S04.E01: Strangers

[zoey1996]

Loved this episode!  At first, I was wondering who these people were and how it ties together, and by the end, I was wowed!  Rebecca's father was pretty awful, but Jack didn't give up.

[LexieLily]

Given the way Jack/Toby & Kate's son talked to Lucy about their impending parenthood, about how she could bust ass at the restaurant and he could take care of "him - or her!" and if she made it home for dinner every once in awhile, great, but it wasn't required, is that for the audience to infer that Toby was the primary caregiver for Jack and Kate either took off or wasn't around much?

[Bringonthedrama]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

My jaw dropped when it revealed that Deja's friend was a teen dad. I knew it happens but God he's so young!

Yes it does. My white, middle-class cousin got pregnant at 14; gave birth at 15 and she and her son were in the custody of her indulgent father and stepmother. My cousin recently became a grandmother at 39 because her now 20-something son and his gf had a baby in late 2018.  

Sadly, I have been told that there are high schools which offer child care so teenage parents can continue going to school.

[chocolatine]

I got really burned out on the Randall and Kate/Toby storylines last season, so I, for one, enjoyed the new characters. If anything, I was annoyed by the Jack/Rebecca backstory (except Jack meeting Miguel), because (a) it was full of cliches, and (b) we already know they end up together, so there is no suspense.

Future Baby Jack seems to be in his late 20s/early 30s in the flash-forward. After it was revealed who he is, I was expecting a shot of aged-up Kate and Toby at FBJ's big show - Kate would be in her late 60s and Toby in his early 70s. I hope that doesn't mean they died before they could see their son become successful.

I am dreading the Deja dating a young single dad storyline a little bit, but hopefully Omar Epps and the adorable little girl will redeem it somewhat.

10 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

Sadly, I have been told that there are high schools which offer child care so teenage parents can continue going to school.

YMMV, but I think that's less sad than teenage parents dropping out of school.

Edited September 25, 2019 by chocolatine

[chabelisaywow]

Deja's friend and his mom are both in "When they see us" - which is a whole other whoa.

Quote

 Cut with scenes of Otter trying in vain to break up Rebecca  and Jack. 

lol I called him that on the Affair board and no one knew the reference LOL LOLOLOOL

Edited September 25, 2019 by chabelisaywow

[tennisgurl]

I should have known that new mystery characters equals new spin offs of the giant ever growing Pearson family tree. I guess singing just runs in the family, at least someone is making a living at it in this family, even if it had to take three generations to get there. On the one hand, we already have a cast of approximately 7000 people, we dont really need a bunch of new people around. On the other hand, I would rather have new plots with new people instead of watching Randall decide become an air-blimp pilot because William looked at the Goodyear blimp one time or something, or listen to Kate complain about how pretty her mom is. And there is something decently cool about the show being a kind of multi generation saga like in a novel or something, but with tons more dramatic music and close ups and people with very questionable senses of humor. On the other OTHER hand, none of these new people are really grabbing me yet, and as its the start of a new season, I would kind of like to see...you know...the characters we actually know and are invested in? After a long break? Instead of some kind of backdoor pilot but not?

I am happy to have this show back, even when it drives me up the wall. I love young Jack and Rebecca, so I was cool with seeing more of them. Plus, I actually know them!

[Chewy101]

57 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Future Baby Jack seems to be in his late 20s/early 30s in the flash-forward. After it was revealed who he is, I was expecting a shot of aged-up Kate and Toby at FBJ's big show

I got the impression that he has lots and lots of shows. I'm sure they went to tons in the beginning.

Looks like the guy who plays Toby gets to take his fat suit off this season.

[colorbars]

I'm curious how much we're going to be following all of these new people. Are we really gonna be seeing a lot of Jack Jr in the future? What purpose does that serve? I guess it has a purpose if they expand that and show us where the other kids are by then, and the audience, which I'm sure they will throughout the season, but I hope we don't have to see him every episode.

I like the actor playing Deja's new love interest (he was amazing in When They See Us) but I can't say I'm interested in that story. Ditto Jennifer Morrison's story. I hope this is the only time we'll be seeing things from their perspective and anything going forward will feature a Pearson at least.

[greeneyedscorpio]

Malik's baby is just about the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on.  Malik can stick around if we see more of his little one!  Although I don't like Deja and was hoping to see less of her, not more.  

I'm kind of digging that there wasn't much Kate in this episode.  I've grown tired of her resentment and treatment of her mother.  

[ChattyCathyLA]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

I knew they were going to tie everything together but that didn’t lessen my annoyance at meeting all these randos.  The cast was fine as it was.  Now it's super extra bloated.

And Jennifer Morrison has always left me cold so less of her is fine thanks.

I thought Miguel was with Jack when they were going to rob the bar the night Jack first saw Rebecca singing?

Word!  I think this episode is gonna make me jump the shark on this show, which was my favorite show on network TV!  Typical cliched characters:  the war veteran who has trouble fitting back into regular life, the 16 year old baby daddy, etc.  UGH!   This was the BEST the writers could come up with?  We’ve seen ALL these characters before!  The only new character that held any interest for me was Jack, the blind singer married to the chef.

SO, SO, SO VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS PREMIERE!  

[methodwriter85]

Didn't watch but they went even further ahead in the story? I thought 2031 was going to be it. Geez. Going to 2045 or whatever is just ridiculous.

Edited September 25, 2019 by methodwriter85

[bybrandy]

This is WHO?!   

I called Jack Jr when he had the waitress (Lucy?) sit down and tell him about the diner.  I dont' know why that twigged me, but I was ust like this is baby Jack.   

I'm not looking forward to Deja and her teen boyfriend but I sort of am looking forward to more Omar Epps.  If there isn't more Omar Epps this story is dead to me.

I am not even a tiny bit here for Kevin and Morrison... dislike her.

[bros402]

4 hours ago, kili said:

Jack (Jr) Damon is legally blind just like the actor who plays him. His name is Blake Stadnik and here is an article about him.

I think the baby actor may even be legally blind. It would be impossible to get a baby to fake that.

He's not a bad singer. That's one of the more credible songs I've heard from a show where they claim to have a singer-songwriter as a character.

I love having Jennifer Morrison back on my screen.

Yay! Representation!

4 hours ago, deaja said:

As soon as they revealed the boy was blind, I was like “oh.... preemie has health problems, eyesight is often one. That’s Kate and Toby’s baby.”

SAME

For the first like 15-30 seconds of seeing him though - I thought he was Kevin, just in a new place for some reason, then I was like "wait that's not him"

[bybrandy]

4 hours ago, kili said:

I think the baby actor may even be legally blind. It would be impossible to get a baby to fake that.

Yes, I don't know how else you would keep a baby from reacting to visual stimulus.   

[debraran]

That would be interesting, re baby to find out, but after watching Call the Midwife and learning so many of their babies were very realistic dolls, we will see.  (they also use real babies but pretend have gotten much better)

I love the actor but wondered why we need to see the end now? So no matter what happens to him as a baby, we know the outcome, hit by car, no sweat, if Kevin gets in trouble drinking, no suspense, he ends up rich with a kid, we know Nicky is fine, and on and on.

The meet the parents was so cliche and done before and Jack started his speeches, but many fans like to see them in the past.

I agree with another post that as soon as Jack Jr started with the girl, I thought,  has to be Jack, lol, another speech. 😉

[jacksgirl]

Don't want the big 12 or however many new people got introduced. Aren't there enough possible storylines with them? Close to awful, I waited 4 months for this? Booooooo

[Blakeston]

3 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Didn't watch but they went even further ahead in the story? I thought 2031 was going to be it.

Didn't the makers of the show announce, flat-out, that the family visiting ailing old Rebecca was the furthest they'd ever go into the future?

I never concluded that the blind guy was Kate's kid until they revealed it, because I was dumb enough to believe what they told us.

[ShadowFacts]

I did not enjoy playing the 'who are these people' game, wasn't really even trying to guess though I figured Cass would end up at the VA group where Nicky might be, that was kind of easy.  I cared about the Vietnam story last year because it defined Jack, but I don't know if I will care so much about Cass.

Deja and Malik had me questioning whether they are setting up a parallel with the Rebecca and Jack grand love story.  Randall will go nuclear, probably, or will it be Beth who declares war?  Malik will flirt with crime the way Jack just back from Vietnam did.  But Deja will keep him out of that just the way Rebecca did Jack.  I kind of doubt that many viewers will be as invested in that love story, though I personally have always been a Deja fan.  I did have a chuckle at Malik's worrying about thousands of dollars pre-school.  Come on.  Aim high but get real. 

[Scarlett45]

7 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

I did have a chuckle at Malik's worrying about thousands of dollars pre-school.  Come on.  Aim high but get real. 

Me too!! I think that showed just how young he was. Like DUDE get yourself a career so you can take care of your daughter and let your parents enjoy their senior years, and be grandparents, not co-parents supporting the both of you. 

[Enigma X]

I liked it and still really enjoy this show. I did pick up early who Jack Jr. was. For me, all the stories have promise but can go either way. I will say, unlike many, I am not tired of seeing Randall, Jack, Kate, or anyone. 

[JenE4]

I was building some real elaborate theory in which this was some alternate reality in which the third triplet didn’t die—since he was the spitting image of Kevin. The car at the body shop had a Pearson bumper sticker, so in the alternate reality, Randal was going to be president or a senator. And how they were all going to come together was that the soldier was going to drive drunk, hit Kevin’s blind twin and his wife, and their cars would end up at the kid’s body shop. It was almost a bit of a letdown to realize, oh, it’s just baby Jack? 

Edited September 25, 2019 by JenE4

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I get that the show wanted to introduce new characters but they really should have spread them out over a few episodes. When I watch the season premiere of a show, I expect more than a few scenes of the two main characters. Honestly, if they hadn't started the episode with Rebecca and Jack coming back from LA, I would have thought I was on the wrong channel because almost the entire episode was Jack Porter, Emma Swan, blind guy, waitress, and teen dad. But yay for a House reunion!

The scene where Jack Jr. performed had me laughing. First of all, I misheard when he was introduced and I thought they had announced his stage name as "Jack Daniels." Then his song included the phrase "new direction" which will always be "nude erection" thanks to Glee.

I was rolling my eyes at Rebecca's parents repeatedly describing Jack as the guy who "took their daughter" across the country. They made it sound like he kidnapped her. I wish Rebecca had reminded them that she was the one who suggested they go to LA because SHE wanted to give her demo tape to someone.

It takes a certain kind of person to tell someone to their face that they will never be good enough. It takes a very certain kind of person to do that less than an hour after meeting them.

On 9/24/2019 at 7:14 PM, CleoCaesar said:

at least someone in this extended family has a successful singing career.

This made me laugh harder than it probably should have.

On 9/24/2019 at 7:21 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

One thing that caught my eye, Randall's cake looked like it had a 0 on it.  I thought the kids were born in 1980 and should be 39 this year.  

Randall's cake said "Happy 39th birthday to the best dad in the world!"

On 9/24/2019 at 8:05 PM, Blakeston said:

Jack Jr. is a dick for thinking it's hilarious to make a server think she caused him to have a panic attack. Although a terrible sense of humor is certainly fitting, considering who his father is.

Also dickish: finding out a waitress's shift has ended and using that as a way to pressure her into talking to you. And then telling said waitress whose shift has ended that you want her to fetch you some more coffee. Definitely a Pearson.

Edited September 26, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo
A ridiculous amount of typos

[Haleth]

Jennifer Morrison and Omar Epps together again.  But not.

I initially thought, could this be the next generation?  But Malik has a father that isn't Randall.  Maybe these are the kids that could have been had Jack and Rebecca not adopted Randall?  No, the settings were current (although nothing in Jack's storyline suggested the future).  I knew they had to be connected somehow.  Maybe I was too tired to pick up that Jack's scenes were outliers and he was in the future.

Can't say I'm too interested in Deja and Malik's teen dating drama or Cassidy's PTSD but I'll trust the writers to make us care about all these people.  It will be good to move on from the stale storylines of the main characters though.

I don't think Rebecca's dad was horrible.  I imagine most dads think that way upon meeting the boyfriend but most don't say it out loud.

40 minutes ago, JenE4 said:

I was building some real elaborate theory in which this was some alternate reality in which the third triplet didn’t die—since he was the spitting image of Kevin. The car at the body shop had a Pearson bumper sticker, so in the alternate reality, Randal was going to be president or a senator. And how they were all going to come together was that the soldier was going to drive drunk, hit Kevin’s blind twin and his wife, and their cars would end up at the kid’s body shop. It was almost a bit of a letdown to realize, oh, it’s just baby Jack? 

Yup.  I had similar thoughts but the Jack reveal wasn't a letdown.

9 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Honestly, if they hadn't started the episode Rebecca and Jack coming back from LA, I would have thought I was on the wrong channel because almost the entire episode was Jack Porter, Emma Swan, blind guy, waitress, and teen dad.

Ha!  My husband came in late and actually did check the guide to make sure we were watching the right show.

[ShadowFacts]

36 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I don't think Rebecca's dad was horrible.  I imagine most dads think that way upon meeting the boyfriend but most don't say it out loud.

I don't want to imagine most dads thinking that way from the jump, but agree that if they do they don't say it, at least not right away.  That was for the Drama for us to know it was game on.  But there's not much punch to it because we know who wins.  Daddy's going down.

[ams1001]

7 hours ago, greeneyedscorpio said:

Malik's baby is just about the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on. 

 

That was one adorable baby. Baby Jack, too. This show has a real knack for finding cute kids, doesn't it? 

[PRgal]

10 hours ago, One Imaginary Girl said:

2045 or whenever sure looks a lot like today, and the music is terrible.

Well, it took us a while to figure out 1980 was 1980 in the first episode. 

And to the person who said Teen Dad Kid looked 12.  Yeah, I thought so too.  I was like JUNIOR?  In HIGH SCHOOL?  You look like you're in JUNIOR HIGH!

Edited September 25, 2019 by PRgal

[Phoebe70]

I had a difficult time believing that the blind guy could really fill a stadium that large.  His song and his singing were mediocre at best.  I do like his character though.  Two times I almost bawled:  when he had the dog present the wedding ring, and when we saw that he framed the broken plate.

Don't care about Deja and the young father.  Wish there was less Deja.

So the previews show a thinner, shirtless Toby.  When will Kate start losing some weight?  I truly worry about her health.

[TheOtherOne]

Vulture has an article about the Jack casting. I thought this was interesting:

The show’s casting department found Stadnik during a search for “a leading man who was without sight and could be funny and charming but also accessible and sweet,” Fogelman said. “I was worried about it.” To his surprise, they found several viable choices who could also sing, but once producers met Stadnik, “he was clearly the guy,” even though he had never acted on camera.

“We wanted to find an actor who could be a leading man and very handsome and very funny and look great with his bare ass on national television, but also be able to go stand in the Greek in front of a live audience and actually perform and sing a song,” Fogelman said. “Blake’s first day of shooting was literally lying completely naked in a bed, and then having a six-hour makeout scene [with Thornton], and then going onto the stage at the Greek in front of thousands of people during an intermission of a concert to perform a song.” The performance, during a Chicago concert, “was quite a trial by fire for him and he just blew us away in every way,” Fogelman added.

[WendyM]

The thing that really confused me is that when we first saw Rebecca's dad, I thought, "DID WE ALREADY KNOW GEORGE W. BUSH IS HER FATHER?" Honest to god...

[ams1001]

34 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Well, it took us a while to figure out 1980 was 1980 in the first episode. 

And to the person who said Teen Dad Kid looked 12.  Yeah, I thought so too.  I was like JUNIOR?  In HIGH SCHOOL?  You look like you're in JUNIOR HIGH!

Did they say he was a junior? I missed that. (On a side note, my friend's daughter is 15 and just started her sophomore year but she looks much younger; her being barely 5' tall doesn't help.) But isn't Deja in 8th grade? (I know they talked about moving her up a year** because she had been held back at some point so she's a year older than her classmates, but still...). (And since it's the triplets' 39th birthday we know it's August 2019, and baby Jack is only 3 months old so we know they haven't jumped a full year or more.)

**which she didn't want to do because she finally had some stability and wasn't ready to change schools again; did their move to Philly change her mind on moving up to high school since she would be changing schools anyway?

[Wouldofshouldof]

I too wondered if the actor playing Jack Jr was actually blind.  I could tell he was when they showed him from the side in one shot, and his eyes weren't focused in the direction they should have been.  And I couldn't stop looking at Tim Matheson and seeing George Bush Jr.

[AriAu]

This is Us is still the most misery laden show on TV....it's like misery porn.

I figured out that the blind guy was Kate & Toby's pretty quickly primarily since they needed to have as much misery as possible on this show so of course miracle baby Jack is blind...duh.

We will get some more misery coming up when we find out what happened to Malik's Baby Momma....and you just know something bad is going to happen to Omar Epps or his wife.

And by the way, Cass couldn't just be a disaffected PTSD damaged soldier...she had to also be a child abuser! Yeah, Kevin is in for some misery too.

And you know we are going to start getting the Alzheimer issues for Rebecca

The fact that they would tie it together with a nice bow in the last 10 minutes was what made me sit through the intro story lines, which in my opinion were not well told.

Quote

Rebecca's father was pretty awful,

See, I didn't think Otter was all that bad and in some ways, he was right.....if he wanted a lobster and country club lifestyle for his daughter, Jack may not have been the guy. I'm not sure I would have made that speech the first time I met him and I might have let it play out and see what Jack could do before saying it, but this is This is Us. By the way, would it have killed them to have Otter be a gynecologist..but that would have had to be in Beverly Hills

Edited September 25, 2019 by AriAu

[momma2rnr]

Ok first, why are we calling him Jack Jr? He's not a junior, he's just named after her dad.

Now that that's done... I kind was kinda bored at first, but actually really liked it once it was all over. I liked that they didn't show us the new people through the "Pearson view." I want to get invested in their characters before Kevin tries to save JMo's character, I wanna cheer for Malik before Randall comes in and starts giving his infamous sanctimonious "Randallisms," I want to learn about Jack without him being tainted by Kate & Toby's annoying selves. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by momma2rnr

[Lovecat]

10 hours ago, Bringonthedrama said:

Sadly, I have been told that there are high schools which offer child care so teenage parents can continue going to school.

We had that in our school in the late 80's, so it's nothing new.

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The scene where Jack Jr. performed had me laughing. First of all, I misheard when he was introduced and I thought they had announced his stage name as "Jack Daniel." Then his song included the phrase "new direction" which will always be "nude erection" thanks to Glee.

Same, girl.  Same.

I had seen a theory floated that all of the new cast members were people to whom Jack's organs had gone after his death, and I spent the episode trying to figure out how it was going to happen, like, "Oh! The blind guy's going to get his corneas!  The military lady is going to get hurt and receive some sort of transplant when she's brought stateside!  The young father is going to get caught in drug-related crossfire!"  And then...not so much.  That'll teach me not to read speculation.  Derp.

Put me on the list of those that mistook grown-up Jack for Kevin at first.  

I think my favorite line of the night was when Randall asked Deja, "What's going on with your face?" when she came home from the BBQ with that dreamy grin 🙂  That was kind of cute, and it was nice to see the actress's pretty face all lit up, in contrast with the grumpy frown she wears most of the time as brooding!Deja.

[roughing it]

37 minutes ago, AriAu said:

By the way, would it have killed them to have Otter be a gynecologist

HA HA HA love this...I forgot about the foretelling at the end of Animal House

[roughing it]

10 hours ago, Bringonthedrama said:

Sadly, I have been told that there are high schools which offer child care so teenage parents can continue going to school.

Well since teenage kids have been having sex and getting pregnant for oh 2,019 years or so now, it's not really that remarkable to provide some support rather than shame them.

[RedbirdNelly]

I enjoyed it. I knew there would be an eventual tie in and kept that in the back of my mind, but did not overdo trying to figure it out.

I often cry with this show but this episode left me smiling. I loved the scene of Randall and Deja with the huge smile on her face. It was just so nice. Maybe it's because I've got a teenager--who really isn't that moody--but when you get those special spark moment from a child who does not just smile at every little thing, those mean so much. I hold on to those and I just loved that moment for Deja.

We'll have to see how this plays out but I thought it was a nice start for expanding the universe.

I also just love Jack so I really don't mind seeing more background on them.

[Ana88]

Wow I have been waiting 4 months for this? So disappointed for this to be the season opener. I really miss seeing the Pearson kids even as adults. They really should have spread all this new people out over a few episodes. 

Anyways I was probably alone in not putting the pieces together up until the last minute. I kind of thought it was unrealistic for Jack junior to look like that with his parents, but I guess you can take after your uncle sometimes more than your actual parents. I am kind of curious as to how he grew up and the development of Kate's and Toby's relationship. And siblings although I guess he has none. I am also a big intrigued about another war story, it is truly horrifying to imagine what they go through and how they can ever come to terms with it after returning home. Although I hope she is not going to be the mother of Kevin's son - is that confirmed or just speculations? Lastly I am way bored of the young dad storyline and Deisha (sorry for mispelling). I would much rather see a lot more to Tess and even more Annie! So yeah send Deisha off to college already as someone said lol. 

Oh and also, just wow to Rebecca's dad.. I did not see that coming when they had that talk. Just wow. I thought it was SO brave how Jack handled himself and his speech. It may be a little weird but I mean what else could he do? At least he stood up for himself and who he is. I think that was pretty terrific. I have no idea how I myself would have ever handled that kind of situation. But for Beck's dad to tell him that in the end after that whole night and everything Jack's been through with his own family.. It just broke my heart completely. The fear in his eyes if he was going to lose the only person that matters to him. And just to think he would get a decent father figure. Completely tore me apart. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by Ana88

[watcher1006]

12 hours ago, Dejana said:

Flashfowards to the future beyond the current day are just too distracting to me, even without throwing music into the equation. Maybe by 2049 or whenever Jack Jr's performance is happening, that'll be a throwback sound? Where are his parents?

Randall and Beth are going to love Deja dating a teen dad!

Didn't Miguel and Jack have a different backstory last year? I had the impression they knew each other longer than what was presented tonight.

Good to see Omar Epps and Jennifer Morrison on the same show again!

The opening sentence from Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five comes to me:

"Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time."

That's what this episode felt like to me, as if exactly that had happened to the viewing audience.

[Forsaken]

Wow what a mess of an episode especially with the health and drama of the new baby last season. Where do I start here!

Always nice to see Mandy in young mode and she looked great in the clothes. We got more of Saint Jack but at this point do we need to see more flashbacks of them at all? 

Didn't get the point of Soldier Woman, she feels tacked on and having the Uncle as the one who throws a chair through the window late in the ep doesn't do much to really excuse any of it. I found that Uncle story arc to be dull as it was. Although it was funny that he named what's his face as the one to vouch for him. That is what happens when you don't mind your own business!

Single, teen dad also feels tacked on and having him interested in Randall's adopted daughter is also dull and seems forced. He also looks about 12 as others have mention and the adopted daughter looks like a woman now. 

The blind guy who turned out to be the baby. Song was generic as all hell and really boring. Given the year would have been around 2040-2050 it all looks exactly the same as now which didn't help either. 

Overall do we really need even more characters in this thing? Are we going to see the flashback device used for all of them as well? The drama level in this thing is getting old. 

[Bringonthedrama]

9 minutes ago, roughing it said:

Well since teenage kids have been having sex and getting pregnant for oh 2,019 years or so now, it's not really that remarkable to provide some support rather than shame them.

Snarking at me was unnecessary. My comment was not about shaming the kids; it's sad that American society has developed such a 'no big deal' attitude about teenagers becoming parents and the schools offering child care exemplifies that (there would be no need for such a school if it's just a teen here and there having a baby). I feel like in this country we have been, and are today, failing to raise kids well due to a variety of factors (just one factor is guns/violence) and it just makes me sad.

[Aloeonatable]

55 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I also just love Jack so I really don't mind seeing more background on them.

Amen to this. Sure, we know the outcome, but isn't the journey to that why we watch? I know it is why I do. Will he win Bec's dad over to his side? Will they always be antagonists? I care. 

[Mrs Shibbles]

1 hour ago, AriAu said:

....and you just know something bad is going to happen to Omar Epps or his wife.

When he was rubbing his shoulder in the truck after work I thought a heart attack was coming.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, AriAu said:

This is Us is still the most misery laden show on TV....it's like misery porn.

I figured out that the blind guy was Kate & Toby's pretty quickly primarily since they needed to have as much misery as possible on this show so of course miracle baby Jack is blind...duh.

We will get some more misery coming up when we find out what happened to Malik's Baby Momma....and you just know something bad is going to happen to Omar Epps or his wife.

And by the way, Cass couldn't just be a disaffected PTSD damaged soldier...she had to also be a child abuser! Yeah, Kevin is in for some misery too.

And you know we are going to start getting the Alzheimer issues for Rebecca

The fact that they would tie it together with a nice bow in the last 10 minutes was what made me sit through the intro story lines, which in my opinion were not well told.

See, I didn't think Otter was all that bad and in some ways, he was right.....if he wanted a lobster and country club lifestyle for his daughter, Jack may not have been the guy. I'm not sure I would have made that speech the first time I met him and I might have let it play out and see what Jack could do before saying it, but this is This is Us. By the way, would it have killed them to have Otter be a gynecologist..but that would have had to be in Beverly Hills

I don't mind Jack being blind.  I would rather see that than him being a perfectly healthy adult, it's more realistic.  

I would not classify what happend with Cass as child abuse.  There is a difference between accidentally hitting your child once as he is tugging on your arm and intentionally hitting the child repeatedly.  That whole scene was cliche piled on cliche with a cliche chaser.  The pacing of her storyline in the episode felt too rushed.  

[gonzosgirrl]

I'm trying to remember how old Kevin's 'son' is in the S3 finale. Could he be Cassidy's son (thus, Kevin's stepson if they do indeed get together)?

ETA: I am also of the opinion that Cassidy is not a 'child abuser'. She made a mistake, in the aftermath of a PTSD moment. She obviously felt immediate remorse, left the house/situation when asked to by the child's father, and it seems to be the push she needed to get herself some help. That doesn't scream 'abuser' to me.

[S.Batts]

This show was so good!!  I LOVED it!!

At first I was confused but as it went on, I loved it even more.   Marine girl's story line was the weakest but I'm guessing she is the future Mrs Kevin Pearson.   

The casting of Kate and Toby's son is spot on.   Nice ass by the way!!!!   My son doesn't look anything like my husband, he looks a bit like me but he is the splitting image of my brother.  That actor was great and I loved his arrogance!!!  

Anyone notice how they used the same baby for the baby crying in that hut where Marine Cassidy went to talk with that woman?   Baby Jack was the same baby.  Killing two birds with one stone and saving money on hiring a second baby.  Good on them!!!

I loved seeing Rebecca holding her grandson, makes me realize that hopefully Kate and Rebecca have a much better relationship now.  

Looking forward to next week!!!

[saber5055]

14 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I thought the visual casting was great. This is Kevin Pearson’s nephew- I thought the actor looked a lot like Justin Hartley which would make sense. Not that it would be odd if he favored Toby’s side, but if he inherited the bent towards music AND Kevin’s good looks he would have a better chance of making it in the industry. 

13 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Even lying ass up naked in bed I thought it was Justin Hartley.

14 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

When we first met the young man who is blind after thinking his ass was fine I thought he looked so much like Justin Hartley....I called him being an adult Jack half way through the episode. Great job with casting!!

Add me to the list who thought that was Kevin bare-assed in bed, and the empty bottles meant he was waking up from a drunk. That Jack Jr. should look more like an uncle than either of his parents is absurd. And it would be cool if one could be sure a child would look like handsome uncle instead of disgusting ugly dad, although I do not believe we have that option IRL. Heck, for all we know, Kevin IS baby Jack Jr.'s real dad. New twisty storyline, folks! Kevin made extra cash selling sperm to that in vitro clinic!

Check out the pic @spinxella posted; Jack Jr. looks more like Seth Meyers than mom or dad. He should have at least acquired his parents' tendency toward overeating if not their facial qualities. I'm positive he's Kevin's kid.

The whole Jack Jr. storyline confused me. First, he's blind and has an American Eskimo dog. Then he appears to be able to see, like his blindness has been cured, and he has something that resembles a Samoyed dog. WTH.

Thanks, show, for telling more people how to wear clothes and then return them so they can be sold to unsuspecting people who actually PAY for them.

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I'm trying to remember how old Kevin's 'son' is in the S3 finale. Could he be Cassidy's son (thus, Kevin's stepson if they do indeed get together)?

Cassidy’s son would be an older adolescent or 20/21 when we flash forward to the future. If Cassidy and Kevin get together that boy could well be their bio son together (he appeared to be 11-13 years old 15 years in the future). 

[ams1001]

5 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

The whole Jack Jr. storyline confused me. First, he's blind and has an American Eskimo dog. Then he appears to be able to see, like his blindness has been cured, and he has something that resembles a Samoyed dog. WTH.

The dog was a puppy in the beginning. When he and Lucy are in his room the first time, about to sleep together, it's early in the relationship, and the puppy is up on the chair by the wall. Then he gets down and it's a "time passes" cut to him crossing the room to where Jack and Lucy are already in the bed, and when he jumps up on the bed now he's full grown, and they've been together long enough to be getting engaged. So that whole scene in the bedroom was probably a year or two. (Not sure where he appears to be able to see in there, though. I didn't get that, except for the fact that I didn't figure out he was blind before he starts to clean up the broken plate. Which of course he had glued back together and framed because it's the reason he went out for breakfast which led to meeting the love of his life and he's Jack Pearson's grandson so how could he do anything else.)

[tennisgurl]

Jack Jr. looks quite a bit like Kevin with a bit of Toby in him, I can certainly see how he could be their son. Him faking a panic attack giving his future wife almost a damn heart attack was the exact kind of awful joke that his dad would find hilarious, but his proposal was actually pretty cute. I would be totally down for an engagement involving an adorable dog in a dog tux and it was rather intimate, not some huge public gesture that Toby would probably engage in. 

I wonder what Jack Jrs relationship with his parents is like? I kind of wonder if Kate is jealous of him or resentful of his success in the field she dreamed of or his good looks. I would like to think that Kate would be above being resentful of her own son, but she has a tendency to be petty and mean towards people she thinks are prettier or more successful than her, especially her mom, so I do wonder. Maybe he reminds her enough of Jack and Kevin (or because he is a son not a daughter) that she will just be proud of him. She also seems to be closer to Rebecca lately, which is great to see. 

Rebecca's parents suck, but at least her dad has some kind of reason to hate Jack beyond snobbery like her mom. Granted, I dont think its a good reason (Rebecca has never seemed to care about living a country club lifestyle or being with someone who can give her that) but its better than "your poor thats gross" I guess. Or maybe its worse, considering he seems to be holding his service in Vietnam and his troubled family life against him, which is terribly unfair, especially how fast he was to bring up Vietnam. 

Loved seeing Jack and Miguel meeting, even with Miguel's questionable 70s fashion sense. I also thought it was an interesting beat where Miguel seems to feel...guilty? When Jack mentioned struggling to find work after getting back from Vietnam? Like knowing that he wasnt drafted when so many guys his age were, and who died or came back hurt mentally and physically, gave him a kind of survivors guilt for never getting called up, and thats one of the reasons he gave Jack a break with the jacket. Granted, we know Jacks number wasnt called up either, but thats a LONG story. Its an interesting character moment if I read it right.