S03.E03 Katie Girls

[bluebox]

21 hours ago, ams1001 said:

That's who that was! I couldn't place her and she wasn't listed in the episode cast on IMDB. 

(It's Kaczmarek)

She was also Julie's bio mom on Felicity. Her voice is so distinctive, I recognized her instantly.

[MBayGal]

18 hours ago, izabella said:

I know that Randall goes all-in on things, but why would he be called about the girl being robbed and in the hospital with a broken arm? 

I thought that was Deja who called him about her friend.  Didn't he say it was Deja calling, or did I misremember?

17 hours ago, Arcadiasw said:

Sometimes I wonder if Beth will reach her breaking point with Randall. 

I wonder WHEN she will reach her breaking point with Randall.  I have seen no evidence that she might be having an affair, as someone posited a few pages ago, but I can imagine her falling for someone else if Randall doesn't start taking her and their daughters into consideration.

[ThisIsMe]

I have to say that this episode was disappointing to me.

The storylines going on right now are just not that compelling.  1) The "how Rebecca & Jack got together" story was kind of ho-hum -- and who tells their boyfriend's mom that you're falling for another guy & gets a good reaction?  That was weird.  2) I'm glad Randall and Kate cleared up the issue where he got hurt by Kate's comment re carrying on their dad's legacy.  This was handled well, and the resolution felt real & good.  3) The thing with Randall flying back because Chichi calls him hysterically -- that was weird too & contrived to set up his running for office and playing Superman once again.  4) Kevin's quest to learn more about Jack's time in Vietnam shows promise ... but, my goodness, it is moving at a glacial pace.  5) Beth deserves better support from Randall, and I agree with the others that the 12 years on the job thing doesn't add up.

All in all, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MIGUEL STORY!  Because at least it will be fresh and hopefully interesting.  I really like that he and Beth text each other about the Pearsons -- I want to be on their distrib list!!!

[AllThatJazz91]

21 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think so too. I'm still not sure if we're going to have Zoe's arc be about her learning to truly love Kevin and that he helps change her to become a more selfless person or if this is purely to end in heartbreak for Kevin when he finds out how right Beth was about her cousin. Nevertheless, she's not some girl that Kevin has dated, besides Sophie, who will just disappear if they do break up. Since she's Beth's cousin, she's part of the family and has a high chance of coming back.

But I honestly would find it more interesting if she does just use Kevin for her documentary. Not that I want Kevin's heart broken, but because I think I want a single Kevin by the end of the series. I much prefer Kevin when he's not in a love story, as it turns out. The addiction storyline and now the Vietnam storyline is more interesting than any of the love interest arcs he's had, and his thing with Zoe is no exception at the moment. 

I completely agree about Kevin. When he doesn't have a love interest storyline, he's more interesting. Also I feel like the actor does his best work when his character isn't involved with someone. I'm not sure if I want him single when the show ends. Maybe in a committed relationship, but defiantly not married. Kevin doesn't seem like the marrying kind. 

[AllThatJazz91]

8 hours ago, jmonique said:

I was so blown away by Randall's Superhero Martyr act last night that I forgot the rest of my thoughts:

I think this is the best work of Milo's career, but I wish Jack could have been put to rest after the season 2 finale, for good. Randall's mythologizing of Jack as a superman, Kevin chasing after the ghost of Jack in Vietnam nearly five decades later, and the show diving into how Jack and Rebecca sealed the deal, when we know how things ended, all smack of attempts to keep him on the show and keep the characters in an arrested development in regards to a father they lost three decades ago. I get that loss is hard, but these characters need to be allowed to move forward and grow, and I'm starting to doubt that will ever happen as long as Milo is still on the show.

Back to my problems with Randall: He's not as much like Jack as they'd like us to believe, considering Jack never would have abandoned his three kids or his sibling to go play superhero to a bitchy stranger. I'm still dumbfounded that Randall swooped in, declared he would be there to provide a hand for anything Toby and Kate needed, said a few words to his sister once she finally clawed her way out from under the anesthesia AND THEN IMMEDIATELY BOUNCED. One of the first things Jack would have done upon returning from a trip was to ask how the kids and Rebecca were; Randall, meanwhile, rolls in and it's all about him, as Beth takes a backseat yet again.

Milo really did find a gem in this show. I've been a fan ever since Gilmore Girls. I've been so happy that he's back on tv. He really has found an excellent role. I don't know if he'll ever be able to top it. 

[AllThatJazz91]

This episode was a bit lackluster for me. I still enjoyed it, but something was missing. 

 

Flashback Jack/Rebecca: Don't get me wrong I adore them as a couple. But I liked seeing more about their individual stories. It was so sweet that Jack got his mom away from his abusive father. I could of sworn Rebecca had a sister? Didn't they mention her a few times in the last two seasons? Or am I just crazy? Lol. 

 

Kate: I did like seeing her interact with her younger selves. It was cheesy, yes. But I didn't mind it. If she doesn't end up pregnant, I wonder where they will go from there. A surrogate maybe? 

 

Randall: I've loved him since from day one. But I was rolling my eyes when he announced he was gonna run. He has no experience in politics. I got a deja vu moment from Parenthood, when Kristina ran for office. 

 

Kevin: Just like the majority on here, having Kevin look into Vietnam was pretty interesting. So far this season, that's the only thing I'm looking forward to. Besides finding out who her is. When he isn't in a relationship, I really do feel like Kevin gets the best stories. Since he felt like he wasn't close to either of his parents, having him dig into the past on his father makes it even better. 

[MBayGal]

7 hours ago, Neurochick said:

 

7 hours ago, Neurochick said:

I too get the dishes.   Doing dishes is every day, it's ordinary.  A man saying, "I'm going to sweep you off your feet and take you to NYC" sounds nice, but what about day to day?  A lot of relationships that start off with sweeping romantic fantasy gestures crash and burn because they can't stand up to the everyday humdrum shit in life, like doing dishes.

In the 80's my book club read a nonfiction book, I think the name was "He, She, Us", and one thing that stayed with me from it was the idea that "love is stirring the oatmeal." (I may not have the quote exactly right, but that was the idea.)  Which is what I thought of when they were doing the dishes.  I think she saw him as such a thoughtful, responsible person, and so unlike her father.  

7 hours ago, Jillybean said:

she mentioned in a previous ep this season that she's lost 40 lbs, which was surprising because she doesn't look any different.

Just because the writers put words into the fictional character's mouth doesn't mean the actress has done that thing.  Tho she is so grossly obese I don't think a 40-pound weight loss would even be noticeable .

[Texasmom1970]

When Jack started doing the dishes, swoon. I would take that over candy and flowers any day of the week!

[Colleenna]

12 hours ago, topanga said:

In the episode where Beth she thought she was pregnant, she said she’d been planning to return to work full time. Which made me think she was working part time and possibly telecommuting. 

So is Beth a victim of the Mommy Tax? And I thought she was supposed to be really good at her job. Why was she all of a sudden not valuable to the company? And aren’t they a non-profit anyway?

My first thought was that the city councilman had "called in a marker" with her boss and gotten her fired. Not that politics would ever  work like that in Philly. Or NJ.  /eye roll/ 

[Dminches]

How was Beth with the company for 12 years?  Didn’t she recently return to work when Randall quit his job?  I thought she wasn’t working when he was and then they switched roles.

[dcubed]

7 hours ago, TV Diva Queen said:

Isn't Kanye coming to help us with that?  Assuming you're from Chicago that is...

Yes, and hopefully bringing his wife to help us with unjustified prison sentences <snort>. It would be fun to see her manage our winters half naked and in stilettos.  

[AllyCat]

20 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Kate told kid Kate that she was going to be married to somebody who was better than Zack Morris?  I'm not sure there is anything me hopeful that she could say to an 8 year old Kate.   

I couldn’t believe kid “me” and kid Kate had the same dream for our lives.

Edited October 11, 2018 by AllyCat

[AllyCat]

16 hours ago, Katy M said:

You probably wouldn't be able to tell.  I'm not trying to be rude, but my mother's college roommate was around Kate's size and didn't know she was pregnant until she was in labor.

I had a friend who was large, but not as large as Kate, and although it sounds awful, we didn’t believe she was actually pregnant until she had the baby.  She didn’t look different at all.  I’m not trying to sound mean, but thought maybe she made it up in her mind, and needed help (she had other traumatic stuff going on in her life at the time, so it wasn’t a completely out there thought).  Point is, I learned then, it is totally possible to be pregnant and not show at all, especially if you already carry extra weight. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

14 hours ago, himela said:

So in your opinion it's OK to condemn a kid (your own kid) to become an orphan really early in its life?

 

13 hours ago, bybrandy said:

We all make choices in life.  I've lived enough years in my life to know that people die randomly every day.  Good people, bad people, old people, young people, healthy people, fat people.   Maybe Kate has the baby and that is what pushes her to get the surgery.  Maybe kate has the baby and lives another 50 years because statistics are an average they aren't the only outcome.  Would I make that decision?  I don't know.  But I know that being pro choice includes believing it is Kate and Toby's choice.  I hope for he best for their (fictional and theoretical child) but even with the best statistics in the world some kid is going to get hosed and some kid is going to hit the lottery.   Not my job to judge other peoples gambles.

I was coming here to say essentially the same thing. Like it or not, you don't need permission to have a baby. Drug addicts have babies. 80 year old men father children. People who like to partake in risky activities like jumping out of planes can have kids. People who smoke have kids. Yes, these people are at a higher risk of dying sooner rather than later but there is nothing stopping them from having children, so why should Kate not have that choice too? And realistically, shit happens every single day. Anyone can get cancer or be in a fatal car accident at any age but that possibility shouldn't stop people from having kids (or pursuing any of their dreams) if they want to.

12 hours ago, dcubed said:

 I always said I wouldn’t be like my mom but darn it, I am despite my best efforts.  The difference is that today, I can appreciate some of those acquired characteristics more.

Just the other night, my sister and I were making a list of all the things that our mom was right about (which includes things my mom did that we now do)! As a teenager, I wouldn't have wanted to admit that my mom was right about anything but as an adult, I have no problem admitting it.

5 hours ago, AllThatJazz91 said:

Randall: I've loved him since from day one. But I was rolling my eyes when he announced he was gonna run. He has no experience in politics. I got a deja vu moment from Parenthood, when Kristina ran for office.

Ha, totally! Let's just hope his next project isn't to open a charter school.

[himela]

8 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I was coming here to say essentially the same thing. Like it or not, you don't need permission to have a baby. Drug addicts have babies. 80 year old men father children. People who like to partake in risky activities like jumping out of planes can have kids. People who smoke have kids. Yes, these people are at a higher risk of dying sooner rather than later but there is nothing stopping them from having children, so why should Kate not have that choice too? And realistically, shit happens every single day. Anyone can get cancer or be in a fatal car accident at any age but that possibility shouldn't stop people from having kids (or pursuing any of their dreams) if they want to.

 

But woudn't our world be better if people were more responsible about bringing kids to the world with low chance of them being there to actually raise them? Something that happens despite being wrong doesn't make it less wrong and it shouldn't be easily accepted in society just because it happens.

[Mommaj]

I'm Rebecca's age, and there's no way a girl would have been allowed in shop class in those days--not even in the room, much less wielding a saw. (My cooking class was in 7th grade and we had to wear aprons we had hand sewn the prior year, with our first names embroidered on them. I wasn't real thrilled to have those memories dredged up.)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 minutes ago, himela said:

But woudn't our world be better if people were more responsible about bringing kids to the world with low chance of them being there to actually raise them? Something that happens despite being wrong doesn't make it less wrong and it shouldn't be easily accepted in society just because it happens.

So who gets to decide which people are allowed to have kids? I'm not ready to live in a nanny state where the government or some other agency gets to dictate if I'm good enough to have kids. Who else isn't eligible besides fat people? People who smoke? People who have bad driving records? People who have criminal records? And then who's left to have kids? The rich people who have the resources to eat well, stay healthy, and provide trust funds for their children in case both parents die before the age of 50 (but still have easy enough jobs to be present when their kids get home from school so that the children aren't left unsupervised)? Just because Kate is overweight and Toby is on anti-depressants doesn't mean they won't be good parents who live long lives.

[qtpye]

10 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

When Jack started doing the dishes, swoon. I would take that over candy and flowers any day of the week!

I sometimes think they are keeping Jack in the show because young Jack without the stupid facial hair is hot, though we already have enough guy hotness on the show between Randall and Kevin.

[QQQQ]

22 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

Who has time for a full job when he's running amok putting out everybody's fires?

Randall is the Charles Ingalls of This Is Us.

[Lady Iris]

2 minutes ago, QQQQ said:

Randall is the Charles Ingalls of This Is Us.

OMG! Bahahaha! He so IS!!! He just needs to find some more excuses to unbutton his shirt or leave it off to be Ultra-Pa-esque.

[PRgal]

8 minutes ago, Lady Iris said:

OMG! Bahahaha! He so IS!!! He just needs to find some more excuses to unbutton his shirt or leave it off to be Ultra-Pa-esque.

Tess = Laura, right?  But rather than teaching, she becomes a social worker.  

ETA: @AllyCat and @bybrandy: LOL on Zack Morris.  It's all about that cell phone!!  I'm surprised he never tried to beat Slater up with that thing every time he was called "Preppy."   

Edited October 11, 2018 by PRgal

[ShadowFacts]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

So who gets to decide which people are allowed to have kids? I'm not ready to live in a nanny state where the government or some other agency gets to dictate if I'm good enough to have kids. Who else isn't eligible besides fat people? People who smoke? People who have bad driving records? People who have criminal records? And then who's left to have kids? The rich people who have the resources to eat well, stay healthy, and provide trust funds for their children in case both parents die before the age of 50 (but still have easy enough jobs to be present when their kids get home from school so that the children aren't left unsupervised)? Just because Kate is overweight and Toby is on anti-depressants doesn't mean they won't be good parents who live long lives.

We have seen Toby many years into the future, so we know he makes it into what would be a potential child's teen years, possibly.  Jack died youngish, but the kids had many good years of childhood with him.  And regarding Jack, he died of a "widowmaker" type heart attack.  Kevin and Kate should both be keeping that family history in mind. 

[CountryGirl]

Just when I thought I couldn't love Jack more:

Jack, to his mother (re his father): “You can pack your things and I’ll settle you some place new. Or you can stay and I can kill him.”

His initial response to Rebecca when she asked if he had a dream:

Then later: 

His answer when Rebecca asks about going to LA:

And, of course, his doing the dishes...that is 100% pure love (and sexy as hell) to me and how Jack always helped out, including his very last night on earth. 

The actual live footage of Rebecca falling in love:

Funny how CountryBoy - who hates dishes with a passion - got up and helped me with them last night). Uh huh...

Elsewhere, this made me laugh so hard:

But wow, I teared up here:

What all of us wouldn't give to see our loved ones again...even if it's only a dream.

[JudyObscure]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

So who gets to decide which people are allowed to have kids? I'm not ready to live in a nanny state where the government or some other agency gets to dictate if I'm good enough to have kids. Who else isn't eligible besides fat people? People who smoke? People who have bad driving records? People who have criminal records? And then who's left to have kids? The rich people who have the resources to eat well, stay healthy, and provide trust funds for their children in case both parents die before the age of 50 (but still have easy enough jobs to be present when their kids get home from school so that the children aren't left unsupervised)? Just because Kate is overweight and Toby is on anti-depressants doesn't mean they won't be good parents who live long lives.

Let's not leave out the enormous number of babies being brought into the world with their fathers already out of the picture.  Those baby daddies may not be dead, but if they're only going to be a support check in the mail and a quick visit on Father's Day to pick up a gift,  they might as well be.

If Toby and Kate, together in the home give that baby a good ten year start, it will be more than a lot of kids get today.

[PRgal]

10 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Let's not leave out the enormous number of babies being brought into the world with their fathers already out of the picture.  Those baby daddies may not be dead, but if they're only going to be a support check in the mail and a quick visit on Father's Day to pick up a gift,  they might as well be.

If Toby and Kate, together in the home give that baby a good ten year start, it will be more than a lot of kids get today.

That is true.  And that's why many jurisdictions require prospective adoptive parents to take parenting courses before they're eligible.  I believe California is one of them.   cc: @ElectricBoogaloo (so yes, while just about anyone "can have kids" if they're fertile, they might otherwise be ineligible when it comes to adoption).  

I'm unsure what the requirements in NJ are as we did not see mention of "adoption/fostercare training" when Beth and Randall were looking into fostering/adoption.

Edited October 11, 2018 by PRgal

[topanga]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

So who gets to decide which people are allowed to have kids? I'm not ready to live in a nanny state where the government or some other agency gets to dictate if I'm good enough to have kids. Who else isn't eligible besides fat people? People who smoke? People who have bad driving records? People who have criminal records? And then who's left to have kids? The rich people who have the resources to eat well, stay healthy, and provide trust funds for their children in case both parents die before the age of 50 (but still have easy enough jobs to be present when their kids get home from school so that the children aren't left unsupervised)? Just because Kate is overweight and Toby is on anti-depressants doesn't mean they won't be good parents who live long lives.

That sounds like the plot of a dystopian YA novel. I’d read it in a heartbeat!

And I totally agree with you. Even becoming pregnant over age 40 is risky. But I’d still want that option if my body allowed it. 

[Colleenna]

7 hours ago, Mommaj said:

I'm Rebecca's age, and there's no way a girl would have been allowed in shop class in those days--not even in the room, much less wielding a saw. (My cooking class was in 7th grade and we had to wear aprons we had hand sewn the prior year, with our first names embroidered on them. I wasn't real thrilled to have those memories dredged up.)

I'm older, and one semester of shop was REQUIRED of girls in 8th grade. One semester of home ec was required for boys. I remember that I made wooden bookends. So I think it depends on where you grew up.

[Katy M]

25 minutes ago, Colleenna said:

I'm older, and one semester of shop was REQUIRED of girls in 8th grade. One semester of home ec was required for boys. I remember that I made wooden bookends. So I think it depends on where you grew up.

I'm a bit younger, everybody had to do 4 quarters of shop and home ec in 6th and 7th grade.  I'm breaking them out into quarters, because we had a different class each quarter, sewing, cooking and two different shop classes, but besides the teachers being different, not sure what the difference in those was.  And then 8th grade you chose either home ec or shop.  You could take either one, but there were no boys in my home ec classes and I don't know of a single girl who took shop. Honestly, I didn't want to take either.  I sucked at both.  My mom, on the other hand, (who went to school in the '50s) wanted to take shop but had to take home ec instead.

[qtpye]

48 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Let's not leave out the enormous number of babies being brought into the world with their fathers already out of the picture.  Those baby daddies may not be dead, but if they're only going to be a support check in the mail and a quick visit on Father's Day to pick up a gift,  they might as well be.

If Toby and Kate, together in the home give that baby a good ten year start, it will be more than a lot of kids get today.

Don't forget the ones that never send the check.

33 minutes ago, topanga said:

That sounds like the plot of a dystopian YA novel. I’d read it in a heartbeat!

And I totally agree with you. Even becoming pregnant over age 40 is risky. But I’d still want that option if my body allowed it. 

In a world where overpopulation is rampant, all human beings are sterilized at birth through a procedure that only is lifted after years the person shows years of financial and emotional stability to apply for a childbearing license for the ultimate symbol of success...a new baby!-Ghostwriters get on that stat.

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, qtpye said:

In a world where overpopulation is rampant, all human beings are sterilized at birth through a procedure that only is lifted after years the person shows years of financial and emotional stability to apply for a childbearing license for the ultimate symbol of success...a new baby!-Ghostwriters get on that stat.

I'm not sure how serious you are, but I've seen the suggestion on many news comment sites for exactly that.  Enforced sterilization as a baby and you have to apply for reversal.  I do think there are too many people in the world, and I do think that there are tons of people who have children who shouldn't, but I honestly can't imagine why anyone thinks it's a good idea to let the government decide who can and can not have children.  Scary.

[qtpye]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I'm not sure how serious you are, but I've seen the suggestion on many news comment sites for exactly that.  Enforced sterilization as a baby and you have to apply for reversal.  I do think there are too many people in the world, and I do think that there are tons of people who have children who shouldn't, but I honestly can't imagine why anyone thinks it's a good idea to let the government decide who can and can not have children.  Scary.

I was joking, but I do understand the frustration of seeing people who are not prepared seemingly pop out children like kleenex (remember Octomom), but yeah the world I am describing is the stuff of dystopian nightmares.

[doodlebug]

3 hours ago, himela said:

But woudn't our world be better if people were more responsible about bringing kids to the world with low chance of them being there to actually raise them? Something that happens despite being wrong doesn't make it less wrong and it shouldn't be easily accepted in society just because it happens.

Kate has a loving, supportive, committed partner. She is close to her family, all of whom would step in in a heartbeat should her child need help.  She’s got a group of friends who love her (far fetched as that sometimes seems). She is seemingly solidly middle class and doesn’t have to worry about supporting herself (though we don’t know why that is).  It seems to me that she’s got far more  resources available to her than many people having babies these days.

What if, like Angelina Jolie, she had the BRCA gene which could not only shorten her life but be passed to her child?  What if she’d been a diabetic since childhood at high risk for early heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, loss of limbs?  What if she were a 16 year old kid, born into poverty, not done with school with a boyfriend in the same situation?

if only people who were deemed ‘worthy’ (by who? Using what criteria?) had kids, the species would be on the verge of extinction. 

[PepSinger]

It must be exhausting being married to Randall. When he was going on and on in that final scene with Beth, I was exhausted just listening to the man! Beth is a damn saint. I forget who mentioned this first upthread, but I also have an incredibly hard time believing that Randall would abandon Kate and Toby for a pair of strangers! WTH?

The way Milo delivers "hey, Katie girl" melts my heart and honestly makes me tear up instantly. It is said with such love, tenderness, and affection that it almost breaks my heart. Whoever said this role is the highlight of Milo's career is 100% correct. 

This may be an UO, but I love seeing the backstories of Rebecca and Jack. I especially loved Jack's backstory in this episode. Also, I am marrying the first man that does the dishes with me. I swoon. That's the stuff of romance, IMO. 

This is the first time I've liked Kate in a while. Let's keep it up, show.

I adore Kevin as per usual. I can't wait to see the Vietnam plot unfold.

[Katy M]

4 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

She’s got a group of friends who love her (far fetched as that sometimes seems).

I think that's really only true of Madison.  the rest are probably more acquaintance/light friend.

[Colleenna]

2 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Kate has a loving, supportive, committed partner. She is close to her family, all of whom would step in in a heartbeat should her child need help.  She’s got a group of friends who love her (far fetched as that sometimes seems). She is seemingly solidly middle class and doesn’t have to worry about supporting herself (though we don’t know why that is).  It seems to me that she’s got far more  resources available to her than many people having babies these days.

What if, like Angelina Jolie, she had the BRCA gene which could not only shorten her life but be passed to her child?  What if she’d been a diabetic since childhood at high risk for early heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, loss of limbs?  What if she were a 16 year old kid, born into poverty, not done with school with a boyfriend in the same situation?

if only people who were deemed ‘worthy’ (by who? Using what criteria?) had kids, the species would be on the verge of extinction. 

All I can say to that dystopian nightmare is that I am very glad I am in the last third of my life. I've seen us creeping toward a "brave new world" and I want to die BEFORE we get there. 

[Katy M]

Just now, PepSinger said:

but I also have an incredibly hard time believing that Randall would abandon Kate and Toby for a pair of strangers! WTH?

They aren't strangers.  They're William's people.  He's on a crusade to save them.  Kate was awake, he had apologized, she had accepted, and Randall's a flitter.  It made perfect sense to me.

[Soup333]

48 minutes ago, Colleenna said:

I'm older, and one semester of shop was REQUIRED of girls in 8th grade. One semester of home ec was required for boys. I remember that I made wooden bookends. So I think it depends on where you grew up.

My daughter graduated from high school last year and she'd always wanted to take shop. She was never able to get into the class because it filled up so quickly. She finally was able to get in during her last semester and I think she was one of the only girls in there. Ohio 2017. Not a rural school district but country enough.

17 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I'm not sure how serious you are, but I've seen the suggestion on many news comment sites for exactly that.  Enforced sterilization as a baby and you have to apply for reversal.  I do think there are too many people in the world, and I do think that there are tons of people who have children who shouldn't, but I honestly can't imagine why anyone thinks it's a good idea to let the government decide who can and can not have children.  Scary.

Eugenics for the new millennium. So a lot of people considered mentally ill, an awful lot of poor folk and I'm sure a whole lot of minorities would not be approved. 

[PepSinger]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

Just when I thought I couldn't love Jack more:

Jack, to his mother (re his father): “You can pack your things and I’ll settle you some place new. Or you can stay and I can kill him.”

His initial response to Rebecca when she asked if he had a dream:

Then later: 

His answer when Rebecca asks about going to LA:

And, of course, his doing the dishes...that is 100% pure love (and sexy as hell) to me and how Jack always helped out, including his very last night on earth. 

The actual live footage of Rebecca falling in love:

Funny how CountryBoy - who hates dishes with a passion - got up and helped me with them last night). Uh huh...

Elsewhere, this made me laugh so hard:

But wow, I teared up here:

What all of us wouldn't give to see our loved ones again...even if it's only a dream.

You're just trying to make me cry again, aren't you?!

1 minute ago, Katy M said:

They aren't strangers.  They're William's people.  He's on a crusade to save them.  Kate was awake, he had apologized, she had accepted, and Randall's a flitter.  It made perfect sense to me.

I don't care whose people they are. Randall has met these people twice. Who on Earth boards a cross country flight for people that they barely know within hours of taking another flight??

[PRgal]

Just now, Soup333 said:

My daughter graduated from high school last year and she'd always wanted to take shop. She was never able to get into the class because it filled up so quickly. She finally was able to get in during her last semester and I think she was one of the only girls in there. Ohio 2017. Not a rural school district but country enough.

Eugenics for the new millennium. So a lot of people considered mentally ill, an awful lot of poor folk and I'm sure a whole lot of minorities would not be approved. 

Shop and home ec (aka Design & Technology and Family Studies) was required in the middle school I went to in North York, Ontario (early 90s).  One semester each, broken into quarters (1/4 sewing, 1/4 cooking, 1/4 woodwork, 1/4 plastic) in Grade 6.  I left the public system after Grade 6, so I don't know what happens then.  The girls-only private school I went to was going through the "cooking for girls is very old fashioned, so we aren't going to teach our kids that" phase (started in the 80s, I believe, when they turned the Family Studies (aka Household Arts) classroom into a computer lab), so I never learned.  I didn't learn at home, either as my grandmother didn't believe "ladies should be in the kitchen."  She never taught my mom how to cook either (and my mom went to a Catholic middle and high school (girls only) and was in an academic stream.  Kids in the academic stream did not take home ec).  In fact, my mom thought boiling an egg involved using hot water from the tap.  True story.  Mom was in her early 20s and new to Canada at the time.  My grandmother was still in Hong Kong.  

That episode was probably written by a millennial who was unaware that most schools segregated boys and girls for shop and home ec back in the 60s.  

[doodlebug]

6 minutes ago, Katy M said:

They aren't strangers.  They're William's people.  He's on a crusade to save them.  Kate was awake, he had apologized, she had accepted, and Randall's a flitter.  It made perfect sense to me.

But, WHY?  What was the emergency that required his immediate presence in Philly at the bedside of a child he'd only met a couple of times?  Even if he'd been home in NJ, driving two hours to the hospital to see ChiChi and her daughter for 10 minutes to find out what happened and be made to feel guilty about it would make no sense. What did he accomplish by rushing back, ChiChi made it clear that she wasn't the least bit impressed by anything Randall did short of ending criminal activity in Philadelphia altogether.  It's not the first time she's laid into him for things that aren't his fault.  It's one thing to be in favor of the big gesture, in Randall's case, he's the master of the useless one.  I cannot even imagine what his last minute plane ticket to LA would've cost, let alone changing his return flight and maybe changing the destination from Newark to Philly.  Considering he hasn't had a job in a year, I would think he might want to be a little more careful with a dollar.

Then again, this show is constantly stretching credulity over even the simplest issues; so I guess this is just one more example.

[ally862]

19 hours ago, Katy M said:

This is what I'm saying. Show might think it would be cute for Kate to have triplets.

I was coming here to say this.  As soon as she mentioned 8 eggs I realized they might be shooting for another big 3.  I hope not.  

Also,  I'm clearly in the minority but I loved the early Jack and Rebecca scenes.  Props to Mandy and Milo because the chemistry between them during the dishes scene was off the charts.  We've seen them together countless times but I was shipping them like I would any new couple on a show.

[Katy M]

15 minutes ago, PepSinger said:

I don't care whose people they are. Randall has met these people twice. Who on Earth boards a cross country flight for people that they barely know within hours of taking another flight??

Randall.

[DrSparkles]

8 hours ago, Mommaj said:

I'm Rebecca's age, and there's no way a girl would have been allowed in shop class in those days--not even in the room, much less wielding a saw. (My cooking class was in 7th grade and we had to wear aprons we had hand sewn the prior year, with our first names embroidered on them. I wasn't real thrilled to have those memories dredged up.)

Maybe in Pittsburgh  ;)

[Eeksquire]

I thought it was Deja that called Randall to tell him about ChiChi's daughter, not ChiChi herself.  (I mean, given what we've seen of her, I can't imagine that it would even occur to her to call her landlord about her daughter.)  Even if you think it's unreasonable for Randall to have flown back immediately for a relative stranger's child, I don't think it's that crazy for him to fly back when Deja, the soon-to-be or newly- adopted child that Randall is desperate to bond with, calls him upset and wants him to come home.

[Soup333]

2 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

But, WHY?  What was the emergency that required his immediate presence in Philly at the bedside of a child he'd only met a couple of times?  Even if he'd been home in NJ, driving two hours to the hospital to see ChiChi and her daughter for 10 minutes to find out what happened and be made to feel guilty about it would make no sense. What did he accomplish by rushing back, ChiChi made it clear that she wasn't the least bit impressed by anything Randall did short of ending criminal activity in Philadelphia altogether.  It's not the first time she's laid into him for things that aren't his fault.  It's one thing to be in favor of the big gesture, in Randall's case, he's the master of the useless one.  I cannot even imagine what his last minute plane ticket to LA would've cost, let alone changing his return flight and maybe changing the destination from Newark to Philly.  Considering he hasn't had a job in a year, I would think he might want to be a little more careful with a dollar.

Then again, this show is constantly stretching credulity over even the simplest issues; so I guess this is just one more example.

This is why I said they should have cut the scene. It makes no sense and the same thing could have been accomplished with a phone call. After the episode I told my daughter that the show was really starting to do too much. I don't mind the Kate storyline of her wanting a baby or Kevin's wanting to know more about Jack's time in Vietnam and I understand they have to do something with Jack that'll keep him on screen but this Randall crusade is kind of ridiculous. And off-putting if I'm honest. Why would I want to watch anything political on a show when I can't get away from it in my real life? I didn't sign up for this and I won't stick around to watch it possibly destroy his marriage. There are so many other avenues they could have pursued and I'm just not here for this one.

[PRgal]

7 minutes ago, ally862 said:

I was coming here to say this.  As soon as she mentioned 8 eggs I realized they might be shooting for another big 3.  I hope not.  

Also,  I'm clearly in the minority but I loved the early Jack and Rebecca scenes.  Props to Mandy and Milo because the chemistry between them during the dishes scene was off the charts.  We've seen them together countless times but I was shipping them like I would any new couple on a show.

Wouldn't multiples be very risky for Kate?  They don't typically transfer three embryos back in anymore (yes, I get that embryos split, but still).  But it's TV, so you never know.  

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, PRgal said:

Wouldn't multiples be very risky for Kate?  They don't typically transfer three embryos back in anymore (yes, I get that embryos split, but still).  But it's TV, so you never know.  

Multiples are risky for anyone, but they are far riskier for Kate due to her age and weight.  Her chances of getting 3 healthy babies are a lot lower than average.

[Ohiopirate02]

5 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

But, WHY?  What was the emergency that required his immediate presence in Philly at the bedside of a child he'd only met a couple of times?  Even if he'd been home in NJ, driving two hours to the hospital to see ChiChi and her daughter for 10 minutes to find out what happened and be made to feel guilty about it would make no sense. What did he accomplish by rushing back, ChiChi made it clear that she wasn't the least bit impressed by anything Randall did short of ending criminal activity in Philadelphia altogether.  It's not the first time she's laid into him for things that aren't his fault.  It's one thing to be in favor of the big gesture, in Randall's case, he's the master of the useless one.  I cannot even imagine what his last minute plane ticket to LA would've cost, let alone changing his return flight and maybe changing the destination from Newark to Philly.  Considering he hasn't had a job in a year, I would think he might want to be a little more careful with a dollar.

Then again, this show is constantly stretching credulity over even the simplest issues; so I guess this is just one more example.

The only thing I can think of is that ChiChi has brought Randall's identity issues to the surface.  To me, Randall has a huge issue with him being "black enough."  Randall is looking for the one, true black experience that he never experienced because he was raised by white people.  I am a white woman who was raised by my biological parents so I will never understand what it is like to be transracially adopted.  Randall really needs to find a better therapist that can help him work through these issues.  His overwhelming need to find this mythical African American existence will eventually hurt his family. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

56 minutes ago, Colleenna said:

I'm older, and one semester of shop was REQUIRED of girls in 8th grade. One semester of home ec was required for boys. I remember that I made wooden bookends. So I think it depends on where you grew up.

My aunt graduated from high school in 1972 (so she’s a few years younger than Rebecca), and she still has the bookends she made in her high school woodshop class. I’m not sure if she chose to take woodshop or if she was required to take it. She went to a competitive public high school in Chicago (admission to this school required an entrance exam).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

13 minutes ago, Eeksquire said:

I thought it was Deja that called Randall to tell him about ChiChi's daughter, not ChiChi herself.  

Yes, it was Deja who called Randall. He said her name when he answered the phone. I can’t imagine Randall was in ChiChi’s top 20 people to call when she found out what happened to her daughter.