windom

So have Kate, Kevin, and Toby all relocated to the New York area? I could could see Kevin doing that, but how do Kate and Toby make money? I assume Toby had a full time job out in California.

jjcool

Agreed. They seemed to do nothing with it. It almost seemed like they takced it on, just so they could say that they did. Maybe they will do something with it in the future. I did note that Randall never mentioned calling Jesse when he knew that William's end was coming. Perhaps there is some conflict there to come?

mphtrilogy

Man, only one ep left this season?

Setting us up for a real tearjerker finale

hdnmickey

Nice to see O'Hare one more time if that is indeed it for him. But I can see him showing up again if Randall keeps exploring William's life. Loved Randall giving the finger to the company.

I could get into one of the current time line stories being that Kevin and Kate (as his assistant) making a movie with Ron Howard.

Looks like the dad's death may be a DUI on the way to try and catch up with the wife.

TGM

disappointed if Jack's death is ultimately due to a DUI. Seems too telegraphed for a show that likes to surprise you a little.

dex14

It is completely telegraphed. I'm hoping there is more too it.

Goldberg74

It'll probably a good samartin stop on the side of the road and he get's hit. He's got to be redeemed somehow and Kate just has the wrong impression of what happened to him.

Either way, it will be sad ep.

... but this week's ep was solid!

(... and the Ron Howard bit was great!)

stopgap

I am a fan of Kevin. And Ron Howard was special for me.

The topic of Jack. This is how I would do it:

He pulls over to help a woman that has a flat tire. She is weary as you can't trust people anymore. He is fixated on putting on the donut when a drunk driver plows into him.

Tox screens shows Jack was legally impaired.

Raul3

Yeah, there's no way Jack dies because of a DUI. He dies Jack style, helping someone/as a great person.

But Kate blames herself because of that last call.

hdnmickey

But that would make no sense if it was anything other than DUI. It wouldn't be logical for her to feel guilty about what was actually a random accident. But then not much has made sense with the Kate character lately.

dex14

If he's on his way to go see his wife, then yes, she would feel guilty.

stopgap

This legally impaired concept is only wishful thinking.

I saw the empty beer cans in the previews.

writer106

I noticed that too.

Obey The D

My wife absolutely adores this show. Really had no interest in it, but Thursday night I decided to give it a shot since all episodes are free on demand through my cable company. I liked it so much I've watched every episode already. The final shot of episode 2 is what hooked me. I looked over at my wife and said, "holy shit!".

Most of the actors do a great job, but Sterling K. Brown is on another level. The Memphis episode, as predictable as it was, had me a blubbering mess.

If my wife told me Alexandra Breckinridge was on this show I would have started watching it earlier.

Raul3

Next(this?) week is the season finale.

dex14

Yes.

DJariya

Tonight is the season finale



It was renewed for 36 more episodes (2 seasons) in January.

dotheDVDeed

So... re: finale...

What was THAT?

Did Miguel bury Jack in the backyard and steal his wife?

DJariya

Pretty low key finale for the most part, but that's alright. It was a very well made 1 hour of TV. So Jack and Rebecca's separation was essentially the big cliffhanger. The promo teasing the finale was a red herring with Jack driving drunk.

That argument between them was pretty intense though. Some great acting by Milo and Mandy.

Jack and Rebecca's "present" looks like it's around 1996. So we still don't know when he dies. There's 20 years left to cover.

I did like seeing some of the backstory on how Jack was a broke loser barely getting by until he met Rebecca. If I read that correctly, Jack and Rebecca were supposed to be teens since it took place around 1972.

Overall, a pretty solid season. Season 2 is always the hardest for a breakout hit show like this. We'll see what happens in 6 months.

GatorDeb

His father calls him a 28-year-old loser, so I'd guess.... 28 He had already been to Nam and back by the time they met each other.

I was so sure he was going to die this episode. Then it got me thinking... what if we don't find out how he dies until the last episode of the series??

Well this is interesting, Sterling K Brown is married to the African American mother who helps Jack out in raising Randall and tell him about hair and pool and has him over for playdates (Randall, not Jack).

Laertes

Okay, I'm glad other people are talking about ages. This is bothering me, and I'm probably being nerdy about it because I always calculate ages on shows like this...

Jack was 28 in 1972, when he met Rebecca. We know this from 1) Jack's Dad lamenting his unemployed 28 year old son, and 2) the wedding invitation Rebecca looks at, which says the wedding is in May 1972. It could be an invitation received in 1971 for a wedding in mid-1972, but I'll err on the younger side. That means Jack was born in 1944.

The kids, Jack, Kate, and Randall, were born in 1980. We know this because in the first episode, they were celebrating their 36th birthday, which presumably took place in the year it first aired, 2016.

This also means Jack was 36 in 1980, when the kids were born. It was implied, if I remember correctly, that he was 36 in the first episode. Part of that was that his being 36 years old led to the feeling the connection between these characters was that they were all born the same day, until we see the "twist" at the end of the first episode that it was two different eras.

The era we see in last night's episode, when Rebecca was singing in the band and Jack drove out to see her, is, I'm estimating 1996 or 1997. We know this because we saw the kids in their mid to later teens a few episodes ago when Rebecca is thinking of going and when she is leaving, and Rebecca mentions ER being on TV, which would make it 1994 at the earliest, (if I remember my TV shows correctly), but the kids look older than 14, I think from what we saw a few episodes ago.

Jack says something about her being "40" in, let's say it's 1996, when they are fighting after they get home after she leaves the touring gig. Jack says something about her being pathetic being a failed 40-year old singer or something.... He could be approximating, but let's say she's 40. So she was born in 1956. So she's 60 or 61 in the present day. Okay, so far.

Do we think she's 12 years younger than Jack? Is she supposed to be?

That means when she met Jack in 1972, she was 16? That makes no sense. So "40" must be an approximation, right? She had to be at least 18 to 20 when she was getting rejected by record companies and accepting the set up with "Ethan." I would say, ideally from a storytelling perspective, she should be older than that, really, if she's justifiably jaded already.

That also means that when they are fighting after her leaving the touring gig at the bar, if it is 1996 in that era, Jack is 52. I don't think Jack looks 52 there.

All to say, if timelines don't work for me on shows like this, I get weirdly obsessed about it, obviously.... That's all.

Geofferson

Agreed, low-key season finale last night but I liked it. As mentioned, some good acting scenes between Milo and Mandy. IIRC, their argument at home came off as one continuous take.

Agreed the present is in the mid-90s sometime. There were a couple references to it last night - a Buffy poster on the wall and another one that I don't recall. I try not to get caught up on all the other dates and ages if the various people. Not terribly important in my mind.

The scenes with younger Jack were probably shot at the very end of filming since those are, I think, the only time Milo was clean-shaven the entire season.

dex14

In an interview with Milo about the episode... he says Jack is 52 at the time of the fight.

MikahC

Although the ages don't bother me, the world benefits from Nerds. At the very least, it does subtly inform my perception of the show's attention to detail.

It did indeed feel like a rather low key episode, though there was nothing low key about the argument between Jack and Rebecca. It felt a lot like a mid-season character building episode rather than a finale that pulls threads together (to a close). That said, it continues to weave a tapestry of life influenced by circumstances, decisions, blind luck/happenstance, and more.

This show often has moments of truth that shine for me. The moment when Rebecca asks Jack, "Why do you love me today," was great to me. So was Jack's inability to immediately respond. This show being what it is, he did eventually come up with an excellent answer, but in relationships and in life, it's an interesting question. It's fine to stay together because of kids, not wanting to fail, it being easier than leaving, etc. But who really wants to wake up every day and know those are the only things holding a relationship together?

I'm looking forward to future episodes. A 2 season renewal? That's a very strong vote of confidence for this show, though it isn't necessarily the blanket committal it might appear. Episode orders can be reduced, and I've even seen "renewed" shows subsequently cancelled. Still, as news goes, the renewal news falls under "great".

JuryDuty

Boy they tricked us in the previews and even this entire episode.

We still know Jack must die soon in this timeline though because their kids were teens in Kate's flashbacks to the funeral a couple episodes ago.

So glad it's renewed, and totally not surprised, though I wish it were for 26 episodes so they could stick to a solid 13-episode season. I think these long seasons just beg for filler episodes that weaken the series.

Think this is the third song we've now heard from Mandy's Coverage album https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverage_(album)