S02.E14: Super Bowl Sunday

[ClareWalks]

This whole episode really highlighted the importance of 1) changing smoke detector batteries regularly; 2) having an escape plan in place for your whole family, one that assumes you won't be able to exit to the hallway; and 3) the necessity of emergency fire escape ladders like this that can make it safe to get down to ground level from upper floors.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, nexxie said:

People may have posted about this already (I’m making my way through the thread), but the thing that sticks in my mind about this episode is Jack’s shoulders and head sort of falling as Rebecca leaves the room to get snacks (as if he knew).

Brilliant detail!

But if he knew, he knew it was fatal? That's sad, he would try to fight,  if he felt ill or in pain, why not say so?  I thought it was touching at first, sending Rebecca to get candy ,that coincidentally  didn't exist to have her leave, but later I thought it wasn't sweet, she should have been with him, he should have said something. The script was written for emotion but having him code or have heart attack with her could have worked too. I actually thought he was going to have heart attack driving or with Rebecca driving but it just didn't flow for me. I love Mandy's acting, her silent pain, but why have her on pay phones looking for hotels when Miguel would take them for a few days with no issues and a lot more comfort and food and moral support and it  just fell flat. I know they did it to have her away from Jack but it just didn't seem realistic to me.

Re the phones at home, we always had in the 70's landline in kitchen and upstairs bedroom (not kids) just in case of emergency but calling 911 at that point was second to getting out.

[ShadowFacts]

4 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

This whole episode really highlighted the importance of 1) changing smoke detector batteries regularly; 2) having an escape plan in place for your whole family, one that assumes you won't be able to exit to the hallway; and 3) the necessity of emergency fire escape ladders like this that can make it safe to get down to ground level from upper floors.

Yes, I think this episode was a public service in that sense.  It made me think again about getting out from upstairs.  I did get my son an escape ladder when he went to a dorm and then a second-floor apartment.  It's here now but I need to review how to hang it. 

[ClareWalks]

4 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

Yes, I think this episode was a public service in that sense.  It made me think again about getting out from upstairs.  I did get my son an escape ladder when he went to a dorm and then a second-floor apartment.  It's here now but I need to review how to hang it. 

Good idea! My house is pretty easy to escape from (there is a deck along one side of the house's second story with stairs down), but I realized the one room where there is a 10-foot drop is my toddler's room. I therefore just ordered a ladder for that room, in case I run in there for him and we can't get out at least I can carry him down the ladder (and when he is older he can do it himself - we will have fire drills to practice). I wish the episode had a message at the end giving people fire safety tips or a website where they can find them. It was ALMOST a great PSA, but they missed giving the info.

[Ohiopirate02]

Another thing with regards to Kate.  I have no problem with her watching that videotape once a year, I just wish she would view it in a different light.  She has video evidence that her father loved her unconditionally to his dying day.  That tape is priceless.  I know that my father loved me and we parted on the best of terms given the circumstances, but I wish I had something like that to remember him by. 

[Bringonthedrama]

Does Rebecca know that Kate blames herself for Jack's death? I've missed scenes/episodes so I am unsure.

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, ShadowFacts said:

the necessity of emergency fire escape ladders like this

"Temporarily out of stock" on the website.  Did TIU start a rush?  Good for them if so.

[PepSinger]

To me, the most unbelievable part of the episode was the notion that Rebecca would be a-okay to drive from the hospital to Miguel’s house. There is no way in hell I could have gotten behind the wheel of a car after seeing my husband’s dead body. Just no. Not on your life.

I cried throughout the entire episode. Mandy Moore better be nominated for an Emmy, damn it.

[debraran]

Just now, PepSinger said:

To me, the most unbelievable part of the episode was the notion that Rebecca would be a-okay to drive from the hospital to Miguel’s house. There is no way in hell I could have gotten behind the wheel of a car after seeing my husband’s dead body. Just no. Not on your life.

I cried throughout the entire episode. Mandy Moore better be nominated for an Emmy, damn it.

What I thought was even more odd, was that Miguel wasn't her first choice to live with a few days or longer. He's their good friend, wife moved out, kids maybe too, lots of room, food,  higher level of comfort. She's booking hotels with her husband in ER with a cot....I don't know, just odd.

[catrox14]

I enjoyed the episode but I wasn't feeling Mandy Moore's performance. I could see her "acting" and that's always a minus for me. I thought Justin had some wonderful understated work and Sterling was sterling in a borderline manic/staving off a breakdown Randall during the SB party.

1 minute ago, debraran said:

What I thought was even more odd, was that Miguel wasn't her first choice to live with a few days or longer. He's their good friend, wife moved out, kids maybe too, lots of room, food,  higher level of comfort. She's booking hotels with her husband in ER with a cot....I don't know, just odd.

I admit this distance made me wonder if they were doing it on purpose because they had a fling or some intimacy and this would have brought that out.  I realize there is no real evidence in show to support this. Just kind of how I read that scene.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

This whole episode really highlighted the importance of 1) changing smoke detector batteries regularly; 2) having an escape plan in place for your whole family, one that assumes you won't be able to exit to the hallway; and 3) the necessity of emergency fire escape ladders like this that can make it safe to get down to ground level from upper floors.

When I was a kid, my mom  had us practice jumping out the window in case of a fire a couple of times.  we were  only in a one story house so it wasn't dangerous or anything, but she wanted to make sure we would just do it without a second thought in case of a fire.

[txhorns79]

Quote

What I thought was even more odd, was that Miguel wasn't her first choice to live with a few days or longer. He's their good friend, wife moved out, kids maybe too, lots of room, food,  higher level of comfort. She's booking hotels with her husband in ER with a cot....I don't know, just odd.

Even for the best of friends, asking someone to host you and your family for an indeterminate period at the last minute is a pretty big imposition.  That isn't to say Miguel wouldn't have done it, but I can understand why Rebecca looked for hotels. 

[Scarlett45]

43 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

Even for the best of friends, asking someone to host you and your family for an indeterminate period at the last minute is a pretty big imposition.  That isn't to say Miguel wouldn't have done it, but I can understand why Rebecca looked for hotels. 

Yes- it wasn’t just for a night or two, or ONE member of the Pearson family, it was all 5 of them, plus the dog- 5 additional people is a lot to impose on someone who has been living alone most of the time. Of course I’m sure Miguel wouldve welcomed them but that did not seem odd to me. 

[chocolatine]

I agree that the Pearsons couldn't have imposed on Miguel indefinitely, but he seemed more than willing to put them up for a night or two. In a real life situation, he would have told Rebecca to just take care of Jack and worry about the hotel reservations in the morning. The reservations were just a device to keep Rebecca on the phone while Jack coded.

[Sandman]

On 2/4/2018 at 11:48 PM, Conotocarious said:

Wowwwww.

The older Tess at the end was pretty mind-blowing.

I teared up a couple of times, and certainly when Rebecca told Kevin "You see? ... This year, he sent me you."

But I completely LOST MY CRAP when Jordan's case worker was revealed to be Tess. (I literally sobbed the words "IT'S TESS!" at my television screen tonight.)

Edited February 7, 2018 by Sandman

[elle]

While I still think a dog would bark if there was a fire in a house, there are some that may not be so inclined.  Checking the news, I came across this video.  Spoiler: It is a small fire that is quickly extinguished thankfully. Knowing it turns out okay, watching the two golden retrievers made me smile.  That would be my dog greeting the first responders - Hello!  Welcome!  Take away lesson: don't have leftover pancakes.

A Massachusetts dog's quest for a pancake ends in flames

Edited February 7, 2018 by elle

[Sandman]

I didn't see Moore acting at all. I was completely in the moment with Rebecca (and I found the instant's flash of memory she had of the young Jack, seemingly when they met, was a gut punch. Have we seen that image of Jack before? I don't remember it.)

But I loved Beth's invocation of Third-Person Randall! That and "I'm gonna go to the kitchen and get that, and I'm never coming back" made me laugh out loud.

Kevin's speech at the tree had the greatest potential, after Rebecca's moment of absolute denial, to go wrong -- but I think Hartley avoid the biggest pitfalls of sentimentality and falseness. I think he did a great job.

[pennben]

4 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I didn't mind it.  With a hotel, they could walk in and flop down and crash.  At Miguel's, they'd have to find space for basically five adults.  

Agreed.  I think the only options were the family go to a hotel or Miguel offer up his place for a few days to the family and he grabs a hotel room.  Them staying with Miguel in the middle of that turmoil? No, for them. No, for him. Not good for anyone. 

[smores]

Jack saying that it was too far to jump from Kate's window kind of made me laugh, because at one point when I was a kid, we lived in a two story house and I wanted an emergency fire ladder and my parents told me that I could make the jump and at most I'd break an arm or leg IF I broke anything.  I was like, but I'd have a broken bone! And they replied, yes, but you wouldn't be dead from a fire, now would you? So, that's what was running through my head when Jack was saying they couldn't jump, you  might break something, but you wouldn't be dead!

When it comes to wallowing, I don't know if I agree that doing something to mark the day that someone died is wallowing in it.  There are people who haven't moved on or have some sort of lasting issues regarding a death, and Kate certainly can be seen that way.  But, Rebecca making the lasagna and watching the game isn't a super weird thing to me.  I was really close to my grandfather, who died over a decade ago, and on the day of his death, there's still a way that I "mark" it.  Over the years, it's morphed from being a way to make myself feel better into something a bit different, but, it's still there.  My bio father died 5 years ago, in a really sudden, unexpected way, in the very early morning.  I find that I'm not able to go to bed until after the time he died has passed, I'm just too restless.  I usually end up listening to a song that we both loved around the time that he died, and then I'm able to go to sleep.  Beyond the fact that of course I wish I still had my loved ones with me, I'm at peace with the fact that they are gone, but, I need to remember them in my own way on the days that they died.

[GSMHvisitor]

3 hours ago, Sandman said:

Kevin's speech at the tree had the greatest potential, after Rebecca's moment of absolute denial, to go wrong -- but I think Hartley avoid the biggest pitfalls of sentimentality and falseness. I think he did a great job.

I think so too. I think both Justin Hartley and Kevin as a character continue to be the most underrated actor and character on the show. I loved that tree scene and the talk with Rebecca. But what absolutely gutted me was the moment in the previous episode, when he took out his list of names and we saw the utter sadness and despair on his face as he looked at "Dad" written on the back of the list. The one person he would never ever be able to make amends to. It was such a short little moment, but to me immensely poignant and effective, especially as it directly followed Kevin getting his necklace back, which was such a breath of relief moment for both the character and the audience as well. It felt like "nope, Kevin only gets to be happy for 10 seconds" haha. It hit me that much harder and Justin really delivered throughout this entire scene.

Edited February 7, 2018 by GSMHvisitor

[trivianerd]

My dad died when I was 24 and living across the country.  He was in the hospital, but had been improving when I found out, but due to finances, I planned to go a week later and he died in that week.  Though he was sick, because they said he was improving, it was still somewhat of a shock. Perhaps they feel the loss more deeply too because when he went back in, they for at least a moment, knew how foolish it was to go back for a dog and that was his death warrant, but seeing him come out and be at least on the surface, very little worse for the wear felt like he cheated death for good.  All but Kevin likely grieved twice. 

 

My dad had some serious flaws that my head can acknowledge, in my heart he is loved like he had none.  And I think the same is true for the Pearsons, and perhaps why all we see is the good.  Even twenty years later, as daddy’s girl (coincidentally, the only girl of three) I experience grief on a small way i’d say weekly, so I relate to Kate.  I have no idea the exact date and I’ve consciously never tried to find out. In fact, I think it might have been yesterday as I watched the episode.  Like Randall, I celebrate his birthday, which is also in February, some years with cake and watching videos of him, sometimes just remembering the happy times.

 

Back to the episode, I too was upset that a father would tell his kid that she was his #1.  It’s possible when talking to his other kid, he says the same thing.  That said, it’s probably true and though the other kid feels love, she probably knows it without saying.  But still shitty of him because it’s possible in times of sibling fighting, she could throw that at her sister.

[Clanstarling]

6 hours ago, smores said:

Jack saying that it was too far to jump from Kate's window kind of made me laugh, because at one point when I was a kid, we lived in a two story house and I wanted an emergency fire ladder and my parents told me that I could make the jump and at most I'd break an arm or leg IF I broke anything.  I was like, but I'd have a broken bone! And they replied, yes, but you wouldn't be dead from a fire, now would you? So, that's what was running through my head when Jack was saying they couldn't jump, you  might break something, but you wouldn't be dead!

When it comes to wallowing, I don't know if I agree that doing something to mark the day that someone died is wallowing in it.  There are people who haven't moved on or have some sort of lasting issues regarding a death, and Kate certainly can be seen that way.  But, Rebecca making the lasagna and watching the game isn't a super weird thing to me.  I was really close to my grandfather, who died over a decade ago, and on the day of his death, there's still a way that I "mark" it.  Over the years, it's morphed from being a way to make myself feel better into something a bit different, but, it's still there.  My bio father died 5 years ago, in a really sudden, unexpected way, in the very early morning.  I find that I'm not able to go to bed until after the time he died has passed, I'm just too restless.  I usually end up listening to a song that we both loved around the time that he died, and then I'm able to go to sleep.  Beyond the fact that of course I wish I still had my loved ones with me, I'm at peace with the fact that they are gone, but, I need to remember them in my own way on the days that they died.

Depends on how and where you land, but yeah, a choice between certain death in the fire and that - I'd take my chances. 

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, trivianerd said:

My dad died when I was 24 and living across the country.  He was in the hospital, but had been improving when I found out, but due to finances, I planned to go a week later and he died in that week.  Though he was sick, because they said he was improving, it was still somewhat of a shock. Perhaps they feel the loss more deeply too because when he went back in, they for at least a moment, knew how foolish it was to go back for a dog and that was his death warrant, but seeing him come out and be at least on the surface, very little worse for the wear felt like he cheated death for good.  All but Kevin likely grieved twice. 

 

My dad had some serious flaws that my head can acknowledge, in my heart he is loved like he had none.  And I think the same is true for the Pearsons, and perhaps why all we see is the good.  Even twenty years later, as daddy’s girl (coincidentally, the only girl of three) I experience grief on a small way i’d say weekly, so I relate to Kate.  I have no idea the exact date and I’ve consciously never tried to find out. In fact, I think it might have been yesterday as I watched the episode.  Like Randall, I celebrate his birthday, which is also in February, some years with cake and watching videos of him, sometimes just remembering the happy times.

 

Back to the episode, I too was upset that a father would tell his kid that she was his #1.  It’s possible when talking to his other kid, he says the same thing.  That said, it’s probably true and though the other kid feels love, she probably knows it without saying.  But still shitty of him because it’s possible in times of sibling fighting, she could throw that at her sister.

But if Randall also tells Annie that she's HIS #1, then Annie can tell Tess that she's lying (of course, Tess would then scream and tell Annie that SHE'S lying).  I don't have any siblings, so I don't know what it's like.  

I think it's possible that different people grieve differently.  My maternal grandmother practically raised me when I was very little.  She was the one who taught me my times tables (in Cantonese.  And for a few years, I had to translate math from Chinese to English.  At least the times tables to the nines (my grandmother said that in her day (and I suppose in my mom's day, too), kids only learned up to the nines)) and played "imagine" with me until I went to school.  She died many years later (in 2013, just a few months before my 34th birthday), and like your dad, she was said to have been "improving" just hours before her death.  We lived in the same town, but I never visited her during the last few months of her life.  I was already married by then and had a life of my own.  I don't know, but I STILL don't feel too guilty about NOT visiting her.  The last visit was probably around Christmas 2012/new year 2013, and I just sat there.  I'm pretty sure she recognized me and felt my presence, but there was no communication between us.  Now, nearly five years later, I'm still not sure what to feel.   

Edited February 7, 2018 by PRgal

[cardigirl]

12 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Yes- it wasn’t just for a night or two, or ONE member of the Pearson family, it was all 5 of them, plus the dog- 5 additional people is a lot to impose on someone who has been living alone most of the time. Of course I’m sure Miguel wouldve welcomed them but that did not seem odd to me. 

I think there are only 4 Pearsons now.  

[trivianerd]

I took them booking a hotel as a function of Jack being a proud man (and stubborn too) that the family was his obligation and not Miguel’s.  However long they ended up staying before Miguel and Rebecca started dating could be because they had just lost their breadwinner, and his friend and stand up guy Miguel would likely have insisted until Rebecca sorted it out, since he had a house and some room (not sure if his kids were older or ever stayed with him).  IIRC, he and his ex-wife had small children when Jack and Rebecca were contemplating, so that would make them at least College age.

Edited February 7, 2018 by trivianerd
grammar is important

[ShadowFacts]

15 minutes ago, cardigirl said:

I think there are only 4 Pearsons now.  

But when Rebecca was on the phone trying to book rooms, she did not know that. 

[DianeDobbler]

18 hours ago, GSMHvisitor said:

Some things surrounding the fire & Jack's death definitely felt contrived. I think the thing that bothered me most was the fact that they dropped the kids off at Miguel's before getting Jack to the hospital for the check-up. Seriously, who does that?? Especially when the ambulance is right there? Hell, he was already in the ambulance. I'm sure Rebecca could have made a call from a neighbour house to ask Miguel to get the kids, while she goes to the hospital with Jack via ambulance.

I know. Did the ambulence drop off the kids first, or WTF?

[Sandman]

2 hours ago, DianeDobbler said:

I think the thing that bothered me most was the fact that they dropped the kids off at Miguel's before getting Jack to the hospital for the check-up. Seriously, who does that??

Jack's injuries were not known to be life-threatening at that point. He had a second-degree burn on his arm that the EMT couldn't treat. His lungs were being treated as something he should take precautions on.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Sandman

[Maximona]

34 minutes ago, Sandman said:

Jack's injuries were not known to be life-threatening at that point.

Well, all I can tell you is that if Jack had walked into the ER where I  worked -- I was an ER nurse at a major metropolitan hospital during the time period when Jack "dies" -- we would have had him on an O2 non-rebreather mask and a pulse ox, and we would be monitoring him up the wazoo.  AND keeping him there for observation for several hours.  Wouldn't really matter how he presented:  Smoke inhalation is known to be life-threatening; people with smoke inhalation crash fast.

Yes, Jack dies from a massive MI, presumably brought on by the stress of the events.  Pulse oximetry wasn't used as a marker of acute heart failure back then.  Somebody way upthread pointed out that yes, he was on telemetry.  I can't remember whether telemetry was part of our smoke inhalation protocols -- it's been a while since I worked as an RN.  But I kind of remember we kinda slapped electrodes on to anyone who walked through the door.  Unless it was 4 in the morning, and they were coming in to rule out ringworm.

I get that this show is something people watch for emotional catharsis and PSAs (Check You Smoke Detector Batteries NOW) and not real-life details.

Nonetheless, it makes me feel kinda cynical to see important details being mushed this way.

[laurakaye]

The part that I can't figure out is, why were teenage Kevin and (was it Sophie?) sleeping in a car in the middle of the woods, how did Kate get to them (walk?  drive?  bike?) and most importantly, how did she know exactly where to find them?  That whole scene was so odd, it took me completely out of the show.  And when Kevin wakes up, he's not even surprised to see Kate, or scrambling to throw a shirt on or anything - he just looks up like it's no big deal that she's interrupting his sexy-times.

[chocolatine]

1 minute ago, laurakaye said:

The part that I can't figure out is, why were teenage Kevin and (was it Sophie?) sleeping in a car in the middle of the woods, how did Kate get to them (walk?  drive?  bike?) and most importantly, how did she know exactly where to find them?  That whole scene was so odd, it took me completely out of the show.  And when Kevin wakes up, he's not even surprised to see Kate, or scrambling to throw a shirt on or anything - he just looks up like it's no big deal that she's interrupting his sexy-times.

At Miguel's house, Kate was talking on the phone to someone, then hung up and said Kevin and Sophie were at "the lookout," so it seemed like she knew where that was. I did find it odd that she went there by herself, but we also know that Rebecca went on a drive to cry in front of the burned out house. Perhaps Miguel let Kate take his car.

[Katy M]

5 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

why were teenage Kevin and (was it Sophie?) sleeping in a car in the middle of the woods

Pretty much why you would think.

 

5 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

 how did she know exactly where to find them?

Didn't she get a hold of one of their friends who said they went to park at X?  Still wondering what time it was.  People must have been annoyed by being woken up to find wayward teenagers.

[gonzosgirrl]

I'd have to watch again, but I recall taking Randall's 'you're my #1' to Tess as meaning she was his first born, and would always be his number one child. Being first born is inherently special, I think. (Speaking as the youngest child)

[cameron]

On 2/6/2018 at 9:34 AM, PRgal said:

Was having only one phone in the house still standard in '98?  Most people I knew had extensions - at least two (one upstairs and one downstairs).  Most homes with teenagers - especially a teenage girl - would have had more than two (because the teenage girl would have asked for one IN HER ROOM).  

Extensions already has become very popular by the mid 1960's.

On 2/6/2018 at 9:34 AM, PRgal said:

Was having only one phone in the house still standard in '98?  Most people I knew had extensions - at least two (one upstairs and one downstairs).  Most homes with teenagers - especially a teenage girl - would have had more than two (because the teenage girl would have asked for one IN HER ROOM).  

Extension phones were already popular by the mid 1960's.

Edited February 7, 2018 by cameron
redundant reply

[cameron]

On 2/6/2018 at 4:24 PM, nexxie said:

People may have posted about this already (I’m making my way through the thread), but the thing that sticks in my mind about this episode is Jack’s shoulders and head sort of falling as Rebecca leaves the room to get snacks (as if he knew).

Brilliant detail!

I went back and rewatched this and maybe this is when he has his deadly heart attack.

[debraran]

5 hours ago, Maximona said:

Well, all I can tell you is that if Jack had walked into the ER where I  worked -- I was an ER nurse at a major metropolitan hospital during the time period when Jack "dies" -- we would have had him on an O2 non-rebreather mask and a pulse ox, and we would be monitoring him up the wazoo.  AND keeping him there for observation for several hours.  Wouldn't really matter how he presented:  Smoke inhalation is known to be life-threatening; people with smoke inhalation crash fast.

Yes, Jack dies from a massive MI, presumably brought on by the stress of the events.  Pulse oximetry wasn't used as a marker of acute heart failure back then.  Somebody way upthread pointed out that yes, he was on telemetry.  I can't remember whether telemetry was part of our smoke inhalation protocols -- it's been a while since I worked as an RN.  But I kind of remember we kinda slapped electrodes on to anyone who walked through the door.  Unless it was 4 in the morning, and they were coming in to rule out ringworm.

I get that this show is something people watch for emotional catharsis and PSAs (Check You Smoke Detector Batteries NOW) and not real-life details.

Nonetheless, it makes me feel kinda cynical to see important details being mushed this way.

I agree, worked in hospital during that time, it wasn't cavemen era. ; ) I think the writers just thought, smoke, ER, heartattack without Rebecca, she misses it and the details didn't matter. I don't think of This is Us like a soap opera with silly plots and scenes that stretch the imagination. I hope they try to do more research especially with more fostering episodes and Vietnam memories.

Re the hotel, I just meant for a day or two, with all the stuff going on Miguel wouldn't mind. He lived alone, probably had 3 bedrooms and it seemed a pull out couch, just to give her a breather to call and sort out finances. Jack was his best friend and I know he would have done it for Miguel without a thought.

[Clanstarling]

26 minutes ago, debraran said:

Re the hotel, I just meant for a day or two, with all the stuff going on Miguel wouldn't mind. He lived alone, probably had 3 bedrooms and it seemed a pull out couch, just to give her a breather to call and sort out finances. Jack was his best friend and I know he would have done it for Miguel without a thought.

I do wonder about Miguel's living quarters. My assumption has always been that he lived in an apartment, as it was typical that in a divorce, the woman with the kids got the house.  Sometimes they got big enough places for the kids to visit, but often didn't. Didn't happen in my divorce - roughly in the same time frame - but I didn't have kids at that time and I wanted the hell out.

I think Jack sleeping on a sleeper couch when he stayed with Miguel is consistent with an apartment, and a small one at that. So my assumption, before coming to the forums, was they really couldn't stay with Miguel without being very crowded in an already stressful situation.

[debraran]

Very interesting video on this page where they talk about how they cut out a lot of Jack's hacking and coughing because "God forbid" the fans knew it was coming, even though they were hyping it for weeks.  : /

http://ew.com/tv/2018/02/05/this-is-us-milo-ventimiglia-jack-perfect-death/?sf181566287=1

Milo: "I know a lot of clearing the throat and coughing didn’t get used because Dan really didn’t want to tip off that there was something really wrong with his lungs that was sending his heart into cardiac arrest, but the real-life statistics of smoke inhalation is horrible. A house fire like that — if you’re in that kind of smoke for five seconds and you take two full, deep breaths in, you’re done. You’re just done."  Well, duh, yeah.  I sure hope they stop doing that, that tricking and twisting to make a scene ultra dramatic, maybe it will end with Jack.The acting can do it on it's own.

Edited February 7, 2018 by debraran

[Lady Calypso]

30 minutes ago, debraran said:

Very interesting video on this page where they talk about how they cut out a lot of Jack's hacking and coughing because "God forbid" the fans knew it was coming, even though they were hyping it for weeks.  : /

http://ew.com/tv/2018/02/05/this-is-us-milo-ventimiglia-jack-perfect-death/?sf181566287=1

Milo: "I know a lot of clearing the throat and coughing didn’t get used because Dan really didn’t want to tip off that there was something really wrong with his lungs that was sending his heart into cardiac arrest, but the real-life statistics of smoke inhalation is horrible. A house fire like that — if you’re in that kind of smoke for five seconds and you take two full, deep breaths in, you’re done. You’re just done."  Well, duh, yeah.  I sure hope they stop doing that, that tricking and twisting to make a scene ultra dramatic, maybe it will end with Jack.The acting can do it on it's own.

Right. Because despite everyone promoting this episode as THE DEATH, knowing that the fire has to do with his death, and knowing that he dies during Super Bowl Sunday, they didn't want to tip the audience off that he was going to die this episode. Ok. 

[Scarlett45]

8 hours ago, cardigirl said:

I think there are only 4 Pearsons now.  

But at the time Rebecca started making the phone calls Jack was alive and she expected  him to be coming to the hotel with them. 

[possibilities]

19 hours ago, elle said:

While I still think a dog would bark if there was a fire in a house

He did bark, though. When they were in the yard they heard him. But a big fire like that can be very noisy, and they may not have heard him when they were upstairs.

[MsChicklet]

Still processing so much.

I get why Kate blames herself. But Jack was a grown-ass man and she was a terrified, distraught kid calling for her dog. Jack let his hero complex take over and that's not on her. Jesus fuck, the doctor is more to blame for  not snapping into crisis mode the moment he found out that Jack had gone back into the house .

The rapport between Kevin and Rebecca is so much easier now. You see it even in how they sit and look at each other. Also, I liked Rebecca's "Yeah, me too" quip when Kevin said he usually got hammered and slept with a hot woman on Super Bowl Sunday.

For all of Randall's condescending "Kate wallows, Kevin avoids, I CELEBRATE!", he was the one who was shown to be the avoider while Kevin was facing Jack's death head-on.

One thing I love about the show is that, even in a dark episode like this, there is something to make me laugh. Beth's face when she realized she'd found Mr. McGiggles was it for me.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 2/5/2018 at 12:34 AM, itsjustme said:

This show is to hyped and I feel they are believing their own hype.

Mandy deserves more recognition.

My father died unexpectedly when I was 18 and I do not have some ritual for the day he died.  Is  this a thing for people?

Everyone is different. I think it has more to do with the fact that they had a lot of rituals when he was alive. 

 

On 2/5/2018 at 4:38 AM, cardigirl said:

Why do you wonder grownup Tess is ‘related’ to kid Tess? Who else could it be? 

I thought the show made it pretty clear it was Tess when Randall came to her office. 

I think the poster meant the actress playing adult Tess.

[debraran]

4 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

I think the poster meant the actress playing adult Tess.

This article give both names, don't seem related but I'm really disappointed about the forward episodes.

http://ew.com/tv/2018/02/06/this-is-us-creator-flash-forwards/

[crocodile]

I think the only reason that Jack came out of that house carrying mementos along with the dog is that viewers have pointed out how strange it is for the Pearsons to have so much memorabilia from their childhood.

[ShadowFacts]

44 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I think the only reason that Jack came out of that house carrying mementos along with the dog is that viewers have pointed out how strange it is for the Pearsons to have so much memorabilia from their childhood.

Good point.  Now we only have to wonder about those pesky model airplanes.  Maybe in the garage.  Which, have we seen one?

[Eaglemama]

Help. I went to Minnesota to see Eagles win Super Bowl  My DVR cut off about 8 minutes early with holder Kevin talking to his Dad by the tree. What happened at the end?

[ShadowFacts]

16 minutes ago, Eaglemama said:

Help. I went to Minnesota to see Eagles win Super Bowl  My DVR cut off about 8 minutes early with holder Kevin talking to his Dad by the tree. What happened at the end?

If you go to nbc.com you can skip to the end but will have to sit through a few commercials. 

[theatremouse]

On 2/4/2018 at 11:35 PM, bros402 said:

With Rebecca in the hallway and not noticing anything.... she would've heard over the speakers "Code [whatever] in [Jack's room]" - Don't know how she didn't hear that.

I have spent much time in many hospitals and while I can always hear when there is an announcement on the PA, I can almost never actually understand what they're saying. To the extent that when I'm there I wonder how that system is helpful at all.

On 2/5/2018 at 12:00 PM, chocolatine said:

To bring this back on topic, at least Jack didn't deliberately leave the crockpot turned on.

Nope, but he did deliberately leave it plugged in, which made no sense to me other than as a device to have the house burn down.

On 2/6/2018 at 1:46 PM, kili said:

Given that Jack walked out of the front door, he probably would have been better jumping down from the roof and kicking in the front door (and calling for the dog). That staircase was fully involved. I don't know how he got down it without being crispy fried even with a blanket over his head.  Of course, he wouldn't have known the condition of the front door from the roof.

In my head, he took the mattress he used to protect Kate and tobogganed down the stairs with a wet towel covering as  much of himself as possible. I enjoy the absurdity of this image.

[debraran]

8 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I have spent much time in many hospitals and while I can always hear when there is an announcement on the PA, I can almost never actually understand what they're saying. To the extent that when I'm there I wonder how that system is helpful at all.

Nope, but he did deliberately leave it plugged in, which made no sense to me other than as a device to have the house burn down.

In my head, he took the mattress he used to protect Kate and tobogganed down the stairs with a wet towel covering as  much of himself as possible. I enjoy the absurdity of this image.

They teased us with candle, fuse boxes and the like, it could have been a toaster or whatever, but why a 17 year old crock pot with a faulty switch. It went 17 years without an incidence,that's not a faulty switch., that was stupidity in not getting a new one or not pulling the plug since switch didn't work correctly. That was unneeded melodrama. I think just showing an everyday appliance, dryer with too much lint (common) anything left on, would have been better.

Milo said in interview, 2 big inhales in that house, you'd be dead, so he knows it too. They edited his coughing and wheezing to not have the heart attack known "seconds too soon" I mean, we knew he was dying on this episode, most guessed (although Fogleman denied it) a heart attack and he made it unbelievable to have a few more seconds of angst.  This show sucked many in with innovative  writing and sweet stories, real people, then it started to turn into a mystery of "What killed Jack" and surprise twists. They can lose that special something if they forget what made it special to begin with. I hope they mystery/hype ends with Jack.

It sounded like Kevin had a lot of airplanes, interesting to see how his anger at his death, led him to that.

Fifteen is tough,” Kevin says, nodding slowly as he begins to reminisce about his time with Jack and the intimate time they spent together building “complicated” models of planes, boats and aircraft carriers.

“Eventually we had a whole fleet of them -- we had just rows and rows, shelves of them, and then when he died,” Kevin remembers, pausing for a moment before he continues with a clear sign of regret. “When he died, I, um, I threw all the models away. I threw all of them away. I don’t know why I did that, you know?”

That is so sad  : (

Edited February 9, 2018 by debraran