This Is Us. Season 3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story line is just is pulling these two down the rabbit hole. It started out ridiculous — the Beth character we know would have put a stop to Randal running for a hard-working, low-paying, elected position in another state 2-3 hours away. Even if we pretend it was possible, Beth would have called BS before this ball got rolling. Ok, now that it’s going, Beth would be onboard. Sure, she’d bitch and moan, but she’d be the supportive partner, including taking care of the children and house. She’d rediscover love of dance as a small side and volunteer gig. It would help her deal with Randal’s nonsense. FF to a work dinner conflict scenerio and there’s no way the Randal character that we know would leave that suicide voice mail on Beth’s phone. It’s too contrived, even for a work of fiction.

I completely agree- it was such a stupid plot line to begin with with its stupidity compounded weekly. When Kate becomes my favorite of the Big 3, something is seriously wrong.

The Randall as councilman story line should never have gotten beyond one or two episodes unless both he and Beth were fully committed, planned to move the family, Beth would be primary caretaker, etc. But Randal taking any job that’s low pay, requires a lot of face time and extra hours and is 2-3 hours away? With a teen they just adopted last month? It’s just beyond what the writers can expect us to pretend.

[Anonymous]

Who takes care of Randall's family when he and Beth are in CA with Kate/Toby/new baby Jack? When I leave to go out of town, there is so much planning involved and my retired mother lives close by. Aren't we (moms) the target demographic for this show? It's not believable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who takes care of Randall's family when he and Beth are in CA with Kate/Toby/new baby Jack? When I leave to go out of town, there is so much planning involved and my retired mother lives close by. Aren't we (moms) the target demographic for this show? It's not believable.

Agree! I think we all agree on this one. Just a stupid storyline. So that future scene with Beth commenting from above a dance class in a large space, I think they have moved to the city, she’s got her own (lucrative) dance school to support Randall’s superhero politician complex, Tess is a social worker that carries on the savior business, and what else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who takes care of Randall's family when he and Beth are in CA with Kate/Toby/new baby Jack? When I leave to go out of town, there is so much planning involved and my retired mother lives close by. Aren't we (moms) the target demographic for this show? It's not believable.

Agree! I think we all agree on this one. Just a stupid storyline. So that future scene with Beth commenting from above a dance class in a large space, I think they have moved to the city, she’s got her own (lucrative) dance school to support Randall’s superhero politician complex, Tess is a social worker that carries on the savior business, and what else?

Annie is in Hollywood trying to make it with her connections through Uncle Kevin.

I think Beth's sister who lives in the city may be the one taking on the care of the girls while they are with Kate. For the bachelor/bachelorette weekend, it was Rebecca and Miguel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story line is just is pulling these two down the rabbit hole. It started out ridiculous — the Beth character we know would have put a stop to Randal running for a hard-working, low-paying, elected position in another state 2-3 hours away. Even if we pretend it was possible, Beth would have called BS before this ball got rolling. Ok, now that it’s going, Beth would be onboard. Sure, she’d bitch and moan, but she’d be the supportive partner, including taking care of the children and house. She’d rediscover love of dance as a small side and volunteer gig. It would help her deal with Randal’s nonsense. FF to a work dinner conflict scenerio and there’s no way the Randal character that we know would leave that suicide voice mail on Beth’s phone. It’s too contrived, even for a work of fiction.

Agreed. The whole elected position being 2-3 hours away (in a different state?!) is so ludicrous. Commuting that far every day? No way. And I'm all for Beth "following her bliss," but it does seem really spiteful to use being a dance teacher as the hill she's going to die on to get back at Randall. Come on. As you say, she could manage to teach only during the days, or on the weekends. It's become so DUMB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m even angrier with Randall after this episode.

Not me. I think Beth is fully wrong and being selfish with the evening dance class stuff.

But overall agree it is a stupid storyline that doesn’t fit either character.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know...they were definitely unlikable and unrealistic but I didn't hate the episode. It was called the waiting room and it seems to signal a shift in all their lives as they wait.

Miguel may be about to find his place in the family (being the one who had the phone number and tried to play dad). Rebecca is clearly physically heading in a bad direction. Kevin and Kevin/Zoe is at a crossroads, as are Randall and crew. And life or death for baby Jack and them.

They're a waiting for setting wonderful or something horrible, and we are waiting along with them. 4 more episodes to get this all wrapped up, and this one was just setting the scene for what's next and how it all comes together.

Re: Rebecca, I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed this. At first I thought they were setting up clues that she might be starting to experience early-onset Alzheimer's or dementia, with her random musings about the waiting room. But then she related all of that back to being in the waiting room with Jack the night he died. I don't know though, it kind of seemed like she was very frail and perhaps not in great health.

I thought this too

It wouldn't be very early onset. She's 68 or 69 at this point. She got pregnant at 30 and the triplets are 38 + now.

That popped into my mind because her memories were oddly precise and detailed.

Well no, small but vivid details are part and parcel of traumatic memories.

But it was perplexing for another reason, because it sounded like she drove him to the ER "for his burns" and then they hung around waiting in the ER waiting room forever. I may have misheard it.

I don't quite get the "frailty" business. This woman has had trauma in her life: losing one of her babies, hiding her relationship with Randall's father, the years when Jack was an alcoholic, the horrific way she lost him, her conflicted relationship with Kate, learning about her husband's hidden brother, the obvious risks with the baby due to Kate's obesity, now the critical medical situation. I can totally see her sitting there with this accumulation of life pain and being terrified what might happen to her daughter and granddaughter.

My DH died 15 years ago and was ill for a long time before that. There are many random details I remember from his last hospitalization (almost 300 miles from home). I took pics of the ICU where he died and when they got developed I immediately stashed them away because they were so upsetting, didn't look at them for 10 years and they still hit me in the gut, as to other bits and pieces of his illness. Going into the local hospital where he had many stays, whether to visit or for my own medical stuff, was also hard for years until they did major remodeling so it was less familiar.

Remembering stuff like that in certain situations is NOT a sign of dementia!

I think you're misunderstanding. I'm the PP who brought it up first (bolded). I said it *seemed* like they might be setting up a storyline for Rebecca that would explore possible dementia - but THEN she related it all back to her time in the hospital with Jack. In other words, it was clear that she wasn't suffering from dementia after all. It just seemed like it at first because she was making (what seemed to be) random musings about unrelated things. But they turned out to be related after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know...they were definitely unlikable and unrealistic but I didn't hate the episode. It was called the waiting room and it seems to signal a shift in all their lives as they wait.

Miguel may be about to find his place in the family (being the one who had the phone number and tried to play dad). Rebecca is clearly physically heading in a bad direction. Kevin and Kevin/Zoe is at a crossroads, as are Randall and crew. And life or death for baby Jack and them.

They're a waiting for setting wonderful or something horrible, and we are waiting along with them. 4 more episodes to get this all wrapped up, and this one was just setting the scene for what's next and how it all comes together.

Re: Rebecca, I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed this. At first I thought they were setting up clues that she might be starting to experience early-onset Alzheimer's or dementia, with her random musings about the waiting room. But then she related all of that back to being in the waiting room with Jack the night he died. I don't know though, it kind of seemed like she was very frail and perhaps not in great health.

I thought this too

It wouldn't be very early onset. She's 68 or 69 at this point. She got pregnant at 30 and the triplets are 38 + now.

That popped into my mind because her memories were oddly precise and detailed.

Well no, small but vivid details are part and parcel of traumatic memories.

But it was perplexing for another reason, because it sounded like she drove him to the ER "for his burns" and then they hung around waiting in the ER waiting room forever. I may have misheard it.

I don't quite get the "frailty" business. This woman has had trauma in her life: losing one of her babies, hiding her relationship with Randall's father, the years when Jack was an alcoholic, the horrific way she lost him, her conflicted relationship with Kate, learning about her husband's hidden brother, the obvious risks with the baby due to Kate's obesity, now the critical medical situation. I can totally see her sitting there with this accumulation of life pain and being terrified what might happen to her daughter and granddaughter.

My DH died 15 years ago and was ill for a long time before that. There are many random details I remember from his last hospitalization (almost 300 miles from home). I took pics of the ICU where he died and when they got developed I immediately stashed them away because they were so upsetting, didn't look at them for 10 years and they still hit me in the gut, as to other bits and pieces of his illness. Going into the local hospital where he had many stays, whether to visit or for my own medical stuff, was also hard for years until they did major remodeling so it was less familiar.

Remembering stuff like that in certain situations is NOT a sign of dementia!

Her reminiscence bugged me because he wasn’t burned, he had inhaled smoke, and no one brought to a hospital via ambulance from a fire will be put in a waiting room.

It might be worth watching the fire episode again. I thought they took him to the hospital to get the burns on his hands looked at, and while he was there he went into cardiac arrest from his lungs being swollen from the smoke. It was such a shock because they thought the only issue was the hands. That's my memory at least.

And he was in a room but she was in the waiting room. I now can't remember from last week's episode but did she say he was in the waiting room with her?

This is correct.
-DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was also bored by this episode and questioning if I even liked the show.

So Sophie is back next week? Ugh. I don't like her either, lol.

I hated last week's episode so much that I haven't made time to watch this week's episode. I was reading this thread to see if I should even bother. I guess not.

I thought this week's episode was only slightly better than last week's. Jack and Rebecca talking for what seemed like hours at the school dance was SO BORING.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know...they were definitely unlikable and unrealistic but I didn't hate the episode. It was called the waiting room and it seems to signal a shift in all their lives as they wait.

Miguel may be about to find his place in the family (being the one who had the phone number and tried to play dad). Rebecca is clearly physically heading in a bad direction. Kevin and Kevin/Zoe is at a crossroads, as are Randall and crew. And life or death for baby Jack and them.

They're a waiting for setting wonderful or something horrible, and we are waiting along with them. 4 more episodes to get this all wrapped up, and this one was just setting the scene for what's next and how it all comes together.

Re: Rebecca, I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed this. At first I thought they were setting up clues that she might be starting to experience early-onset Alzheimer's or dementia, with her random musings about the waiting room. But then she related all of that back to being in the waiting room with Jack the night he died. I don't know though, it kind of seemed like she was very frail and perhaps not in great health.

I thought this too

It wouldn't be very early onset. She's 68 or 69 at this point. She got pregnant at 30 and the triplets are 38 + now.

That popped into my mind because her memories were oddly precise and detailed.

Well no, small but vivid details are part and parcel of traumatic memories.

But it was perplexing for another reason, because it sounded like she drove him to the ER "for his burns" and then they hung around waiting in the ER waiting room forever. I may have misheard it.

I don't quite get the "frailty" business. This woman has had trauma in her life: losing one of her babies, hiding her relationship with Randall's father, the years when Jack was an alcoholic, the horrific way she lost him, her conflicted relationship with Kate, learning about her husband's hidden brother, the obvious risks with the baby due to Kate's obesity, now the critical medical situation. I can totally see her sitting there with this accumulation of life pain and being terrified what might happen to her daughter and granddaughter.

My DH died 15 years ago and was ill for a long time before that. There are many random details I remember from his last hospitalization (almost 300 miles from home). I took pics of the ICU where he died and when they got developed I immediately stashed them away because they were so upsetting, didn't look at them for 10 years and they still hit me in the gut, as to other bits and pieces of his illness. Going into the local hospital where he had many stays, whether to visit or for my own medical stuff, was also hard for years until they did major remodeling so it was less familiar.

Remembering stuff like that in certain situations is NOT a sign of dementia!

Her reminiscence bugged me because he wasn’t burned, he had inhaled smoke, and no one brought to a hospital via ambulance from a fire will be put in a waiting room.

It might be worth watching the fire episode again. I thought they took him to the hospital to get the burns on his hands looked at, and while he was there he went into cardiac arrest from his lungs being swollen from the smoke. It was such a shock because they thought the only issue was the hands. That's my memory at least.

And he was in a room but she was in the waiting room. I now can't remember from last week's episode but did she say he was in the waiting room with her?

This is correct.
-DP

The medical personnel on the scene and at the hospital would have been concerned about smoke inhalation, regardless. He would not have been in a waiting room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Sophie is part of Kevin's 12 step program. Don't they have to apologize or something?
I'd like to think they've moved on, and she certainly is better off.

It felt final to me. That last scene of her snuggling with her fiancé in bed looking really happy. It gave me the impression that she’s where she will stay.

+1
And I liked Kevin's gesture of buying them Billy Joel tickets as an engagement present. They each seem happy with their respective partners, yet still fond of one another. I just think Kevin's making a mistake re: having kids. I think he really does want to have children and at some point, this will be a big wedge with Zoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story line is just is pulling these two down the rabbit hole. It started out ridiculous — the Beth character we know would have put a stop to Randal running for a hard-working, low-paying, elected position in another state 2-3 hours away. Even if we pretend it was possible, Beth would have called BS before this ball got rolling. Ok, now that it’s going, Beth would be onboard. Sure, she’d bitch and moan, but she’d be the supportive partner, including taking care of the children and house. She’d rediscover love of dance as a small side and volunteer gig. It would help her deal with Randal’s nonsense. FF to a work dinner conflict scenerio and there’s no way the Randal character that we know would leave that suicide voice mail on Beth’s phone. It’s too contrived, even for a work of fiction.

Agreed. The whole elected position being 2-3 hours away (in a different state?!) is so ludicrous. Commuting that far every day? No way. And I'm all for Beth "following her bliss," but it does seem really spiteful to use being a dance teacher as the hill she's going to die on to get back at Randall. Come on. As you say, she could manage to teach only during the days, or on the weekends. It's become so DUMB.

I hope all the people complaining about the councilman storyline being ludicrous are not the same people who told us Pittsburgh people to stop critiquing every inconsistency with Pittsburgh geography/history.

See, the Pittsburgh inconsistencies was just the canary in the coal mine regarding how much the show's writers want us to suspend disbelief. We tried to warn yinz!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story line is just is pulling these two down the rabbit hole. It started out ridiculous — the Beth character we know would have put a stop to Randal running for a hard-working, low-paying, elected position in another state 2-3 hours away. Even if we pretend it was possible, Beth would have called BS before this ball got rolling. Ok, now that it’s going, Beth would be onboard. Sure, she’d bitch and moan, but she’d be the supportive partner, including taking care of the children and house. She’d rediscover love of dance as a small side and volunteer gig. It would help her deal with Randal’s nonsense. FF to a work dinner conflict scenerio and there’s no way the Randal character that we know would leave that suicide voice mail on Beth’s phone. It’s too contrived, even for a work of fiction.

Agreed. The whole elected position being 2-3 hours away (in a different state?!) is so ludicrous. Commuting that far every day? No way. And I'm all for Beth "following her bliss," but it does seem really spiteful to use being a dance teacher as the hill she's going to die on to get back at Randall. Come on. As you say, she could manage to teach only during the days, or on the weekends. It's become so DUMB.

I hope all the people complaining about the councilman storyline being ludicrous are not the same people who told us Pittsburgh people to stop critiquing every inconsistency with Pittsburgh geography/history.

See, the Pittsburgh inconsistencies was just the canary in the coal mine regarding how much the show's writers want us to suspend disbelief. We tried to warn yinz!

Yes! Pps were being a bunch of jagoffs when they ignored our early observations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[
See, the Pittsburgh inconsistencies was just the canary in the coal mine regarding how much the show's writers want us to suspend disbelief. We tried to warn yinz!

Bwa!

They needed to sever our grasp of reality so "lucrative dance studio" (see above) could be a thing.

[Anonymous]

I'm so distracted trying to figure out how Randall & Beth are suddenly having so many issues, that I can't concentrate on the other story lines!! Now it's an issue of not having money & the girls needing Beth. Say what?? They spend money on the most frivolous things. They fly out to see Kate & stay for four days with I'm sure last minute tickets. That can't be cheap. Who's watching the girls while they are gone? All of this drama about the girls being left alone, yet they don't explain who has them while they up and take off to see Kate. Why are they cleaning up after these teenage girls? Are they not old enough at this point to wash dishes and do some laundry?