And no one above has mentioned Kate and the baby or Kevin!!
The Beth/Randall situation could go many ways. I do feel Randall has had these moments here and there where he isn’t the emotional supportive dad/husband - where he is being very black and white - and saying, “the girls need care and we need $$ - your dance won’t pay the bills, so that’s what has to go on hold”. He’ll say it - and then perhaps, go back on it - cause emotional support Randall will come back into play.
I wonder a couple things…
Is Randall really going to follow through with the city councilman thing? Its seems so delayed that it almost might not happen!
Is Beth going to at this point put dance off - one more time - only to return to it in a decade - which might bring us closer to that time we see in the future where she IS at a studio - but also seemed a little distant.
Oh Kevin. It’s SO hard to see him step back. I was proud that he came clean to Toby right away on the phone.
Oh Kate. First of all you are so lucky to have Toby who adores you. I think the baby will be ok. I don’t feel like she would go through all this baby struggle - to land without one.
Finally, the Zoe story…what does she add to this story? Nothing IMO.
I’m wondering if the solution to Randall and Beth’s competing dreams will be for the family to move to the district he represents (so absurd that he would live 90 minutes away). Without the three hour commute, they could work out a mutually agreeable schedule that would allow Beth to teach dance. Imagine all the story lines that could ensue as each family member adjusts to the move!
I had to laugh at the idea of hiring a mature babysitter experienced with adoptions and gay teens. Oh sure, they’ll just be lining up for interviews! Are the writers trying to make Randall look stupid? Though I guess with what appears to be an unlimited supply of money, a diligent Pearson can accomplish anything.
I also had to laugh at Randall’s idea of what he needs in a sitter. These aren’t special needs toddlers. They are mature adolescents. They probably barely need a sitter except to drive them around. What they need is emotional support from parents. Randall can’t replace that with a sitter, although he seems to have tried.
I thought Randall was quite insensitive in his conversation with Beth, but the truth is one of them IS going to have to give up the dream. In this case, I believe it should be Beth because she already made the commitment to support Randall. She really can’t ask him to step down now. Also teaching dance is really not a career. Its a hobby. I know how much dance teachers get paid. Its pocket change. Unless Beth plans to open a studio and become the next Abby Lee Miller, something has to change.
Why is Beth working evenings problematic, but Randall commuting 3 hours/day not? If he had a job closer to home than he could be home in the evenings and allow Beth to work at the studio. Actually, when I first went back to work after S1 was born, I’d hand the baby off to DH as he walked in the door & I worked 3 hours in the evening.
I think that story line is pretty silly although I agree that Randall handled that talk insensitively. First, whether it’s logical or not, Randall ran for office and won so he really needs to honor his commitment. They knew about the commute from the outset. And Beth could start by just teaching one or two classes. She doesn’t have to jump in with every week night and Saturday. Many families have a parent who travels for work; there is certainly a way to make this work.
Beth did not want him to run/win for this very reason. She tried to explain to Randall that the girls needed him now.
She then decided to support him. Sometimes having known the best answer and not following it causing so much self regret that it is difficult to move on. Going against our own self and knowledge and intuition creates a lot of problems .
Hmmm…I didn’t take Randall’s description of the desired “sitter” literally as a search he had performed. I thought he was using it to highlight what he thought Beth could bring to the table and how one could not necessarily assume that others would have the relevant skill sets.
It seemed that he perceived the complexities of household intersecting with the start of his new job and his answer to that was to ignore any possible revisions to his plans while simultaneously requesting that Beth completely abandon hers. Fraught.
I don’t think Zoe has decided to stick with Kevin. I think she just wanted to keep the peace for the moment. It wasn’t the time or the place for drama, notwithstanding Kevin and Randall’s childish antics.
The whole premise of the episode was so absurd. The entire dang family was going to stay in the waiting room no matter how long the docs managed to sustain the pregnancy? Days? Weeks? And who was watching the girls and paying for the airfare across the country given Randall and Beth’s supposedly serious childcare and economic concerns? Why did Beth need to be there? And why hang Saint Jack’s name around that poor baby’s neck? He can never possibly live up to it and will be a constant disappointment to Kate.These people just get more and more annoying.
I know, I’m plain old hate watching at this point.
I’m with you @mommaj I still like the show, but it tries SO hard to manipulate viewers’ feelings. They could really lighten up just a little
And who was watching the girls while Randall and Beth were on the other side of the country? Instead of bickering in an ER about how busy you are and the cost of child care, maybe stay home???
Sitting in the waiting room for days on end is not only ridiculous, its completely unhelpful. How helpful can you be to support your loved ones if every single family member is sleep deprived? You are far better off taking turns and letting everyone get some rest so they can act and think clearly.
@MommaJ I agree. It is unrealistic that the entire family dropped everything and flew across the country to sit in a waiting room like that. Are they going to stay there for weeks? Claiming that ‘the Pearsons stay!’ Come on. Just totally unrealistic. Not even leaving to go get something to eat, have a shower. Stupid.
Randall may have been a bit insensitive but Beth is being totally unreasonable. He won the race. That is where they are now. To then agree, on a whim, to accept teaching classes at all hours with no thought to her children or her husband’s responsibilities, is just selfish, in my opinion. And I agree, why is she in L.A.? Who is looking after the girls? They’re calling to ask if she can cover a class today? Did she not tell them that she is thousands of miles away?
Hey, I always raise questions like this. But in this case, the answer is obvious: It’s a TV show. It’s art. They wanted to have all the main characters (except Kate and Toby, and of course Jack) in the same room at the same time, so they could all interact with each other.
Plus, Randall and Beth’s biological kids have amassed maybe 15 minutes of screen time all season. The producers spend a lot of money on this show. They have to hold the line somewhere. Anyway, it’s great to have the characters fight about child care, but we don’t see them doing it much.
On the Zoe-Kevin question, I think the episode had Zoe deciding to stick with Kevin – somewhat to Beth’s surprise, since we know she thinks of Zoe as the opposite of someone who sticks in the face of difficulty – but that was before she took a sip of his water bottle and realized, duh, he’s still lying to her. I think we can assume that relationship is officially On The Rocks.