This Is Our Minutiae Thread: For Those Pesky Job/Housing/Money/Geography Details

[PRgal]

The Challenger disaster happened in the winter of 1986.  That means the Big 3 would have been in kindergarten.  The classroom didn't look like a kindergarten classroom.  

[Nancybeth]

On 1/5/2022 at 8:06 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

Oh no, we figured it out pretty quickly.  Or at least I did when watching this happen live.  

Same. I was in third grade, we watched it live and knew exactly what had happened.  

BUT I'm not sure kindergarteners would have been watching it live, and the actors seemed slightly older than the Big 3 would have been. They were allegedly born in the late summer of 1980, which makes them almost exactly three years younger than me but I've always found a lot of little inconsistencies with how old they're supposed to be at certain moments, their clothing, pop culture experiences, etc.

For example in this episode we saw they had an original Nintendo set next to their TV. According to Wikipedia the American release of NES didn't happen until September 1986 -- a full 8 months after this episode takes place! 

[Ohiopirate02]

29 minutes ago, Nancybeth said:

Same. I was in third grade, we watched it live and knew exactly what had happened.  

BUT I'm not sure kindergarteners would have been watching it live, and the actors seemed slightly older than the Big 3 would have been. They were allegedly born in the late summer of 1980, which makes them almost exactly three years younger than me but I've always found a lot of little inconsistencies with how old they're supposed to be at certain moments, their clothing, pop culture experiences, etc.

For example in this episode we saw they had an original Nintendo set next to their TV. According to Wikipedia the American release of NES didn't happen until September 1986 -- a full 8 months after this episode takes place! 

I'm 3 weeks older than the Big 3.  Most of their pop culture is spot on for the age. I do feel like I am the contemporary of Kate that I'm supposed to be.  The show gets a lot of stuff right with her--NKOTB, 90210, then Buffy.  Then there's Kevin's love of The Princess Bride. 

I said in the episode thread that I know exactly where I was when I saw the Challenger explosion.   At home with my Dad because we were blanketed in snow.  

 I also noticed the NES, but I honestly can't remember the exact year we got our for Christmas.   I thought it felt wrong for January 1986, but I've never been a gamer let alone the type who knows the exact year a particular console came out.

[PRgal]

15 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I'm 3 weeks older than the Big 3.  Most of their pop culture is spot on for the age. I do feel like I am the contemporary of Kate that I'm supposed to be.  The show gets a lot of stuff right with her--NKOTB, 90210, then Buffy.  Then there's Kevin's love of The Princess Bride. 

I said in the episode thread that I know exactly where I was when I saw the Challenger explosion.   At home with my Dad because we were blanketed in snow.  

 I also noticed the NES, but I honestly can't remember the exact year we got our for Christmas.   I thought it felt wrong for January 1986, but I've never been a gamer let alone the type who knows the exact year a particular console came out.

The writing team must not have any Xennials.  We remember things (well, most things).  As for NES, I looked it up, and yes, it existed in 1985/86 (no, I didn’t watch 8-Bit Christmas or whatever that movie is called).  

[One Imaginary Girl]

I always assumed that the cabin was in western Pennsylvania, not the Poconos--this would make more sense for people who lived in the Pittsburgh area.  Either way, I don't see how Deja, a teenager who presumably doesn't have a credit card, would get to Boston that quickly, and in the middle of the night, no less.

[mostlylurking]

7 minutes ago, One Imaginary Girl said:

 

I always assumed that the cabin was in western Pennsylvania, not the Poconos--this would make more sense for people who lived in the Pittsburgh area.  Either way, I don't see how Deja, a teenager who presumably doesn't have a credit card, would get to Boston that quickly, and in the middle of the night, no less.

 

I never knew there was a thread about the wacky geography on this show!  Makes total sense because it’s bonkers. This episodes suspension of reality…Rebecca decided on a microsecond she’s going with Randall (where??) and asks Miguel to get her bags. So her bags are all packed?  Where are the going and for how long?  I just hand wave it all now because since the very first season it never made sense how long it took these people to get places, and how they could just pick up and leave on a moments notice. Maybe it’s yet another Pearson super power ;)

[Kirkydee]

About Deja going from a remote cabin to Boston.......

The only half way plausible scenario I see is she walks to town ( however far 'town' may be) , ubers to a bus station and gets a ticket to Boston.  I will also assume Beth and Randall gives Deja a credit card and some emergency money or prepaid bank card just in case an unusual circumstance pops up and both parents are unavailable.  Tess may have the same deal.  Annie's too young

[One Imaginary Girl]

Still not buying that there are departures late at night, and between, say, Scranton (if the cabin is indeed in the Poconos) and Boston, there's going to be a transfer somewhere, possibly NYC at the Port Authority terminal.  But would there even be a bus to Boston from there in the middle of the night?  

I guess I'm missing the point that the writers needed an excuse for a Rebecca-Randall road trip, so I need to overlook any realism.

Edited April 2, 2022 by One Imaginary Girl

[Pallas]

3 hours ago, Crs97 said:

IIRC, Rebecca honored William by picking Randall, the name of William’s favorite poet.

Jack and Rebecca began by calling Randall, Kyle. When Rebecca found William and said that she couldn't seem to bond with the baby, William pointed out that it might not be wisest to name the adopted child after the dead child, nor to make him the third of the "K"'s.  And Rebecca then chose the name of William's favorite poet.

[CdrJanny]

Oh, show, show, show.  East Liberty is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, not a separate town.  How hard would it have been for the writers to Google "East Liberty" or pull up a Google map of P'burgh and look for surrounding towns?

Oh, and while I am familiar with Roberto Clemente (he died my freshman year at Duquesne), his first year with the Pirates was 1955, the year Miguel was 10.  I don't think he became a legend instantaneously, so once again the timeline is AFU.

Finally, I can't remember the name of the Christmas song playing when Jack went out to look at Miguel's El Camino, but I'm pretty sure it hadn't been released yet (not to mention no signs of winter weather at Christmastime in Pittsburgh.

[bros402]

28 minutes ago, CdrJanny said:

Oh, show, show, show.  East Liberty is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, not a separate town.  How hard would it have been for the writers to Google "East Liberty" or pull up a Google map of P'burgh and look for surrounding towns?

Oh, and while I am familiar with Roberto Clemente (he died my freshman year at Duquesne), his first year with the Pirates was 1955, the year Miguel was 10.  I don't think he became a legend instantaneously, so once again the timeline is AFU.

Finally, I can't remember the name of the Christmas song playing when Jack went out to look at Miguel's El Camino, but I'm pretty sure it hadn't been released yet (not to mention no signs of winter weather at Christmastime in Pittsburgh.

Maybe it is something like how it in the NYC area, they just say Jamaica and you know it is Queens?

[CdrJanny]

27 minutes ago, bros402 said:

Maybe it is something like how it in the NYC area, they just say Jamaica and you know it is Queens?

Hmmm.  That's a thought, but I don't think so.

[mansonlamps]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:17 PM, CdrJanny said:

 

Finally, I can't remember the name of the Christmas song playing when Jack went out to look at Miguel's El Camino, but I'm pretty sure it hadn't been released yet (not to mention no signs of winter weather at Christmastime in Pittsburgh.

In my world,  no woman ever dated a man with an El Camino😂

[Empress1]

Sterling K. Brown posted Rebecca’s funeral programs on his IG. Rebecca’s birth-death years are 1951-2033. I can’t recall if that’s been firmly established (I think I thought she was born in 1950) but there you go.

[Pallas]

I think that we only know for certain that the Big Three were born in 1980 and Jack in 1944 -- all four on August 31st -- and that Tess was born on Halloween, 2008. Other sources give Rebecca's birthday as February 12th, February 2nd or January 27th of 1950, but without citation; I don't recall where that was mentioned on the show. Pulling for February: January 27th is the day after Jack died.