TV and Movies

[beach-mom]

Welcome back everyone! Here we go again - tomorrow night!

According to executive producers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, this will be a hopeful season, full of new promise and new beginnings. BUT of course we're going to be taken on our usual roller coaster ride! LOL!

The season starts with The Big Three turning 38 (in present day).

We will see The Big Three (and Rebecca) cope with the year after Jack's death in February of their senior year of high school, and how that impacted the decisions they made. 

We will see Rebecca and Jack's relationship from the beginning, and we'll watch him tell his best friend Miguel he has met "THE girl."

I've always been a Miguel fan, but a lot of you haven't. We will see how Rebecca and Miguel come together and how their present relationship is.

We'll spend a lot of time in Vietnam with Jack and his little brother Nicky (played by Michael Angarano). Of course during the previews we saw Kevin and Zoe, Beth's cousin who is like her little sister, on a plane to Vietnam. We will also see how Beth deals with the fact Kevin is in a relationship with Zoe - I can't wait to see this! 

Early in the season we'll learn about Beth's past and her upbringing in a very large family. We will also see more of "adult" Tess - here we go with the time hopping again!

We will learn about Toby's upbringing and what leads to his upcoming depression. 

We will see Deja's birth father and learn why he is not in her life.

And we are supposed to get an answer to this sometime this season:

Randall: "It's time to go see her."

Adult Tess: "I'm not ready."

Randall: "I'm not either."

Susan Kelechi Watson (Beth) has assured us Beth is alive and well this season - after many people worried the "her" is Beth. 

So who do you think the "her" is? I keep going back and forth. We'll see as the season progresses. Enjoy everyone! 

[Mominohio]

My first thought was 'her' would be Rebecca.

And I'm really apprehensive about the going into the future with this show. 

I've loved the past, and the present, but going into the future might ruin this for me. I don't know if I can explain why, but there was just something about it being just like real life, living our present based on our sometimes fragmented past was real and good. But we don't know our futures and I'm not sure I want to know theirs.

[beach-mom]

Season 3, Episode 1 - "Ave Maria"

Randall, Kate, and Kevin find themselves on new paths as they celebrate their 38th birthdays.

We'll see Rebecca and Jack dating - back story of how they came together. After smashing the windshield of Randall's car, Deja is back - and smiling. 

[beach-mom]

Here's a pic from an upcoming episode. Who is the baby:? That's adult William, who is going to be featured prominently in Season 3 (especially after Ron Cephas Jones won an Emmy). We're not seeing young William, so it can't be Randall. Given William's relationship history it's probably not a long-lost sibling, so most are saying the baby has to be Tess. Rebecca probably took her to see William after she was born. Remember Jack had already died and Rebecca had that moment with her in the nursery. 

"Hi there, sweet girl.
I wanted to properly welcome you to the world.
You are beautiful.
Oh, my goodness.
I mean, all babies are beautiful, but you - you are Randall and Beth beautiful.
And that is special.

 I'll be around. You know I've been here before, Tess.
You think that you're at the beginning of your journey, right? But you also began a long time ago.
Do you know that? 'Cause I was there, and somebody else was there, too."

And who is the "her"? They have assured us we won't have to wait too long to find out. A lot of people think they're going to a funeral home, and now Toby's in the mix too - without his wedding ring on. Does it have something to do with Kate, or maybe a baby they had? 

[Caligurll]

I really liked the episode, looking forward to seeing how this season unfolds, and finding out, hopefully this season, who the she is they are going to visit.  

[Lisa Y]

So many variables with this show. I thought the “her” would be Deja or Tess’s little sister. (I think the actress who plays Deja is fantastic!),  I can’t wait to find out about Miguel and Rebecca and wish we had learned more about thwm sooner. I’m glad this season will bring some more “positivity” as I though the last season all the adult Big 3 became whiny. 

[beach-mom]

About the "HER"

Interviews with exective producers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger revealed some things. We will find out who "she" is by Episode 9. Chrissy Metz (Kate) says, of course, "it's going to be heartbreaking." For anyone who thinks they're going to a memorial or something, the producers have indicated this isn't the case - but who knows? BUT Sterling K. Brown (Randall) let a big clue slip. The producers and stars have been saying it's someone we've "already met." Brown says, "No relief, whether it's my sister, my wife or whomever the 'her' may be. There is no relief because somebody is in trouble and it's somebody, who as a Pearson you love and care for, so there's no relief in it."

So we know it's a Pearson, which leaves a few people out. I'm thinking it's someone who is incapacitated in some way. Was the clue Toby on the bed with no Kate and no wedding ring? We'll see!

In other news, Mandy Moore (Rebecca) says we will grow to really like the blond guy who brought her flowers and kissed her at her door. 

[beach-mom]

Season 3, Episode 2: "A Philadelphia Story"

The Pearsons gather to support Kevin at his movie premiere; The teenage Big Three make college decisions.

(Episode 1 title changed from "Ave Maria" to "Nine Bucks" before the air date. "Nine Bucks" makes more sense to me, since that's what Jack had in his pocket to spend on his first date with Rebecca.)

Rebecca and The Big Three are coping after Jack's death. Kevin is drinking too much, Kate is eating too much, and Randall is worrying. Rebecca is coping. 

Also, we saw Toby in the preview throw his antidepressants away. He will suffer withdrawal symptoms in addition to his guilt about not being able to help Kate conceive. Kate feels guilty that she can't and doubts her ability as a wife.  According to executive producer Elizabeth Berger we are going to watch Toby "become undone," and in the first episodes of the season he will be going to "a dark place."

We will find out about Rebecca's mystery man who showed up with flowers and kissed her at her door, "Alan," played by Hunter Parrish, in Episode 3. Even Rebecca had a past before Jack! 

Clues to the "her":

1. It's a female (of course!)

2. She is someone we have already met in Seasons 1 or 2

3. She is a "Pearson" - which could also mean Deja, since she is letting Beth and Randall adopt her

We'll see by Episode #9, but expect twists along the way. I read that the producers kept adjusting the Jack's death story line in order to keep people guessing. They wanted to be able to say no one had guessed it - and they were right. Apart from how sad it was to us fans, it was great writing!  

[beach-mom]

Season 3, Episode 3 "Katie Girls"

The Pearsons rally around Kate as she undergoes a medical procedure.

Well, we all know Kate is going to have in-vitro, in spite of everyone's wishes for her not to because of her weight. So that's the medical procedure. IRL, a fertility specialist at Johns Hopkins has said this story line is realistic. Retrieving the eggs is a risk, as is going under anesthesia when someone is obese. Carrying the pregnancy to term is also risky. 

Does the "girls" in the title mean Kate gets pregnant with twin girls?

Toby will continue his withdrawal from his antidepressants and will spiral downhill quickly. Executive Producer Isaac Aptaker said they are working with doctors to make his story line realistic. 

Back in the past (1972) we will learn exactly who the "mystery man" who brought flowers to Rebecca is. We will like him, and his name is Alan. Will there be competition between him and Jack? And who do you think Rebecca chooses? LOL! We will learn about Rebecca's life growing up, and how it led to her career as a singer. 

We will also see Jack's early life, We will see how his mother, knowing she is abused but afraid to act on it, impacted the way he treats women. And we will go to Vietnam, in combat, with Jack and his brother Nicky. 

Randall is still trying to find where he fits in, after two major scenes from the last episode. Chi Chi, William's young friend and Sky's mother, told him he didn't belong in "the community" after he stepped in to fix a broken light. She told him he just saw what needs fixing and doesn't really know the people in the community. Then at Kevin's premiere, Kate tells everyone she wants to get pregnant because she's the only one who will pass down "a piece of Dad." Kevin tells Randall, and Randall is hurt. The look on his face as they watch the movie says it all, and this statement, which Kate probably said without even thinking of how it would affect her brothers, will impact the relationship between the two of them.

We're supposed to get clues each episode on who the "her" is. IDK - I don't see that. A lot of people think it's Kate. I don't. That would be too obvious. 

[beach-mom]

So now we know the baby in William's arms in my earlier post #4 is Sky, Deja's new friend, whose Mom was a widow from Nigeria welcomed into "the community" by William. She now lives in the same building, which Randall owns. It's just amazing how this show connects the dots!