S02.E14: Super Bowl Sunday

[NutMeg]

On 2/6/2018 at 6:16 PM, Ohmo said:

Again, it was not for her, and it was not a "whim. "  It was not about what Tess wanted to do or thought was fun.  This was for Randall.  He wanted to spend time with Tess watching the Super Bowl because that is something that his family did on that day.  As for my choice of the word "entertained," I meant that Tess's wishes were not the ones to be entertained.  She was being asked to participate in an event that held importance to her father.  She was old enough for Beth to pull her aside and say something like, "Look, I know you don't understand (or even like football), but this game is important to your dad.  It's what he used to do with his family when he was your age. So, we'll watch it for awhile and then we'll watch the Puppy Bowl."  Randall erred in how he put the party together, but I do not agree that he was asking Tess to do something terrible.  He was simply asking his daughter to participate in something that was important to him.

Jack said that this was the last Super Bowl that they would have with the kids, meaning that Kate, Kevin, and Randall had spent time watching the SB with their parents in previous years.  They didn't do it when they were 17, but they had done it before.  That's all Randall was asking of Tess.

This was for Randall and only Randall, with no consideration to anyone else in the family. How did nice and thoughtful Randall kid and teenager turn into such a self-centred adult Randall?

On 2/6/2018 at 6:41 PM, Winston9-DT3 said:

It is very nutty to me how Randall has appropriated another annual event to be all about his dead dad.  

Yes, indeed, and nutty is a very nice way to qualify that :) 

On 2/6/2018 at 7:36 PM, kili said:

So far, we've seen two big days and they are all about Randall's dad.  On Thanksgiving, every second seems to be dictated by what happened on one Thanksgiving 25 years ago. Now, Superbowl is a command performance where you must watch football because that is what Randall's dad would like. For all we know, Easter events are dictated by what Jack did in 1998 (that was the year Louis found and ate all the chocolates so Dad made it fun while we waited for 5 hours in the vet waiting room to see if Louis would live. Okay, who wants to play balance the dog cookie on their nose? Why, no Miss Receptionist, we don't have a pet at this clinic. This is about my Dead Dad. Show some respect) while Fourth of July we celebrate the day in 1990 when we all had poison ivy (Dad made it fun by painting pictures with the calamine lotion. Here, what do you think that is? It's a bunny!). Goodness knows what rituals they have to follow on Christmas day. I expect teen Tess is really going to resent Jack and his traditions.

Tess is 9 and doesn't want to invite her friends to watch the Superbowl. Why doesn't Randall take a page from Jack and not force his kids to attend a Superbowl party if they have other things (like going to the movie with their girlfriend) they would rather do? I can kind of see wanting to watch the Superbowl as a family - I can't see making Tess have a party with her friends for Superbowl. Randall is kind of oblivious to other people's needs.

For all of Randall's talk that Tess is super important to him, he doesn't seem to pay her enough attention. Maybe he should think back to St Jack and how he related to his kids, and more specifically to him, Randall, one on one. Or maybe that was only trough long monologues, like he delivered here to Tess? Then, my bad.

Also, I liked to parallel of Tess, like Kevin, being "number one", with all the lack of attention that goes with it.

On 2/6/2018 at 9:20 PM, CelticBlackCat said:

Fogelman & Co. should have hired a medical adviser to educate and advise on the medical scenes and talk with real EMTs about how the whole family would have been handled, i.e., all taken to hospital to be checked out, etc.

I tend to think they purposefully didn't want it to be how it would take place normally, so that we could be "surprised" - [please imagine a "barf" emoticon here]

[debraran]

1 hour ago, NutMeg said:

I tend to think they purposefully didn't want it to be how it would take place normally, so that we could be "surprised" - [please imagine a "barf" emoticon here]

Re the EMT, that is true. Milo admitted it, they cut out a lot of coughing, hacking, wheezing, etc. so he heart attack would seem to come out of no where.  Kind of insulting to viewers but after all the flak they received, maybe will be more accurate in the future.

[NutMeg]

34 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I'm glad they cut it out.  Coughing on a show always portends something and feels anvilicious to me.  It's like whenever a woman throws up or places her hand on her midsection, she's pregnant.  We all knew Jack would die but the 'how' suspense had been going on so long, I think it was better to keep it mysterious until it happened.  

Mysterious? :D Half the forum had guessed!!! (Yeah, forum, you rock)

[NutMeg]

40 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Ahem, I believe if you check the speculation thread I was the only one who guessed 'heart attack at hospital after the fire'.   ; )

Yeah, Winston, you rock!!! 

ETA: your guess made so much sense that I somehow intuited it as what was going to happen. Hope that makes sense! 

Edited February 11, 2018 by NutMeg
added sthg

[love2lovebadtv]

On 2/4/2018 at 11:59 PM, Jeddah said:

I was being facetious about the not being proud part. Future Randall appears to have a good relationship with grow up Tess, so he’s obviously not disappointed. Maybe he’s rethinking how rude he was to Deja’s social worker. I did think it was a terrible message to tell a kid working hard should be done with the goal of material gain, and I’m glad one of his daughters found that the value of hard work didn’t necessarily have to be a fancy car.

 

I figured you were being sarcastic lol. I agree:  it wasn't the best way to convey the importance of hard work. But I think Randall was trying (and failing, as usual) to use something that would appeal to Deja. Tess and Annie, on the other hand, have had a different upbringing. And I think he would be happy with any profession they chose - but Tess becoming an adoption social worker must really make his heart smile. 

 

On 2/5/2018 at 10:56 AM, taragel said:

I get why they wrote Jack rushing around to save not just the dog but possessions as well. Because they needed to show him as a really over-the-top hero at his moment of (or just moments before his) death. It's part of why his family has been able to build this sainted legacy surrounding his memory. He did a lot/everything for his family all his life but on death's door, he did even more! Of course, his heroism also lead to his death.

I'm not sure how going to the hospital sooner would necessarily have helped with them preventing the cardiac attack. It was massive and instantaneous but just before it, the doctors told him he took in a lot of smoke, but not that they were doing anything special to combat that (as far as I recall). 

I really loved the candy bar moment. And the wrong tree. Those are the too-real-to-be-fiction bits that keep this show from falling into just completely manipulative dreck. Although the performances are really fantastic all around too. Mandy, Justin, Sterling, and Chrissy all had very good monologues/speeches/moments here. 

And the Tess twist was great--about as good as the end of the pilot honestly. Well done, show, well done. They're really on quite the streak in this middle section of S2. The last five or six episodes have all been very good. 

 

 

On 2/5/2018 at 8:59 AM, Wings said:

Jack's death would have had an entirely different tone had the details of what happens in a code blue been part of the episode.  And that goes for the ambulance not taking him, no on O2 immediately, Jack stopping to take the album and tape from the burning house.  There is a lot to over look in this series.  They take poetic license to create a story.  All TV does this.  

 

 

Yea, I try not to pay too much attention to the logistics, vintage appliances, employment, sources of income, and other nonsense on this show; it's pure drama for me. 

[ShadowFacts]

10 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Ahem, I believe if you check the speculation thread I was the only one who guessed 'heart attack at hospital after the fire'.   ; )

Back in the spoiler thread I did say there were many ways it could go, maybe a minor injury and then a heart attack or shock at the hospital.  I based it on some of the wording of Fogelman about how Jack's death was related to the fire, so I figured he probably didn't die from being burned in the fire. 

[Ohmo]

22 hours ago, NutMeg said:

This was for Randall and only Randall, with no consideration to anyone else in the family. How did nice and thoughtful Randall kid and teenager turn into such a self-centred adult Randall?

For all of Randall's talk that Tess is super important to him, he doesn't seem to pay her enough attention. Maybe he should think back to St Jack and how he related to his kids, and more specifically to him, Randall, one on one. Or maybe that was only trough long monologues, like he delivered here to Tess? Then, my bad.

We simply completely disagree.  I've stated my position about the first part of the quote several times, so I will not repeat myself.  For the second, I think Randall shows that his kids are very important to him.  He is always seen talking to them in the kitchen about this or that.  When Deeja was there, there was mention of him having knowledge of how to style Tess and Annie's hair.  We've seen him have conversations, along with Beth, with the girls.  I think that Randall is involved with the girls.  Not involved like Jack, but Randall is not Jack.  Randall will never be Jack.  Their personality make-ups are completely different, but they are the same in the sense that, to me, there has never been any doubt that Randall loves his kids, and they are important to him.

Edited February 11, 2018 by Ohmo

[Katy M]

39 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I thought that was the implication from Tess hiding in Kevin's car, that she was feeling neglected amidst all the fostering and other hullabaloo?  (Not saying she IS neglected.  But I can see Randall's kids feeling lost in the shuffle, with his ADD life lately.)

I thought she was just upset about all the losses she had gone through recently, i.e. William and Deja.  Not that Randall doesn't pay any attention to her. The show has shown him spending a lot of time with the kids.  He was helping (doing) Annie's diorama with her or whatever.  The very first episode he was at a soccer game.  He went to Tess's chess match. They always eat breakfast together.   He took them and Deja bowling, or at least attempted to.   

[Pallas]

2 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I thought that was the implication from Tess hiding in Kevin's car, that she was feeling neglected amidst all the fostering and other hullabaloo?  (Not saying she IS neglected.  But I can see Randall's kids feeling lost in the shuffle, with his ADD life lately.)

That, and more: she thought Randall might leave. (Along with Beth, during the daytime. Along with William. Along with Deja. Along with the whole household routine.) That's what I took from Tess's speculation that lately, her father seemed to be trying to escape his life. 

As a social worker, she's going to make us all proud. 

[possibilities]

Kids sometimes run away or want a fun adult to take them away from their mean parents, even if the parents are wonderful and not mean. Tess acted out. She got in Kevin's car and was complaining to him, but it's not like kids with perfectly OK lives don't get upset sometimes and want to beef about it or seek refuge in the "fun uncle" or some other tantrummy thing.

I don't think she's neglected or abused. She had some big feelings about some big events, and that's life. We've seen both parents check in with her, and talk with her and give her attention. I think it was two episodes ago that they weren't sure whether to go out or stay home, because of wanting to be there for Tess.

Sometimes we all aren't in the mood for a party, or are mad at our loved ones. I like that the kids on this show aren't all perfect angels all the time, any more than the adults are. I don't think it means they have bad parents.

[JGreen]

This was my essentials set up before watching this episode lol 

[ShadowFacts]

Very impressive, JGreen.  Not just a t-shirt, a hat, too. 

[chocolatine]

13 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

Very impressive, JGreen.  Not just a t-shirt, a hat, too. 

And the pillow! And the (sourest?) lemon!

[debraran]

I really like that JGreen! I'd love the tee!

I was thinking as my nephew recently had a condo fire (deck and one room wrecked, smoke damage throughout) It was a faulty flood light on his deck that had been there since he bought it 8 years ago. Fireman said it was the light but it was the circuit breaker that should have stopped it. It passed inspection back then but if it shut it off, the fire would have been less or not at all.  I remember This is Us showing the faulty circuit breaker many times and I feel it's more to blame than the poor crock pot. Just like mine shuts off when my dryer overheats or my air conditioner can't take the vacuum on in the same plug, it should have shut off the circuit for the pot.  That might come up later and explain why we had to see Jack fix it so many times. It kept blowing for hair dryers, etc. maybe it finally just broke.

[ShadowFacts]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

I really like that JGreen! I'd love the tee!

I was thinking as my nephew recently had a condo fire (deck and one room wrecked, smoke damage throughout) It was a faulty flood light on his deck that had been there since he bought it 8 years ago. Fireman said it was the light but it was the circuit breaker that should have stopped it. It passed inspection back then but if it shut it off, the fire would have been less or not at all.  I remember This is Us showing the faulty circuit breaker many times and I feel it's more to blame than the poor crock pot. Just like mine shuts off when my dryer overheats or my air conditioner can't take the vacuum on in the same plug, it should have shut off the circuit for the pot.  That might come up later and explain why we had to see Jack fix it so many times. It kept blowing for hair dryers, etc. maybe it finally just broke.

That is very interesting.  It is kind of hard to believe that we would have been shown that fuse box Jack was messing with for no reason other than as misdirection.  Kind of a waste to play games with viewers like that. 

[breezy424]

Ok.  Sorry to nitpick.  When some of the lights go out,  Rebecca calls to Jack, "Fuse."   That wasn't a 'fuse'.  It was a circuit breaker.  We know that because we see Jack at the circuit breaker panel.  A fuse is very different from a circuit breaker.  It just is something that bugs me.  I guess I come from a different place.   And...if a fuse is blowing or a circuit panel is tripping often, call a freaken electrician.  You don't screw around with electrical issues.  Another example of Jack not being the saint he is being made out to be.  Yeah.  That may have not caused the fire but Jack was far from perfect.

[debraran]

6 hours ago, breezy424 said:

Ok.  Sorry to nitpick.  When some of the lights go out,  Rebecca calls to Jack, "Fuse."   That wasn't a 'fuse'.  It was a circuit breaker.  We know that because we see Jack at the circuit breaker panel.  A fuse is very different from a circuit breaker.  It just is something that bugs me.  I guess I come from a different place.   And...if a fuse is blowing or a circuit panel is tripping often, call a freaken electrician.  You don't screw around with electrical issues.  Another example of Jack not being the saint he is being made out to be.  Yeah.  That may have not caused the fire but Jack was far from perfect.

I think it was, when because the circuit breaker's job is to keep wires from overheating," "If it receives more power than it can handle, it shuts down to prevent any fire hazard. Jack's was working but it kept tripping which meant something kept tripping it. You either find the outlet  or have a electrician rewire them . Just like a faulty blow dryer will get hot and smell when overheated, usually it shuts down or your circuit breaker when working properly.

I hope in future episodes they touch on more than not having a working smoke detector. Sure that would have woke them up a little earlier but the way the fire spread quickly, not too much earlier.Jack still would have gone back for the dog, etc. so really no different.

[spaceytraci1208]

On 2/6/2018 at 4:46 PM, kili said:

Jack left a note on Kevin's door (telling him to apologize) and that was one of the things they showed burning during the episode prior to the Superbowl episode. That would seem to imply that fire had progressed to being in front of Kevin's door. Kevin likely would have had to face fire to escape out that door.

Kevin's basement bedroom wasn't originally a bedroom. It was just an area off of the laundry room and looked largely unfinished when he moved in. It may have required an egress window, but Jack lived with a sparking electrical box and a battery-less smoke alarm. It's possible he didn't take a jackhammer to the basement window to make sure it was up to code. I remember the window being high and small. It might have been a challenge to get a cast through it. 

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.

THIS!!! I immediately thought when they showed Jack making it out the front door, that it was a fantasy sequence. I don't understand how the pattern of a fire works, but since the fire started downstairs, I assumed that the ground level of the house would have been engulfed in flames worse than it was upstairs. 

[bros402]

On 2/18/2018 at 2:43 PM, spaceytraci1208 said:

THIS!!! I immediately thought when they showed Jack making it out the front door, that it was a fantasy sequence. I don't understand how the pattern of a fire works, but since the fire started downstairs, I assumed that the ground level of the house would have been engulfed in flames worse than it was upstairs. 

Maybe the entertainment stand he made was really, really, sturdy

Edited February 20, 2018 by bros402

[debraran]

2 hours ago, bros402 said:

Maybe the entertainment stand he made was really, really, sturdy

 

Yes with special varnish.  ; ) Seeing the fire at my nephews condo which wasn't nearly as bad as on This is Us, all the charred items, smoke making so many items useless, it is odd how he got out downstairs. The fire went up the stairs which is why they went out the window. How the dog survived, especially being so small is a little TV magic. They usually are overcome with smoke inhalation pretty quickly or at least not as perky as he seemed to be but I'm glad they didn't have him perish.

They said the love story begins, but they haven't shown Kevin being told by Kate and all the fire aftermath with fire investigators etc. With my nephew it was sobering to see a thermometer reading over 118 before it burnt and see how much the heat melted and burnt items even with only 2 rooms really effected. My nephew will move back in 4 months but I assume from future shots, the Pearson's just sold the home since they were older and probably didn't want to go back.

Edited February 20, 2018 by debraran

[bros402]

21 hours ago, debraran said:

Yes with special varnish.  ; ) Seeing the fire at my nephews condo which wasn't nearly as bad as on This is Us, all the charred items, smoke making so many items useless, it is odd how he got out downstairs. The fire went up the stairs which is why they went out the window. How the dog survived, especially being so small is a little TV magic. They usually are overcome with smoke inhalation pretty quickly or at least not as perky as he seemed to be but I'm glad they didn't have him perish.

They said the love story begins, but they haven't shown Kevin being told by Kate and all the fire aftermath with fire investigators etc. With my nephew it was sobering to see a thermometer reading over 118 before it burnt and see how much the heat melted and burnt items even with only 2 rooms really effected. My nephew will move back in 4 months but I assume from future shots, the Pearson's just sold the home since they were older and probably didn't want to go back.

Maybe the floor fell in in their bedroom and SuperJack just fell to the first floor right in front of the TV stand, then ran out.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 2/5/2018 at 12:19 AM, slasherboy said:

I love Mars bars, but can't find them anymore.

A lot here in Toronto, Canada.  Didn't realize they had fallen out of favour in other places, that is interesting.

[jsn73]

What leaves me a bit dissatisfied about this episode is that the immediate tragic and sad reaction scenes to Jack's death were too short imo. Bec's reaction at the hospital was indeed very intense and emotional but just too short. We saw her cry a bit but then the next second we saw her motionless with some flashbacks which was again very emotional but also quite short and cutted off. Then she takes Jacks stuff, leaves the hospital and that's it. During that scene I felt like my emotions were cutted off. It just stopped suddenly . They should have made the reaction-to-jack's-death-in-the-hospital-scene longer. This was my main issue with this episode.

[DNR]

On 2/4/2018 at 11:58 PM, Brookside said:

I like Toby.  I know many posters don't seem to but I love how, though he's a dufus, he does try to understand Kate, support her, give her space, etc.

There are times too when i feel like Kate is overkill and how does he stand her ?