I’m watching and so is my oldest DD. We both love it! I knew the actor who plays Kevin from his role as Adam Newman on The Young and the Restless - he is just so good looking. I have never been a Milo Ventomiglia fan but really like him in this show. I also think the actress who plays Kate is stunning. I love pretty much everyone.
I thought of something this weekend though (I guess good shows do make you think). Do we know for a fact that the mother and Miguel are married? I realize they are together and the kids call him “Grandpa Miguel” but has it ever really been stated that they are married? Maybe the father died and asked Miguel to take care of the mother and family. He probably has harbored a crush on the mother all of these years but it could be unrequited and she has him in the friend zone. Just a thought. Also, what happened to his family? He had a wife and kids in one of the flashbacks at the Super Bowl party. I also wonder why there was very quick shot of a family photo in an earlier episode where there was an African American woman also in it. I think it was the pool episode so I am assuming it was the woman that Mandy Moore’s character was talking to at the pool that day but who knows if I am right. I will be looking for that to pan out as well as am looking forward to hearing more about the mother’s relationship with William over the years. At first we were made to believe she banished him from Randall’s life never to see him again until that day at Randall’s house. Now we have seen from this last episode that there was contact after that day. I am sure William will make sure this is brought to light.
There have been several references to Miguel as Mandy Moore’s husband. Plus . . . how else would he have dared to ask Kevin if he could wear the hat?
I remain, as ever, on the fence. The show has great moments and moments that just go splat! for me. Too few of the former and too many of the latter to turn me into a fan; too many of the former (especially in the Thanksgiving episode) to make me decide not to bother anymore. But it’s nothing like, say, Friday Night Lights, where the first episode I saw (it was the third or fourth episode, I think, and not even one of the best) just knocked me out with how great it was.
Also, there’s an awful lot of pure self-inflicted telenovela drama, the kind that gets gently mocked on Jane The Virgin. Randall discovers one letter from his mother to William while searching for tapes in William’s apartment? Really? Kevin’s breakdown on the set of his TV show? Really? Mandy Moore never helps Randall find his father? Really?
If it weren’t for the twist in episode 1, I probably wouldn’t watch again, the characters just didn’t grab me like I thought. Then the next several were just okay, and I thought it would be a show I’d let go soon.
These last two have been great, and I’m hooked again.
I like it. I record it and watch when hubby is gone. I like Kate and Randall, not the other one so much. I like seeing them all grow up and also am in some strange way eager to find out how the dad dies. After seeing how the hat evolved on Thanksgiving I wonder why Miguel would even want to play the part…he wasn’t there, it’s not his memory! It just made me happy that I stuck to my guns about Christmas and making memories as a family unit for my kids. The brothers relationship breaks my heart and if the actress is required to lose weight it may be a great thing for her personally.
I watched the first few episodes, up until the actor brother got on the plane to NY. I just found the show was sitting there on the DVR, with no real desire to watch it. However, I have found myself reading the recaps just to see if anything interesting is happening…the only thing I really want to know is how and when the dad dies.
I really liked the first episode, and I enjoy the actors. Not sure why I don’t find the show interesting.
** I tuned in because I just finished binging Parenthood, and all the reviews were saying if you liked Parenthood, you’ll like this.
I'm still having trouble figuring out the Mandy Moore character. I don't think I like her. Is it just me?
Wow, Kevin and Kate, such sensitivity. Randall just finds out that he's been lied to his whole life by their mother, and they're all, "Suck it up! Let's go to the cabin!"
Is Kate moving to NY? So long, Toby. :(
Taking bets ... Do you think the dad dies when the kids are younger or older? I'm guessing younger.
Question ... When Kevin fronts out Olivia, do you think he was saying that their kiss was another manipulation in a long line of them, or that it was real and that she doesn't know how to handle that because she can't manipulate her way out of it?
*The mother needs to communicate her feelings with Randall.
*Kevin shouldn’t have invited friends to the “last hurrah” at the cabin.
*Kate broke up with Toby. Why is she calling him with her family problems?
*Why did Olivia bring her ex to the cabin?
*Why did the ex bring a mushroom-laced drink?
*Why would Randall drink it?
*Kevin must have decided the kiss was real, because next week’s preview showed them in the bunk bed together, even though it appeared she’d left the cabin.
Ugh! I have just saved those of you an hour if you haven’t watched it. Not worth it!
This week’s episode certainly gives me permission to stop watching the show, although I will probably give Christmas a chance.
The Mandy Moore character is increasingly unlikable, but I actually like the Mandy Moore character. Her control needs, her ambivalence, her self-doubts, her fierceness – those are all realistic, and nuanced. Plus, the package they come in is very watchable. Among the few things I liked about the episode were the last few minutes, when Dead Dad asked Randall to look at things from his mother’s perspective, and he did, and then their brief conversation.
I also liked the scene between Rebecca (Moore) and William in the past, and William reading her letter and breaking down. And the dojo ceremony. And Randall’s bill of particulars against his mother.
But what a cheesy idea to have Randall spend most of the episode hallucinating! And to have Kevin hook up with the AT&T girl. And Olivia bringing friends, and feeling privileged to flay Kate with preternatural insight, and Kevin making a speech to Olivia his character couldn’t possibly have come up with without a screenwriter, or at least coaching from William . . .
The show has explained why Rebecca hid William from Randall (and her husband) in 1989, although the explanation breaks down if you give it any thought. It has yet to explain why she continued to hide him after Randall turned 18. Or 16. Or 20. Or 30, for that matter.
I think I need to decide whether I don’t like Mandy Moore or the character or her portrayal. lol My dislike of the character started early, with her attitude toward the young, fat Kate.
I didn’t like last night’s episode, which was disappointing since the previous episode was so good.
I still don’t know what Kate and Randall’s relationship is like and was hoping to gain more insight into that with them at the cabin. She doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother, so I thought she would’ve bonded with Randall over that, but she was too self-absorbed to bother.
@Youdon’tsay, I think that when Kate showed Toby her dad’s ashes, she said something about being 15 or so when he died. Not positive, but that’s what I’m remembering.
@toledo Kevin was in bed with the other woman, the playwright, not Olivia.
I think it’s pretty clear that there are different writers for different episodes, which is common with most tv shows. After two good ones, last night’s was disappointing.
I liked the karate scene as well. I really like the dad. Also Kevin. I thought the whole mushroom thing was very strange… I still enjoyed the episode but definitely not one of my favorites so far.
The mushroom thing was so contrived. If they needed Randall to have an imagined conversation with his late Dad, the actor who plays Randall would have been able to pull it off without the fake hallucinogens device.
I’m the OP and still really enjoying the show. I liked adult Randall having a conversation with his dad, although I can’t see Randall drinking some random smoothie. He’s too much of a control freak for that. The only other way I can figure to get them communicating in the same scene would be through a dream.
I thought the scene with young William was heartbreaking, and I think both the actors who portray him are superb.