S01.E12: The Big Day

[methodwriter85]

36 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

1981?  The big 3 just keep getting closer and closer in age to me.  I looked up to them as much older.  I mean, Randall?  Am I supposed to be as together as Randall is by now?  Jesus, lol.  

1980. They FINALLY clarified the age, and hopefully they stick to it. It's slid around from 1979 to 1981 to finally settling to August 31, 1980.

Good call about the liquor stores. I totally forgot about that, and I actually lived in West P.A. for two years. The show really, really needs to start doing better research into the Pennsylvania setting.

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Court said:

I am the worst pregnant woman in the world. I never enjoyed any of it.

The only thing I liked about pregnancy was feeling the baby move. (and that only if it wasn't moving over my bladder)

[4leafclover]

As much as I love this show and look forward to it each week, I apparently do not look closely enough at every piece of paper that flickers across the screen or remember the actor's expressions when they say a line.  That being said, it has been mentioned here several times that Miguel married his "dead friend's wife."  Do we know for sure Miguel married Rebecca after Jack died and not before?  Do we know for sure that Jack and Rebecca didn't divorce?  I admit my ADHD often has me thinking of tomorrow's dinner plans while the TV is on, so I'm wondering if I missed this being revealed?

[stillshimpy]

9 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Really.  I thought all the guys were just trying to tell him that it's okay to take a little time for yourself now and then, just doing it in that "trying to be funny" male way so as not to embarrass him.  They were rewarded with that holier than thou, "I love my wife all the time," thing. If it was Rebecca's girl friends telling her she could have a  lunch and shopping day with them once in awhile, I'll bet it would have been fine -- particularly if her husband had just yelled at her in the same critical way she had talked to Jack. 

Another double standard is the Toby vs Jack standard.  Jack is firmly asked (ordered) to give Rebecca a day alone and he just ignores that. Toby goes over to Kate's on football night after she asked to be alone and it's all, "HATE!  NO BOUNDARIES!"

I'll just never be able to canonize Jack as long as he keeps making decisions for Rebecca.  Whether he's over talking the doctor who is trying to prepare her for a tragedy, in order to make a positive thinking speech from The Secret, buying  houses, or cavalierly adopting babies just as though one baby was the same as another as long as they total three.  I think he's a well intentioned guy who would be very hard to live with.  Also. Jack's hair looks like it's been marinated in a bowl of olive oil.  On a hot day you could probably pop, popcorn on it.

 

 

Thank you for this, JudyObscure, it was my first ever, honest to goodness spit-take at "it's all, "HATE! NO BOUNDARIES!"  I like Milo V. enough and sure, he's ludicrously buff at this point but mostly I want to throw Jack down and shampoo him and then return him, no worse for wear, but decidedly less likely to trigger my "that's kind of icky, right?" reflex when it comes to his hair. Yikes. 

I don't usually comment but I swear I'm starting to think the Ken Olin twist will be that Randall is actually the second-coming of Christ.  I'm barely freaking joking.  A newborn who is passed from one storyline to the next, into yet another within one episode and isn't featured howling his tiny lungs out in screaming protest?  It's either Jesus or the Devil.  Those are kind of your only  choices because that was the least believable thing outside of Mandy Moore's tummy pillow (that I found entirely endearing because she really swung from the heels and made me believe anyway). 

Plus, he sort of went around resurrecting lives.  I don't think we know anything about his mother and we know his father is, at least, bisexual.  Tell me he's only described Randall's mother as an angel and I'll almost lay money down on that one. 

I am actually kidding, it's just that between Jack's saintliness, Randall's awesome power of being perfect in every darned way and the entire "Big Three!"  thing over and over, it's been difficult to escape it as a tongue-in-cheek theory.  

This is an entirely pleasant show.  It has just the right amount of heart, normally.  In this episode, I think they went a little bit long on the sentimental and spared any kind of edge.   I found it a little one note, although I enjoy Dr. K. (and loved the revelation that he's actually suicidal with grief when giving Jack the lemons speech...that was a bit of an edge), love the actor....it was the fireman's story that was just the killer of all things related to momentum.  Better to have followed Miguel home to find out what the hell his over-investment in all things Jack and Rebecca are about.

Instead, we got a story of a fireman bringing a human being home like surprise takeout he's hoping his wife will find appealing.   

Edited January 19, 2017 by stillshimpy

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, Sake614 said:

I was (very pleasantly) shocked that Milo actually stripped!

 

1 hour ago, Sake614 said:

Also, I cry foul at the liquor store supposedly not having anything besides liquor

Just think what that birthday scene would have been like if Rebecca had not been able to buy that oh-so-strategically placed tee shirt at the liquor store.

[Portia]

20 minutes ago, 4leafclover said:

That being said, it has been mentioned here several times that Miguel married his "dead friend's wife."  Do we know for sure Miguel married Rebecca after Jack died and not before?  Do we know for sure that Jack and Rebecca didn't divorce?  

Present-day Rebecca still wears the necklace Jack gave her. It's hard for me to imagine her continuing to do that if they'd divorced. 

[WhosThatGirl]

14 minutes ago, Portia said:

Present-day Rebecca still wears the necklace Jack gave her. It's hard for me to imagine her continuing to do that if they'd divorced. 

Thats my thinking too. I doubt Rebecca would be wearing the moon necklace if things broke them up and not a death. 

[Guest]

I don't mind Miguel at all.  Jack's dead.  Should Rebecca live under glass?  That's how things happen in real life, in my experience.  People who like being married marry the people they know, who are often people who used to be married to other people they knew.  

[Big Mother]

only five pages in this thread? I guess the episode doesnt have much to discuss. lol.

to me this episode felt like a clip show, the kind you show a week before the season finale. It definitely "wrapped up" the initial storyline in the pilot. I think the timing was off. There was no forward progression at all in this episode - it couldve been shown at any point in the season.

One th ing that bugged me early on, is that when a woman is 34 weeks along with triplets, they wouldnt be sleeping on their backs. Rebecca would be unable to breathe! When I'm pregnant with a singleton by the time i'm past 24 weeks I sleep on my side.

 

One more thing: I think the fireman's wife was suffering from depression.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Big Mother

[possibilities]

On 1/18/2017 at 7:55 PM, sasha206 said:

A feel good show is good but so far it seems like the men are mostly saints, the women are complex and moody creatures.

I thought that, too, and started writing a long post about it, but then I remembered that Randall is kind of the complex and moody one in the Randall/Beth duo (and so far I think Beth is perfect), and Kevin is probably the less saintly one compared to Sloane, and between Kate and Toby I personally can't decide which one is the more moody (and annoying) and neither is a saint.

But I do think the show has a tendency to worship and center focus on the men at the expense of the women. Maybe not 100%, but more than I'd like it to.

On 1/18/2017 at 8:29 PM, Sake614 said:

That means he was only 49 when his wife died, and there's no way he was that young. Unless I misheard or he didn't actually say his age?

He said he was married to his wife for 53 years, so whatever his age, he's older than 49. Not sure about whether he said how old he was, specifically. But his son said he's still young, which I thought was interesting because if he was married 53 years, I'd think he has to be at least 70 in this episode. Even if they married at 16, if his wife has been gone 14 months, he'd be 70.

[chocolatine]

This was my least favorite episode so far. The only scene I found touching was Dr. FolksyCharm at his wife's grave.

I disagree that Jack is being portrayed as perfect because to me making impulsive unilateral decisions about the family's housing and finances is a huge, glaring flaw.

Mandy Moore's acting just doesn't do it for me. I can tolerate her in small doses, but having her featured so much in this episode was off-putting. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

17 hours ago, roughing it said:

I definitely got the vibe that Dr. K was contemplating suicide by using his wife's pills.  (I'm currently reading "A Man Called Ove" that explores the same topic, a man contemplating suicide in response to grieving his wife, however it doesn't go so well.  It's a good read, not depressing at all!)

I loved A Man Called Ove!

I didn't think Dr. K was contemplating suicide though. My mom still has all of my dad's medication scattered around the house and he died almost three years ago. She isn't keeping it because she's suicidal (I'm not really sure you can commit suicide by taking a bunch of prostate medication), but because she can't bear to get rid of any of his things.

When Dr. K said he didn't know if he could keep going on, I thought he just meant that he missed her and was lost without her, not that he was actively planning to join her.

[SunnyBeBe]

I understand the DIL's admiration for Mary Tyler Moore, but, I don't think that I would have recommended the movie Ordinary People to a grieving widow.  It's about a family coping with the aftermath of a child who is accidentally killed. (There is also a suicide of one of the characters in the movie.).  I'm not sure if that was a hint that Dr. K was thinking that way, but, I would think a more light hearted movie would have been more appropriate, like Nine To Five.   Maybe, she thought it would be therapeutic for him. 

I like the actress who played the Fire Inspector's wife.  I've seen her in some  tv mini series.  She's pretty good, imo.  I wonder if Mandy Moore got the role because of her singing. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3435532/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_11

Edited January 19, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[luna1122]

10 hours ago, Sake614 said:

 dr. K's wife died in July 1979 and when he was yelling at his son, he said she'd been gone for 14 months. And didn't he say in the Christmas episode that he's 85 or so? That means he was only 49 when his wife died, and there's no way he was that young. Unless I misheard or he didn't actually say his age?

 

I'm not following this. The Xmas episode segments that featured Dr. K was only, what 8 years or so after this one? 1988 or so? Not present day, he was in flashbacks.  His wife was born in 1909, I'm assuming he's supposed to be roughly the same age, so he'd be about 80 by then. Maybe even 85. He was married to his wife for 53 years. Not getting the age 49 thing, which clearly he is long past.

[Texasmom1970]

I seem to be in a minority here but I love Gerald McRaney. I liked seeing more of the before the kids arrived. 

And the yummy even if brief stripping scene was icing on the cupcake!

[Sake614]

9 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Just think what that birthday scene would have been like if Rebecca had not been able to buy that oh-so-strategically placed tee shirt at the liquor store.

I am, I am lol!

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Big Mother said:

One more thing: I think the fireman's wife was suffering from depression.

That's what it seemed like to me, too.  I guess that's partly why I didn't love them just sweeping it under the rug.  

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I don't think that I would have recommended the movie Ordinary People to a grieving widow.  

Well, it had been 14 months.  And didn't the movie also deal with moving past the death of a loved one?  I don't think I ever watched it but I remember it was the Oscar darling that year.  

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, luna1122 said:

I'm not following this. The Xmas episode segments that featured Dr. K was only, what 8 years or so after this one? 1988 or so? Not present day, he was in flashbacks.  His wife was born in 1909, I'm assuming he's supposed to be roughly the same age, so he'd be about 80 by then. Maybe even 85. He was married to his wife for 53 years. Not getting the age 49 thing, which clearly he is long past.

Correct, I think the kids were 8 in that flashback, so the math definitely works. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I've been reading Molly Ringwald's novel "When It Happens to You" and one of the characters is a 73 year old widow who still does things like pour a cup of tea for her husband even though he died seven years ago. That makes Dr. K talking to his wife after 14 months seem like nothing! I was thinking about that cliche about how after a break up, you're allowed to mope for one month for every year you were together. It seems like you should get at least that when someone you've been married to for decades dies. 

[Mrs. DuRona]

10 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

The show really, really needs to start doing better research into the Pennsylvania setting.

I thought that when Miguel was like "my wife took the kids to New Jersey" like it was just a hop away.  I think they keep forgetting the past isn't set in Philadelphia... 

[grayson]

Sunny Be Be writes:

Quote

 I love Dr. K the character and have no issue with him at all. Gerald is a great actor. 

Absolutely.

[Rockstar99435]

12 hours ago, Court said:

While Rebecca was mean, I fully understand her. I really related to her. I am the worst pregnant woman in the world. I never enjoyed any of it.

Me too. The only thing I liked about being pregnant was that morning I woke up and my boobs were all, "Remember all those wishes you made when you were 13? Sorry it took so long." And even that stopped being fun after a while.

I really like Mandy Moore. I think she did a great job with all of her scenes, especially the scene when Jack tells her about the third baby and she just keeps repeating "that isn't true." Totally made me ugly cry.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Rockstar99435

[Aloeonatable]

Actually, Dr. K. said he was 73 when he was giving his lemon speech to Jack in the first episode. 

After reading posters' comments about how Jack is (mostly) perfect, I don't find it at all off-putting that a man loves his wife and family to that degree. What is wrong with that? Is it unusual? Probably. Is it improbable? No, in fact I find it to be a good thing. I'm sure we will see some flaws in Jack eventually, but when it comes to his family he is a very devoted father and husband and I see nothing wrong with that. 

[3 is enough]

It is hard to compare Jack to Miguel and his golf buddies at this point because he is still anticipating the birth of the triplets, and those guys have all been fathers for a few years.  Jack has not experienced the reality of being a dad of triplets, and it is perfectly natural that he does not want to leave his heavily pregnant wife alone, even if she is being difficult.

When the kids are older, he does go out with Miguel after work instead of going straight home, so the halo does slip a little bit.

[sasha206]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought that, too, and started writing a long post about it, but then I remembered that Randall is kind of the complex and moody one in the Randall/Beth duo (and so far I think Beth is perfect), and Kevin is probably the less saintly one compared to Sloane, and between Kate and Toby I personally can't decide which one is the more moody (and annoying) and neither is a saint.

But I do think the show has a tendency to worship and center focus on the men at the expense of the women. Maybe not 100%, but more than I'd like it to.

I hear ya! Except that I don't think Randall moody; he's more complex as a result of finding his dying bisexual father and finding out his mother kept him from having a relationship.  And let's not forget when he's not complex, he is saving people from jumping off buildings!  And Kevin is saving the complex, moody creatures of women!  He's saving Sloane's show, and he's showing Olivia the value of family, warts and all!  Toby, when he isn't being a horndog 24/7, is saving fat Kate from herself! Toby's showing Kate she is worthy of love, has talent, and is more than just someone's assistant damn it!  

I'm sure we'll be treated to scenes later where Miguel saves Rebecca from herself too.  

I still find the show watchable, but the number of eye rolls I do every scene keeps growing and growing.

 

Beth, however, is perfection.  

[Sake614]

2 hours ago, luna1122 said:

I'm not following this. The Xmas episode segments that featured Dr. K was only, what 8 years or so after this one? 1988 or so? Not present day, he was in flashbacks.  His wife was born in 1909, I'm assuming he's supposed to be roughly the same age, so he'd be about 80 by then. Maybe even 85. He was married to his wife for 53 years. Not getting the age 49 thing, which clearly he is long past.

Duh! I always said math is a bad word lol! I was thinking of the modern day Christmas instead of the flashback Christmas. You're abosultely right. 

[camom]

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. 

Miguel taking Jack out to do something is fine.  But...Jack said he hates golf and Miguel was trying to get him to buy clubs, clothes, etc.  The more appropriate response would have been, "OK, then what would you like to do on your birthday?"  

[ZaldamoWilder]

23 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Tiny nitpick-  Farrah was very much Farrah Fawcett-Majors back then.  

I'm co-chair of the National Pedantic Pains in the Ass Coalition (the "NPPAC").   Got some extra t-shirts in the car, want one?  Lol.  I kid girl.  I love that ya'll keep finding these little (and not so little) threads and yanking the shit out of em until there's no more ugly sweater left.   

She definitely was a Majors.   Now how many of us really called her that though?   Present day analogy might be Kim Kardashian West.  We just probably didn't care.  Poor Lee.  

22 hours ago, GodsBeloved said:

What if Miguel's family is dead? That would go a long way in making him sympathic. Worse yet what if say Jack was doing Miguel a favor and picked up his wife and kids and they got in an accident.

Beloved?  The original Mrs. Miguel could've There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane'd her own children.   There will still never be a thing that gets this board to like that dude lol.   And I see why but he doesn't bother me.   Reserving the right to rescind if he's proven to be a bastard.

21 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

The good:  I liked the meta stuff like referencing the twists in Empire, the complicated MTM mom in Ordinary People and Miguel telling Jack don't worry, there's plenty of time for you to be a martyr coming up.  And Rebecca going on and on about Jack being perfect, in two separate scenes.  Also good: no inappropriate quickies.   

The bleh:  TV trope of the monster pregnant woman, not one but two characters monologueing shmaltzily aloud to themselves, more sappy food traditions.  I wonder if all Jack's future birthdays now get a banana muffin topped with Twinkie cream.  And I wonder why those things don't melt my heart?  Do I not have one?  Ah, one marriage gets a reboot from pretending those years of suck never happened.  If only.  And Dr. K gets his life saved by the amazing perfection that is Jack.   

Considering what that stuff was made of, it's the exact same muffin.  

21 hours ago, Pallas said:

No, it has to be a continuity error. There is no amended birth certificate without an original, and both the original and the amended bear the same birthdate and registration number: all that changes is the names of the parents. If no original can be found to have been filed (which may have been true in newborn Randall's case), still. A newborn's relative age is obvious to anyone. With newborn Randall, that got narrowed down to a specific 24 hours at the hospital by people schooled to know the difference. And we saw that he and his siblings recognize and celebrate their birthdays on the same day.

What t-shirt size are you?   hee!  Love it.

17 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

It happened to me as well, as it did for most of my friends who have had children.  

I also call foul on Rebecca jaunting around six weeks before her due date with triplets.  I've known a few people who had twins (so, admittedly, small sample size) but none of them were able to walk that well for months before delivering.  As I watched Rebecca make her way down the street, I just kept wondering where her waddle was....

Otter there's a FB This is Us Fans page.   I'll give you a roll of quarters if you join the group and start a trending tag  #wheresthewaddle

15 hours ago, CJBinATX said:

It's too bad an all 1980 episode had some grocery store packaging flubs. And a lack of research into Pennsylvania liquor law.

We're out of tshirts but you can have my button.

12 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

The only thing I liked about pregnancy was feeling the baby move. (and that only if it wasn't moving over my bladder)

No snack judgment.

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

He said he was married to his wife for 53 years, so whatever his age, he's older than 49. Not sure about whether he said how old he was, specifically. But his son said he's still young, which I thought was interesting because if he was married 53 years, I'd think he has to be at least 70 in this episode. Even if they married at 16, if his wife has been gone 14 months, he'd be 70.

Depending on the month they married, she was either 16 or 17 and he'dve been 20.   I'm still really having trouble picturing Gerald McRainey as any older than he was the last time I saw him (Designing Women).   He's forever 40 in my mind.

[MV713]

I had my triplets at 34 weeks - I have been watching this show from the beginning also.

I have to say everyone experiences their pregnancies differently (even with multiples).  While I was put on "bedrest" at 17 weeks, I never really went full "bedrest".  I could walk (very poorly and slippers only) a little distance before the strain of the weight was too much on my lower body and legs.  But I could walk up and down stairs, sleep only on my left side (due to the blood flow) and it was Nice but totally weird to have 3 babies flipping, kicking and yes - body parts jutting out.

I wish they would have gotten smaller babies or even used baby props because at 34 weeks, my biggest was 5 pounds and those babies in the nursery window were more like 10  pounds!

[SueB]

First, some great comments (cell phone makes it hard to quote .. my apologies) here regarding purpose of the episode -- to show how individuals affect other individuals' lives.  It reflects the show title "This is Us" very well IMO.  The show isn't titled "The Big Three", it uses their lives to show "Us" (as in everybody).   I absolutely LOVE the Big Three but I liked that when they only had a 12 episode order, they went ahead and focused on "ripple effect" of our lives. 

Dr Folksy Charm: Wow. So very well done.  I liked the silent beginning with him clinging to routine just to get up and keep breathing.  GM did a fantastic job showing what it's like to lose a life-partner. Further complicate that by the challenge of age and we had a very realistic portrayal of what so many elderly experience.  When their source of joy in life goes, they withdraw, get depressed, and suicide is a more common than most think.  Many simply die (without suicide) within a couple years of their spouse.   And his run-in with Team Pearson's brought him back to living.  I loved every aspect of this story line.

Fireman Joe: This was the weakest story for me and yet it still was interesting.  Samantha, his wife, seemed utterly irredeemable for most of the episode, she just seemed too far gone in her bitterness.  Everything Joe said or did was rebuffed.  But there must've been something redeemable about her, because she "woke up" and recognized her husband had pretty much lost his mind by bringing a newborn to her.  I think his act of desperation, as she said, got her to remember authentic love for Joe. And she needed something.  Randall's tragedy (being abandoned) gave them at least a chance that didn't exist before.

Rebecca and Jack: I LOVED hormonal Rebecca.  I wish they had made it clear, she was in labor the entire episode. Many women are in the early stages of labor for a few days before they actually go to the hospital.  I call it the Leonid Brezhnev stage (Soviet leader with an epic uni-brow). The woman is having low-level constant pain, you could tell when she walked she was struggling (and not just with her size).  And nesting in over-drive. But they don't recognize it (especially the first pregnancy).  And I loved scared but adoring Jack.  Bless MV for those bum shots BTW.  But Mandy Moore was so great at shifting from Godzilla to anxious mom to heartbroken.  I miss Kyle.  I love Randall, but she made me miss Kyle.  Well done. Also kudos to liquor store guy for the assist on the Macgyver birthday cupcake.  Clever thinking in the face of pregnant mom meltdown. (Note: pretty sure Rebecca's pilgrimage for birthday cake plus Jack's sexiness both accelerated the stages of labor).   

Edited January 19, 2017 by SueB

[ohjoy]

Question: the triplet baby that was stillborn never actually got a name, did he? I just noticed that most everyone around here is calling him "Kyle", but Kyle was the name they gave Randall before changing it to Randall, right? So are we assuming that Kyle would have been third baby's name regardless?

[ClareWalks]

47 minutes ago, SueB said:

Rebecca and Jack: I LOVED hormonal Rebecca.  I wish they had made it clear, she was in labor the entire episode. Many women are in the early stages of labor for a few days before they actually go to the hospital.  I call it the Leonid Brezhnev stage (Soviet leader with an epic uni-brow). The woman is having low-level constant pain, you could tell when she walked she was struggling (and not just with her size).  And nesting in over-drive. But they don't recognize it (especially the first pregnancy).

Good catch. It's true. I remember the day I ended up going into labor I had a surprising amount of energy, too. And I think being freaked out about the house not being ready is totally normal. I had friends who were begging (and later screaming at) their husbands to paint the damn nursery already, the kid's due next week. 

The only unrealistic part was how unimpressed Jack and Rebecca were with the Terrible Towel. A Steelers fan in 1980 who didn't already own a Terrible Towel would be THRILLED to receive one. My husband has five of them. If I got him a special edition one, or something, he'd be delighted.

[camom]

I'm pretty sure the dead baby was going to be named Kyle.  They gave Randall his own name so they wouldn't be reminded all the time.

[SueB]

33 minutes ago, RandomMe said:

Question: the triplet baby that was stillborn never actually got a name, did he? I just noticed that most everyone around here is calling him "Kyle", but Kyle was the name they gave Randall before changing it to Randall, right? So are we assuming that Kyle would have been third baby's name regardless?

Pretty sure that was the name they would have given the stillborn baby if it had lived.  And they gave Randall "his own" so he wouldn't feel like a replacement.  

[ChromaKelly]

Like some others, I really felt like this episode was filler. It didn't give us a lot of new information and I missed seeing the grown up Big Three. I just can't nitpick the show too much or I won't enjoy it at all. The adoption stuff in particular I have to handwave.
I did feel bad for the firefighter and I'm wondering if he's going to pop up later at all. 
I am not all that enamored with Jack, but I'll take that rant to the Unpopular Opinions thread. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

She definitely was a Majors.   Now how many of us really called her that though?   Present day analogy might be Kim Kardashian West.

I think it's different in that she was famous first as Farrah Fawcett-Majors, unlike Kim.  So more like saying Catherine Zeta instead of Zeta-Jones.  Though of course people will use shorthand, too.  I know that until she dropped Majors I never referred to her as Farrah Fawcett, but that's just me.  No biggie for Rebecca to do so.  

Edited January 19, 2017 by Guest

[ZaldamoWilder]

1 minute ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think it's different in that she was famous first as Farrah Fawcett-Majors, unlike Kim.  Though of course people will use shorthand, too.  I know that until she dropped Majors I never referred to her as Farrah Fawcett, but that's just me.  No biggie for Rebecca to do so.  

You're right she was.  I started to say the exact opposite - that she was famous first as Farrah Fawcett (I was thinking of the red swimsuit poster) but they were married by the time she did that.    Poor Lee.  lol.

[QueBueno]

One thought I've had, and I haven't rewatched the episode to make sure that I'm remembering correctly, so y'all correct me if I'm wrong... Episode 1 started with the sexy dance and covered the birth and adoption.  This episode was prologue to episode 1, so we got a better understanding of the events surrounding that time.  I wonder if at some point, perhaps in season 2, we might get a prologue to episode 12.  Rebecca was certainly very angry at Jack, to the point that she tossed him out.  Was all that anger attributable to pregnancy hormones?  We have noted that Jack gets the saint edit, and I've wondered if season 2 will show us the better side of Rebecca and the not so saintly side of Jack.  I would be very interested in what happened shortly before episode 12 started, to see if Rebecca was pissed off at Jack for good reason but we just didn't see it.  She talked about a major attitude problem, and I didn't see attitude at all.

[chocolatine]

IIRC, Jack and Rebecca decided to give the Big Three names that start with K in honor of Dr. K., who delivered Kate and Kevin and suggested the adoption of Randall. Since they only met Dr. K. on the day of the delivery, I don't think Kyle had been planned for the dead baby, or that any names had been planned for any of the babies, for that matter. It was more that they at first thought giving everyone a K name was a good idea, and they didn't want the adopted child to feel different from the biological children, but eventually realized that the name Kyle didn't fit.

[OtterMommy]

7 minutes ago, QueBueno said:

One thought I've had, and I haven't rewatched the episode to make sure that I'm remembering correctly, so y'all correct me if I'm wrong... Episode 1 started with the sexy dance and covered the birth and adoption.  This episode was prologue to episode 1, so we got a better understanding of the events surrounding that time.  I wonder if at some point, perhaps in season 2, we might get a prologue to episode 12.  Rebecca was certainly very angry at Jack, to the point that she tossed him out.  Was all that anger attributable to pregnancy hormones?  We have noted that Jack gets the saint edit, and I've wondered if season 2 will show us the better side of Rebecca and the not so saintly side of Jack.  I would be very interested in what happened shortly before episode 12 started, to see if Rebecca was pissed off at Jack for good reason but we just didn't see it.  She talked about a major attitude problem, and I didn't see attitude at all.

I'd say yes.  I am the first to admit that I was not fun to be around towards the end of either of my pregnancies--due both to hormones and general discomfort (and I was carrying single babies!).  I honestly didn't see anything unusual about Rebecca's behavior in this episode, given her circumstance.  Heck, I was behaving the exact same way towards my husband that evening, and I'm not even pregnant (and, yeah, the hubs DID do something to deserve it...)

[llewis823]

15 hours ago, stillshimpy said:

I like Milo V. enough and sure, he's ludicrously buff at this point but mostly I want to throw Jack down and shampoo him and then return him, no worse for wear, but decidedly less likely to trigger my "that's kind of icky, right?" reflex when it comes to his hair. Yikes. 

OMG Yes! I so agree!

[luna1122]

While I guess there could be more to why Rebecca was acting so bitchy than pregnancy hormones (tho I kind of don't think so, especially in light of her repeatedly saying he was perfect later), and I have no objection to seeing more of the  pre-pregnancy side of Jack n Rebecca's story, but can we please please PLEASE never have to see the birth-day again? Thanx, show.

Milo doesn't look dirty or greasy to me, but I still wouldn't object to bathing and shampooing him.

[Sake614]

11 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

I still wouldn't object to bathing and shampooing with him.

Fixed that for you :)

[Guest]

It's a weird thing to hate but I hate the depiction of pregnant women as angry at the father.   I've been very pregnant and I understand moods and hormones and extreme discomfort and resentment at being the ONLY active parent at that time.   But I didn't turn into a nutball who resented becoming pregnant and/or miscast my own role in the situation, and I've never seen anyone do that, outside of TV where it's ubiquitous.  

The real live women I know are stoic as hell in nearly all things maternal.  We don't turn to babbling bitches over a little pain and swelling and lack of sleep.  

[Mrs. DuRona]

59 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

 

IIRC, Jack and Rebecca decided to give the Big Three names that start with K in honor of Dr. K., who delivered Kate and Kevin and suggested the adoption of Randall. Since they only met Dr. K. on the day of the delivery, I don't think Kyle had been planned for the dead baby, or that any names had been planned for any of the babies, for that matter.

 

My assumption on this was that they bonded pretty quickly with him, and decided to name the babies in tribute to him between when we see them meet and when she starts popping the kids out.  A little much, but then this show is a little much.

[Cowgirl]

46 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

Milo doesn't look dirty or greasy to me, but I still wouldn't object to bathing and shampooing him.

He's looked both dirty and greasy to me -- from the start.  And needs a haircut.  I've never liked that style on men, even when I saw it in the 80's. That being said, Milo the actor is awesome.  I have always loved Mandy Moore too --and Gerald McRainey, and they didn't disappoint here.  

At first I thought that Randall might have been a few days old when he was left at the fire station.  Then, they purposely had the firefighter's wife say that he looked like a newborn baby and he should take it to a hospital. 

We don't know that Randall's mother died in childbirth, do we?  I just assumed that she died from a drug overdose, but that could have been later.  I would love to see more of what happened between William and Randall's mom. 

[Crs97]

23 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

On 1/18/2017 at 1:34 PM, GodsBeloved said:

What if Miguel's family is dead? That would go a long way in making him sympathic. Worse yet what if say Jack was doing Miguel a favor and picked up his wife and kids and they got in an accident.

That's an interesting thought that crossed my mind. That would be devastating and would make me feel for Miguel for once, that's for sure.

It would definitely explain why he wanted to wear the Pilgrim hat on Thanksgiving; I love how engaged he is with Randall's girls and how happy he is to be part of the family's celebrations.

I had to laugh when they showed the home movies and they were silent.  I completely forgot about that!

Dr. K's story moved me.  When my dad died almost 20 years ago, my mom wanted all evidence of his cancer out of the house by nightfall, but she still wears her wedding ring and keeps a number of his personal things.

[ShadowFacts]

23 minutes ago, Cowgirl said:

We don't know that Randall's mother died in childbirth, do we?  I just assumed that she died from a drug overdose, but that could have been later.  I would love to see more of what happened between William and Randall's mom. 

I think William did say it was childbirth. 

 

41 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

It's a weird thing to hate but I hate the depiction of pregnant women as angry at the father.   I've been very pregnant and I understand moods and hormones and extreme discomfort and resentment at being the ONLY active parent at that time.   But I didn't turn into a nutball who resented becoming pregnant and/or miscast my own role in the situation, and I've never seen anyone do that, outside of TV where it's ubiquitous.  

I don't like that either, nor women screaming and swearing during active labor, that just hurts more and takes too much energy.  In Rebecca's case in this episode, I thought she was irrational right then, but not all of the time.  Maybe there's an evolutionary reason for it, where the mother needs to start getting fiercely . . . something, protective, I don't know.  But if it was as exaggerated as it's depicted sometimes, there would be a lot fewer second children and more divorces. 

[ClareWalks]

I don't think her yelling at Jack was just about the pregnancy. I think she was pissed (probably rightfully) that the house still wasn't ready for the babies yet, and probably thinking that it was going to fall to Jack (who is, after all, handy and NOT hugely pregnant) to finish that up ASAP.

[JudyObscure]

It looked to me like, since we last saw it, Jack had installed kitchen cabinets and counters and painted all the walls.  Rebecca could have unpacked those boxes.