I admired how Rebecca sat everyone down and addressed how future decisions would be made. I wish more people could do that.
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I liked the episode a lot, but I felt that Rebecca expressed herself unrealistically well. My friend with a similar diagnosis has to pause quite often to find the right words. My husband agreed - he said it didnāt seem like a woman with serious dementia.
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Episodes like this make me wonder how Mandy Moore has not received more accolades.
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I cried watching and keep tearing up just thinking about various scenes. Iāve been caring for my mom in my home for 9 years. My mom has Alzheimerās and vascular dementia. If only families had conversations like that beforehand.
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So glad when Beth took that phone away from Randall! I hate people like that at family gatherings. Do we know that Miguel isnāt around when Rebecca is dying in the future scene? And therefore Kate becomes in charge. In my scenario Rebecca and Miguel rehearsed what she said to the family and it was at his suggestion that she make these decisions and share them. Seems like something he would do. Also think Rebecca cried when he was leaving not because she was that in love with him then but because he was her link to Jack (maybe that was obvious to everyone already?). I think I gasped when Kevin told Toby to take off the pilgrim hat. They certainly escalated the Toby / Kate conflict last night, to try to get us to buy the getting together with her co-worker I guess.
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That didnāt occur to me. I mean, her kids are her connection to him.
Agree that she mustāve rehearsed that ahead of time. She did have notes to help.
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Oof. I didnāt care for her acting early on, but she definitely has grown in the role.
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Yes, but he knew the pre-kids Jack from an adult perspective vs the kids knowing him as kids view a Dad. She got emotional remembering about the Billy Joel best song discussion they had at that bar where he first saw Rebecca sing (if Iām remembering that right from the game in last nightās episode).
I cracked up when Randall said, āthe black Pearsonās are here.ā
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I was so impressed with Mandy Moore last night, in all of the time lines. I, too, was tearing up when she gave her speech to the kids. I also loved the push and pull of her relationship with her own mom, with the fighting but then feeling so upset that mom was moving away. The passing down of the āsecret ingredientā was a nice touch.
I thought Rebecca was crying because she realized that she was at least a bit in love with Miguel and would miss him terribly. Likely tied in with feeling guilty about Jack. Clearly both of them were not happy the other had brought someone else for Thanksgiving.
My only frustration was the Toby-Kate relationship falling apart. It seems forced to me that Kate would not have moved to be with Toby and yet keeps blaming him for everything that is going wrong.
I loved how both Kevin and Randall were totally annoying everyone else between the videoing and the guitar.
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Rebecca had to pick Kate. If she picked one brother, the other would have been annoyed.
Was anybody else hoping theyād mention the secret pie ingredient?
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My guess the secret pie ingredient is āloveāāā-
I suspect we will see a scene where a slimmed down Kate, walks down stairs like her memory from the movieā¦.( seemed like an awkward insert into the scene with Toby)
For those who recognized Mandy Mooreās sublime handling the scene, the cameraman and her fellow cast mates also in awe of that scene.
āMandy was so special that day that our A-camera operator for the life of the series, James Takata, wrote me a note about how he had never felt that kind of connection with an actor in his career at the moment when he was just completely present and filming Mandy do that monologue," he recalled. āAnd he had never felt that before as an artistā¦ But it was not a kiss-assy note because if it was kiss-assy note, he would have sent it to Mandy and not to me. But it was that kind of scene and we all kind of knew it. I think Justin and Sterling and Chrissy felt it that day on set as well, and Jon being there with her.ā
ā Her castmates also praised her work in that particular scene. Brown remembered sitting around the table while Moore did her work, "My first reaction was to just applaud. I, like, clapped in my seatā¦
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I did wonder whether weād see a slim Kate at some point. Sheās not by her second marriage but maybe by the time Rebecca dies?
As someone who has struggled with eating my whole life, I found the food discussion scene between Kate and Toby totally on point. He wants to restrict the temptations entirely, and she wants to try to make sure Jack has a healthy relationship with food. She already knows trying to restrict and berating herself her whole life didnāt work.
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Ok, I now have to watch the first half of the episode!
I still remember when I was a kid, a woman at church I had always looked up to, said to my mom with a smile, āMLH is getting pleasantly plump, isnāt she?ā OMG. I was probably 8 years old. Looking back at photos, I really wasnāt chunky, either.
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I found the whole food theme at Tāgiving so well done. How her mother deprived herself and tried to deprive Rebecca and how Rebecca overeats to exert control. And how this stuff is passed from generation to generation. Felt like some of the realest writing in the whole series.
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Rebecca seemed able to stay slim without much effort, which is not true for her mother or daughter. Maybe with triplets she never had time to eat 
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I actually thought it was a little cliche to pick the daughter. My in-laws also had 3 kids, one daughter and 2 sons. My husband was the one at the end to see both parents, get there when needed. All 3 loved their parents.
What is the plan for the cabin? Is it a huge couple of times a year vacation home or a family compound where theyāre all going to live regularly? The flash forward makes it seem like Rebecca and maybe Kevin are living there permanently ? I found all that confusing.
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That was my interpretation as well.
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