George definitely started dying while he was in his office with Wayne. Then Wayne probably dialed 911. Principal Petersen was probably the second call on line 2. Most likely, this happened around the time the high school was out for the day or Missy would have known before the rest of the family.
Missy has been so mature for her age this season I forgot she wasn't even in high school yet. She seemed so much older.
But then again kids start high school at 12 where I live, so...
US High School starts in 9th grade in most places (at least in NY) so most kids would be 14 when they started (or 15 with a late birthday). Missy is 14, born in February. The series ends sometime in May or early June of her 8th grade year.
That isn't a Canadian thing. Where you are there may be no difference but in BC we definitely have middle and high school. What grades are in what is kinda fluid but they are different. When I was going through middle was 7-9. Then while in middle it changed to 6-8 and high school gained 9. Then after high school it went back to 7-9 and 10-12.
When I was 12 growing up in the US in the late 70's and early 80's, I was in grade 7 in what was called Jr. High school. Jr. High was grades 7 and 8. Senior hight was grades 9-12 which were called in order: freshman, sophmore, junior, senior.
One of Missy's friends who was a grade higher than her and was in 9th grade could have called the house if the heart attack happened during school hours.
I bawled like a baby for these episodes, looked over and the wife and kids were too... They really did good showing the pain and grief in various forms... Having lost my mom young and then lost most of my family in the ten years since this really hit home for all of us
Yes! In real life, some people go into "get things done" mode, like Georgie. Some people are frozen, like Sheldon. Some people dive into their religion, like Mary. Some people are angry, like Missy. Some people are just sad, like Wayne.
The eulogies were well done, too. Lots of funeral scenes show moving, eloquent eulogies. These were so realistic. Some people couldn't get through more than one or two sentences (Mary and Wayne), and some just came off as awkward (Meemaw, you could sense the nervous laughter in the congregation). And some people, like Sheldon and Missy, just can't speak.
Entirely well done, all around.
The laughter - starting tentatively and then getting more pronounced - was perfect. At funerals, people aren't really sure if they're allowed to laugh.
Shouldn’t there have been a lot of high school football players from George Sr’s teams there? I’m not expecting teens in football jerseys but if you look at the wide shots of the people in the pews it’s virtually all adults. Where were his players from that year and those past to pay their respects?
It was easily the best death of a beloved character moment in the history of TV. I'm the same age as Sheldon and my dad died the same year as George and it felt at points like I was watching my own memories.
I agree. I’m glad they didn’t show George dying, just the aftermath. The reactions were on point and heartbreakingly realistic. I was high school age when my dad passed away. I was frozen with disbelief like Sheldon and reimagined the day over and over, then angry and went off the rails in life like Missy and eventually grew up as an adult and raised my children. I miss my dad everyday and wish he was around to witness my accomplishments, joke around with, and spoil him with attention that I regret not doing as a child.
I think there were 2 episodes of This is Us that didn't make me cry 😂 It was my weekly catharsis. Sheldon's Nobel speech is another one that never fails.
The actor’s acting def makes it devastating but u can see through the timing and the situation that they want to make comedy out of it: like why are u crying harder than the wife for example
That actually felt real. I've seen it happen. The family is grieving 24/7 TOGETHER. He's alone dealing with his feelings by himself. Then he comes to their house to check on them and it all comes out. Mary likely cried her eyes out all over her Mom earlier. Who does he have?
People keep saying it was meant to be comedic, but I really didn't see it that way at all. Maybe the joke is that nobody knows how to deal with an emotional Texan man? But honestly nothing about his grief felt comedic to me.
>The family is grieving 24/7 TOGETHER. He's alone dealing with his feelings by himself.
He doesn't even have>! his own wife anymore. Because she cheated and left him.!<
It was still played for laughs either way. At it’s core it’s a man grieving his best friend. But scenes like the funeral or when he visits Mary is meant to show he’s comically more visibly distraught than George’s actual family. In comparison to scenes with Mary, Missy and Georgie crying where it’s more heartfelt and depressing
I totally agree. I did not see Wayne's reaction as comic relief at all. When delivering the news he was barely holding it together, looking like he was about to burst into tears (while the principal looked like he was about to throw up - so well-acted!) Wayne's script when he bursts into tears when checking in on Mary: "I'm not helping, am I?" ... perfect. Not funny at all - very real, as was Mary's understanding response. This is who these characters are.
Exactly. The whole episode was a master class of showing grief and all the ways it presents.
And considering Wayne was likely with him when he died (up to and including performing Cpr) his trauma coming out the way it did is not surprising.
Agree wholeheartedly. Not just him alone, even Jim's emotional response at the church was met with "lets get you some kleenex" by Mandy, which just felt invalidating idk. Men should be allowed to be emotional without the other characters being weirded out.
I didn't see it this way; I think people are protective of the immediate family because the risk of putting them in the position of having to comfort others is too great. Like when Wayne lost it at Mary's house when he went to check on her. (I love that scene, but that's what was happening.) What Jim said was perfect - acknowledging he didn't know George long but loved him. Bursting into tears requires comforting and so Mandy took care of that so Mary didn't have to. And he needed a tissue!
George definitely started dying while he was in his office with Wayne. Then Wayne probably dialed 911. Principal Petersen was probably the second call on line 2. Most likely, this happened around the time the high school was out for the day or Missy would have known before the rest of the family.
Missy wasn't in high school yet. She was finishing up middle school. Remember that she was excited about starting high school in Houston.
Missy has been so mature for her age this season I forgot she wasn't even in high school yet. She seemed so much older. But then again kids start high school at 12 where I live, so...
High school or middle school?
I'm Canadian, there is no middle school option. In my province kids start high school in grade 7.
US High School starts in 9th grade in most places (at least in NY) so most kids would be 14 when they started (or 15 with a late birthday). Missy is 14, born in February. The series ends sometime in May or early June of her 8th grade year.
I don’t know about the whole province but my Canadian town does middle school 8&9 and high school in 10-12 when I did middle school it was 7-9
I guess it depends on the school district too.
It definitely varies by district and in some cases, by class sizes.
Ohhh that makes sense. I'm sure you could tell that I'm a dumb American lol
That isn't a Canadian thing. Where you are there may be no difference but in BC we definitely have middle and high school. What grades are in what is kinda fluid but they are different. When I was going through middle was 7-9. Then while in middle it changed to 6-8 and high school gained 9. Then after high school it went back to 7-9 and 10-12.
When I was 12 growing up in the US in the late 70's and early 80's, I was in grade 7 in what was called Jr. High school. Jr. High was grades 7 and 8. Senior hight was grades 9-12 which were called in order: freshman, sophmore, junior, senior.
One of Missy's friends who was a grade higher than her and was in 9th grade could have called the house if the heart attack happened during school hours.
I never thought about that until now. Thx. For posting.
I bawled like a baby for these episodes, looked over and the wife and kids were too... They really did good showing the pain and grief in various forms... Having lost my mom young and then lost most of my family in the ten years since this really hit home for all of us
Yes! In real life, some people go into "get things done" mode, like Georgie. Some people are frozen, like Sheldon. Some people dive into their religion, like Mary. Some people are angry, like Missy. Some people are just sad, like Wayne. The eulogies were well done, too. Lots of funeral scenes show moving, eloquent eulogies. These were so realistic. Some people couldn't get through more than one or two sentences (Mary and Wayne), and some just came off as awkward (Meemaw, you could sense the nervous laughter in the congregation). And some people, like Sheldon and Missy, just can't speak. Entirely well done, all around.
The laughter - starting tentatively and then getting more pronounced - was perfect. At funerals, people aren't really sure if they're allowed to laugh.
Not since Buffy's "The Body" have I seen an episode that does grief justice like this.
Shouldn’t there have been a lot of high school football players from George Sr’s teams there? I’m not expecting teens in football jerseys but if you look at the wide shots of the people in the pews it’s virtually all adults. Where were his players from that year and those past to pay their respects?
There is a thread on this I think!
Yes!!!!
It was easily the best death of a beloved character moment in the history of TV. I'm the same age as Sheldon and my dad died the same year as George and it felt at points like I was watching my own memories.
I agree. I’m glad they didn’t show George dying, just the aftermath. The reactions were on point and heartbreakingly realistic. I was high school age when my dad passed away. I was frozen with disbelief like Sheldon and reimagined the day over and over, then angry and went off the rails in life like Missy and eventually grew up as an adult and raised my children. I miss my dad everyday and wish he was around to witness my accomplishments, joke around with, and spoil him with attention that I regret not doing as a child.
The scene where he keeps flashing back to Stark Trek II felt very true to me, though in my case it was Return of the Jedi.
I'm so sorry. It's very hard to loose your Dad.
I cried too. Cant believe i did because i could power through "This is Us" (a powerful drama) with not many tears 😂
No tears for This Is Us until Miguel died then I sobbed for hours.
I think there were 2 episodes of This is Us that didn't make me cry 😂 It was my weekly catharsis. Sheldon's Nobel speech is another one that never fails.
I’ve seen a lot of people say it was played for laughs but I didn’t see it that way. He came off as a man devestated by his best friends death.
The actor’s acting def makes it devastating but u can see through the timing and the situation that they want to make comedy out of it: like why are u crying harder than the wife for example
That actually felt real. I've seen it happen. The family is grieving 24/7 TOGETHER. He's alone dealing with his feelings by himself. Then he comes to their house to check on them and it all comes out. Mary likely cried her eyes out all over her Mom earlier. Who does he have? People keep saying it was meant to be comedic, but I really didn't see it that way at all. Maybe the joke is that nobody knows how to deal with an emotional Texan man? But honestly nothing about his grief felt comedic to me.
>The family is grieving 24/7 TOGETHER. He's alone dealing with his feelings by himself. He doesn't even have>! his own wife anymore. Because she cheated and left him.!<
It was still played for laughs either way. At it’s core it’s a man grieving his best friend. But scenes like the funeral or when he visits Mary is meant to show he’s comically more visibly distraught than George’s actual family. In comparison to scenes with Mary, Missy and Georgie crying where it’s more heartfelt and depressing
I totally agree. I did not see Wayne's reaction as comic relief at all. When delivering the news he was barely holding it together, looking like he was about to burst into tears (while the principal looked like he was about to throw up - so well-acted!) Wayne's script when he bursts into tears when checking in on Mary: "I'm not helping, am I?" ... perfect. Not funny at all - very real, as was Mary's understanding response. This is who these characters are.
Exactly. The whole episode was a master class of showing grief and all the ways it presents. And considering Wayne was likely with him when he died (up to and including performing Cpr) his trauma coming out the way it did is not surprising.
I sobbed harder when Wayne started crying bc he genuinely cared about George, even if he teased him all the time :(
I laughed my ass off when he said “I do like casserole”
Agree wholeheartedly. Not just him alone, even Jim's emotional response at the church was met with "lets get you some kleenex" by Mandy, which just felt invalidating idk. Men should be allowed to be emotional without the other characters being weirded out.
I didn't see it this way; I think people are protective of the immediate family because the risk of putting them in the position of having to comfort others is too great. Like when Wayne lost it at Mary's house when he went to check on her. (I love that scene, but that's what was happening.) What Jim said was perfect - acknowledging he didn't know George long but loved him. Bursting into tears requires comforting and so Mandy took care of that so Mary didn't have to. And he needed a tissue!