This is Us- Season four

[DisneyHardin]

However, you're right about keeping up on the property taxes, as well as all the maintenance-type things that go with home ownership. And assuming Laurel's estate went through probate, they would have made a good faith effort to find Laurel's son (last seen in Pittsburgh--gee, maybe start there? Maybe by tracking down William, who was still alive and living in Pittsburgh, at the address where Rebecca had found him, decades before?)

In real life - there wouldn't have been a search for her son because "legally", she didn't have a son. There was no paperwork connecting Randall to her - only her word that she had a son. No one would have spent money attempting to track down a son based off a second hand story that Hei told them after she had died. Most likely, the estate would have gone to a distant relative - I'm sure her parents had siblings/cousins that would have been tracked down.

 

[TLSnell1981]

They might have to pay an inheritance tax on it plus: property taxes, utilities, homeowners insurance, maintenance, etc.

Is the estate value such that it wouldn’t be exempt from inheritance tax? And who lived there? Maybe they paid for the upkeep?

I thought I was the only one who found it creepy! Randall was naked as he walked in the water. I kept thinking about all the "stuff" that lives in lakes (gators, poisonous snakes, toxic algae) Then when they showed him and the water was up to his chin, it was almost comical looking. I knew it wasn't supposed to be funny, but it looked like a floating head. I also miss Deja. She is one of my fav's on the show. Deja and Beth. Just love them.

Guess these folks (writers) don’t know about important details? Randall may not know but his Mama sure would.

 

[prairie_girl]

Add me to the list of people who thought the episode was just...meh. I didn't see Kevin getting in an accident either. This is a very accident prone family lol. I hate to say it, but the show is becoming a bit soap operaish.

When Randall was in the water all I could hear was George Costanza's voice yelling, "I was in the pool! I was in the pool"

 

[SC Minnie]

Add me to the list of people who thought the episode was just...meh. I didn't see Kevin getting in an accident either. This is a very accident prone family lol. I hate to say it, but the show is becoming a bit soap operaish.

I agree. The short periods of episodes is also annoying. 3 or 4 and they go on a 2-3 month break. I would stop watching but I've put this much into it so I guess I'll finish watching. I'm no quitter.

 

[Disneyluvr]

I'm guessing Laurel left everything to Hei before she died and he has been living there/paying for the upkeep, but in his heart he knew she would have wanted Randall to have it, that he was the rightful heir, so he was giving it to him. I'm sure they just won't bother showing us all the legal stuff that comes later. I thought after he gave him the keys Hei went into a bedroom and closed the door, it didn't seem like he left the house.

 

[PollyannaMom]

In real life - there wouldn't have been a search for her son because "legally", she didn't have a son. There was no paperwork connecting Randall to her - only her word that she had a son. No one would have spent money attempting to track down a son based off a second hand story that Hei told them after she had died.

I agree.

I'm guessing Laurel left everything to Hei before she died and he has been living there/paying for the upkeep, but in his heart he knew she would have wanted Randall to have it, that he was the rightful heir, so he was giving it to him. I'm sure they just won't bother showing us all the legal stuff that comes later.

I also assumed that, as far as legal paperwork goes, Laurel had left the house to Hai, and that he'd been maintaining it. I figure maybe he's got his parents' old house as well, and plans to live there after giving Laurel's to William.

 

[brockash]

I'm guessing Laurel left everything to Hei before she died and he has been living there/paying for the upkeep, but in his heart he knew she would have wanted Randall to have it, that he was the rightful heir, so he was giving it to him. I'm sure they just won't bother showing us all the legal stuff that comes later. I thought after he gave him the keys Hei went into a bedroom and closed the door, it didn't seem like he left the house.

Oh, I thought for sure he left the house. I got the feeling that was the last we'd see of him and he left the house completely, as if he didn't really live there, but was just taking care of it until Randal showed up; ; although that is a bit confusing with the previous scene we saw with him cooking with his ?granddaughter? ...or was that a different house. Not sure, although it wouldn't surprise me if it was just overlooked by the editors...I'm still pretty taken aback by the fact that they made an error in the pregnancy/ovulation thing.

 

[brockash]

.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I got the feeling that...he didn't really live there, but was just taking care of it until Randal showed up; although that is a bit confusing with the previous scene we saw with him cooking with his ?granddaughter? ...or was that a different house.

I also thought he left the house, and that the granddaughter scene had occurred in a different, smaller one. (That's why I assumed he had another place as well.)

I'm still pretty taken aback by the fact that they made an error in the pregnancy/ovulation thing.

Yeah, that was a surprising mistake.

 

[SC Minnie]

Hai left the house when he gave them the keys. When Randall came back to that night he turned the lights on.

I'm wondering if Laurel left the house to Hai with the stipulation that if he found her son it was to go to him. I'm also wondering if her father disowned her since there was no mention of her parent's home and money. The house Randall was at was her aunts. Just my guess.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

Hai left the house when he gave them the keys. When Randall came back to that night he turned the lights on.

I'm wondering if Laurel left the house to Hai with the stipulation that if he found her son it was to go to him. I'm also wondering if her father disowned her since there was no mention of her parent's home and money. The house Randall was at was her aunts. Just my guess.

I think it was the aunt's too and she probably left it to Laurel, who then left it to Hai. I wonder if Laurel's parents ever knew where she was. Her father didn't get along with the aunt, it's possible they never saw her again when she left as a teen.

 

[okeydokey]

It wasn’t clear if Hai and Laurel lived in the house together the last two years of her life. I thought he had his own place, where he was cooking with his granddaughter. I think he arranged to meet Randall at that address to show him where his mother lived and give him the keys, as it was Laurel’s house, not Hali’s.

of course this will be paperwork and wills etc, but those details aren’t important to the story at hand, which was Randall finding closure to the abandonment issues he has felt his whole life after being left at the fire station.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I enjoyed the episode and liked knowing the full story.

it didn’t surprise me that she got 5 years in prison for a minor drug offense. It was the 80s, the crack epidemic, when a large number of black people were being hit with long sentences for minor drug offenses.

William may have been the love of her life. Hai said she was the love of his life. Laurel never got to say who the love of her life was.

I can see never looking for Randall. It was the 80s. No social media, not many resources, she never legally had a child, no paper trail. Where would she start? William left to Philadelphia. There was no ancestry DNA.

I’m really over them bringing up covid. I would like my leisure tv to not be about covid.

 

[lisaviolet]

I am disturbed that the way the story was told made Laurel a victim of circumstances, completely blameless and not at all responsible for any of her choices or actions over her entire lifetime. She had some hard knocks, but she inflicted some damage on herself and others by choices she made also.

No sarcasm, where did you get she was completely blameless?

And jail time made her responsible for some of her choices. So I am confused on that point as well.

it didn’t surprise me that she got 5 years in prison for a minor drug offense. It was the 80s, the crack epidemic, when a large number of black people were being hit with long sentences for minor drug offenses

Absolutely. I was actually surprised she didn't get a longer sentence, given the times.

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And those nurses' conversations - they still happen today.

I enjoyed the episode and liked knowing the full story.

I thought it could have been a beautiful episode. I too liked following her story. Especially since I always knew she was alive, and had quietly given thought about her future choices and life. I was always very focused on how they were going to keep William intact, as I was positive that he did not lie to his son. My mind is forever on people's history, that made them who they are - good or bad. I find the trajectory of people's lives absolutely fascinating.

I thought it was a wonderful start but then it crashed and burned for me.

I felt the storyline became very rushed, and fell apart around her leaving New Orleans. The water scene, nope. I loved the sentiment. But it became almost comical.

I felt production ruined the episode. Casting, editing and writing. But once again, it was gorgeously shot.

 

[FQLover]

What casting did you not like?

 

[lisaviolet]

...but I found Randall going in the lake trite, predictable and creepy.

I already covered creepy, but trite and predictable bothered me just as much.

It is a shame, I really feel the had it in their hands - so to speak.

 

[lisaviolet]

What casting did you not like?

I was already not thrilled in the earlier episode, when we first saw Hai giving us a sneak peak of his younger self in the photograph. It wasn't about talent per se but I found it completely unbelievable.

With Laurel, although the actress playing her older self did a fantastic job copying her style of speaking, I thought it was a stupid choice. I did not see any reason why they couldn't have aged the original actress. Especially since she was only on screen for such a short time. And did not live to become elderly.

I found both decisions jarring.


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An aside -

And LisaGay Hamilton (the aunt), she is a fantastic actress - and this is just me being absolutely silly - but I could only see The Practice, I could not push through on her for whatever reason.

 

[lisaviolet]

Laurel, the actress is both beautiful and captivating. I hope she lands more roles.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I did not see any reason why they couldn't have aged the original actress.

Probably because they got so much flack for aging Mandy Moore. I don't think they can really win here in terms of making everybody happy.

Besides that, I thought it was actually kind of fitting for Laurel to look a lot different when she was older. I'm sure she felt like a very different person.

Laurel, the actress is both beautiful and captivating. I hope she lands more roles.

I agree.

 

[cabanafrau]

No sarcasm, where did you get she was completely blameless?

And jail time made her responsible for some of her choices. So I am confused on that point as well.



Absolutely. I was actually surprised she didn't get a longer sentence, given the times.

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And those nurses' conversations - they still happen today.



I thought it could have been a beautiful episode. I too liked following her story. Especially since I always knew she was alive, and had quietly given thought about her future choices and life. I was always very focused on how they were going to keep William intact, as I was positive that he did not lie to his son. My mind is forever on people's history, that made them who they are - good or bad. I find the trajectory of people's lives absolutely fascinating.

I thought it was a wonderful start but then it crashed and burned for me.

I felt the storyline became very rushed, and fell apart around her leaving New Orleans. The water scene, nope. I loved the sentiment. But it became almost comical.

I felt production ruined the episode. Casting, editing and writing. But once again, it was gorgeously shot.

The entire arc of Laurel's story was constructed to show that Randall's mother was beautiful, intelligent, creative, kind, spirited and fiercely independent -- and continuously had the deck stacked against her, always preventing her from being with those she loved; her aunt, her brother, Hai, William and Randall. She did get another bite at the apple with her aunt and Hai, although how the reunion with Hai came about doesn't hold up well if you really look closely and think about the fact that first of all she left him crushed when she ran off knowing that he could not abandon his parents when she could have chosen to stay with him then. Secondly, it was a small community, particularly surrounding the farmer's market. The writers attempted to portray it as if somehow Laurel both returned to her aunt and yet never crossed paths with Hai for years until his wife is terminally ill? She loved William deeply, believes they suffered such an unbearable loss and never attempted to find him again in all those years? She made some deliberate choices not to fight to be with people she loved for reasons of her own that boiled down to her own reasons not to fight the odds.

As far as jailtime holding her responsible, nope. It was all written very deliberately heavy handedly to give Randall the story of how he was ripped from the arms of his mother who loved him. The whole O'Henry-esque maneuver to keep Laurel, William and Randall apart and unknowing while tugging on our heartstrings was just too much IMO.

The start of the story with young Laurel was great. You immediately fell in love with this wonderful girl and wanted to know more. The heavy handed writing trying to turn itself inside out to achieve an end result was too much. And I believe on some level writers, producers, whomever it was, understood Randall encountering his mother in the lake required an actress who was definitely older and absolutely couldn't work if the actress was near his age. That scene was creepy enough already. The actress playing older Laurel was fine, probably underappreciated because she was stuck with trying to hold up a story that didn't have any working elements by the time she stepped in.