This episode featured an unexpected deep dive into the other side of the family previewed only by Jacob’s use of his mother’s birth name, Ruchel, at the end of the previous installment. That was one of several indicators of her Jewishness, including her father’s yarmulke and her telling the woman who found her in America that she has no mispacha (Hebrew for family). While their persecution didn’t appear to be explicitly because they were Jewish, it’s sadly hard to find anyone living in Eastern Europe during that time who was able to survive and stay in their home. What Ruchel’s mother did was far more public than what Geraldine and her children were able to do in part because it was seen as a kind of magic, but unfortunately that was also her undoing. After they tried to navigate that trippy house of memories in the sky, Jacob put his all into trying over and over again to fix it and find a way to protect her family. While he didn’t ultimately succeed, Ruchel got the forgiveness she needed from her many future selves to be at peace and to connect with her identity. That led to an extremely powerful finish, one that showed Alejandro joining the family early and Becca ending up with an adopted child thanks to the successful changes they made. Jacob explaining that they were lighting the yahrzeit candle in memory of his mother was an emotional way to end the episode, and I’m so curious to see what is still left to be sorted in the finale and if there is anything broken that will require fixing.
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