Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a bunch of your are going to pick it apart, but I thought last night's was one of the best episodes of the season. How Nicky ruined the entire arc of his life is heartbreaking. I am curious to see where this goes from here.

It was heartbreaking, I agree. One thing I just couldn't understand about the incident in Vietnam is why he didn't grab the grenade and throw it out of the boat?? He just stared at it and then jumped off the boat - he didn't even try to grab the boy. It didn't make sense, considering he had previously been throwing grenades off with no problem. It dropped - so pick it up!!!

But still - devastating.

He probably froze in shock & fear.

I just think the grenade was rolling around in the boat and he couldn’t get hold of it. But I too wondered why he didn’t grab the boy and pull him out of the boat with him, shock or no shock. Maybe that’s where all the shame comes in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a bunch of your are going to pick it apart, but I thought last night's was one of the best episodes of the season. How Nicky ruined the entire arc of his life is heartbreaking. I am curious to see where this goes from here.

It was heartbreaking, I agree. One thing I just couldn't understand about the incident in Vietnam is why he didn't grab the grenade and throw it out of the boat?? He just stared at it and then jumped off the boat - he didn't even try to grab the boy. It didn't make sense, considering he had previously been throwing grenades off with no problem. It dropped - so pick it up!!!

But still - devastating.

He probably froze in shock & fear.

Anonymous wrote:I'm bored with Zoe--I wish Kevin would get rid of her.

I'm getting there as well. She has a very flat way of speaking that annoys me.

Anonymous wrote:The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

I can't believe how differently I feel about this. I completely understood why he cut his brother out after the incident with the little boy dying in Vietnam. Jack had spent his *entire* life protecting Nicky, helping him in any way possible, even following him to Vietnam to help him. Nicky didn't want any part of Jack's help, and made that abundantly clear. Jack couldn't put himself out emotionally like that anymore, so the boy dying was the catalyst that woke him up, so to speak, to the fact that Nicky couldn't be saved. It probably killed him to have to delete Nicky from his life entirely, but that was the only way he could handle it.

Anonymous wrote:I know a bunch of your are going to pick it apart, but I thought last night's was one of the best episodes of the season. How Nicky ruined the entire arc of his life is heartbreaking. I am curious to see where this goes from here.

It was heartbreaking, I agree. One thing I just couldn't understand about the incident in Vietnam is why he didn't grab the grenade and throw it out of the boat?? He just stared at it and then jumped off the boat - he didn't even try to grab the boy. It didn't make sense, considering he had previously been throwing grenades off with no problem. It dropped - so pick it up!!!

But still - devastating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

Me too -- and I'm glad for it. His character was already pissing me off because so many of his Grand Gestures are controlling and put himself in the center of everything. Nicky finally puts himself beyond being "saved" by Jack, and so Jack just gives up on him. Jack just doesn't know how to be close to flawed people whom he can't fix. I'm glad the show is stopping making him look like a eprfect hero.

Agreed. And what happens with Nicky helps to explain Jack’s battle with alcohol. He still carried the guilt of breaking ties with Nicky. I’m not positive of the timeline but it seems Jack started drinking around the last time he saw Nicky.

Nope. When he saw Nickey, he told Nicky he no longer drank when offered a beer. That’s why Jack was drinking hot chocolate. Jack’s battle with alcohol was because addiction was in his dna. His brother was an addict. His father was an addict and, his grandfather was an addict.

I'm bored with Zoe--I wish Kevin would get rid of her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

What Nicky did was terrible. No excuses for him.

I felt like the Jack-Nicky stuff gave me insight into why Jack was so invested in being perfect all the time. He must have known, deep inside, that he let Nicky down ... you could see he knew this in the scene after leaving the diner. Who knew so much could be said with a turn signal?

I see it a bit differently. What Nicky did was awful, yes, but it wasn't intentional. He was reckless and stupid but given that he was probably a teenager himself and serving in a war while battling his own mental health issues (due to being in the war), I think his actions are excusable under the circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

Me too -- and I'm glad for it. His character was already pissing me off because so many of his Grand Gestures are controlling and put himself in the center of everything. Nicky finally puts himself beyond being "saved" by Jack, and so Jack just gives up on him. Jack just doesn't know how to be close to flawed people whom he can't fix. I'm glad the show is stopping making him look like a eprfect hero.

Agreed. And what happens with Nicky helps to explain Jack’s battle with alcohol. He still carried the guilt of breaking ties with Nicky. I’m not positive of the timeline but it seems Jack started drinking around the last time he saw Nicky.

Anonymous wrote:The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

What Nicky did was terrible. No excuses for him.

I felt like the Jack-Nicky stuff gave me insight into why Jack was so invested in being perfect all the time. He must have known, deep inside, that he let Nicky down ... you could see he knew this in the scene after leaving the diner. Who knew so much could be said with a turn signal?

Anonymous wrote:The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

Me too -- and I'm glad for it. His character was already pissing me off because so many of his Grand Gestures are controlling and put himself in the center of everything. Nicky finally puts himself beyond being "saved" by Jack, and so Jack just gives up on him. Jack just doesn't know how to be close to flawed people whom he can't fix. I'm glad the show is stopping making him look like a eprfect hero.

The most recent episode really made me dislike Jack. Thus far he's been portrayed as the perfect dad and husband, heroic, putting others' needs ahead of himself - yet the way he treated his brother after the war was terrible. Nicky was reaching out and wanted to come clean to Jack and Jack wouldn't even let him finish speaking. Jack really didn't want anything to do with his old life, including his brother.

I suppose it just makes Jack's character more nuanced because it shows that not even he is decent and good to everyone all the time.

That was a beautifully performed episode. I enjoyed the light-hearted banter between the siblings at the beginning. We don't get to see to much interaction like that - it was good to see.

I'm really enjoying the development of Kevin's character. He seems to finally grow into his role of Jack's son - wanting to help everyone and I mean that in the best way.

Anonymous wrote:I want to know why Jack and Nick’s dad turned into a drunk jerk. He was shown as a nice dad when they were young and then an old a hole. I know it happened when the boys were still young. Am I missing something?

Alcoholism and likely depression. That's the case for a lot of bitter old drunks.

I want to know why Jack and Nick’s dad turned into a drunk jerk. He was shown as a nice dad when they were young and then an old a hole. I know it happened when the boys were still young. Am I missing something?