I was riveted and on edge from the start of the episode. I knew it wouldn’t be pleasant but that it would be important.
Important in so many ways. I can hardly list them all.
That Jack’s dad wasn’t drinking prior to Nick’s birth.
That mom and dad seemed happier prior to Nick’s birth.
That Jack’s dad seemed to have a strained relationship with his dad.
And that Jack’s mom DID NOT want to have that baby on the grandfather’s birthday.
^^^And all that is just before Nick’s birth!
I could barely bare to watch how Nick was treated and how he felt about himself. It was so touching to see how from the start, Jack felt it was “his job” to watch out for Nick. The way Nick looked up to Jack.
And OMG that scene when the parents were fighting in the kitchen and Nick gets out of bed and tells his dad to stop - and then Jack comes out and not only stands up for his mom- but stands in front of Nick, protecting him.
Let alone the war scenes and the black man that Jack was friends with. I thought right away that there would be a connection between that man and Randall - foreshadowing perhaps for Jack choosing to want to adopt baby Randall.
It was intense for me and if I couldn’t wait for it to be done it was only because it was so painful to watch the emotions!
The other characters aren’t going anywhere! I’m disappointed to hear so many people say that without role call the show wasn’t worthy.
@jym626 - that scene was something else. I felt like I was holding my breath to hear if they would call out ds’s birthday! So weird! And showing all the babies in the nursery with that same birthday… it was, idk how to describe it.
H’s brother’s birthday was called on last night’s show. He was called IRL and was medically deferred. He died 10 years ago by suicide. It was hard for H to hear the birthdays called last night.
I thought it was a good show, I enjoyed his parents backstory. It was nice to see his Dad not such an ass. It will. E interesting to see why. I also prefer more cast in shows, but once in awhile it’s ok to focus on one. The moment I felt personally touched is probably one that doesn’t stand out. It’s when after little Nick got out of bed to confront his Dad. Anyway, after the Dad left, both boys came up and hugged their Mom. It just took me back to when my boys were that small and I would hug them at the same time like that (nothing to do with fighting).
@Hoggirl I was moved by the nursery scene, too. I think, for me, it was the impact of knowing that those sweet newborn baby boys would be called to fight a war - that very date that was being celebrated by their families and friends when they arrived would be dreaded years later when called in the lottery.
I liked the episode as well. Even though you knew Nick’s number was going to be called, you could feel the tension. Good to be reminded of what the draft and lottery was like - luck was such a factor (and whether a guy was in college or not). I still recall older guys talking about what their number was and the stories of how they tried to get out of the draft when called. Vietnam had a huge impact on the life of many men who fought there and it is an important factor in Jack’s story. That being said, it is a bit of a stretch that Jack volunteered for Vietnam because Nick was there - clearly he wasn’t going to be in the same place. The episode also continued the Jack as hero and caregiver narrative, without any darker elements.
If you haven’t read The Things They Carried, you should. At least that story, if not the entire book, as it is wonderful
Going through my parents’ belongings I came across my dad’s correspondence to request deferment and cards classifying him IIA (deferred for civilian occupation).
It was eerie to imagine that he could’ve been gone when I was born (or injured or killed), and how different our lives could have been.
While we may see Jack portrayed as a possible “hero/caregiver” I feel we also see that his good intentions didn’t always turn everything he did to gold.
Since we see that at one point Jack’s dad seemed more of a “nice guy” what we may find out is that something turned him into a not so nice guy - and that may have been not only Jack’s motivation TO be a caregiver - and then also perhaps insight to how Jack became “imperfect” like his dad.
I keep thinking it will be more than just starting drinking must have turned Jack’s father into such an abusive man. Also, is it too soap opera-ish to wonder if Nick or even Jack might have unknowingly fathered a child in Vietnam?
Jack’s dad started drinking (and abusing) sometime between Nicky’s birth and when he was three or four years old in the kitchen confrontation scene.
If I’m guessing, it will be linked to WWII PTSD.
Yes, it is. Also, that child would have to be approximately 50 at this point, if he or she were introduced into the show. So not especially telegenic. A weird age to be looking for your father. And I think it would threaten the consistency of the show if they decided they had to give 50 years’ worth of backstory of a Vietnamese character.
I don’t remember the draft at all, but DH is enough older that he was in the lottery. He got a “good” number, thank goodness. @Barbalot, thanks for the link - DH’s number was 330.
There was an earlier scene and I’m not sure which episode but the Dad was supposed to be taking the boys fishing and the dad stopped at a bar and told Jack to wait. Later Nick wakes up in the back seat after much time had passed and the dad still had not returned to the car. Nick looked really young. Jack was telling him it would be okay and he wasn’t going to leave. So the drinking probably started sometime after birth of Nick and when he was around 5 or so.
Selective Service fun fact:
The cohort of men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were too young to be included in the Vietnam-era draft system and too old to be included in the current system, and thus were completely exempt from Selective Service registration. The current registration system started with men born on January 1, 1960.
My brother was draft lottery number 1 the year they discontinued the draft. My aunt sent him a $1 bill with a note saying he shouldn’t win a lottery without getting anything I could not watch the lottery when it was a real thing.
I liked the episode, liked the flashback style of telling it. I knew beforehand that Tim O’Brien was involved and I’ve read The Things They Carried so I was wondering/assuming how much of the Vietnam part was realistic . I also will admit I have a fascination with the 1960s. I have a vague memory of the war on tv (born in 1962) and of a neighbor who was drafted. When Jack was sitting in the waiting room the guy next to him made me think of that neighbor, the one “hippie” I knew. My guess is that the pills figure into Nick’s death, he’s not killed in battle. Unless I’ve forgotten something that they’ve already revealed about his death. That’s my problem with the show. I can never remember what they’ve shown and what I’ve just filled in in my mind. I love character driven shows.
[Nick is drafted or enlists, trained, and deployed to Vietnam.]
[Bad things happen to Nick, he loses faith and gets disciplined for something.]
Nick writes a letter home saying he's at a particular firebase and he's been disciplined.
The letter comes home, and is read by Jack and his mother.
Jack decides to enlist, goes to the doctor for advice on how to beat the physical.
[Jack enlists, is trained, and deployed to Vietnam.]
[Jack is given at least two significant promotions, ultimately to sergeant.]
After significant fire-zone experience elsewhere in Vietnam, Jack is transferred to a hamlet near the firebase where Nick was posted when he wrote the letter.
Nick is still there.
As I understand it, Army Vietnam tours of duty were 12 months, max. It’s tough to fit 2-8 into 12 months, and still have time left over for Nick not to be going home tomorrow. It also seems really unlikely that he would have spent that amount of time under discipline at the same pissant firebase. (Note that Jack had at least two different postings in much less time, and was told to expect yet another posting soon.)
Obviously, the answer to all this is poetic license. But it really strains credulity for Jack to assume that Nick would still be at the same firebase so long after the letter was written.
I only bring up the possible Amer-Asian “child” because it’s been in the news a lot lately with a number of discoveries of children and grandchildren in Vietnam through DNA tests. Even though they wouldn’t have Jack or Nick’s DNA to test, there could still be a half-sibling match for Kevin or Kate.
I could not watch the lottery when it was a real thing.