenario in the future and introducing us to Joe now, with the knowledge that he briefly wanted to adopt Randall, sets that up to be explored.  If they decide not to explore that scenario it's no big deal because Joe still served a purpose. 

Mandy's speech to the babies was very well done.  I'll be shocked if that's not her Emmy submission.  Same with Major Dad.

I do think that they're putting all the World's Greatest Dad stuff with Jack at the beginning on purpose and they'll be exploring the layers bit by bit.  I don't think he'll have a major fall from grace or anything but there will be some dents that will make him go from Superhuman Dad to human Jack.  And the latter is what I'm most interested in.

[buttersister]

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out what Jack saw in Miguel in the first place, unless it was that frat-boy drink drink football drink drink thing. Jack grew up to become the man he wanted to become and Miguel went with the flow. Agree that him dragging Jack to the golf course was made to look like friendship, but definitely on Miguel's terms. My pet theory is that somewhere near the end, Jack tells Miguel to look after Rebecca (because she'll never love him like she loves Jack). There you go---a less-than-perfect aspect of Jack.

In the here and now, this episode was different for me in that I usually only cry once an ep. Not, oh, I lost count. Manipulative? Maybe, but the performances are excellent across the board, and the mix of the what is and what might have been just works for me.

[IrishPirate]

Jack may be a great dad, but just once could he wash his hair? Greasy and stringy drives me crazy.

[J-Man]

Supermarket Lady/Dr. K's "date was played by Susan Blakely. Back in the '60s, before she started acting, she was a supermodel (known as SUSIE Blakely) before we called them supermodels.

[Racj82]

I truly enjoyed this episode.

When I first heard of the show, it seemed like it was going to simply be about what connects us as people and how others may effect your life. It still is that but I had no idea all of the principle characters were a part of the same family. So, this episode gave us more that. How the little mistakes we do affects others. How the choices you make affect others. Randall being dropped off at that fire station affected multiple people and it was interesting to see more of that.

The hate for Miguel just makes me laugh. The man could be nothing from a saint from here on out but it wouldn't matter. Him and Toby can't win. Someone being flawed doesn't make them awful. I've seen nothing from either of them that would make me dislike them as much as it has others.

The most we've seen of Miguel has shown a supportive if somewhat misguided friend, beloved step grandfather and good colleague. His thoughts on how to help Jack with Rebecca's mood swings didn't fit who Jack is but it wasn't this terrible/awful idea. Plenty of people develop ways to cope with the pressures of marriage. It might not be right for everyone but it's not terrible. He didn't tell the guy to go hit a strip club or cheat on Rebecca. He took him golfing. He brought into a group of friends that have went through the stresses Jack is going to and found a way to deal with it. It wasn't right Jack. That's all.

My only wish is that Miguel and Rebecca getting together has actually nothing to do with Jack. No emotional affairs. No physical affairs. No getting together to deal with grief. Don't like it. Have them link up after years apart by happenstance and things start innocent but grow. I don't want pining from afar or something like that. Then, I would hate him.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

That Was Us:

[methodwriter85]

2 hours ago, Marley said:

Boring episode. I love this show but why would I care to see an entire episode on the fireman that found Randall. I love interest in things quickly so please get back to better episodes show. 

Miguel annoys me as usual. I wish he would just go away forever.

I did not know Ken Olin is a part of this show. Kind of scares me because I loved Brothers and Sisters so much but then absolutely hated it after a few seasons. 

Weird about the Millenial talk because I'm born in 1987 and consider myself a millenial for sure but never would've thought of The big 3 as Millenials, but I guess they are just at the beginning of it.

Yeah, I just can't get really get behind the idea of the Big 3 as Millennials. If you were too old to get into Pogs during the mid-90's craze, you're just not a Millennial. LOL. I'd call them Gen Y or late stage Gen Xers.

This definitely felt like a filler episode, but it was kind of nice to see the "threads" of life.

As for Ken Olin, as long as his wife or daughter don't show up, we should be okay.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

My dad passed away almost three years ago and my mom still hasn't gotten rid of his stuff. She still has his clothes, his medication, etc. Part of me wishes she would get throw away at least some of it (do you really need to keep his old expired medication?) but the other part of me knows that people mourn differently and there's no set timeline. If you have room in your house for that stuff, then feel free to keep it if that makes you feel better. And like Dr. K, my mom still talks to my dad out loud.

I don't know why Dr. K felt weird about still wearing his wedding band. Mr. EB's dad passed away almost twenty years ago and Mr. EB's mom still wears her ring. It doesn't mean she's stuck in the past or not moving forward or crying herself to sleep every night.

Miguel has annoyed me in the past, but one thing that I thought was good for him to say was that when you're a dad, you still get to buy yourself something once in a while. I think that when you decide to have children, you are agreeing to put them first BUT that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice every last penny and give up anything non-kid related. I'm not saying Jack should go out and buy a boat or anything, but it's okay to spend money on yourself once in a while. I hope Jack remembered that. I loved that Jack's reaction was to buy a video camera. I wish my parents had bought one sooner (I was already in middle school by the time they finally bought one and they mostly used it to film my sister's gymnastics meets and my dance recitals so we don't have any goofy footage of any of us just running around being kids).

The douchebags at the golf shop an GTFO though. Yes, your wife and children are so terrible that you need to make up an excuse to escape from them for four hours on the weekend. I'm sure that the woman who is raising your children really appreciates that. I wish women who were married to jackasses like that would find a hobby that takes up half their Saturday afternoon so the selfish husbands can find out what it feels like to take care of your own children for FOUR WHOLE HOURS IN A ROW.

[SadieT]

4 hours ago, Amethyst said:

I still have my Nokia brick, lol.  It's a cute phone.  I miss cell phones having actual buttons to press.  

It's true about the weird generation gap.  No one can seem to define the exact cutoff date, I read that those born in 1979-2000 are the Millennial generation, which is pretty sizable.

I've read 1982-2000. Less frequently I've seen 1980 as the start, so by that standard the big three just make the cut-off depending on which definition you go by, but they don't necessarily feel like millennials to me. Except maybe Kevin. But not Randall though. Which might explain why they clash so often. 

I've noticed people tend to get passionate about being identified as a millennial or not. The younger millennials, born after 1990, seem to wear the title as a badge of pride and consider themselves more evolved than previous generation, whereas older millennials born in the 1980s tend to reject the label, as if they don't want to be lumped into the same category as their younger counterparts. My older brother was born in 1982 and he goes nuts if you try to call him a millennial. It's actually kind of funny how angry he gets over it, but technically he's part of the same generation as our younger mid-90s born "spoiled and entitled" cousins he complains about. 

[Squirrely]

6 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

They were born in 1980, they turned 36 in 2016.

Yeah, I guess the calendar in this episode says 1980, though I could swear in was 1979 in the pilot. 

[PRgal]

9 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

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.

Then Rebecca should already have been pregnant by Superbowl 1980.  Dates don't add up.  As for the kids' birthdays - they're ALMOST EXACTLY ONE YEAR YOUNGER THAN ME!!!  Short of ONE DAY. 

[ShadowFacts]

5 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I do think that they're putting all the World's Greatest Dad stuff with Jack at the beginning on purpose and they'll be exploring the layers bit by bit.  I don't think he'll have a major fall from grace or anything but there will be some dents that will make him go from Superhuman Dad to human Jack.  And the latter is what I'm most interested in.

I agree, I think it's almost assured.  Everyone is flawed, no one is as perfect as Rebecca thinks he is and consistently does the right thing as we've mostly seen him do.  Plus, in Randall's mushroom trip, Jack says to him something about the problems he and Rebecca had, so that sprang from Randall's memories. 

 

2 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Then Rebecca should already have been pregnant by Superbowl 1980.  Dates don't add up.

It might still work, because wasn't there mention of the big day being six weeks early?

[Tiger]

1 hour ago, SadieT said:

I've read 1982-2000. Less frequently I've seen 1980 as the start, so by that standard the big three just make the cut-off depending on which definition you go by, but they don't necessarily feel like millennials to me. Except maybe Kevin. But not Randall though. Which might explain why they clash so often. 

I've noticed people tend to get passionate about being identified as a millennial or not. The younger millennials, born after 1990, seem to wear the title as a badge of pride and consider themselves more evolved than previous generation, whereas older millennials born in the 1980s tend to reject the label, as if they don't want to be lumped into the same category as their younger counterparts. My older brother was born in 1982 and he goes nuts if you try to call him a millennial. It's actually kind of funny how angry he gets over it, but technically he's part of the same generation as our younger mid-90s born "spoiled and entitled" cousins he complains about. 

I was born in '82 and hate being called a millennial.  

I read a really interesting paper about a year ago discussing what defines a "decade" and a "generation" and the author's conclusions includes that those generations should be defined by a 'decade' but that what people think of "the 1980's" for instance was actually 1982 to 1992, and "the 1990's" was 1993 to 2005 as defined by culture, technology, major events, etc,.  

[PRgal]

1 minute ago, Tiger said:

I was born in '82 and hate being called a millennial.  

I read a really interesting paper about a year ago discussing what defines a "decade" and a "generation" and the author's conclusions includes that those generations should be defined by a 'decade' but that what people think of "the 1980's" for instance was actually 1982 to 1992, and "the 1990's" was 1993 to 2005 as defined by culture, technology, major events, etc,.  

I use "cusper" to identify myself.  If people don't get it,  I'll explain that my cohort is between GenX and Millennial.  I know someone who is about 29  and DEFINITELY millennial-like.  Her Instagram shows it.
 

As for the "90s" - I would have ended the 90s on 9/11/2001 (as the "major significant event").  The 80s?  I suppose it COULD have ended earlier, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, but it doesn't really feel like that (to me, anyway).  Perhaps the end of Apartheid in South Africa?  Bill Clinton's presidency?

[zoey1996]

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly love this show more, we get this great episode!  Totally loved it all!

[Suzysite]

Quote

Honestly, it felt like a filler episode--like they had their run extended to 18 episodes, and then realized they only had material for 17, or something like that.

I didn't like this one, and was pretty bored.  It just seemed like too much of a remix of the pilot episode.  I kept saying, Haven't we seen this already?  

One thing perked me up and that was the date.  I went into labor with my first child on Aug 31, 1980, too. She was born on Sept 1st, though.

[againstthewind]

39 minutes ago, Tiger said:

I was born in '82 and hate being called a millennial.  

I read a really interesting paper about a year ago discussing what defines a "decade" and a "generation" and the author's conclusions includes that those generations should be defined by a 'decade' but that what people think of "the 1980's" for instance was actually 1982 to 1992, and "the 1990's" was 1993 to 2005 as defined by culture, technology, major events, etc,.  

That actually sounds closer to my experience. Weirdly enough, I was born in early 88 and have a hard time with some millennial classifications. My year was graduating college during the height of the financial crisis, so we didn't expect shit. We remember life before 9/11. I was supposed to be babysitting on that day. I remember car phones and pagers - we had to sign a code of conduct in junior high that we wouldn't get a pager because drugs. I did get a Nokia brick after 9/11 for safety reasons - we lived 15 miles outside of downtown DC and my parents were concerned. I remember recording things off the radio onto cassette tapes and writing lyrics on legal pads. I broke my parents' Dirty Dancing and Faith (RIP) cassettes from playing them too much, and I rewound them with a pencil. I remember the circus of OJ and JonBenet. I remember when we got dial-up. I thought mp3s wouldn't catch on. I can go on and on. I was a bit on the precocious side, but I have a hell of a harder time relating to my assistant, who is 21, than one of my coworkers that is 36. I will agree that some people my age tend to be a bit more "millennial" like, but a good chunk of us are not. We're too cynical.

To get back on the topic of this episode, I think that the babies were about on time for triplets. Isn't full term about 33 weeks? If they were conceived January 20, 1980 that does put them on track for late August.

Edited January 18, 2017 by againstthewind

[luna1122]

I thought this was a nice episode. Just that, nice. This show still hasn't made me actually cry, tho there was a moment in this one where I almost did, tho I can't remember which moment now. I think when Jack told Rebecca about losing the baby. Mandy sold that one. "That's not true!".  She also sold some of the more comedic moments.

I am fairly immune to cheese and schmaltz, and that is what this show is, but I still LIKE it. It just never quite moves me the way it obviously really really wants to.

I didn't watch "brothers and sisters" and really only know Ken Olin as Micheal Steadman, and I loved him, but I can see he does like his cheese. I didn't even know he and Patricia Wettig had a daughter who was an actor. Do we hate her or something?

They really are setting up Jack for a fall by making him SO PERFECT. or are they? maybe he's just perfect.

I like Gerald McRaney, he's a really good actor, and he also ALMOST made me cry at his wife's grave, but I don't care THAT darned much about Dr McFolksy.

Susan Blakely looks really good for a nearly 70 year old. McRaney is barely older--not quite 70 yet-- than her but looks a good 10-15 years older. He always looked older than he actually is/was. I think he's playing a little older too, than he really is, on this show. He mentioned he'd been married to his wife for 53 years, which means his blushing bride was a mere 17 when they married. Maybe he was too, but probably a little older.

[nutty1]

8 hours ago, Cardie said:

I did like that wise old Dr. Folksy Charm was faking it to some extent, that he gives his lemons/lemonade speech just as he's been considering suicide.

 

I didn't get the idea that he was considering suicide. even though he told he wife he didn't know if he could go on. I thought the pills were just another part of her that he couldn't get rid of. Suicide just never crossed my mind. I could be totally wrong though.

I didn't dislike the episode, but it was probably my least favorite to date.

[Haleth]

Aww, you guys are brutal when it comes to Miguel.  The "get away from the wife and kids" thing was a joke.  He was trying to do something nice for his best friend, knowing that he was under a lot of stress and thinking a 3-4 hour respite would do him good.  (And with all the speculation that Jack ends up with a drinking problem, Miguel might have been right to suggest a healthier way to blow off steam.)  Just because St Jack says "oh no, I must be a martyr to my wife and children" doesn't make Miguel a jerk.  (Now, if we find out Miguel was cheating on his wife, he was a jerk.)

McRaney and Mandy Moore were the standouts in this episode.  I didn't care so much for the back stories of either Dr K or the fireman, but GM acted the hell out of those scenes.  The catch in his voice when he spoke to his wife... got me.  

[milner]

At the risk of being a crouch I wish the conversation here was more about the show and less about who is or isn't a millennial.

[milner]

Oops grouch ..sorry

[luna1122]

Ha. I thought maybe the term crouch was something I needed to be a millennial to get.