We'll Meet Again (2018) - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[LuvMyShows]

I guess I'll get it started.  I was all set to love this show, but it fell flat for me.  It shouldn't have, because I cry pretty much every time at the endings on "Long Lost Family".  But I just didn't feel the emotion from these stories.  I don't know if that's because of the format, the host, or the content.  I'll keep watching anyway out of curiosity for the different types of reunions.

[Happy Belly]

I agree. I was extremely disappointed in the lack of emotion. I had my tissues ready but didn’t need them.  Since it is only the first show and it is set up pn my Tivo’s Season Pass, I will keep watching. I do love the idea of this show.

[BusyOctober]

Aw, I cried!  Not through the whole thing, but when the Long Lost-ees were reunited with their old friends.  I like Ann Curry, and I am so glad she is back on tv even if it’s to spite that egotistical, arrogant, misogynistic, unemployed a-hole Matt Lauer.  How’s it feel to be blindsided with a surprise firing, Jerk Face?

I will keep watching for now.

[Constant Viewer]

I enjoyed the first episode, but I am a major WWII buff so I don't know if I'll enjoy the others as much.

[bybrandy]

I wasn't all that invested in the guy's story but the story with Mary Frances was "sniffles" for me.  I was pretty invested in that story.   

And the letter the guy had from the daughter of his friends.   When he told her that in her teens if she found herself in trouble she could go to him and he'd help her out.  That was a sweet sentiment from a teen/preteen boy.   

I liked it.  And next week (er... tomorrow) is Mt St Helens so I'm totally in for that.   

[friendperidot]

I've watched both episodes, enjoyed all the stories, the women survivors of Mt. St. Helen's got to me. I was so relieved to see the film clip with them all getting off the helicopter and she was carrying her dog. I know people died, but I am such a softie for dogs. Dr. Johnston's story and his sister's happiness at hearing about him was wonderful. 

I'm happy to see Ann Curry back on tv, I think she's doing a nice job, she's not so intrusive, she just lets them tell their stories.

[Blergh]

It was a bit puzzling how these sites named for the lost geologist David Johnston had virtually no biographical information available to researchers -even those who actually had had a personal connection to him. Was the family not involved in said sites or did they simply insist that they respect their privacy?

 

 As for the Shanghai Ghetto survivors? I'm wondering if    the records of the surviving inhabitants and where they might have emigrated could have been deliberately destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (as so much of China's own history was) and that's why the current government of the People's Republic of China has categorically refused access to them.  I mean, what use could they possibly have for records of folks who haven't lived there for decades.

[LuvMyShows]

This episode was much more engrossing for me than last week's, I guess because there was the suspense of the unfolding of the Mt St Helens stuff.  I teared up when she gave Mike the flag.

[Driad]

Is behind the scenes information available?  Do they research several possible reunion scenarios and show the two that work out best?

This series has me wondering about looking for some of my childhood friends etc.  

[WatchrTina]

Well, I cried all through the Mount St. Helens episode.  They did a great job finding photos and footage of the blast and especially that rare footage of the helicopter bringing two of the survivors (and their dog!) to safety.  I think for me the most touching moment was when the woman who was rescued told her rescuer she had joined the national guard because of him.  But that was topped when she brought out that flag -- something she had had flown in his honor 10 years ago while she was serving in Afghanistan -- long before this show was ever imagined.  Wow.

[LuvMyShows]

No comments from the Vietnam episode?  I found this one engrossing, just like I did Mount St Helens.  It was so interesting to hear the recording of Gary telling his backstory of how he was drinking and gambling and wasn't a nice person, and then he finds his calling helping refugees.  And of course 12-year old Nam has no idea of any of that back story, and just sees Gary as this larger-than-life super-hero who can do anything.  I was glad that the reunion with the older Gary didn't seem to disappoint Nam.

I am really hoping that someone can help me figure out the timeline in the story with Tina.  In that interview with her father from 1968 (?), the announcer asks if he has any message for Lesley, so that means he had a daughter already by the time he went to Vietnam.  So how did he end up marrying Tina's mother in Vietnam?  It appears that he stayed married to Lesley's mother, so it's not like he went over to Vietnam and got a divorce.  Inquiring minds want to know!

[Blergh]

LuvMyShows,

 

 Since there was no mention of any divorce between Lesley's folks and she was born before her father's time in Vietnam, I think it's quite likely that either he contracted a bigamous marriage in Vietnam to Tina's mother OR the latter just claimed that she had had a legal marriage to her daughter to spare her daughter's feelings (but, evidently, DID have a longterm bond with that soldier).  I can't help think that Lesley would have had a very different reaction to Tina's existence had their mutual father been still living when Tina finally met her (to say nothing of Lesley's mother who would live to 2010 aged 93). Oh, and while Lesley is certainly entitled to feel however she feels; it was a bit curious that she'd said that she didn't know why she was still living after her parents' deaths but now that her half-sister and niece found her, she HAS a reason to live when Miss Curry stated that Lesley has a partner and two children!

 

 Nam's case was quite interesting that despite not speaking any English, he not only was able to pick up Gary's full name and get his old phone number but also that he made an impression on Gary himself for Gary to remember him out of countless refugee children! It's not only amazing that Nam was able to survive his perilous, lengthy boat journey from Vietnam back and forth to Indonesia via Singapore and make it here but also that Nam DID relocate and reunite with his parents back in Vietnam after all those years on his own from a very young age.

[LuvMyShows]

6 hours ago, Blergh said:

 Since there was no mention of any divorce between Lesley's folks and she was born before her father's time in Vietnam, I think it's quite likely that either he contracted a bigamous marriage in Vietnam to Tina's mother OR the latter just claimed that she had had a legal marriage to her daughter to spare her daughter's feelings (but, evidently, DID have a longterm bond with that soldier).  I can't help think that Lesley would have had a very different reaction to Tina's existence had their mutual father been still living when Tina finally met her (to say nothing of Lesley's mother who would live to 2010 aged 93). Oh, and while Lesley is certainly entitled to feel however she feels; it was a bit curious that she'd said that she didn't know why she was still living after her parents' deaths but now that her half-sister and niece found her, she HAS a reason to live when Miss Curry stated that Lesley has a partner and two children!

Yes, I think that maybe it was a "marriage" in name only in Vietnam.  Given all that, I was surprised how pleased Lesley was to see Tina, when anyone can do the math and figure that the existence of Tina is not good re: the father (Henry?) from Lesley's world, and I would think that doing the math on Lesley would also have changed Tina's perception of her father.  Oh...so I just put something else together, which is that the story of the father asking the Vietnamese mother to come to America probably couldn't have been true, given the existence of another wife and kid in America.  I did notice that when Ann asked Tina what it was about Henry that made her mom fall for him, Tina's answer had nothing to do with any traits about Henry, and all she mentioned was him being a provider.  Likewise when Ann asked something like why Tina was looking for him now, she also had a non-answer.  Maybe Tina actually already knew some of this info, and wanted to wait a sufficient amount of time to allow emotions to have settled before meeting her half-sister?  Regardless, Henry could have still provided for his daughter back in Vietnam once he returned to the U..S., but apparently did not do anything at all.  Which is why I found it so odd how Tina called him "dad", which in America is something far more familiar than referring to someone as your "father", yet to me he had done nothing Dad-ish at all, and in fact just the opposite.   

 

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Nam's case was quite interesting that despite not speaking any English, he not only was able to pick up Gary's full name and get his old phone number but also that he made an impression on Gary himself for Gary to remember him out of countless refugee children!

I could envision young Nam having picked up Gary's full name because he was so fascinated with him.  I don't think he had Gary's old phone number....he was given a phone number of Gary's from 2 years prior, by the archivist that had worked with him.  And I don't think Gary actually remembered which child specifically was Nam.  When Nam first saw Gary and said Gary hadn't changed, and Gary said the same about Nam, I thought that Gary was just being polite.  That view was solidified for me when the two of them were looking at an old picture, and Nam pointed out which one was him, and Gary hadn't seemed to have known.  But I do believe Gary did remember something about Nam's existence, because Gary said something about how Nam was the one who always followed him around. 

[Blergh]

Interesting points, Luv.

 

 Although we have no way of knowing for sure since Henry's no longer living (and I'm not sure Tina's mother gave her the unadulterated truth or will give her it at this late date), I think it needs to be said that Henry could have ONLY supported them up to the Fall of Saigon in April, 1975. After that, all monies would have been cut off by the Vietnamese authorities regardless of the needs of the children and desires of the US American fathers.

 Yes, it must have been awkward for Lesley to have learned of Henry's bond with Tina's mother while Henry was dying the last year of his life (with her mother STILL married to him and living). Also, for all her professed joy at Tina finding her, there doesn't seem to have been any effort on Lesley's part of have sought HER out even after both of her parents had died.

  I'm glad that Nam was able to find Gary AND that Gary was able to appreciate how at least one person he had tried to save for a perilous fate not only survived but actually THRIVED and it must have made him feel proud that Nam actually considered him a positive role model re how to survive in an entirely new nation.

[LuvMyShows]

Just saw the Civil Rights episode, and it's frustrating how they completely left out how Sherry, who was looking for Lefty, went from hearing that he had been arrested for burning down a bank during a riot in California, to having found Lefty's old girlfriend in California (not the one he was with when he died, but the one before that).  It's exactly like they did with the episode where they were looking for someone (sorry, don't remember details), and they found that person by checking with volunteer organizations (not sure they even said what kind), even though we had not been presented with any information at all that would suggest checking with volunteer organizations.  This ep wasn't super compelling for me.

[txhorns79]

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I could envision young Nam having picked up Gary's full name because he was so fascinated with him.  I don't think he had Gary's old phone number....he was given a phone number of Gary's from 2 years prior, by the archivist that had worked with him.  And I don't think Gary actually remembered which child specifically was Nam.  When Nam first saw Gary and said Gary hadn't changed, and Gary said the same about Nam, I thought that Gary was just being polite.  That view was solidified for me when the two of them were looking at an old picture, and Nam pointed out which one was him, and Gary hadn't seemed to have known.  But I do believe Gary did remember something about Nam's existence, because Gary said something about how Nam was the one who always followed him around. 

My impression was that Gary really had no idea who Nam was, but was happy to play along for the sake of Nam.  I mean, they had a brief connection nearly 40 years ago, and from how they described Gary, he probably saw hundreds of refugee children very similar to Nam, and I would bet a good number of them followed him around their camps.       

 

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Since there was no mention of any divorce between Lesley's folks and she was born before her father's time in Vietnam, I think it's quite likely that either he contracted a bigamous marriage in Vietnam to Tina's mother OR the latter just claimed that she had had a legal marriage to her daughter to spare her daughter's feelings (but, evidently, DID have a longterm bond with that soldier). 

Tina did say she thought he had divorced his wife and that Lesley was his daughter from that marriage.  I'd agree though that it wasn't clear if that was true.

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Given all that, I was surprised how pleased Lesley was to see Tina, when anyone can do the math and figure that the existence of Tina is not good re: the father (Henry?) from Lesley's world, and I would think that doing the math on Lesley would also have changed Tina's perception of her father. 

I'm confused on this.  Lesley looked as though she was in her 60s, if not older, while Tina is 47/48.  Why would doing the math on Lesley have changed Tina's perception of her father?  I would have thought Lesley was probably in her late teens or early 20s by the time Tina was born.   

Edited March 1, 2018 by txhorns79

[LuvMyShows]

On 2/28/2018 at 9:01 PM, txhorns79 said:

   I'm confused on this.  Lesley looked as though she was in her 60s, if not older, while Tina is 47/48.  Why would doing the math on Lesley have changed Tina's perception of her father?  I would have thought Lesley was probably in her late teens or early 20s by the time Tina was born.   

Lesley was born while Lesley's mother was married to Henry.  Henry went to Vietnam while still married to Lesley's mother.  Henry had a child (Tina) by a Vietnamese woman while still married to Lesley's mother.  He was not this wonderful American hero who wanted to make a life for Tina and her mother in the U.S...instead, he was a philanderer who already had a family in the U.S.  That's the perception change.

[LuvMyShows]

This was a compelling episode for me, with interesting stories and characters.  I was not expecting that woman to still be homeless, but at least she appeared to be doing well.  For a change, finding her really did need to follow the dribs and drabs knowledge trail rather than something that a concerted Internet search would have found.  However, with the other story, when I put "Wayne April" into Google, I got a 2011 University of New Hampshire Magazine story (which I think is the one that was in the show) saying that he lived in Pasadena.  So finding him after that would have been very easy...maybe a grand total of 90 seconds searching, and no archivists or school visits necessary!  But that misses out on the drama and human angle for the show. 

[Blergh]

Did anyone else think that Marla (the now homeless woman in Northern California) somewhat looked as though one might imagine Cass Elliot would have appeared had the latter been fated to live to her golden years? Regardless, I hope that the man who'd been looking for her at least will give her the option of staying at his home for as long as she may want even if she doesn't want to move in permanently.

[LuvMyShows]

Season 2 of We'll Meet Again

[LuvMyShows]

Is anyone watching this season?  I enjoyed this episode, and teared up during parts of both segments.  

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I had never even heard of this show and, fortuitously, happened to turn on the TV last night looking for something good to watch at the very beginning of the episode about the two Holocaust survivors. 

Not ashamed to say I was pretty damned teary. Very much want to tune in for the whole season but oddly future episodes did not seem to be available for me ... I'd watched it on one of the two local PBS channels (I'm in the DC area) but the next episode seems to only be airing on DTV channel 389 which is not available to me ... plus, if this is S2, I'd love to track down episodes from S1. 

[Driad]

6 hours ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

I'd love to track down episodes from S1. 

If you contribute to your local PBS station, you may be able to watch episodes at the station site.

This show shows that celebrities are not necessary to tell a compelling story.

I wish they would tell one person's story and then the other, so it would be less confusing.  Or at least have longer segments instead of 2 minutes of person A, 2 minutes of person B, back to person A, etc.

[LuvMyShows]

I watch the show on the pbs.org website.  The season 1 episodes are available there, but it looks like you need a membership to see those episodes.  I agree that the way they present the shows, makes it confusing to keep up with who is who during the episode.

I cannot imagine how emotional it would have been to be Benjamin watching that video of Moshe, and to hear Moshe mention his name.  I'd say that's where I teared up the most.  It's interesting that Benjamin said that, like Moshe, he hadn't spoken about that time to his kids, wanting to not contaminate them, but that once the grandkids starting asking questions, then he started talking. 

For the other story, with Ben, the way it was edited made me wonder if "Secca" (sp?) didn't remember him.  I also found it very, very odd that over all these years, and with the many, many times he has told his story, no one had ever previously mentioned that "secca" means sister.  (Not sure what language that was in, since it apparently isn't Hebrew.)  That Ben was a bundle of energy!

I had never before thought about the overwhelming emotions the refugees must have felt on the boats, upon sailing in and seeing the Statue of Liberty...very moving.

[LuvMyShows]

I definitely teared up when the earthquake-surviving woman met her friend, and especially when she met the friend's mother who had protected her during the quake.   It was interesting to see how their memories matched up.  For the man's story, it was really neat to hear how the other guy could also have been at the ship that day, but he had the mumps, so when the boys came by, he couldn't go with them.

[Blergh]

18 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

I definitely teared up when the earthquake-surviving woman met her friend, and especially when she met the friend's mother who had protected her during the quake.   It was interesting to see how their memories matched up.  For the man's story, it was really neat to hear how the other guy could also have been at the ship that day, but he had the mumps, so when the boys came by, he couldn't go with them.

  I knew about that particular quake in Alaska in '64 but I didn't realize that had destroyed so much so quickly that the survivors were almost immediately scattered to the wind.  I have to say that had the friend's mother NOT held out her arms like a mother hen to try to protect them and guide them to somehow climb those stairs out of the basement when the shaking made it impossible for them to walk, there's a good probability that she and her friend would have just panicked and gotten trapped (& fatally crushed) in that collapsing basement as 7-year-old girls. In any case, I was REALLY happy that the woman not only was able to find her same age friend and the friend's 82-year-old mother but was actually able to THANK the older woman directly for what she had done. 

      I'm glad the now-grown man who had only avoided the Valdez dock due  to being miffed at this friends who'd lose their lives there got to meet up with another friend who but for his own illness would have joined them. What a horrific time it must have been for the Chena crew to have their boat suddenly carried in that resulting tsunami wave (yet I'm glad one of them somehow had the presence of mind to  FILM what was happening).

[LuvMyShows]

Getting caught up and just watched the Korean War episode.  It was a real shame that all 3 of the men were dead, but very nice that family members could be found for 2 of the men.  And how wonderful that for the best friend story, he got to meet the whole extended family.  For the role models story, it must have been very affirming to find out that the men (or at least one of the men) was given an award for bravery for the actions that he remembered.  Both of these stories show that you truly never know how even your (perceived) smallest kindnesses and steadfastness may impact someone else.

[LuvMyShows]

OK, so it looks like I'm the only one posting here.  Just watched the Cuba and Feminist episodes.  One unexpected benefit from watching these shows is that I'm learning a lot of history in an enjoyable way.