S04.E01: Strangers

[NeenerNeener]

And yet again, the music on this shows just guts me.

[Blackie]

7 hours ago, Forsaken said:

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. 

Seriously the more I think about it the more it bugs me.  Aren't we all going to be dead by climate change by 2040?  If they wanted to have a blind adult character they could have had Kate bond with the man who mentors them on having a blind son, or something like that.  I think it will be too risky going into the future, it will seem  not different enough from now, or scifi.  I don't know how they can get around that.  

[JudyObscure]

5 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Jack Jr. (and I add "jr." to distinguish that character from Milo's character) appeared to be able to see in the proposal scene, where he took the bag from the dog's mouth.

And several different times she responded to him by smiling or nodding and he seemed to know exactly what was going on. 

I noticed the dog breed switch, too.  Heh.  Like having a Pomeranian grow up to be a Malamute.

Does anyone know if the baby is really blind?  I thought he was just looking at his mother as she stood just out of the shot like most baby actors do.

[Forsaken]

6 minutes ago, Blackie said:

Seriously the more I think about it the more it bugs me.  Aren't we all going to be dead by climate change by 2040?  If they wanted to have a blind adult character they could have had Kate bond with the man who mentors them on having a blind son, or something like that.  I think it will be too risky going into the future, it will seem  not different enough from now, or scifi.  I don't know how they can get around that.  

Well that's the other thing, why weren't they all in 3 inch thick UV protector suits or something? Why did life seem so casual? And why was the music so ordinary? When he took to the stage I thought maybe it was just one of those crappy talent shows. I think they have painted themselves into a corner on this one.

If they had of maybe left it at adult Jack Jr it may have still been ok-ish it was the other newbies as well which just made it all too much. 

[saber5055]

9 minutes ago, Forsaken said:

And why was the music so ordinary? When he took to the stage I thought maybe it was just one of those crappy talent shows.

It was AGT Season 493, which accounts for the crappy music and average singing.

[Libby96]

This show.  Even though the characters annoy me sometimes, it always manages to suck me in.  I don’t weep over it every week like some people swear they do, but I teared up a little toward the end when the doctor discussed Little Jack’s diagnosis with Toby and Kate.  Having sat in a doctor’s office before while my son receives a life altering diagnosis, the juxtaposition of this against the reveal of Baby Jack in the future was emotional for me.

[debraran]

I was tired when I watched the show and wondered if I missed why the young man was taking care of the baby and the mom wasn't mentioned? If not, maybe later.

I did rewatch the last 10 minutes to see the song again, really liked that.

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Except Jack II and Lucy may have been sitting in a self-driving car before his concert, since he was on the driver's side.  Or, they were in the back seat of an Uber discussing  baby plans with an invisible driver. I can't be sure, but driverless car would make sense.

 

 

I was thinking that, too. You could see the edge of a steering wheel, but I couldn't tell how close he actually was to it.

[ams1001]

24 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

I noticed the dog breed switch, too.  Heh.  Like having a Pomeranian grow up to be a Malamute.

Hey, they're both cute white floofs. What's the difference? 😛  

12 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

It was AGT Season 493, which accounts for the crappy music and average singing.

If that's the case, 87-year-old Simon Cowell would have stopped him mid-song and made him sing something else that he totally wasn't told to be prepared to sing.

9 minutes ago, debraran said:

I was tired when I watched the show and wondered if I missed why the young man was taking care of the baby and the mom wasn't mentioned? If not, maybe later.

No, they didn't mention the baby's mother.

[Ohiopirate02]

56 minutes ago, Forsaken said:

It is a misery driven show. Even when a character seemingly has it all like Randall and his wife they find little things to be miserable over like not being able to do ballet lessons as a kid. Oh woe is me! 

To be really honest here, if that were a male character there would not be anywhere near as much sympathy as there is now. The character would be explaining their actions to the police and there would be outrage online. It's a female though so it's all ok. 

Also it wasn't just the kid being hit. I think it was everything adding up and the husband could see she wasn't stable. 

If it had been a male character,  I would have the same reaction.  I'm pretty sure I have seen the exact same scene with the genders reversed in many a TV show or movie.  Complete with the whole "you don't understand what I went through " and "maybe I could if you would just talk to me" while the child is trying to get attention.   The show didn't do enough story-telling for me to see why this was the dad's last straw.   

[Mars477]

1 hour ago, Forsaken said:

It is a misery driven show. Even when a character seemingly has it all like Randall and his wife they find little things to be miserable over like not being able to do ballet lessons as a kid. Oh woe is me! 

To be really honest here, if that were a male character there would not be anywhere near as much sympathy as there is now. The character would be explaining their actions to the police and there would be outrage online. It's a female though so it's all ok. 

Also it wasn't just the kid being hit. I think it was everything adding up and the husband could see she wasn't stable. 

There are a lot more depictions of male veterans dealing with PTSD in media than there are with female veterans, so this is unlikely.

[Eureka]

2 hours ago, JenE4 said:

The soldier’s husband had his wedding ring on his right hand the whole show, so obviously there’s no one on set “fact checking” details like that.

I noticed that too. I always notice stuff like that. If a fictional child’s eye colors don’t match what their fictional parents can biologically produce, I will mention it ad nauseum to my family, lol. Stuff like that bugs me in tv/movies.

[BoogieBurns]

6 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Matthison looks great but he's a bit old to play Rebecca's father in that time line.  I'm assuming that is because we're going to see him in the later time lines with the kids as young kids and or teens in the future.
 

But so handsome!

[PRgal]

I just realized this.  Jack II is like five or six months old now, right?  This means...Lucy might not even exist yet.  Or if she does, she’s a frozen embryo in some fertility clinic...

[sara416]

7 hours ago, Eureka said:

He was rubbing his left arm/shoulder in the car. I said to DS that he's going to have a heart attack this season. (My conjecture only, I don't know a thing.)

My guess is something about the opiate epidemic. He's going to need surgery or something, be given painkillers, somehow this will end up tying into the kid's dip into the drug trade. 

[LaJefaza]

2 hours ago, Forsaken said:

To be really honest here, if that were a male character there would not be anywhere near as much sympathy as there is now. The character would be explaining their actions to the police and there would be outrage online. It's a female though so it's all ok.

Respectfully disagree. I definitely don't think too many would be that up in arms over what looked to be an accidental knock,  (I could be wrong but it didn't look to me like she intended to hit him,) even if it were a man. It looked to me as if she was just trying to yank her arm away and accidentally hit him. I just don't see people making that big of a fuss over it because for most of us growing up (and that child was certainly no toddler), yelling for a parent who is in the middle of a conversation with another adult, continuing to do so even after being told to hold on, and then proceeding to yank on said parent who is still in the middle of a tense conversation, would at the very least have gotten us told off. She was under extreme mental pressure and her son unfortunately added to it at that moment. I am in NO WAY advocating for a child to be socked in the mouth for disobedience or for being annoying, I'm just saying that people would probably have been just as understanding if it were a male soldier who snapped at that moment and made a mistake. That frustration was understandable, regardless of gender. And from what I've seen, people are WAY less understanding of a mother who loses control on her kid than of a father, ESPECIALLY if he's a vet.

[Booklady1017]

23 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

The blind guy is Jack Jr! 

Well at least we know he has a great life and a successful music career. His dog in the tuxedo proposal was adorable.

Rebeca's dad is a jerk. God save us from the rich meddling overprotective dad trope. It's really old.

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

I had a feeling Jack the namesake was a future person before he was revealed but I thought it was Kevin’s unnamed son first. I also thought Malik who Deja ended meeting and have a crush on was being raised by his grandparents and that baby was his sister. When I saw some other information including the lengths he was willing to go to help his daughter, I realized those were his parents and not his sister but daughter. 

[Booklady1017]

23 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Well...that was a big fat pile of meh. 

I can't say I really cared about the connections of the new characters. However, it did end up better than I thought it would be.

But my biggest issue, besides all the big issues with having too much focus on the new characters, was WHY THEY DIDN'T CAST A BLIND ACTOR.

ETA: I stand corrected on Jack Junior's actor not being legally blind so please ignore my ignorance.

I just wish they didn’t take so long to reveal their connections to the Big 3, they lost me a little there.

23 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Jack being the blind guy was the biggest surprise, by which I mean I figured it out about a minute before the reveal. Also, completely forgot what Toby's last name was. Figured Jennifer Morrison was going to be a Nicky/Kevin's person thing and teen father being in Randall's neighborhood but not the Deja crush thing. That teenage father looks younger than he is. Genuinely thought he was 12 when he first showed up. 

I smiled far too much to see Jack meet Miguel. I knew he had to meet him after he met Rebecca since he had a different friend when he almost robbed the store, but still. Wasn't expecting to see him.

I think I'll like the newbies more once they get integrated into the story. As it is, they're all okay to likable.

Nope. Random guy.

I’m excited to finally find out how Miguel and Jack met.

[Crs97]

13 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

I had the same exact thoughts and really wanted her to remind him she was off duty!

I don’t know if I can hang in with the Jack Jr. story, especially since I have this nagging suspicion his blindness will become fodder for inspiration porn.  Kate will make all these speeches about her son and limits - “how dare you treat my son like he has a disability!” and “he doesn’t have to see light; he is the light” - that people seem to love.   At some point someone will just have to tell her that she is an inspiration and super mom and they couldn’t do what she is doing, and I may break the television.  Show runners, can I let you know now?  We who live it hate inspiration porn and roll our eyes when we get ridiculous compliments for being parents.  

[Booklady1017]

23 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Jack being the blind guy was the biggest surprise, by which I mean I figured it out about a minute before the reveal. Also, completely forgot what Toby's last name was. Figured Jennifer Morrison was going to be a Nicky/Kevin's person thing and teen father being in Randall's neighborhood but not the Deja crush thing. That teenage father looks younger than he is. Genuinely thought he was 12 when he first showed up. 

I smiled far too much to see Jack meet Miguel. I knew he had to meet him after he met Rebecca since he had a different friend when he almost robbed the store, but still. Wasn't expecting to see him.

I think I'll like the newbies more once they get integrated into the story. As it is, they're all okay to likable.

Nope. Random guy.

I thought Malik looked really young. I wonder how old the actor is in real life. 

23 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.

Thanks for sharing the article and I liked the actor and the singing.

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

I thought Malik looked really young. I wonder how old the actor is in real life. 

He's 17, apparently.

[Kdawg82]

I thought it was a great premier. I love the past/present/future relations. That's why I watch. I teared up again so that's every episode ever made of this show so far that has had me tearing (I THINK...unless maybe just one ep being an exception). I was wondering if Kevin will hook up with the Afghanistan veteran lady? Would be an interesting twist. Since Kevin basically "adopted" Nicky as his own "project," I guess that arc will be all about Kevin.  

Looking forward to the season. 

[Booklady1017]

On 9/24/2019 at 10:35 PM, kili said:

The car the teen's father was working on (the one where the woman couldn't pay) had a Pearson bumper sticker. So, the service station appears to be in or near  Randall's district.

That was a big clue to Malik’s story.

[Ohmo]

I'm skimming through this thread and will have to come back later and do my reactions to various posts, but I agree with those struggling to figure out what this means for them as viewers.  I'm most interested in Jack Jr. and Lucy, with Malik and his daughter also capturing my attention a bit, but this episode also left me with such a sense of fatigue.

This show already has so many existing characters and storylines that it's difficult enough to keep up with.  I'm not sure that I'm all in for adding more, even if I do like some of them.

Count me among those who thought that the actor who plays Jack Jr. had to be tied to Kevin,  His resemblance to Justin is strong.

[Scarlett45]

4 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I think I missed it but how do we know Kevin ends up with the soldier ? I know they showed him with a white kid last season but isn’t he still dating Beth’s cousin ? Couldn’t they have adopted a kid ? I know I probably missed something 

No they broke up. Zoe is childfree and Kevin isn’t. Major incompatibility, so she ended things so he wouldn’t resent her. 

[Forsaken]

9 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

It came off as ugly to me for a couple reasons.  Daddy recognized Jack as a good man and said so, yet threw it in his face that he was haunted or whatever word he used.  Maybe this is meant to hint at the poor reception Vietnam vets got when they came back.  Jack was maybe a little quick to air his family's dirty laundry to his new girlfriend's parents, but I think Daddy was putting the kibosh on a guy who didn't have the right pedigree.  I think Rebecca is in for a new view of the father she seems to adore.

I really liked their meeting, too.  I didn't take it so much as survivor's guilt (though could have been a factor) as a look at Miguel's innate compassionate nature.  He couldn't have been making tons of money in retail himself, he could relate to not affording the jacket. 

What's the bet we will see the often used trope of the rich family trying to pay the unsuited lover to move on? Correct me if I am wrong too here but we haven't seen much of Rebecca's family? 

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

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.

It's a rather old fashioned way of picking someone up. Like the old stories you hear where the man just keeps asking the woman out, keeps getting shot down until she says yes. Or he starts to stalk her, shows up in places she frequents. An odd thing to show in this TV show especially 20 plus years into the future. 

Then again she stayed and as we see, she likes him.

3 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

If it had been a male character,  I would have the same reaction.  I'm pretty sure I have seen the exact same scene with the genders reversed in many a TV show or movie.  Complete with the whole "you don't understand what I went through " and "maybe I could if you would just talk to me" while the child is trying to get attention.   The show didn't do enough story-telling for me to see why this was the dad's last straw.   

It was something I picked up from the moment she got home. That first dinner they have is rather telling. There is this expectation that she will just be like she was before going to war but she isn't. The husband doesn't understand and the military appears to not have counselled her or anything else to help her re-adjust. 

Everyone is ill-equipped to handle what has happened.

[Booklady1017]

23 hours ago, chocolatine said:

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.

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

I’m over the young Rebecca and Jack dating scenes but I was happy to see how Miguel and Jack net. I was hoping to see Kate and Toby in the audience when Jack Jr. performed.

[Crs97]

10 minutes ago, Forsaken said:

There is this expectation that she will just be like she was before going to war but she isn't. The husband doesn't understand and the military appears to not have counselled her or anything else to help her re-adjust. 

I have been on the outside to see this happen several times with friends’ extended families.  One thing that seemed to be constant among their stories was that those who wanted a career in the military refused counseling lest needing it be used as a factor against them in determining promotions.

One woman was in a moms group, and we prayed for her brother-in-law each week during the Afghan war.  When he finally came home safely, we all celebrated a Sunday mass in thanksgiving for him.  I had never met him before but found myself behind the family, and I could tell then that there was something very “off” about him (for lack of a better word).  Within six months my friend reported in tears that her sister was falling apart from the stress to the family.  He refused counseling, saying his men needed him to lead, not be distracted. It was heartbreaking.  I find myself hoping Kevin’s role is helping this family get back together, not get Cassidy for himself.

[Pallas]

4 hours ago, Forsaken said:

To be really honest here, if that were a male character there would not be anywhere near as much sympathy as there is now.

There's a male character with PTSD who, while high, took a child out on a boat to play with dynamite. He's been welcomed into the family. 

[bybrandy]

4 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I noticed the dog breed switch, too.  Heh.  Like having a Pomeranian grow up to be a Malamute.

Somebody totally switched his puppy a the dog park one day and he didn't notice.  Blind superstar problems.

[Kirkydee]

One thing I wondered from the end of last year that no one has brought up.

Randall and Beth downsizing from Alpine and moving to Philly.  People from Philly last year were speculating where the family would move and what type of schools the girls would go to.  Deja being in the same running circles, both geographically and socioeconomically with teen dad and his crew seems VERY UN RANDALL. I'm not saying the girls should be bubble wrapped from everything Philly.  But it seemed that Deja was just coming in from walking distance from the BBQ.  

If there's some stress between R and B and potential new beau, would the move out of the safe confines of Alpine be brought up? Will there be more conflict between them? 

[Marley]

This episode was so lame until maybe the end but even that was meh. 

Blind guy is Jack not a big surprise. His music sounded annoying.

I don’t care about Déjà so def don’t care about her love life. That teen father looks like he’s 10 lol.

Too much of the new ppl. I want to see the main cast!

[ChattyCathyLA]

11 hours ago, saber5055 said:

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.

I thought it was a white Pomeranian.  LOL  A Samoyed puppy would not be that small.  

[ItCouldBeWorse]

6 hours ago, AriAu said:

Quote

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.)

Maybe Lucy, the love of his life put it back together, not him. But yes, he is Jack Pearson's grandson, so grand gestures are a thing.

Possible, but he must have prophetically held onto the pieces for a while until they were a sure thing as a couple.  I sure hope he wore gloves when he washed all those shards.

I also have to wonder if he had ever met Lucy before.  If not, he fell for her based on her serving him and an overheard conversation she had with a co-worker?  Does he hit on any age-appropriate-sounding woman he comes across?

Edited September 26, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[methodwriter85]

I know that we have Tess as a lesbian, but I was kind of hoping they'd make Jack II gay, because I'm fascinated at how exactly a Pearson romance would look like between two men. Like can you even do the chivalry thing when it's two guys?

[Forsaken]

1 hour ago, Pallas said:

There's a male character with PTSD who, while high, took a child out on a boat to play with dynamite. He's been welcomed into the family. 

That was due to his own stupidity really. Also when I talk of acceptance I am not referring to the family in the show. More the viewers. I find the Nicky character and the way the family crusade around him annoying. 

1 hour ago, Crs97 said:

I have been on the outside to see this happen several times with friends’ extended families.  One thing that seemed to be constant among their stories was that those who wanted a career in the military refused counseling lest needing it be used as a factor against them in determining promotions.

One woman was in a moms group, and we prayed for her brother-in-law each week during the Afghan war.  When he finally came home safely, we all celebrated a Sunday mass in thanksgiving for him.  I had never met him before but found myself behind the family, and I could tell then that there was something very “off” about him (for lack of a better word).  Within six months my friend reported in tears that her sister was falling apart from the stress to the family.  He refused counseling, saying his men needed him to lead, not be distracted. It was heartbreaking.  I find myself hoping Kevin’s role is helping this family get back together, not get Cassidy for himself.

Yeah, I work in an emergency response type role and it is exactly like that. You feel if you accept help or appear weak your job will be on the line. Also, unless someone has experienced the same environment and situations as yourself it's not that easy to talk about anything and even harder to feel understood. 

[Forsaken]

48 minutes ago, Marley said:

This episode was so lame until maybe the end but even that was meh. 

Blind guy is Jack not a big surprise. His music sounded annoying.

I don’t care about Déjà so def don’t care about her love life. That teen father looks like he’s 10 lol.

Too much of the new ppl. I want to see the main cast!

Same with me 100%. Blind Jack's music is ordinary, kind of like what someone might come up with if they didn't know anything about music. 

Deja bores me as well and seems to be another excuse for Randall to play super man. And yeah that teen father, I read on here the actor is 17 but still he could pass for 10. 

Also given all the drama in the lead up to the finale last season it just seemed like an anti climax to introduce all of these new characters at once. Sure, we see that the baby ends up fine (ok legally blind but you know what I mean), but with all the other boring newbies it just seemed cluttered.

[MBayGal]

11 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Because if we just call him Jack there will issues where people don't know if we're talking about Jack or Jack...   

11 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Because if we just call him Jack there will issues where people don't know if we're talking about Jack or Jack...   

We could call them Blind Jack and Dead Jack

[JKL845]

Jack Jr. & Lucy's relationship really raced by. Maybe Jack Jr. is friends with the headliner and was allowed to do an opening song as a favor? 

Didn't Cassidy's husband mention her driving drunk? How could he then send her back out on the roads? He should have told her to go to their room until she could get herself under control, maybe this was the last straw for him but they should have shown more of their struggles. I guess they still might in flashbacks since this is only the first episode. Maybe Cassidy and Uncle Nick get together. 

I enjoyed seeing Jack and Miguel meeting. When Miguel asked about Jack's date, I was thinking, Jack saying something like "you'll see, she's so great, she's going to be OUR wife" haha. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

10 hours ago, Booklady1017 said:

When I saw some other information including the lengths he was willing to go to help his daughter, I realized those were his parents and not his sister but daughter. 

The writers purposely gave Malik the line: "You know, Grandma said not to wake you up, but Daddy trumps Grandma, doesn't he?" so we would realize that he was Janelle's dad and that the woman downstairs was her grandmother.

Edited September 26, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, JenE4 said:

The soldier’s husband had his wedding ring on his right hand the whole show, so obviously there’s no one on set “fact checking” details like that.

That didn't bother me. Not everyone wears their wedding rings on their left hand. Maybe he's left  handed so he prefers to wear it on his right hand. Maybe he started out wearing it on his left hand and  then gained/lost weight and it fits better on his right hand now. Maybe he just likes wearing it on his right hand. Just because it's more traditional to wear it on the left hand doesn't mean that everyone does.

[Tabbygirl521]

4 hours ago, Booklady1017 said:

I had a feeling Jack the namesake was a future person before he was revealed but I thought it was Kevin’s unnamed son first. I also thought Malik who Deja ended meeting and have a crush on was being raised by his grandparents and that baby was his sister. When I saw some other information including the lengths he was willing to go to help his daughter, I realized those were his parents and not his sister but daughter. 

I was afraid at the end that Malik meeting Deja was also a flashback and that she would end up being the baby’s mom. 

[Violetgoblin6]

On 9/24/2019 at 11:22 PM, Domenicholas said:

I knew the new characters were going to tie into the old ones eventually, but I wished it wouldn't have taking so long to do so.

I guessed that that was Jack Jr. when he was shown in the promos, but I wasn't sure because I thought the future scenes were only fifteen years in the future (unless this is a further future scene). My mom asked why can't one of Jack's large extended family watch his kid; they live off of meddling in each other's lives.

Deja dating Malik has the potential to be cute...or annoying if it ends up in battles between self-righteous Randall and bratty Deja.

I'm excited to see Jennifer Morrison again, but I'm hoping she's Emma!Jennifer and not Cameron!Jennifer. And if she is Kevin's future baby mama I feel sorry for their kid since the Pearsons are already prone to alcoholism only to have an alcoholic mother as well.

Finally, since Malik and Lucy are both established to like cooking, I bet they either start a restaurant together, or Malik owns the diner Lucy works in.

Someone on Twitter posted a picture of Jack and Lucy in the diner and on the walls were framed pictures of a black family. One with a baby, I think? Might be his diner in the future...warm and homey. Probably does good burgers. Good call! 

Except Dan did say on ET Online that the Jack scenes are in LA (the Greek) so perhaps Malik moved west at some point? 

[GatorDeb]

6 hours ago, Eureka said:

I noticed that too. I always notice stuff like that. If a fictional child’s eye colors don’t match what their fictional parents can biologically produce, I will mention it ad nauseum to my family, lol. Stuff like that bugs me in tv/movies.

My husband wears his wedding ring on his right hand because his left hand ring finger knuckle is bigger than his right hand ring finger knuckle and rings on the left hand bug him.

Didn't quote the right post... but this in response to the ring being worn on the wrong finger.

Edited September 26, 2019 by GatorDeb

[debraran]

6 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

No they broke up. Zoe is childfree and Kevin isn’t. Major incompatibility, so she ended things so he wouldn’t resent her. 

Fogleman said his relationship with Cassie would be "complicated" and other adjectives like that. Some say Nicky is her dad, he has no past, hard to believe he never was with anyone. That would make them cousins which is still interesting. Years later his son is slightly older looking that her son but I think it was another kid because many years go by and it would be another "twist" which TIU likes. Or she doesn't know Nicky, he picked that window randomly and who knows? ☺️

Edited September 26, 2019 by debraran

[JudyObscure]

I think the show has veered too far off it's original group for me.  I never would have elected to follow a show about two veterans, with all the political stuff and frustration that enters my head when I think about  either Vietnam or the wars in the middle-east.  I really don't like it when shows assume I am all in favor of those wars and have nothing but unqualified admiration and gratitude for the people who  fight in them, particularly young mothers who you might think would feel a first responsibility to their child. I'm out.

[alexvillage]

18 hours ago, Bringonthedrama said:

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.

I don't see it as a "no big deal". The United States is still full of puritanism so offering child care for teen parents is a good step in keeping the kids in school. At this point all the data we have points out to people who finish high school have a better chance to find jobs - and yes, things are more nuanced specially with the corporate greed. 

I am all for having all types of support instead of shipping teenagers off to another hidden place and forcing them to put the kids up  for adoption, or a shotgun marriage, or anything that does not involve true support.

Like already mentioned, YAY! for representation.

Never cared for Jennifer Morrison and not interested of war stories. It has become a cliche to show PTSD plus social awareness of the damage we cause around the world. I don't think it is well done, and it always include the "those are not our values" when yes, invading places, colonizing, destroying their lives and leaving them with nothing have always been part of our values. I am not hopeful this time it will be different.

I was confused throughout the episode thinking that all the new character were in the future and trying to place them in the family context. I agree with those who said that dumping all of them at the same time did not work so well.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

. . . particularly young mothers who you might think would feel a first responsibility to their child. I'm out.

Often people enlist/join ROTC to pay for college before they have children and then owe a certain amount of time to the military.  Since she was in Intelligence, it's not unlikely that her education was paid for by the Marines.  Then, she fell in love, married, and had a child before being called back into service.  Not ideal at all, but possibly not avoidable unless she held off on having children for many years.

4 hours ago, Violetgoblin6 said:

Except Dan did say on ET Online that the Jack scenes are in LA (the Greek) so perhaps Malik moved west at some point? 

I think The Greek was just a venue available to them for shooting the concert.  For the purposes of the show, it's just an unnamed concert venue.

[JudyObscure]

36 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Often people enlist/join ROTC to pay for college before they have children and then owe a certain amount of time to the military.  Since she was in Intelligence, it's not unlikely that her education was paid for by the Marines.  Then, she fell in love, married, and had a child before being called back into service.  Not ideal at all, but possibly not avoidable unless she held off on having children for many years

All good reasons not to use the military as a college fund -- or at least hold off on having children.

Edited September 26, 2019 by JudyObscure

[JKL845]

Malik's daughter and baby Jack were born around the same time and both were in NICU. I wonder if it will tie together. I know Jack was in CA and Malik's daughter most likely in PA. Maybe the mother was in CA for some reason and went into early labor? Probably means nothing and won't be mentioned again, still curious.