S03.E08: Six Thanksgivings

[CrystalBlue]

18 hours ago, alexvillage said:

I didn't hate the episode, I hated the Vietnam part because I can't with all the Vietnam anymore, anywhere but I also wish that every single show (or at least the ones I watch) stopped doing all the thanksgiving and christmas episodes all the time. I find them extremely boring. Let's have a family/people that don't  celebrate anything for a change

A sitcom about Jehovah's Witnesses?

[CrystalBlue]

9 hours ago, saber5055 said:

So many things in this episode to hand wave, they ruined the show for me. Especially the Toby-cooking-Tgiving-dinner part. WTHeck, it's not hard people. Making fresh cranberries is so simple it's ridiculous, and one doesn't need 30 ingredients plus fresh mint. Most recipes are three ingredients, including the cranberries. Try doing a google search for recipes, dumb ass. And that turkey? I've never basted a turkey in my life and I've never had one come out dry or inedible. And I'm no chef, I'm just a regular person. A turkey also needs more than a half hour to bake, too, so should have been in the oven ages before even looking up the cranberry recipe.

Then the turkey shown was black on top? Please. It would have to have been in a 400-degree oven for a full day to be burned. Giant hand wave.

Then, in five minute's time, Toby appears with take out? It takes five minutes just to go outside and get in your car. If it was delivered, it takes five minutes to find a place that will deliver. Even Dominos pizza might take longer than 30 minutes on Thanksgiving. If they are even open.

I hated that entire "we're cooking" segment. Must be most of this show's writers live at home with mom or a SO that does all that for them.

Then Toby talking about the girl products. Geesh. I guess when he was trying to get Kate pregnant he asked her when her full-moon thing was going to happen so they could do that you-know-what thing. He's such a dumb ass.

Now we find out Nicky is a medic. Holy cats. I guess because he saves spiders he decided to go that route. Not a wise choice, obviously.

LOL that Kevin's necklace quest is for something a random woman, no name yet, gave Jack for putting medicine on her kid's foot. Alrighty then. Good luck with that Kevin. We did get to see the photo being taken though, so that was cool. It would be something if that kid's foot heals and he hunts down and kills Nicky with one of those can explosives Jack saw being made.

I've never gotten the Miguel hate, but I have wondered about his kids. This was his first Thanksgiving with them, and only because the ex went somewhere else? His kids are dicks.

Speaking of dicks ... Randall. What a jerk. "She's my wife" doesn't mean she knows jack about politics. Randall deserves to lose. I'd do a write-in vote for his campaign manager instead.

Jae-Won for the win!  I hope he does quit, decides to run himself, and Randall either drops out of the race or it's a three-candidate vote, and Jae-Won handily wins.

[bros402]

19 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Heh.  I just assumed Toby told the local Cracker Barrel a long story about how important it was that he not let the Pearson's Thanksgiving  down, complete with information about Pilgrim Rick, his wife's pregnancy and his step-niece's first period, and so the Cracker Barrel employee took one of the meals from a customer who had given 24 hour notice and gave it to Tobes.  Somewhere there's a special employment agency where that guy, the one who worked for the baby supply distribution center, the car dealer who sold Jack a car at a loss and a dozen other Pearson victims, are hunting for new jobs.

He told them a short story about the Pearsons, they robotically did everything Toby asked, then when they woke up from their stupor they joined a "hey we got fleeced with a story by the Pearsons who came from Pittsburgh" facebook group

Edited November 23, 2018 by bros402

[Blakeston]

10 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Especially, you know, that she worked as a city planner for 12 years which means you have to deal with NIMBY's, developers, and city administration officials. The hell?

If the issue was zoning, I'd listen to Beth. But when it comes to winning over the electorate? She doesn't seem to know much, considering her stance of "we're doing something for the public good, and we need to hide it from the press."

Edited November 23, 2018 by Blakeston

[alexvillage]

5 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

A sitcom about Jehovah's Witnesses?

I don't like sitcoms so I cannot give my opinion one way or another. But shows don't really need to follow the calendar so strictly. They can show the time passing and skip holidays, just keep telling the stories. The stories they told in this episodes would survive without the turkey.

[ShadowFacts]

15 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Now we find out Nicky is a medic. Holy cats. I guess because he saves spiders he decided to go that route. Not a wise choice, obviously.

It was shown earlier that Nicky had lots of books and science oriented things in his room as a kid.  May have even been that he wanted to be a doctor, I could be wrong about that, but he did show interest in science, so there was some basis for the fact he ended up a medic. 

[BetyBee]

On 11/21/2018 at 7:10 AM, JudyObscure said:

 Miguel's ex sounds just awful to me. Having had a husband who couldn't hold a job for more than a few weeks before making me call in and quit for him, I can never side with women who are mad at their husbands for working hard. I'll always appreciate a good provider.  Then for her to keep her children from their father? No wonder her son turned out to be a jerk.

Toby made me laugh out loud with his stepping in the turkey story and Annie made me burst into tears when she cried out "Grandpa!" and ran into Miguel's arms. God bless the little children with no tired old grudges.

I loved the message of the episode, summed up with Randall's essay saying it's not just family that impacts us but every single person we meet.  This was a great episode to me.

As a child (in my 60s!) of divorce, with a mother who to this day, still trashes my father who has been dead for 30 years, I think this episode really got it right, that that sometimes happens.  Early on Miguel's wife was keeping his kids from him and the kids went along with her brainwashing, likely because she was the custodial parent and they do love their mom.  I think his daughter has gained insight into that (perhaps by having her own child) and she is trying, but his son was awful.  I hope Miguel's scolding set him straight.  I liked the was Rebecca and Miguel supported each other at that dinner.  

I have to say that I hope the show doesn't go there with Tess and Deja.  They are sisters now, there no evidence that Deja is also gay and there are plenty of people in the world to choose from!  I always thought that "she" might be Beth, with dementia or something like that.  

[Libby96]

25 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Kate wasn't gone that long, the whole idea that Toby couldn't give a shout out to Kate for help was ridiculous.  Above and beyond that, the whole scene made me cringe.  I think at this point it is pretty obvious that Toby is bipolar.  I don't think it was remotely humorous watching him freak out  (having an anxiety attack and spiraling/suffering) over all that needed to be done for the Thanksgiving dinner.  If the writers wanted to go down that path, they should have chosen a different character having anxiety issues with the Thanksgiving dinner, a character who does not have mental health issues.

This series desperately needs a backstory into Toby's therapy sessions.

It seems odd that Kate would tell Toby that fresh mint would be available in Randall's garden this time of year.  I would have thought for sure that a frost or a freeze would have killed it off long before Thanksgiving.

The writers seem to have a hard time accurately representing the climate in parts of the country that are Not California.

[debraran]

Nicky's death will be "dark and sad" according to actor that plays him, because the war was (and This is Us loves that) I just hope it's not too drawn out. I wish he went to college on scholarship and became the doctor he seemed to want or anything to escape the hell there but that is not TV drama.

I thought Tess was young but they say that because of hormones in food and other things, young women are getting younger and younger for first period. When I was young, heavier girls got them earlier and that might also be more of a common thing today.

Edited November 23, 2018 by debraran

[Scarlett45]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

I thought Tess was young but they say that because of hormones in food and other things, young women are getting younger and younger for first period. When I was young, heavier girls got them earlier and that might also be more of a common thing today.

Yes it’s true heavier girls get their periods earlier on average, and girls these days get them earlier (again on average) but I don’t consider 10 to be “early”, granted my mom got hers at 9 in the 1950s and she was a skinny child. Your mom’s age at first period has an influence on your age at first period.

10-13 is a typical range for first menstration in my mind. 

 

I think its good they showed Tess going to the bathroom to get supplies, she knew where everything was and didn’t start screaming or freaking out- that wouldn’t have worked with the type of parent we know Beth (and Randall) to be. 

Edited November 23, 2018 by Scarlett45

[debraran]

That is true, when I was a teen most of my friends (1970's) were 12-13 and one was 14. My very heavy cousin was 10. I found that out later though, it was not spoken of much in house, my friend told me about it when I was 10 because her sister got hers. So glad most of that is not the case now.

Edited November 23, 2018 by debraran

[saber5055]

4 hours ago, alexvillage said:

The stories they told in this episodes would survive without the turkey.

But Toby is married to Kate now so I expect he will be in most upcoming episodes.

17 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

10-13 is a typical range for first menstruation in my mind. 

I'm laughing because I'm imagining all the men reading here thinking, "Gah, they're talking about that once in a full moon girl stuff thing again. Just STOP!"

[Dowel Jones]

4 hours ago, debraran said:

Nicky's death will be "dark and sad" according to actor that plays him, because the war was (and This is Us loves that)

Jack will sit him down and start to give him the famous Jack Pearson monologue about life, honor, duty, family, etc.  Nicky will finally lose it and fall on one of his grenades.

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Yes it’s true heavier girls get their periods earlier on average, and girls these days get them earlier (again on average) but I don’t consider 10 to be “early”, granted my mom got hers at 9 in the 1950s and she was a skinny child. Your mom’s age at first period has an influence on your age at first period.

Medically, anywhere between 10-16 is considered normal.  The average African American girl starts at 12, Caucasian girls at 13; but there is a wide variation.  Percent body fat and family history play into it.  I started at 9, but that was typical for my family.  So, presuming Beth and other women in the family were a bit younger than average, it is not out of the realm of possibility for Tess to get her first period at 10.  And, just as my mom, knowing that we tended to start younger than most, made sure my sisters and I knew all about menstruation and where the supplies were kept, I am sure Beth had 'the talk' with Tess so she could take care of things when the time came.

[Scarlett45]

2 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Medically, anywhere between 10-16 is considered normal.  The average African American girl starts at 12, Caucasian girls at 13; but there is a wide variation.  Percent body fat and family history play into it.  I started at 9, but that was typical for my family.  So, presuming Beth and other women in the family were a bit younger than average, it is not out of the realm of possibility for Tess to get her first period at 10.  And, just as my mom, knowing that we tended to start younger than most, made sure my sisters and I knew all about menstruation and where the supplies were kept, I am sure Beth had 'the talk' with Tess so she could take care of things when the time came.

Yup yup. My mom got hers at 9 as well, and I was an obese child so I was ready to expect it at that age. (And we are black) Tess’ reaction seemed very realistic to me. 

2 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Medically, anywhere between 10-16 is considered normal.  The average African American girl starts at 12, Caucasian girls at 13; but there is a wide variation.  Percent body fat and family history play into it.  I started at 9, but that was typical for my family.  So, presuming Beth and other women in the family were a bit younger than average, it is not out of the realm of possibility for Tess to get her first period at 10.  And, just as my mom, knowing that we tended to start younger than most, made sure my sisters and I knew all about menstruation and where the supplies were kept, I am sure Beth had 'the talk' with Tess so she could take care of things when the time came.

Yup yup. My mom got hers at 9 as well, and I was an obese child so I was ready to expect it at that age. (And we are black) Tess’ reaction seemed very realistic to me. 

[NUguy514]

5 hours ago, BetyBee said:

Early on Miguel's wife was keeping his kids from him and the kids went along with her brainwashing, likely because she was the custodial parent and they do love their mom.  I think his daughter has gained insight into that (perhaps by having her own child) and she is trying, but his son was awful.  I hope Miguel's scolding set him straight.  I liked the was Rebecca and Miguel supported each other at that dinner.

Their kids were in their 20s when Miguel and Shelley divorced, though, so there couldn't have been a custodial parent.  I don't see how Shelley could keep fully grown adults from their dad, although she certainly trashed him enough for them to want to freeze him out.

[RedRockRosie]

6 hours ago, Libby96 said:

It seems odd that Kate would tell Toby that fresh mint would be available in Randall's garden this time of year.  I would have thought for sure that a frost or a freeze would have killed it off long before Thanksgiving.

Actually mint is pretty tough & can withstand a certain degree of frost. If his garden was protected, yeah, I could buy that there might still be some there.

[Calvada]

Being the suspicious sort, I suspected some type of ulterior motive in the Thanksgiving invitation to Miguel and Rebecca.  I thought one or both of his kids were going to ask him for money.  I think that would have been a more realistic storyline causing Miguel devastating disappointment than his adult son whining about his father's second marriage TEN years after his parents divorced.  

[Kira53]

On 11/20/2018 at 11:10 PM, Scarlett45 said:

The child may not be Chinese. Also children with disabilities or special needs are available for adoption regardless of gender. A woman I know just adopted her son from China, he has achondroplasia (spelling) dwarfism like her husband. 

The “one child” policy in China was eliminated in 2015- FYI. 

Great!  It was a terrible policy, with enormous negative unanticipated social consequences.

[Kira53]

13 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Kate wasn't gone that long, the whole idea that Toby couldn't give a shout out to Kate for help was ridiculous.  Above and beyond that, the whole scene made me cringe.  I think at this point it is pretty obvious that Toby is bipolar.  I don't think it was remotely humorous watching him freak out  (having an anxiety attack and spiraling/suffering) over all that needed to be done for the Thanksgiving dinner.  If the writers wanted to go down that path, they should have chosen a different character having anxiety issues with the Thanksgiving dinner, a character who does not have mental health issues.

This series desperately needs a backstory into Toby's therapy sessions.

It seems odd that Kate would tell Toby that fresh mint would be available in Randall's garden this time of year.  I would have thought for sure that a frost or a freeze would have killed it off long before Thanksgiving.

You know that Randall would have an  AeroGarden.  https://www.aerogarden.com/indoor-garden-comparison-chart?cid=ppc_g&offban=google20&gclid=Cj0KCQiA597fBRCzARIsAHWby0FDqIJGJLK_Ru6jr11EqzYXTkLMxmqHSJ5PKwBrKWTKEkqzMkgsCAkaAlmHEALw_wcB  Probaby two, with the WiFi.  I had one but it died years ago.  You can grow you own grape tomatoes and spinach or whatnot during the winter.  Herbs are easy.  You can have chives in a regular window.

[Jlyblylvr]

On 11/21/2018 at 8:16 PM, Moxie Cat said:

The problem wasn't the phone, but that it looked too thin to be a 1997 phone. I had one then too. It wasn't a flip phone (got that in 2001, I think) but it was much thicker than Miguel's. And they weren't that common. I only had one because my parents didn't want me to drive to college without it. But I was the only one of my friends who had one at the time.

Other anachronism: when Jack said something about "being present" to Miguel in 1997. I don't recall that terminology being used 20 years ago,

Also - the word "impactful" didn't exist in 1997. I really hate that word ... and Randall used it 3x in his essay, too!

[Aloeonatable]

On 11/20/2018 at 7:59 PM, Kira53 said:

If my memory serves me this is the third Thanksgiving episode in three years.

I recall in the first season the Pilgrim Rick episode, but what was the second season's Thanksgiving episode about? 

[Crs97]

One thing I liked about Miguel’s children was the look Andy’s wife gave him whenever he talked.  Wherever they live, it looked like it would be a long ride home.

[breezy424]

Gosh.  I'm sorry I didn't read the three pages of posts before posting.  I always find that kind of rude but I have to get some things off my chest.

I 'don't' care about William and Jessie so don't shove it down my throat.

The best part of the episode was finally getting more information about Miguel's children and his relationship with them in present day.

I'm less and less interested about Nicky and Jack in Vietnam.  Both of them are dead.  Sorry to be so blunt.

I can understand how Jeja is upset about her mother. 

And wow, we get information about Tess and where's she's at. 

The rest...Randall's campaign and how Beth fits in.  Just don't care how this is going.

[ShadowFacts]

13 hours ago, Calvada said:

Being the suspicious sort, I suspected some type of ulterior motive in the Thanksgiving invitation to Miguel and Rebecca.  I thought one or both of his kids were going to ask him for money.  I think that would have been a more realistic storyline causing Miguel devastating disappointment than his adult son whining about his father's second marriage TEN years after his parents divorced.  

I think it's more than 20 years since they divorced, maybe 10 years since he married Rebecca, so the son has been building up bile for a very long time.  What a waste. 

[cameron]

On 11/20/2018 at 10:09 PM, Jaclyn88 said:

Why am I thinking Tess's girlfriend is going to be deja ? Is deja adopted by Randall and beth  ? I can't keep up 

Thinking the same thing.

[PRgal]

Tess + Deja is just gross, period (no pun intended).  Plus Deja is, what, three years older?  It's creep territory for a 10 year old.  I'm hoping the girlfriend is a kid in Tess's class.  Or from Girl Scouts.  A little crush, however, is another thing (i.e. no reciprocal crush back from Deja).

[SunnyBeBe]

On 11/22/2018 at 4:38 PM, saber5055 said:

So many things in this episode to hand wave, they ruined the show for me. Especially the Toby-cooking-Tgiving-dinner part. WTHeck, it's not hard people. Making fresh cranberries is so simple it's ridiculous, and one doesn't need 30 ingredients plus fresh mint. Most recipes are three ingredients, including the cranberries. Try doing a google search for recipes, dumb ass. And that turkey? I've never basted a turkey in my life and I've never had one come out dry or inedible. And I'm no chef, I'm just a regular person. A turkey also needs more than a half hour to bake, too, so should have been in the oven ages before even looking up the cranberry recipe.

Then the turkey shown was black on top? Please. It would have to have been in a 400-degree oven for a full day to be burned. Giant hand wave.

Then, in five minute's time, Toby appears with take out? It takes five minutes just to go outside and get in your car. If it was delivered, it takes five minutes to find a place that will deliver. Even Dominos pizza might take longer than 30 minutes on Thanksgiving. If they are even open.

I hated that entire "we're cooking" segment. Must be most of this show's writers live at home with mom or a SO that does all that for them.

Then Toby talking about the girl products. Geesh. I guess when he was trying to get Kate pregnant he asked her when her full-moon thing was going to happen so they could do that you-know-what thing. He's such a dumb ass.

Now we find out Nicky is a medic. Holy cats. I guess because he saves spiders he decided to go that route. Not a wise choice, obviously.

LOL that Kevin's necklace quest is for something a random woman, no name yet, gave Jack for putting medicine on her kid's foot. Alrighty then. Good luck with that Kevin. We did get to see the photo being taken though, so that was cool. It would be something if that kid's foot heals and he hunts down and kills Nicky with one of those can explosives Jack saw being made.

I've never gotten the Miguel hate, but I have wondered about his kids. This was his first Thanksgiving with them, and only because the ex went somewhere else? His kids are dicks.

Speaking of dicks ... Randall. What a jerk. "She's my wife" doesn't mean she knows jack about politics. Randall deserves to lose. I'd do a write-in vote for his campaign manager instead.

Good points. I think writers sometimes go with this overly contrived storyline about how all the food just got ruined, so, let's overcome the fiasco with takeout.  I don't find it amusing.  I wonder why writers do.  Perhaps, in this case, they were trying to hearken back to the Thanksgiving where the Pearsons had to eat that random food at the motel when their car broke down.  You know, EVERYTHING, has to lead us back to Saint Jack. lol

I understand why Randall's campaign manager was frustrated, but, I get his wife's point about the meal too.  Randall doesn't get that as a public servant, you have to make decisions for the community and not just for your wife.  But, I hand it to Randall.  He realizes that if she's not happy, the family won't be either. 

[saber5055]

Reading here, I wonder why Miguel and Rebecca hadn't hosted a Thanksgiving (or some other) dinner on an off day and invited Miguel's (adult) children and Rebecca's three-plus. They could have had a cook out picnic at a park (because it never snows or is cold where they live) or a potluck or just a family gathering since didn't the kids know each other when they were little and both sides had two parents?

I know, I know ... it wouldn't have drah-mah if everyone liked each other. And had manners.

[Ohiopirate02]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Reading here, I wonder why Miguel and Rebecca hadn't hosted a Thanksgiving (or some other) dinner on an off day and invited Miguel's (adult) children and Rebecca's three-plus. They could have had a cook out picnic at a park (because it never snows or is cold where they live) or a potluck or just a family gathering since didn't the kids know each other when they were little and both sides had two parents?

I know, I know ... it wouldn't have drah-mah if everyone liked each other. And had manners.

I assume that Rebecca and Miguel have tried to integrate their respective families over the years.  Based on the behavior Andy, I would say that those have never been successful.   Over time Miguel has probably stopped trying to reach out to his son.   Maybe because I come from dysfunctional families on both sides, I can totally see the whole backstory of Miguel and Andy from the scenes we saw.  I can see the decades of grudges, spite, snide comments, more overt insults, etc.  

[Guest]

On 11/23/2018 at 11:47 AM, saber5055 said:

But Toby is married to Kate now so I expect he will be in most upcoming episodes.

 

Literally LOLing.

 

Season 2 Thanksgiving was Number Three- the Randall episode where they lost Deja.

[kili]

Quote

Now we find out Nicky is a medic. Holy cats. I guess because he saves spiders he decided to go that route. Not a wise choice, obviously

Nicky mentioned his plan to become a medic back when he got drafted. He mentioned that he could go to Texas for two months and get trained. Jack counters that medics get shot too. 

When Jack was in the doctor's office to find out how to fake the medical test to get into the army, he tells the doctor that Nicky always wanted to be a doctor. 

On the Thanksgiving front, I thought that it was ridiculous to expect Toby and Kate to make the recipes that Randall had picked out. I know Randall likes routine, but Toby and Kate are nice enough to cook the dinner, they get to pick the recipes. If Randall wants his 30 recipe cranberry sauce, he can make it himself the day before. The Pearsons celebrate with crackers and hot dogs every year because they had to make do one day. So, in that spirit, make do and eat the store bought cranberry sauce. In the end, they did and nobody seemed to care, so I don't even know who was expecting Toby to make the complicated dishes.

I'd be more invested in the great Jesse and William love story if William hadn't have kept ditching Jesse during his dying days. 

I'm mystified by the anger Miguel's kids have at him. Jack died a few months after that Thanksgiving angry call, so maybe ex-Mrs. Miguel went nuts when her friend leaned on Miguel after Jack died? Did she decide they were having an affair or did the kids decide that? IDK. You would think ex-Mrs. Miguel would have been there for her friend, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was angry that the Pearsons didn't leave Miguel to sit in the dark staring at the walls in his own sad house on Thanksgiving? That son was pretty bitter. 

[MaryPatShelby]

I was glad to learn more about Miguel; I'd rather dig into his life (since he ends up being Rebecca's husband) than see any more of William being forced into the storyline.

I don't think that "her" can be Tess's partner.  If she had a partner who was gravely ill, or had dementia, or whatever, one would think Tess would be involved in her life and possibly her care (or at least making decisions about it).  It doesn't seem like a situation in which Tess would abandon her until she was "ready". 

[lucindabelle]

Wow I was sooooo bored. For the first time I REALLY noticed how the music was manipulating me.

for a second I thought Andy had come with Miguel to the Pearson’s. THAT would have been old “This Is Us” and tear jerking. But no. Once again only good family is Pearson.

that said I didn’t find vestigial bitterness unrealistic. 

Denis O’Hare actually did drop the accent at one point when he leveled with Jesse. Great actor but not great accent.

kate was good with Tess and I thought Toby was delicate, not embarrassed.

im in Nj. No Cracker Barrel’s here. (Or 1?) But you know what we do have? kings. And other great places that offer catered FULL MEALS if you order the week before. If they knew they were going to be away quite obviously that’s what they should have done. 

 

I used to LOVE this show. Now I watch days after...

[bros402]

On 11/23/2018 at 7:51 AM, icemiser69 said:

Kate wasn't gone that long, the whole idea that Toby couldn't give a shout out to Kate for help was ridiculous.  Above and beyond that, the whole scene made me cringe.  I think at this point it is pretty obvious that Toby is bipolar.  I don't think it was remotely humorous watching him freak out  (having an anxiety attack and spiraling/suffering) over all that needed to be done for the Thanksgiving dinner.  If the writers wanted to go down that path, they should have chosen a different character having anxiety issues with the Thanksgiving dinner, a character who does not have mental health issues.

This series desperately needs a backstory into Toby's therapy sessions.

It seems odd that Kate would tell Toby that fresh mint would be available in Randall's garden this time of year.  I would have thought for sure that a frost or a freeze would have killed it off long before Thanksgiving.

Well I mean a few Thanksgivings ago it was unseasonably warm and my mom's herb garden was fine.

This Thanksgiving? Noooooooooooooope

2 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

Wow I was sooooo bored. For the first time I REALLY noticed how the music was manipulating me.

for a second I thought Andy had come with Miguel to the Pearson’s. THAT would have been old “This Is Us” and tear jerking. But no. Once again only good family is Pearson.

that said I didn’t find vestigial bitterness unrealistic. 

Denis O’Hare actually did drop the accent at one point when he leveled with Jesse. Great actor but not great accent.

kate was good with Tess and I thought Toby was delicate, not embarrassed.

im in Nj. No Cracker Barrel’s here. (Or 1?) But you know what we do have? kings. And other great places that offer catered FULL MEALS if you order the week before. If they knew they were going to be away quite obviously that’s what they should have done. 

 

I used to LOVE this show. Now I watch days after...

There are apparently two cracker barrels in NJ! One near the NJ-PA border, and one near Cherry Hill.

[Kelly]

On November 22, 2018 at 1:12 AM, Blakeston said:

I don't think they ever mentioned the name of the college, but I have a hard time picturing any college being especially impressed by the tone he took.

Teenagers regularly try to show admissions committees how independent-minded and clever they are by writing, "Here's what's wrong with your question," instead of actually answering it. It usually just makes them sound like brats.

And "I can't name the one person who changed my life the most because I've met lots of people" is a pretty strange argument to make.

IMO the admissions dept would have LOVED his essay.

[Roxie]

Regarding the use of "impactful" in 1997, from Merriam-Webster: Impactful has been in use since the 1950s and is used in all kinds of contexts and understood by all kinds of people to mean "having a forceful impact" or "producing a marked impression."

[debraran]

5 hours ago, Kelly said:

IMO the admissions dept would have LOVED his essay.

I agree, my kids are now out of school by a few years, but admissions officers would say anonymously and in print, how boring and "same as usual" so  many of them were. Someone might think it was cocky or that he could think outside of the box and if he really meant it, wasn't trying to be cute, that would shine through. It was very "Randall".

My daughter loves reading young children's essays because many are just from the heart, not edited or researched.  One girl wrote recently for "her best day", not about a vacation, or holiday, it was when she was sick on her birthday and her mom had to stay home with her, they had fun just playing board games and having her read to her, and it didn't happen often they could do that since her dad died and she worked a lot. My daughter tried not to tear up.

[alexvillage]

On 11/23/2018 at 1:34 PM, doodlebug said:

So, presuming Beth and other women in the family were a bit younger than average, it is not out of the realm of possibility for Tess to get her first period at 10. 

Wait! Was I spacing out? I thought someone mentioned that she is 12? 

 

I don't know ow much the "her" was discussed here because I got late to the party but I always thought that they are talking about Beth, who has dementia. 

Edited November 25, 2018 by alexvillage

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, alexvillage said:

Wait! Was I spacing out? I thought someone mentioned that she is 12? 

Kate said she herself was 12 when she got her first period.

(The actress who plays Tess is 13 but the character was born Halloween 2008, so she's 10.)

Vulture has a timeline that I might have to bookmark... https://www.vulture.com/2018/03/this-is-us-chronological-timeline.html

[CrystalBlue]

21 hours ago, kili said:

Nicky mentioned his plan to become a medic back when he got drafted. He mentioned that he could go to Texas for two months and get trained. Jack counters that medics get shot too. 

When Jack was in the doctor's office to find out how to fake the medical test to get into the army, he tells the doctor that Nicky always wanted to be a doctor. 

On the Thanksgiving front, I thought that it was ridiculous to expect Toby and Kate to make the recipes that Randall had picked out. I know Randall likes routine, but Toby and Kate are nice enough to cook the dinner, they get to pick the recipes. If Randall wants his 30 recipe cranberry sauce, he can make it himself the day before. The Pearsons celebrate with crackers and hot dogs every year because they had to make do one day. So, in that spirit, make do and eat the store bought cranberry sauce. In the end, they did and nobody seemed to care, so I don't even know who was expecting Toby to make the complicated dishes.

I'd be more invested in the great Jesse and William love story if William hadn't have kept ditching Jesse during his dying days. 

I'm mystified by the anger Miguel's kids have at him. Jack died a few months after that Thanksgiving angry call, so maybe ex-Mrs. Miguel went nuts when her friend leaned on Miguel after Jack died? Did she decide they were having an affair or did the kids decide that? IDK. You would think ex-Mrs. Miguel would have been there for her friend, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was angry that the Pearsons didn't leave Miguel to sit in the dark staring at the walls in his own sad house on Thanksgiving? That son was pretty bitter. 

Wow, All of This!!!  Good points about Nicky and his interest in medicine.  I was irritated that Randall and Beth expected Kate and Toby to cook all the T-giving turkey and all the trimmings themselves while they both rushed out on the campaign trail for photo op, not photo op, husband/wife disagreement in front of Jae-Won BS.  That was a lot to expect of Kate and Toby; why did the Randalls agree to host Thanksgiving at home if they're not going to be there?  Beth should have stayed home and let her husband go if he had to.  Again, Tess and Annie get back-burnered by their own parents and Deja does too.

Enough with the great romance between William and Jesse that really wasn't.  Good point on Wm's behavior in his last months/weeks/days.  What's a recovering (hopefully) crack addict supposed to do when his lover ditches him?

The Miguel blowup just put me in Miguel's camp even more.  Miguel seems so sweet and earnest, he and Rebecca did not deserve that BS, and over the holiday dinner to boot!  Nice of them to stay and remain graceful instead of leaving, which is what I would've done!

[WhosThatGirl]

3 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

Wow, All of This!!!  Good points about Nicky and his interest in medicine.  I was irritated that Randall and Beth expected Kate and Toby to cook all the T-giving turkey and all the trimmings themselves while they both rushed out on the campaign trail for photo op, not photo op, husband/wife disagreement in front of Jae-Won BS.  That was a lot to expect of Kate and Toby; why did the Randalls agree to host Thanksgiving at home if they're not going to be there?  Beth should have stayed home and let her husband go if he had to.  Again, Tess and Annie get back-burnered by their own parents and Deja does too.

Enough with the great romance between William and Jesse that really wasn't.  Good point on Wm's behavior in his last months/weeks/days.  What's a recovering (hopefully) crack addict supposed to do when his lover ditches him?

The Miguel blowup just put me in Miguel's camp even more.  Miguel seems so sweet and earnest, he and Rebecca did not deserve that BS, and over the holiday dinner to boot!  Nice of them to stay and remain graceful instead of leaving, which is what I would've done!

I think Beth said Kate and Toby offered. There were even a few times when both randall and Beth asked if this was too much. One when it was just Beth and randall talking. To each other and then to Toby and Kate. 

Also Miguel’s kids are way worse than the Pearson’s. In fact I think the only Pearson who has been downright rude to Miguel at times is Kevin. Then again we haven’t seen much of his interactions with Kate.. yet. But Randall has seemed to accept him enough that his kids know him as their grandpa and he has always seemed fine with him. At least as an adult. I feel like we have not seen much of Kate and him solo. I also think Kevin May have been distant towards him because it’s not like he and Rebecca were super close and that just added to it.

With Miguel’s kids, it just seems like there’s real hate and I feel like feel that this is based on what their mom told them. Like I know it seemed like Kevin had the same feelings but the way he asked if Miguel had been in love with Rebecca from when jaxk was alive was much more curious than the way Miguel’s kids spoke of Rebecca and how she stole his father from his mother.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

That was a lot to expect of Kate and Toby; why did the Randalls agree to host Thanksgiving at home if they're not going to be there? 

Maybe they had bought airline tickets before Randall and Beth knew they wouldn’t be able to be home to cook. Or it made more sense for Toby and Kate to travel than the other 7 to travel. I don’t think this part is unusual personally. They seem to host a lot of holidays- maybe due to location or maybe the best house for hosting.

[ThisIsMe]

Best part of this episode:  The bonding of Tess and Kate.  It was a very sweet scene, and I loved everything about it.  Re the theories mentioned here that Tess might fall for Deja ... no, no, no!  That would be too weird & incestuous.  But the bonding of Tess & Kate does make me wonder if the "her" is Kate.  As I've said before, it has to be someone that Randall, Tess, and Toby all have in common (enough to have appeared in the preview scenes).

Worst part of the episode:  A tie, between 1) William and Jesse (too many other things going on for us to be interested in their back story); and 2) poor Jae-Won ... being caught in a Pearson family drama with no escape.

Vietnam:  I'm still interested in how this plays out.  I thought this episode's scenes were good, especially showing Nicky refusing to help the boy (and why).  

Overall:  I didn't cry.  This season has been like that ... it's just not as sharp & tight as in the past.

[PRgal]

1 minute ago, icemiser69 said:

I think she has a crush on Kevin's main squeeze.  They did have a conversation awhile back.

Jack is making a huge mistake by messing with his brother's head.  His brother is incredibly paranoid, and rightly so, given what happened to his commanding officer.  He should just leave Nicky alone.  The one thing that I have learned from the TWD (The Walking Dead), is once a character tends to let his or her guard down and relax, people tend to die.  Nicky needs to be on edge to survive. 

After this episode, Toby will never look at cranberry sauce the same way, and neither will I.

Tess has a crush on her cousin-aunt?  That's kind of gross too.

[qtpye]

On 11/21/2018 at 2:00 PM, GodsBeloved said:

Regarding Miguel and his kids, does anyone remember if they told us why Miguel and Shelley divorced? I do remember having the impression that Miguel was at the very least a potential adulterer. If he did cheat on Shelley and the kids knew and that was part of why their family was broken apart I can understand their resentment especially when they never dealt with it.

Having said that I don’t condone their behavior at the point in their lives.

I am meh on Miguel anyway so while that was an uncomfortable dinner, I felt bad for Rebecca but not so much Miguel. I’m also not convinced their family situation is all or mostly on Shelley and the kids.

I’m curious to know the timeline between the divorce and Jack dying. Did Miguel put more effort into “filling in” for Jack than he did in trying to repair what was broken with his own family?

 

On 11/21/2018 at 2:02 PM, ShortyMac said:

Re-watching the episode and OMFG, Miguel's son, Andy, was being such a brat/dick to Rebecca!! "First, you steal my dad, and then, you try to kill my brother-in-law?!"

GO, MIGUEL, for sticking up for your wife! Like he said, his ex had already remarried by the time they got together TEN YEARS after Jack died. Grow the hell up, Andy. 

The Pearsons tossing the football around was cute. Jack asking Kevin to get the door, broken leg and all. lol

I missed the boyfriend-girlfriend correction with Tess last night. Randall and Beth will be cool with her being gay/bi. 

Didn't realize Toby got catering from Popeye's and Cracker Barrel. lol 

I liked Kevin joining by iPad. Cute idea by Annie. Her hug with Miguel was adorable. 

I liked the connection with Deja in the soup kitchen of Thanksgivings Past and her experience being on the other side of the food line. 

William/Jesse was blah and unnecessary. 

I still like the Vietnam stuff. 

 

On 11/21/2018 at 3:52 PM, WhosThatGirl said:

They said they just grew apart. LikE there’s a scene in the first season after Miguel and his wife said they were splitting and Miguel told jack she stopped making him coffee and he realized he didn’t even miss it and that was their thing and his wife told Rebecca kind of the same thing, like they stopped making them as a couple a Priority or something along those lines.

 

On 11/21/2018 at 3:55 PM, TwoGrayTabbies said:

If the writers want a feel-good inspirational story about Randall following Jack and William’s legacy of service to others, there’s an obvious way of doing it at least somewhat realistically.  Given Randall’s financial wizardry, business experience, and business connections, he is ideally qualified to start a non-profit community organization to provide services such as educational support, blight remediation, latchkey care, etc.  He’s already managing a low-income housing project; he could start from there and add other services.  Beth’s urban planning know-how would be valuable.  She would have a genuine position, not a pity job.  It’s been pointed out umpteen times that the political story makes no sense for multiple reasons.  What were/are the writers thinking?

 

On 11/21/2018 at 5:18 PM, Manda317 said:

His children were exceptionally rude and I would have just left. Maybe they believe Rebecca and Miguel had an affair before the divorce, causing it. You would think they have a better idea of what caused the divorce by now though. I would think they would ask their mom. Unless the marriage did end over an affair, but they never knew who it was. Then Rebecca and Miguel would look more suspicious since she was around when the kids were younger.

I know nice people can have asshole children but it is bizarre that his kids hate Rebecca so much.        

Perhaps it is to justify that they always spend time with the Pearson’s? It seemed a little heavy handed and plot specific to justify why Miguel lost touch with his kids..evil ex excuse.

The nonprofit is a much better storylines than the political one.

[Blackie]

I couldn't figure Miguel's kids/spouses.  So the mom of the baby is the daughter and the mouthy one is the son and the woman beside Mr Mouthy was his wife and the nut allergy guy is the dad to the baby? It just seemed odd how they were seated but I guess for the shot it was better to have to 2 kids across form Miguel .  And did they say there was another kid that was going somewhere else, so Miguel had 3 kids? 

[Miss Bones]

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 1:09 AM, DakotaLavender said:

Flip phones in 1997? No way. The cell phones back then were huge and very bulky. 

 

 

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 2:42 PM, buckboard said:

Thanks for actually looking this up to confirm that flip phones did exist in 1997, rather than all the posters that were just guessing that this was too early for flip phones.

Agree.  I was about to ask if anyone here had ever heard of a little movie called "Clueless".  Made in 1995, and Cher definitely had a flip phone.

[PRgal]

22 minutes ago, Miss Bones said:

 

 

Agree.  I was about to ask if anyone here had ever heard of a little movie called "Clueless".  Made in 1995, and Cher definitely had a flip phone.

LOL!  The sad part?  The movie was a look into what was to come 15 years later.  Cher was using her phone during dinner.  At least people don't talk on the phone anymore?  

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, Miss Bones said:

Agree.  I was about to ask if anyone here had ever heard of a little movie called "Clueless".  Made in 1995, and Cher definitely had a flip phone.

Ha!  I feel like an idiot for not catching that immediately.  It's only like my 2nd favourite movie.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay