I think that it could be a couple of things. One, either Jack went in after her dog. Or, two … note how we didn’t see Kate before Jack went to bed. I’m wondering whether Jack didn’t realize that Kate had made it home from Molly’s and went back in to save her or that he thought she was home when she wasn’t and thought that he had to go back in to save her. Did that make sense?
Oh…no… that was heartbreaking to watch. Note to self…always unplug the crockpot. I’ve often wondered the same concerning the coffee maker. I’ve read that timers can catch on fire, but we never use that.
I am very glad Kate ended up going back to get the dog at the shelter.
After the first scene with the old couple dancing to “That’ll Be the Day,” I was braced the entire hour because of how the rest of that line goes.
Here’s a practical question, now that most smoke detectors are sealed with 10-year batteries, do they have an easily readable manufactured/expiration date on them? I have not climbed up on a chair yet to check, but it’s now on my to-do list.
Kate had headphones on, listening to music while she was lying in bed. Jack and Rebecca were asleep. Jack woke up when he heard Randall in the kitchen and went downstairs, so he may not have known that Kate was home. I think maybe that means that Kate won’t be able to hear him yelling “Fire!”
The note to Kevin said something like, “If I don’t see you in the morning before work, I love you. You owe us an apology. Dad.”
We saw the dog in his little bed, but I don’t know where in the house that was: Kate’s room? Somewhere downstairs?
The dog bed was in the living room where they had been watching the game. As that is the same level as the kitchen, I would assume unless the dog ran upstairs, it would not have made it.
It has to be the dog. I predict that Jack runs back in for the dog, or refuses to leave until he finds the dog. That’s why Kate has so many issues regarding dogs. That’s why she feels it was her fault, because it was her dog.
We know the dog survives the fire because Kate was holding it at the end of the first episode of this season. It may be the case that Kate didn’t know the dog got out and she begged her dad to go look for it. He went back in looking for the dog but didn’t make it back out. Would explain Kate’s issues with respect to dogs. And though we don’t know how much she has told Toby about her dad’s death (at one point it was nothing), Toby didn’t question at all when she said she couldn’t get the dog from the shelter. So she must have told him something about why she doesn’t want a dog (noting that she would be reminded of something (presumably something very bad) every day looking at the dog).
Wasn’t sure how Rebecca could be wearing the Steelers jersey after the fire when it happened after they had gone to bed. She was in a robe with what I think looked like some time of nightgown/PJs underneath late in the episode. Presumably everything is lost in the fire. But in the previews for the Super Bowl episode, she is wearing the Steelers jersey in what appears to be a panic in their bedroom during the fire. So I guess she got dressed before she exited the house (though I think I would be tempted to just get out of the house first).
Still not sure how Jack’s possessions which are on the passenger’s seat when Rebecca pulls up to the house would not any signs of being in a fire if Jack dies in the fire. We shall see next episode I guess (closing of previews notes that all of our questions will be answered).
Our house has smoke alarms that are hard wired into the house electricity. Each is connected to each other so if one goes off, everyone in the house goes off. Each also has a backup 9-volt battery which we change each year. They start to beep when they need replacing which can be very annoying (I know much less annoying that a house fire that you sleep through). Dog cannot stand it. Made worse by having them all connected because its tough to know which one needs a new battery. But we just replace all of them when it happens. Detectors themselves go bad at some point so we have replaced them (10-12 years if I remember correctly). Because of local codes we have 12 in the house.
^We have wired in, 9 volt backup battery smoke detectors, too. We do the same and change them all at once. It’s next to impossible to tell where the beep is coming from in our open style house. Most require climbing on a ladder to listen closely and/or change, so it’s easier to just do them all.
“They start to beep when they need replacing which can be very annoying”
And why do they seem to start beeping at 3AM?!
Yes!! Always in the middle of the night!!
I don’t think Jack dies in the fire. I think he gets them all out safely, and when we take a deep breath, pow. Something else happens.
Get a nest protect smoke/co detector. It can be hard wired or uses batteries that last 7 years and it sends you a text when its time to replace the batteries. No annoying beeping!
And while it cant turn off a faulty crockpot, it can communicate with your thermostat and turn off your heating system if that were the cause of a problem.
“The note to Kevin said something like, “If I don’t see you in the morning before work, I love you. You owe us an apology. Dad.”
Did the note burn? Kevin had “Dad” written on his list of people to apologize to. I really like this show and I like all the characters, flaws and all.
Kevin called the house and spoke to his mom and apologized. She told him he needed to apologize to his dad, and she asked if he wanted to talk to his dad. Kevin said no, he was going to stay at his girlfriend’s that night and would apologize to dad in the morning (iirc)
That is my recollection as well. Also, the note was seen in flames during the last couple minutes of the show as I recall. “Dad” I think was written on the back side of Kevin’s apologies list. Maybe his idea was if I cover everyone else on my list that is as good as I can do. Something of a can’t pay it back but can only pay forward concept.
Tough seeing how everything ends up. At this point looks like each of the kids had a negative last moment or two with Jack. Kevin yelled at both parents for how college ended up. Saying he was suppose to be playing in the Super Bowl rather than watching it like them. Randall picked his new girlfriend (and it turns out his first kiss) over watching the game with his dad. He did get to talk with him when he came home and share a moment with him before the fire. Kate upset her dad by telling him to stop seeing her as he does because the rest of the world didn’t but then came back later after seeing his love in the background while he taped her singing and said keep doing it. But then rather than stay and watch the game she headed off to a watch party at a friends house.
A lot of people say live every day likes its your last. But that isn’t practical. If I knew this was my last day, I certainly would not have come to work. There are other things that I do that are looking toward the future that I would have skipped. For this show, should the kids have spent every moment with dad because he could die suddenly? What happens if they do that but then mom dies suddenly? What about all the growing up they miss? Reality is most people do not die suddenly. So there will be a tomorrow. Though its never a given. Interesting to think about.
My dad died suddenly. He was hit by a car riding his bicycle. So yes, most people don’t, but enough do that it’s something to think about. He and I had just spoken that morning - we were talking about my daughter’s lemonade stand that was getting embarrassing because she was making so much money, he told me how he had just read Sam Walton’s grandchildren had a lemonade stand too. We laughed about some stuff, he told me he was going on a ride and we ended with love you’s. So no, I have no regrets, but I wouldn’t have anyway because first of all we didn’t really ever have an argument in my adult life, and second, if there was a one time spat, I never questioned that he loved me.
Whatever happened was so traumatic that we still see the effects this many years later. I haven’t ridden on a bicycle since myself, so I get that.
Sadly I had a similar experiencing to @eyemamom. My dad passed suddenly when I was 16 with no time for final goodbyes. I was and still am comforted knowing that I knew my dad loved me deeply and that my dad knew that his love was reciprocated in full. While I would have loved to hug him tightly one more time, I have been able to make peace with the way things happened because I have no regrets about our relationship.
So while you can’t live each day like it is your last (as @saillakeerie said nobody would go to work, do laundry etc.) I make it a point as I go through life to be sure that those I love most know it. Of course there are disagreements along the way and I’m far from the perfect mother, daughter, wife but I do try to keep my love and support front and center.
Randall (“Actually it was great, we kissed, finally” so sweet), Kate (“Don’t stop trying to make me see myself the way you see me,” so sweet), and Rebecca (“I always wanted a partner’s desk…giggle giggle {sex}”) all had such precious and tenderly loving last moments – and now memories – with Jack before they went to sleep, it is just Kevin that did not. The last words that Kevin said to his dad were “Kevin’s the worst again, order’s restored in the universe.”
We only see that Kevin wrote “Dad” on the other side of his list while clutching the pendant that Charlotte returned, nice symbolism, but hauntingly not the closure of the others.
Such a great show.
- Just set my DVR for extra time after the Superbowl (not watching the Superbowl, though)