No, I mean that it’s easier to love Jack because he’s gone, and we have Rebecca to judge because she’s still here in the present-time portions of the show.
^ I wonder that, too.
I also thought Jack had reason to be jealous and angry. If I was spending time with an old flame and left that fact out, I’m sure my H would read into it that I was hiding that information for a reason. Why not give full disclosure up front?
Hmm, I see it differently. Rebecca dated the guy for 2 months 20 years earlier. Was a moment in time. Sure, she could have mentioned it to Jack but, as short as it was and for how long ago it was, I don’t see it as a lie.
^^Rebecca actually said, though, that she intentionally didn’t tell him because she knew he would over-react. That was a conscious decision she made to keep information from her husband because she wanted to sing with the band and didn’t want her husband giving her a hard time about it.
Good point. I had forgotten that.
Loved last night’s episode, particularly Randall & Beth Anybody else? Did not expect the mini-reveal in the last scene about Jack’s death. So many more details to come from what Sterling K. Brown said on Colbert Monday night.
I think the scripts have portrayed Jack as a better person than they have portrayed Rebecca.
Best example for me is William trying to make contact with Randall. Randall wants to know if Jack knew his father had tried to contact him. Rebecca says no–and I think she’s telling the truth. This fits in with the pattern of Rebecca withholding information from Jack when she thinks he’d make a different choice than the one she wants to make.
The Rebecca/Jack dynamic reminds me of a couple of marriages I am familiar with. From the outside looking in, if you don’t know the couple, one party seems to have a better deal. One person may be better looking, better educated, have a better job, whatever. If you actually know the couple well, you figure out that the other person is the one who is a better spouse/parent or does most of the work to keep the relationship going.
Is it just me…or does the actress playing Beth look very different this season?
At first I thought I missed something, but then re-watched and realized that they jumped forward. I feel like maybe Kate must have had something to do with the fire. I love that William is still part of the show.
I wasn’t as in love with this episode as I was with most of last season’s.
I did really like Kate’s learning her lesson that not every negative thing in life is because of being overweight.
I also liked the three-way tension between Kevin, Kate, and Toby. Kevin needs to be number one in someone’s eyes. His mom’s favorite was Randall and his dad’s was Kate. When their dad died, Kevin became Kate’s hero. Now he will have to find someone else. We’ll see how that plays out with Sophie, who seems to be focused on her ill mother.
I did like how Randall and Beth are making their own, modern way through marriage, but I have to say their solution to adopt an older boy was unrealistic. Beth was worried about a baby, but she feels good about a troubled pre-teen or teenager coming into her home with her two younger daughters? As a former foster mom, I can tell you that everyone involved would be strongly cautioning them against it. Being a Big Brother or volunteering in some other way would be great, but this path seems silly. I just hope the storyline doesn’t become too focused on this. I would have preferred to see them navigating life with a new baby.
The worst thing of all was the commercials. DH and I were watching the clock–4.5 min. of show, then 4.5 minutes of commercials all the way through. I’ll just have to record it from now on and watch later.
I’ve been looking forward to this since it finished up last year and re-watched the last episode a few nights ago before the season opener. It was even better than I thought it would be…one of the few things to look forward to in the cold, dark evenings that are in our near future 
Yes, I detest winter lol.
We watched the new Law and Order- True Crime show after This is Us and liked it a lot, too.
I didn’t like the jump ahead…very confusing.
@Belle315 The cost of the ads has been making news.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/set-is-us-tvs-feel-good-megahit-ups-stakes-season-2-1037891
I like the way the show plays with time, but sometimes the shift is too sudden. That happened with the cut from Rebecca telling Jack everything would be OK in a couple months to her driving Jack’s belongings in seat beside her. I also remember a similar confusion early in the season last year when suddenly Randall was packing up William’s belongings and crying, well before the outstanding Memphis episode.
As for ads, I usually set the DVR for a series and start watching a show 15 minutes in so I can fast forward through the ads, although I did watch the TJ Maxx one with the variety of women. I also rewound the last three minutes of the show so I could try to make sense of it.
The last five minutes were especially jarring, with the time warp. I need to rewatch it, too.
This is good article about the ending of the show, discussion between actor who portrays Kevin, and the writer of the show,
http://ew.com/tv/2017/09/26/this-is-us-season-2-premiere-ending/
It jumped around too much at the end. I don’t think re-watching will help.
I thought the belongings next to Rebecca were things she was taking home after
he was admitted into a rehab program…?
He had said he needed help and she told him to get into the car.
^ I assumed they were belongings after he died and she was visiting the scene.
Here is another take on the belongings in the bag:
http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2017/09/27/553948671/death-watch-this-is-us-kicks-off-its-second-season-teary-as-ever?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20170927&utm_campaign=npr_email_a_friend&utm_term=storyshare
Good ^
I do not believe Jack died in the house fire.
I am betting on a suicide or a heart attack.
Guessing Kate was suppose to do an activity with him
chose to be with friends instead.