S03.E10 The Last Seven Weeks

[Conotocarious]

Man, Beth doesn’t know the right things to say back. He said she was jealous because he has something that’s important to him in his life and she doesn’t which is SUCH a jerk thing to say. She should have responded that her children are the most important thing not a bunch of other random families they didn’t even know a short time ago. What a jerk thing for Randall to say. And then he shuts off the TV show they were enjoying just to give another tired speech and everyone just looks grateful? He was awful this episode. 

[Neurochick]

What’s wrong with Randall winning?  Should people not go into politics if they have families?

They need to cut down in the speeches though.  Too many of them.  Then again this is television not real life.

[Katy M]

8 hours ago, lavenderblue said:

This is a fantastic typo and I'm now surprised the show didn't go there for extra drama while they were at it.

Thank you for pointing out a typo.  I was afraid I had majorly zoned out and missed a MAJOR plot point.

 

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

As for the post above that said Kate should have called the kid's mom, Kate said she sold Toby's stuff to students at her college so Gabe was most likely over 18 which means his mom can't do shit about it either. He bought them fair and square. It's not like he broke into her house and stole them.

Even if he were a minor, if I was his mother, I would have said "too bad, so sad."  If I, myself, had bought them, I probably would have sold them back.  I'm trying to replace them in my mind with something I would actually care about so I can make an apt decision about that, so I can't be sure. But, if my son who was going to be going to college, bought something valuable for peanuts that he would be able to sellto help defray those costs and he doesn't want to sell them back to her for peanuts, or even peanuts times two, I would back that up.  He did NOTHING wrong.

[JudyObscure]

3 hours ago, GSMHvisitor said:

This is where the show has officially lost me.

Me too.  at first I thought it was because the break between shows had been too long or because I've been binge watching, "The Crown" but all of a sudden these people and their problems seemed so trivial and irritating. 

Kate was in the wrong long before she sold the collection for ten dollars.  Telling Toby, 'Your toys have to go,"  was controlling.  What if he had looked in her closet and said, 'Your shoes have to go?" Whether it's worth money  or classed as "toys,"  is not the point. The fact that he had saved them all those years, so they meant something to him, is what counts.

The, "New Years can't start till I get my booberry pie," was one Pearson tradition too many for me. Randals' dig about Beth not having a job was insulting to her and all stay-at-home parents.

 The TIS characters are suddenly all just too self-centered for me and I'm just not interested in adding Zoe to the list or waiting around for her flashback to the sad things that happened to her when she was a child that explain her bad behavior now.

That preacher should lose his tax-exempt status for talking politics from the pulpit. 

[ShadowFacts]

2 hours ago, Arcadiasw said:

On top of calling it junk, I was annoyed with Kate telling Toby he had to sell his stuff in the first place. I understand they have to make space for the kid but it doesn’t mean you have to sell your things unless YOU want to. Put it in storage. I’m on the kid’s side for not giving the collection back to her. I find it hard to believe Kate didn’t realize how valuable Toby’s toys were. Kate’s 38, not 88 and has two brothers who are in the age range of watching the OT growing up on TV and the Prequels when they came out in theaters when they were in their teens and early 20s. 

Action figures are so small that they can be packed up and put in a closet, or if there are lots, then another storage space, so the whole thing didn't have to happen.

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

As for the post above that said Kate should have called the kid's mom, Kate said she sold Toby's stuff to students at her college so Gabe was most likely over 18 which means his mom can't do shit about it either. He bought them fair and square. It's not like he broke into her house and stole them.

That stood out to me -- seven weeks ago we saw Toby take her to the college and talk about enrolling.  Now (after there would have been winter break probably anyway) she is interacting with kids at her college.  Fast.  She will no doubt graduate in a couple weeks.

I liked the touch that Deja is a little sweet on Anderson Cooper, and Beth ribbed her a bit. 

[Haleth]

First I forgot this was on.  Then I was so bored I read PTV more than I paid attention to the show.  In what universe would a community vote for a guy who lives 2 hours away?  Let alone another state?  Ridiculous.  

9 hours ago, Katy M said:

Well, obviously he Pearson-speeched the minister and the minister basically told his whole congregation to vote for him, and since they apparently have no minds of their own, that's how it went down.

And that's what made the difference since he was trailing badly?  One congregation?  Also ridiculous.

And an election on New Years Eve?  What?

3 hours ago, GSMHvisitor said:

I can't believe the writers are really sticking with Zoe/Kevin. Her character gives me nothing. The acting is so bland and apart from her stunning beauty I can't see why Kevin would fall in love with her. She just doesn't strike as a warm or loving person at all. She says she's in love with Kevin, but I don't SEE it.

I agree.  They have zero chemistry.  Boring.

The Kate/Toby's toys storyline was ok, but not worth more than half of my attention.  Kudos to the kid who proved immune to the Pearson speechifying.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

That stood out to me -- seven weeks ago we saw Toby take her to the college and talk about enrolling.  Now (after there would have been winter break probably anyway) she is interacting with kids at her college.  Fast.  She will no doubt graduate in a couple weeks.

For once, this was something I didn't nitpick because she didn't say that she sold them to her friends in college, just that she sold them to kids from her college. I assumed that she just advertised at school, either online through student listservs, school FB groups, etc. or going old school by putting flyers up around campus. She later said that she spent the last two weeks sending friend requests to every person at her school to try to track down Gabe so I assumed she didn't actually know him beforehand (otherwise she would have already had a way to contact him).

But then I did nitpick the timeline of the school stuff because we know that the election was on December 31 (WTF?) which means that Kate was taking classes during the fall semester/quarter. But we also saw that the flashback to seven weeks ago was immediately after the previous episode ended (when Beth told Randall she didn't want him to run for office anymore). So this school started their fall classes the week before Thanksgiving?

[Conotocarious]

Not to mention that Kate and Toby are having a baby boy. You’d think they’d be excited about maybe a Star Wars themed nursery with the toys as part of it. That is the reaction any of my Star Wars-loving friends would have had. But no, the show needed this plot point so everyone had to act incredibly stupid to make it happen. It’s just tired and cliche and not believable.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Conotocarious

[llewis823]

9 hours ago, CleoCaesar said:

I wish Randall gets run over by a truck at some point this season. I cannot stand his self-absorbed ass. His stupid sappy speeches. His getting the effing blueberry pie after hassling the cashier. His turning off Anderson Cooper – that his family was actively watching – to perform – oh yes! – yet another cheesy monologue. I suppose his enormous self-absorption makes sense, from his constantly being fawned over by Rebecca and Jack in childhood and by Beth in adulthood. For what, I do not know.

And of course he won. How could Randall Pearson, saint that he is, son of even bigger saint, NOT win an election in a district he doesn't live in?

 

At least I loved that the guy who bought Toby’s collectibles wasn’t even a little bit moved by Kate’s cringy guilt trip monologue to get them back. (Then again if the writers are self-aware about the repetitive emotionally manipulative monologues they write, maybe they should stop writing them.)

I wish I could love this post more than once or to the nth degree or extremely love or...well you get what I'm saying...lol : )

[Trillian]

I’ve kind of got to wonder why Kate, pregnant with a boy, would look at her husband’s old toys and not think BEFORE she sold them that it might be nice to pass them on to their child.  Especially since she just has a ratty t shirt and a hammer to pass down from her old childhood.  And who takes a spouse’s word for what’s to be sold/given away anyway?  Real families root around each other’s others boxes, pulling things out, saying “are you sure”? Modern Family did a garage sale episode where everyone did that and it was much more realistic in that regard.

I don’t even buy  the election win.  No one comes from behind like that unless swept in by party affiliation or a scandal on the opponent (when they found the drunk driving conviction, I thought, ah, that’s the way they’ll get him in). No one noticed he doesn’t freaking live in the district?  The opponent (I forget his name) wasn’t polling to see that numbers were changing and didn’t challenge his residency or point out the hypocrisy of suddenly attending church services as a blatant attempt to garner support?  I can’t believe he’d just sit back and do nothing or that it would have been ineffective since he had so much ammunition. Yuck.

I, too, cheered when the kid refused to fall for the Pearson speech.

[MissLucas]

The only way to make the scene with Gabe even more satisfying would have been by having him retaliate with an even bigger sob-story. A Pearson out-Pearsoned by a stranger should be a regular feature on this show.

[Katy M]

25 minutes ago, Haleth said:

And an election on New Years Eve?  What?

The election wasn't on New Year's Eve.  New Year's Eve Randall came home and made his speech to his family. The next morning they went to church.  And the electin was the following Tuesday.  Was New Year's Eve on  Sat this year, though?  Because I'm pretty sure it was Monday, which would mean they went to church on a Tuesday, and then the election was the following week?

[ShadowFacts]

2 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

The only way to make the scene with Gabe even more satisfying would have been by having him retaliate with an even bigger sob-story. A Pearson out-Pearsoned by a stranger should be a regular feature on this show.

Yes, it should be.  The minister in the diner out-Pearsoned Randall a little bit with his death bed speech.  Randall went home and repeated some of the phrases.  Except then he handed over the pie, so the manipulation points go to Randall. 

[Empress1]

30 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

I liked the touch that Deja is a little sweet on Anderson Cooper, and Beth ribbed her a bit. 

I thought that was adorable. I rewound it a few times. I also liked that Tess and Annie went through a phase where they called Kevin Uncle Jesse - that was a sweet detail.

10 minutes ago, Trillian said:

I’ve kind of got to wonder why Kate, pregnant with a boy, would look at her husband’s old toys and not think BEFORE she sold them that it might be nice to pass them on to their child.

I had the same thought. They are toys, to be played with. They are having a child who will play with toys. Why sell them at all?

[tarheel220]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Sad thing is that it's totally realistic. My mom and my grandmother do not understand why my father and grandfather, respectively, keep boxes of baseball cards. My grandmother has even tried to get my grandfather to sell all of his cards. I am on Toby's side but I also think Kate's reaction is realistic.

I was about to protest how everything comes up Randall while Kevin gets shit on yet again by not getting the girl once more, but I'm glad he worked things out with Zoe. I am getting invested in their relationship. 

My husband apparently had a bunch of baseball cards that somehow "disappeared". I have a feeling the MIL threw them away.  She's good about doing stuff like that as obsessed with cleaning as she is. I think they vanished when they were moving to the house we have now  about 20 years ago.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Neurochick said:

What’s wrong with Randall winning?  Should people not go into politics if they have families?

They need to cut down in the speeches though.  Too many of them.  Then again this is television not real life.

To me, the fact that he won was just very cliched. The other man had been their representative for 20 years. 7 weeks before the election, Randall was basically told he had no chance. But in true tv fashion, he has a miraculous comeback and wins. And other than one speech at church the day before Election Day, we never saw anything that was the “why.” Do we even know if they released the information on the arrest? I don’t think they said or brought it up again, so instead it just felt very convenient.

I really would have rather seen him lose and commit himself to helping the councilman make the district better - either by being an outspoken citizen, starting an organization to help those in the district, or something else.

[doodlebug]

6 minutes ago, deaja said:

To me, the fact that he won was just very cliched. The other man had been their representative for 20 years. 7 weeks before the election, Randall was basically told he had no chance. But in true tv fashion, he has a miraculous comeback and wins. And other than one speech at church the day before Election Day, we never saw anything that was the “why.” Do we even know if they released the information on the arrest? I don’t think they said or brought it up again, so instead it just felt very convenient.

I really would have rather seen him lose and commit himself to helping the councilman make the district better - either by being an outspoken citizen, starting an organization to help those in the district, or something else.

We saw Randall toss the file on the councilman's DUI into the trash as he left the diner with the pie, so, as expected. Saint Randall did the right thing and he won the election because he is oh so special.  

[DearEvette]

10 hours ago, Katy M said:

And, I am just so offended by that church.  You do not go to church to be seen and you do not go to church to find out who to vote for and the minister shouldn't be telling you that anyway.

The history of the church and its role not just as a religious center but also a social and political one Af-Am communities in its current incarnation  dates back to the reconstruction era.  Since Jim Crow limited what was available to blacks, a lot of churches acted as schools, proto-Salvation armies, and basically safe spaces to talk about subjects that otherwise would get you lynched because white folks were suspicious of blacks gathering in numbers.  A church was a logical gathering place.  Political activism naturally grew in these places because so much of what was critical to the well being  to the community came from legislation that often did not have its best interests at heart.  This was especially true with the Civil Right movement and the rise of voices like MLK in social justice movements.

This is true still today as a lot of politicians courting the black vote will still go to churches to get their message out. A recent example is Beto O'Rourke at a black church speaking to how his candidacy would would address issues important the black community.

12 minutes ago, deaja said:

To me, the fact that he won was just very cliched. The other man had been their representative for 20 years. 7 weeks before the election, Randall was basically told he had no chance. But in true tv fashion, he has a miraculous comeback and wins.

Not super unrealistic really since something kinda similar happened in real life.  Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez who unseated a 20 year incumbent had never held office against really bad odds.

Edited January 16, 2019 by DearEvette

[mtlchick]

7 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Randals' dig about Beth not having a job was insulting to her and all stay-at-home parents.

Especially since he decided to quit his job leaving Beth to be the bread winner for a while.  Which makes me wonder how did they manage their finances during this election run which likely doesn't pay as well as either of their previous jobs. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by mtlchick
You mix up the character's name with the actor's name.

[Fen Tiger]

Yeah. Show starting to get a little too self-important for me. Also, not sure why Beth insisted on calling it booberry. That was cringey. I am done with Kate. Toby took that a hell of a lot better than I would have. 

[PRgal]

9 hours ago, camom said:

Neither Randall nor Beth has had a job for quite a while, right?  What are they living on?  I'm sure they had savings, but neither one seems the least bit concerned about money.  I guess now Randall will be getting paid by the city of Philadelphia.  I assume they'll have to move there, which will be really hard on the girls.

And will be making A LOT less than he did when he was in finance.  Also, have they legally adopted Deja yet?  Are foster kids able to move WITH their foster parents out of state without A LOT of paperwork?

[Empress1]

3 minutes ago, PRgal said:

And will be making A LOT less than he did when he was in finance. 

Well, if they sell their house they should net a nice profit. Real estate in Alpine, NJ is millions. If they're moving to North Philly in the district Randall won, millions will go far - it's a blighted area. 

[Biggie B]

I thought that Randall might lose but that the winner (can't recall his name) would reach out to him and ask him to join his staff or something. But since that's not how it ended up, I do hope we see Randall actually help his constituents and make a positive difference in the community. I know he's fast becoming known as Saint Randall (like fathers, like son), but since that's what's been his motivation - helping the people in the community - then I hope the writers follow through and show him doing so. And it might even be interesting to see him struggle with his efforts. And he should fail at some of his attempts, too - because that would be a little more realistic and not so saccharine. I know realism is not a hallmark of most soap operas, so we'll see.

Everyone's already made the salient comments about Kate and Toby, and I agree with just about all of them. It pissed me off that when Kate said they should turn that room into a nursery, she instructed Toby to sell his stuff. That was awful and sort of mean. Why not say, "Let's make this room a nursery. Let's go through all the stuff in here and see what we want to save, and what we can get rid of." Why was selling it the ONLY option? 

As for Nick being alive - I'm OK with that, but not OK with Jack having hidden it from everyone. But it's Jack - He Who Does/Did No Wrong - so there will probably be some compelling reason as to why. Maybe Nick made him swear to keep it a secret. This will all be dragged out and will not be resolved by the end of the season, leaving us with a cliffhanger. 

I was actively hating Zoe and rooting for their relationship to implode, but she did sort of redeem herself to me a tiny bit when she gave Kevin a somewhat coherent explanation of why she never has lived with anyone and is so hesitant to do so now. But another poster made a great point upthread - we viewers haven't really seen just WHY Kevin is so smitten with her. We've only seen tense interaction between them, for the most part. It's hard to get invested in them as a couple without seeing what makes them great together.

I appreciated seeing the Anderson Cooper clip from New Year's Eve, because I watched that for a bit - seeing him doing those tequila shots was HILARIOUS. 

[ShadowFacts]

I don't understand why Zoe's ex the congressman had to be involved in getting Nicky's veteran's records, when the woman said Kevin had to prove he is next of kin.  Other than having the reveal that Zoe emailed a break-up.  Jack's mother might still be alive I suppose, but at an advanced age and she might keel over to find out her son never died in Vietnam.  Unless she did know. 

[PRgal]

3 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

I don't understand why Zoe's ex the congressman had to be involved in getting Nicky's veteran's records, when the woman said Kevin had to prove he is next of kin.  Other than having the reveal that Zoe emailed a break-up.  Jack's mother might still be alive I suppose, but at an advanced age and she might keel over to find out her son never died in Vietnam.  Unless she did know. 

If Grandma Pearson were still alive, she'd be 100 years old!  

[bichonblitz]

11 hours ago, Katy M said:

What did he do that was so disrespectful?  He bought something on eBay (I presume or something like it anyway), and paid for it.  It is now his. Kate asked to buy it back.  He said no fairly politely.  She persisted.  He said no again.  She gave him a long speech and then maybe he got a little attitudey, but by that time I can't blame him.  He did nothing wrong.

Oh, shit, another long Pearson speech. I haven't watched the episode yet, but think I will fast forward through that. 

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

The election wasn't on New Year's Eve.  New Year's Eve Randall came home and made his speech to his family. The next morning they went to church.  And the electin was the following Tuesday.  Was New Year's Eve on  Sat this year, though?  Because I'm pretty sure it was Monday, which would mean they went to church on a Tuesday, and then the election was the following week?

New Years Eve was on a Monday. But technically, they didn't go to church until the following week. I remember because Randall spent a week after New Years neglecting his political responsibilities so that he could be with his kids and Beth had to give that speech about how he needed to finish what he started, and then they went to church. So I guess it could have been that they went to church on the following Sunday (which would have been Jan. 6th). 

7 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

I don't understand why Zoe's ex the congressman had to be involved in getting Nicky's veteran's records, when the woman said Kevin had to prove he is next of kin.  Other than having the reveal that Zoe emailed a break-up.  Jack's mother might still be alive I suppose, but at an advanced age and she might keel over to find out her son never died in Vietnam.  Unless she did know. 

Well, the lady said that he'd need to prove he's next of kin but getting a letter from congress or something would help speed up the process. Yeah, it didn't really make much sense to me either.

26 minutes ago, PRgal said:

And will be making A LOT less than he did when he was in finance.  Also, have they legally adopted Deja yet?  Are foster kids able to move WITH their foster parents out of state without A LOT of paperwork?

Well, they said in the season 3 premiere that they were going to be adopting Deja. I'm guessing the paperwork went through.

3 hours ago, Conotocarious said:

Man, Beth doesn’t know the right things to say back. He said she was jealous because he has something that’s important to him in his life and she doesn’t which is SUCH a jerk thing to say. She should have responded that her children are the most important thing not a bunch of other random families they didn’t even know a short time ago. What a jerk thing for Randall to say. And then he shuts off the TV show they were enjoying just to give another tired speech and everyone just looks grateful? He was awful this episode. 

What I've noticed with Randall is that he can get quite nasty when he gets in fights like this. With Kevin last season, he accused him of not having a drug problem and he never actually apologized for saying that, so it's hard to tell if Randall still thinks that. With Beth, he's now accused her of being a jealous wife with no aspirations and how he did so much last season without complaining. Which does piss me off because Beth worked part time from home while caring for their kids for ten years prior to Randall quitting his job. But he was also running around, buying a building and still doing other things. So I'm hoping all of this is leading to something with Randall, something to humble him, since he needs it.

I understood Teen Randall more than Adult Randall in this episode.

[Pop Tart]

2 hours ago, Neurochick said:

What’s wrong with Randall winning?  Should people not go into politics if they have families?

 

12 minutes ago, Biggie B said:

I thought that Randall might lose but that the winner (can't recall his name) would reach out to him and ask him to join his staff or something. But since that's not how it ended up, I do hope we see Randall actually help his constituents and make a positive difference in the community. I know he's fast becoming known as Saint Randall (like fathers, like son), but since that's what's been his motivation - helping the people in the community - then I hope the writers follow through and show him doing so. And it might even be interesting to see him struggle with his efforts. And he should fail at some of his attempts, too - because that would be a little more realistic and not so saccharine. I know realism is not a hallmark of most soap operas, so we'll see.

The second quote answers the first one for me. The reason I was wishing and hoping that Randall would lose is because I'm not interested in seeing play Captain Save a Poor Person - it would reinforce some of what I like least about Randall. When he said something to his family or maybe it was maybe just Beth about a "great person" being not so great for their family vs. a "good person" who is, that was the kernel I wanted him to really absorb. So called "great" people often leave their families in the dust as they spend all their energy being great for everyone else. And what I have always loved most about Randall is his role as husband and father, not his role as savior to the world. So for me it makes him far less interesting. Oh and the actual pull-from-behind was just too silly. That too. 

[llewis823]

10 hours ago, camom said:

Neither Randall nor Beth has had a job for quite a while, right?  What are they living on?  I'm sure they had savings, but neither one seems the least bit concerned about money.  I guess now Randall will be getting paid by the city of Philadelphia.  I assume they'll have to move there, which will be really hard on the girls.

Maybe Randall will go to Philadelphia by himself and live in their building to show his constituents he is just like them, while Beth and the girls stay in their home. More of that unbelievable stuff we post about in that other thread - maintaining two households. And then some woman will test Randall.

[Katy M]

12 minutes ago, bichonblitz said:

Oh, shit, another long Pearson speech. I haven't watched the episode yet, but think I will fast forward through that. 

Actually this one is awesome in its own way.  One, it doesn't work. And, two, to me it looked like a light bulb went off in Kate's head a couple of seconds into it and she realized what she was doing and then she just double downed and made it even more dramatic.

[Lady Calypso]

9 minutes ago, Pop Tart said:

The second quote answers the first one for me. The reason I was wishing and hoping that Randall would lose is because I'm not interested in seeing play Captain Save a Poor Person - it would reinforce some of what I like least about Randall. When he said something to his family or maybe it was maybe just Beth about a "great person" being not so great for their family vs. a "good person" who is, that was the kernel I wanted him to really absorb. So called "great" people often leave their families in the dust as they spend all their energy being great for everyone else. And what I have always loved most about Randall is his role as husband and father, not his role as savior to the world. So for me it makes him far less interesting. Oh and the actual pull-from-behind was just too silly. That too. 

This does bring up a very good point. Randall's whole need to save people isn't really about the other people; time and time again, especially since last season, he's wanted to be a superhero like Jack. And, for me, that's actually a selfish reason to want to help people. It feels, to me, that he's doing this for himself, rather than for the actual community. Which sucks because throughout his childhood and up until the end of season 1, he felt like a selfless person. Not without his flaws, of course, but his need to help people wasn't to benefit himself. Selfless people don't feel the need to point out how selfless they are. Or, at the very least, they don't voice it like Randall did in his fight with Beth (his whole "I stayed at home last year and NEVER COMPLAINED" made it seem like he deserved some kind of award for putting his wife's needs first). Beth, to her credit, doesn't complain either unless it's for an important reason. But Randall feels the need to point out how much better he is from time to time, at least from what they show onscreen.

8 minutes ago, llewis823 said:

Maybe Randall will go to Philadelphia by himself and live in their building to show his constituents he is just like them, while Beth and the girls stay in their home. More of that unbelievable stuff we post about in that other thread - maintaining two households. And then some woman will test Randall.

I feel pretty positive that, if they decide to move, that they'll all move together. Randall will be working in the political sector for at least a few years. It's not like a contract job, where he could live in Philly and leave his family for Alpine because he'll only be working for a few months. This is a semi-permanent and possibly long-term commitment. I don't think there really IS a "we don't have to move" option. Randall will frequently get called to meetings and to events. If he wants to save the community like he's stated, that's going to be a full-time job so it'll be easier if his family is close by, so he isn't having to drive four hours a day. The political sector can be unpredictable and now that he's elected, he has to follow through. Plus, with Beth not working, at least she can look for a new job in Philly. It's the girls who will most likely be affected the most. At the very least, Tess and Annie will be leaving the friends they've made over their lifetime behind. It's life, sure, but it doesn't mean it'll be easy for them. 

I just don't see the Pearsons NOT moving to Philly. The show really seems to want them there and has since at least season 2. 

[Conotocarious]

Beth should have also pointed out to Randall that during his stay at home dad year he brought another child into the family he is now brushing aside. Then he bought a building. It’s not like he just quietly and cheerfully parented. There were so many things Beth could have thrown into his self righteous face. 

[zillabreeze]

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Kate was in the wrong long before she sold the collection for ten dollars.  Telling Toby, 'Your toys have to go,"  was controlling.  What if he had looked in her closet and said, 'Your shoes have to go?" Whether it's worth money  or classed as "toys,"  is not the point. The fact that he had saved them all those years, so they meant something to him, is what counts.

This!  It's an old trope that I have hated for years.  Usually it's when a couple first moves in together, but all of a sudden dude's shit GOTTA GO!!!.  Normally it's sports related or deemed "tacky" by Queen Bitch.

Dude then starts tossing his stuff with no argument (along with his balls) and the "comedy" or misunderstandings ensue.   Rarely does the guy stand up for himself and possibly point out his equal contribution to the rent or mortgage.

And yes on the shoes and clothes.  (My case: purses & craft crap).

Kate and Toby could have built some nice cabinets or shelves and the whole collection could have stayed.   The requisite TIU speech could have been directed at some unsuspecting Ikea employee.

I'm really disappointed at how quickly TPTB got lazy with this show.

[Katy M]

2 minutes ago, zillabreeze said:

This!  It's an old trope that I have hated for years.  Usually it's when a couple first moves in together, but all of a sudden dude's shit GOTTA GO!!!.  Normally it's sports related or deemed "tacky" by Queen Bitch.

Dude then starts tossing his stuff with no argument (along with his balls) and the "comedy" or misunderstandings ensue.   Rarely does the guy stand up for himself and possibly point out his equal contribution to the rent or mortgage.

And yes on the shoes and clothes.  (My case: purses & craft crap).

Kate and Toby could have built some nice cabinets or shelves and the whole collection could have stayed.   The requisite TIU speech could have been directed at some unsuspecting Ikea employee.

I'm really disappointed at how quickly TPTB got lazy with this show.

I agree about the unnecessariness of it all.  but, what I liked was it finally gave Kate the opportunity (well that's not quite right as she's had opportunities that she hasn't taken) to step up and try go above and beyond and do something for Toby.  She could have just blown it off after she apologized. But, she didn't.  She tracked the kid down. She gave him a stupid speech.  She went back again and offered autographed pictures of Kevin, or naked pictures of herself, or to sing at his next bday party, and then she found some others to buy.  She did her best to right a wrong instead of just shrugging it off, which is real character growth for her.

BTW, she did say to Toby that she did something unspeakable (not the exact word, but indicating that it was at least embarrassing) to try to get them back and I'm at a real loss as to what she could have offered.  She's married and pregnant, so surely it wasn't anything even in the remote neighborhood of sex. 

[Neurochick]

44 minutes ago, Pop Tart said:

So called "great" people often leave their families in the dust as they spend all their energy being great for everyone else. And what I have always loved most about Randall is his role as husband and father, not his role as savior to the world. So for me it makes him far less interesting. Oh and the actual pull-from-behind was just too silly. That too. 

But someone has to be that "great" person, if no one ever stepped up to be "great," a lot of humanity would just be shit out of luck.  Someone has to do the heavy lifting.  Why can't it be Randall?

[Jeddah]

The pastor bothered me too. Congregations absolutely should discuss and  be activists for important issues that align with their beliefs and morals. That sometimes means churches are working for causes that also happen to be political issues. However I think that’s very, very different than a pastor endorsing individual candidates from the pulpit. One person dictating how people should vote from the pulpit, thus strongly implying God wants you vote that way, is very different than a congregation working together and advocating for a cause.

I have a hard time seeing how there was enough at stake here for a pastor to tell his congregation how to vote. He could be swayed by one conversation and a blueberry pie. I don’t think there was a huge, moral  difference between Randall and his opponent. I’m glad in the end the pastor stopped short of endorsing one over the other and supported them both. 

Not to mention that legally churches could lose their tax exempt status for endorsing individual candidates. That could cost churches a huge amount of money.

[zillabreeze]

8 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

That could cost churches a huge amount of money.

...and that's a big gorgeous chuch, probably very expensive to maintain.   

Perhaps next year it'll be renamed Saint Randall the Pious.

Edited January 16, 2019 by zillabreeze

[Driad]

An episode of the Dick Van Dyke show had Rob running for some town office against a popular many-year incumbent. IIRC, they had a debate and Rob realized that he could not do as good a job for the town as the incumbent was doing, so he dropped out.  I hoped Russell's plot would go that way.  Russell could use his financial experience to do good without uprooting his family.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Driad

[nkotb]

I agree with most everyone else that the political storyline is just ridiculous, & I wish it would've ended last night. Our world is so politically-divisive, I'd love to be able to watch a TV show & escape politics. They're not hammering us over the head with either political side, but I just would like to not have to hear about politics. 

I've been disappointed with this season, so I don't have the best recollection of all of the details. However, when we saw the preview for next week, when the big 3 are together, is that the first scene this season of the adult big 3 together? They may have been together at Kevin's movie premiere, I'm not sure.

To me, one of the reasons that this season seems so disjointed is because the Pearson kids aren't together at all. I'm not saying that adult siblings have to live together, but these siblings have always had a strong bond & been active in each other's lives (frequently too active). However, this season is all about Kate getting pregnant & having a baby, Kevin & Zoe digging up the CK/Uncle Nicky mystery, & Randall & the never-ending political ridiculousness. This season is lacking the family-bonding that the show started with, & when I was thinking about it last night, I realized it. The adult kids are in stories that don't really intersect, so it just feels disconnected. 

[DoubleUTeeEff]

OF COURSE Randall won the election. OF COURSE he won it by being the "good" guy and not releasing "dirt" on his opponent. OF COURSE his speech to the pastor got him not only the last blueberry pie for free but an endorsement in church. OF COURSE Beth came around and realized how "great" Randall is and offered her undying loyalty and support to his cause. UGH.

I think that paying your way out of a DUI is so corrupt and so immoral. Releasing that info is not just some petty smear job but actual information that I think the voters should know.  I would like to know before voting for someone that he thinks he deserves special treatment and got off consequence free for immoral and illegal behavior. Do his constituents get off scot-free when they get caught driving drunk? Or do they face the consequences and have to pay their debt to society? Why should the person representing them not have to? This whole scenario is the opposite of what I'd like to see. Randall should have released this info on his beloved opponent and faced losing the election even harder rather than kept it to himself and senselessly won. THAT would have made him a good guy instead of the other way around.

OF COURSE Kevin is the "pushiest guy in the world" and Zoe likes it.

OF COURSE when Kate makes a speech, she gets nothing unlike Saint Randall. Realistically, she shouldn't but neither should Randall or Kevin or Jack or Toby. Why does it work for the men to be pushy and rude and speechify at people but when the women on the show do it, they don't get the same results? I guess she did get rewarded for messing up so royally when Toby had the stadium built for her. OTOH, that kind of underscores how much she sucks and how awesome Toby is to spoil her even when he's wronged. (In the shows opinion, not mine!)

Couldn't have Kate offered to pay a fair price for the dolls? Maybe that would have gotten them back rather than some sad sack story and a hundred bucks?

When Randall claimed that he didn't complain at all when he was a stay at home dad I thought really? Wasn't he constantly complaining and changing things up by tracking down his dad, bringing him to live with his family and then wanting to adopt and then bringing in Deja as a foster kid and then buying a falling down building and then running a campaign two hours away?

[Katy M]

15 minutes ago, DoubleUTeeEff said:

I think that paying your way out of a DUI is so corrupt and so immoral. Releasing that info is not just some petty smear job but actual information that I think the voters should know.  I would like to know before voting for someone that he thinks he deserves special treatment and got off consequence free for immoral and illegal behavior.

That's all very well and good, but as soon as you're doing it for a selfish reason it tarnishes the "truthspeaking" part IMO.  I also found it riduclous that this came up in the last week of the campaign when it apparently happened years ago.   Nobody else ever ran against the guy.  Randall's guy didn't come across it sooner.

 

16 minutes ago, DoubleUTeeEff said:

Couldn't have Kate offered to pay a fair price for the dolls? Maybe that would have gotten them back rather than some sad sack story and a hundred bucks?

She barely makes any money, they just shoveld a boatload of money into IVF and they have what is probably a high-risk labor coming, followed by a baby.  So, realistically speaking, I would say no.  Show speaking, probably.

[AnnieHeights]

4 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

That preacher should lose his tax-exempt status for talking politics from the pulpit. 

That was my understanding of politics in a church.  I think he basically said either candidate would be great so he really didn't endorse one over the other in this particular situation. 

Can y'all imagine if Toby would have sold one of Kate's sentimental possessions (especially if the original stadium had survived the fire)? 

Kevin saying "Yay I have a roommate" was really cute :)      

[DoubleUTeeEff]

5 minutes ago, Katy M said:

That's all very well and good, but as soon as you're doing it for a selfish reason it tarnishes the "truthspeaking" part IMO. 

Yeah, that's why I thought it would be a better story line if telling the truth about it just made things harder for Randall. I think we've seen a few instances in recent years where a man does something horrible and their fans or voters defend them no matter what.

7 minutes ago, Katy M said:

She barely makes any money, they just shoveld a boatload of money into IVF and they have what is probably a high-risk labor coming, followed by a baby.  So, realistically speaking, I would say no.  Show speaking, probably.

Very true. Not that this show has been very realistic about money though.

[Blakeston]

So Toby - a die-hard geek, and the most overly enthusiastic, "extra" person who ever lived - owned original Star Wars action figures, and never made a big deal about them to Kate? He never impressed upon her that they were special or valuable?

What nonsense. And it wouldn't have been that difficult to write a similar storyline without the ridiculous plot contrivances (like Toby thinking that "DNS" is self-explanatory, or Kate assuming it stands for "donations"). 

For example, Toby could have told her that he's willing to sell everything except, of course, his beloved original Star Wars action figures, and then Kate could have accidentally confused them with other Star Wars action figures.

[Lovecat]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

The election wasn't on New Year's Eve.  New Year's Eve Randall came home and made his speech to his family. The next morning they went to church.  And the electin was the following Tuesday.  Was New Year's Eve on  Sat this year, though?  Because I'm pretty sure it was Monday, which would mean they went to church on a Tuesday, and then the election was the following week?

Nothing about this timeline made sense—in Pennsylvania, we have primaries in May and the general election in November, including city council, and yes, including Philadelphia (I checked!).  I was so confused when Randall came home and found a Beth wrapping Christmas presents, because I thought 5 weeks before Election Day meant that it was like, early October.  I think the only time we would have a special election (not in May or November) would be if an elected official either died or was incarcerated while in office.

[Conotocarious]

18 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

So Toby - a die-hard geek, and the most overly enthusiastic, "extra" person who ever lived - owned original Star Wars action figures, and never made a big deal about them to Kate? He never impressed upon her that they were special or valuable?

What nonsense. And it wouldn't have been that difficult to write a similar storyline without the ridiculous plot contrivances (like Toby thinking that "DNS" is self-explanatory, or Kate assuming it stands for "donations"). 

For example, Toby could have told her that he's willing to sell everything except, of course, his beloved original Star Wars action figures, and then Kate could have accidentally confused them with other Star Wars action figures.

God, yes. It’s just a stupid cliche where the characters have to act in unbelievable ways to get to where they really wanted to go, which was the rebuilt football field.  Don’t these people ever talk to one another about normal things? We don’t have to see it! Right after Kate says “you have to sell your toys” the NATURAL response would be “fine, but not these Star Wars toys, I want to pass them on and they’re worth something too.” Which she would have already known, because you have to be a real idiot in this day and age not to know.  

Terrible writing. This show has really gone down in quality and it really shows in this episode. I mean, the second I saw those action figures I knew where the whole storyline was going. That’s not supposed to happen. 

[Lady Calypso]

6 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

Nothing about this timeline made sense—in Pennsylvania, we have primaries in May and the general election in November, including city council, and yes, including Philadelphia (I checked!).  I was so confused when Randall came home and found a Beth wrapping Christmas presents, because I thought 5 weeks before Election Day meant that it was like, early October.  I think the only time we would have a special election (not in May or November) would be if an elected official either died or was incarcerated while in office.

This is definitely an inconsistency but the show is trying to pretend that the election was in January. AKA, they realized that they chose the election storyline a bit too late (ideally, they should have chosen to do it at the end of season 2 so that the election could have been around Thanksgiving) and they couldn't wait to have the election in May, especially since the show doesn't air in May. Thus, in this world, they really want us, as an audience, to pretend that there's a January election. 

[roughing it]

Blah blah blah  rinse and repeat .  I'm about done if not already.

[Conotocarious]

5 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Me too.  at first I thought it was because the break between shows had been too long or because I've been binge watching, "The Crown" but all of a sudden these people and their problems seemed so trivial and irritating. 

I watched The Crown over the break too and it just reinforces for me that the best TV is definitely not on primetime network channels. This show is trite and cliche compared to  a production like the Crown. 

[MsChicklet]

Quote

Hey, Tobes, maybe if that box was so important to you you should have actually written out the words "DO NOT SELL" instead of expecting Kate to know what your abbreviation meant.

Also, tell Kate "This box is the stuff I want to keep for the baby." And then put the box away somewhere far away from the stuff being sold, like your bedroom closet.