This Is Us (NBC) (1 Viewer)

[David Weicker]

Both of the final Kevin scenes bothered me - from “One” and from “Three”

In “One”, Randall’s misinterpretation ruined the impact of Kevin’s prior breakdown in the front yard (a fantastic performance). It shifted the story off of Kevin when we, as an audience, needed a response.

In “Three”, it took the focus away from Randall and Deja’s story in a jarring manner

 

[ScottH]

That early scene where Deja's mom shows up out front unannounced spoke volumes. Deja was the one who talked her mother down. Randall is absolutely correct when he notes that Deja has had to be the parent far too often when it comes to her mother. But we also see how Deja has been impacted by her time with the Pearsons. She was willing to trust a system that had resulted in her enduring physical and emotional harm over and over again in the past. She had the words to articulate the point she was trying to make in a way that successfully defused the situation. And she trusted Randall and Beth enough not to use it against her.

That scene reminded me of when the young Randall said to his grandmother, "It's about time" in its absurdity. Other than that I enjoyed the episode more than most.

The Kevin incident just rubbed me the wrong way. It felt so horribly and overtly manipulative that it made me mad at the producers of the show.

That's how I feel most weeks with this show.

 

[Mike Frezon]

That's how I feel most weeks with this show.

Hah! That's eerily remiscent of my weekly reaction to Parenthood. Still never missed an episode though.

 

[EricSchulz]

FINALLY got all caught up. After watching "Number 3" Hulu directed me to watch one of the movies in my queue, to which I screamed "NO! I want to see what happens next!" Echoing what many have already said, I'm hoping somehow Deja is in future episodes. What an amazing actress.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The two standout elements from last night's midseason premiere:

1. The dark underside of Jack's indulgence of Kate. Near the end, when Kate's confessing about indulging in junk food to Toby, the show flashes to her and Jack at the ice cream parlor on that family vacation. Jack couldn't help being the good guy, and his little outings with Kate to sneak the food Rebecca disapproved of were a part of that. But the end result was that the ice cream isn't just ice cream for her; Kate associates the kinds of food that exacerbate her weight problem with all of these wonderful memories of her father.
   
   
2. That last scene with Rebecca and Kevin. She finally finds the right thing to say to him, and Kevin's whole body language changes when she does. I do think he has always felt loved by his mother, but I don't think -- until that moment -- he's ever felt understood by his mother. And a large part of his sense of alienation is that I don't think he ever believed she cared enough to try.
   
   At first, the anecdote about the first day of kindergarten seems like another of the many Rockwellian scenes that Rebecca uses as a shield and a defense mechanism. But then it becomes clear that she's not rationalizing, she's explaining: Kevin never seemed like he needed the sort of intensive emotional support that she gave to Randall and Jack gave to Kate. And only now, with him having endangered her granddaughter's life, and in rehab, does she understand how wrong that assumption was.
   
   And it's not enough for Rebecca to realize that she and Jack were wrong; she has to articulate it. And when she does, Kevin responds immediately. Because he can be vapid and shallow and self-absorbed, it's easy to underestimate his emotional capacity. But I love it when Justin Hartley gets to play those beats.

 

[Matt Hough]

Kevin as a kid was really a jerk; it amazes me he was so popular at school unless his entire personality changed away from home because I find him as a kid pretty much intolerable most of the time. He NEVER obeys; he's never kind; he never thinks of anyone except himself. He's exhausting at that age.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

He NEVER obeys; he's never kind; he never thinks of anyone except himself.

That's not quite true. He's awful to Randall and petulant toward Rebecca, but he's been shown on multiple occasions to do right by Kate at that age.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The family give-and-take in the therapy session was amazing. To be able to play that kind of scene and make the dialogue believable is a credit to the actors and writers. Even Mandy Moore, who I consider to be the weakest link in the ensemble, was able to keep up. That wig she wears as older Rebecca, though, really should be better. And I completely agree about Justin Hartley. He brings several layers to his performance.

Meanwhile, I also loved the scene with the "new big three." Toby continues to shine and Miguel finally got a chance to be heard: "I married my best friend's wife." "St. Jack is my no-fly zone."

What a fascinating show...weaving the flashbacks with the current-day revelations. Phenomenal.

 

[EricSchulz]

What an outstanding episode! Things were said that I never expected to hear them articulate. VERY intense but I think they kept it real when it could have easily become maudlin or overwrought. And given all that, I really think the most enjoyable scene was "The Others" at the bar! Beth and Toby are two of the characters I just LOVE and to hear them compare notes WHILE DRINKING was pure genius! LOVED IT!!!!

 

[Jason_V]

Everyone in the show, and I think we do too, put Jack on this throne where is the best person in the whole wide world. Of course, that can't possibly be true, but that's how we tend to see people who passed a long time ago: the people who were there to know them don't want to sully the image and everyone else doesn't know any better. Jack was a great husband, father and friend. He was also very flawed, as we've seen. No one wants to talk about the flaws precisely because that presumably diminishes the man.

The dueling therapy sessions was brilliant: the people who knew Jack vs. the ones who could never, ever live up to him. Toby, Beth and Miguel have their own little click now of commiserate souls. Once Kevin sorts out his stuff and presumably gets into a stable relationship, that person will find a space for themselves with people who understand.

I get Kevin more now than I ever have before. He used to be a petulant little jerk to me. Now he's a petulant little jerk with deeper issues over feeling excluded. He needs his family in a different way than Kate and Randall do. He projects not needing the family endorsement or support though, in reality, he needs it far more than the other two. Why? Kate has a reaffirming man in her life and Randall has a wonderful family. Kevin, ultimately, only has this group and feels he can't ask them for help.

 

[EricSchulz]

After the past two episodes this one seemed so slow and "inconsequential". I hope they don't expand the universe too much and spend less time focusing on the Pearson clan. (My first thought: is the little boy feeding Clooney going to get a storyline?)

 

[Matt Hough]

There were certainly surprises. The identity of the "Lady" of the poem's title and focus was not whom I was expecting. And with the title of the episode being "Clooney," I certainly expected he'd come home with the cat.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This wasn't my favorite episode, but it had some good scenes for Kevin and Kate.

Kevin's antipathy toward Miguel has been a running theme through the whole series, so it was nice to see that unpacked a bit more. Coming out of rehab, Kevin's a bit more reflective and thoughtful that usual and that spurs him to ask questions he might not have otherwise. The parallel between teenage Kevin and adult Kevin worked well in this episode: The teenage storyline was about Kevin seeing Jack as a human being, and the adult storyline was about Kevin seeing Rebecca as a human being. By finally starting to let go of the resentment that he held toward Miguel for moving in on his best friend's wife, Kevin was able to consider what's best for him mom -- and that her happiness must carry greater weight than his grudge.

The casting of Hannah Zeile as teenage Kate is second only to maybe Jermel Nakia as twentysomething/thirtysomething William when it comes to the miraculous physical resemblance. Zeile and Chrissy Metz have the same face, and certain things they do to mirror their performances with body language and timing drive the resemblance home even more. Nevertheless: Metz is morbidly obese and Zeile, the daughter of a major league baseball player and an Olympic gold medalist, is not. They use wardrobe to make teenage Kate look heavier than Zeile is, but there's still no question that teenage Kate is skinnier than both kid Kate and adult Kate. And rather than overdo it with fat suits or force Zeile toward unhealthy life choices, they found a way to address it that deepens our understanding of Kate as a character: When she did the work and got the weight off, it didn't bring her happiness because it didn't change her own self-image. Her childhood obesity gave her a lot of insecurities, and those didn't go away when the obesity did. And then, of course, we know Jack is going to die soon in teenage Kate's timeline and we know Kate is going to blame herself for Jack's death.

I liked how Kate recognized that Madison was bulimic and handled the situation with the sensitivity and empathy it deserved. And I liked the scene near the end that confirmed, eating disorder or no, Madison is just awful. Well-intentioned to be sure, and really nailed it with the wedding dress thing, but superficial and tone deaf to the max.

After the past two episodes this one seemed so slow and "inconsequential". I hope they don't expand the universe too much and spend less time focusing on the Pearson clan. (My first thought: is the little boy feeding Clooney going to get a storyline?)

This was the first episode where the tie-ins to William felt like a stretch instead of something essential. I can certainly understand the writers' desire to keep tying William in, because Ron Cephas Jones is phenomenal, but the box of old crap and the cat that was previously mentioned only once in a throwaway line of dialog felt a bit extraneous. I hope this is the last we see of Clooney; the little boy finding him the way William did, and feeding him the way William did, felt like it closed that particular loop.

There were certainly surprises. The identity of the "Lady" of the poem's title and focus was not whom I was expecting.

I did like that. I was expecting another grand revelation that completely reshapes our understanding of William, and I'm glad it wasn't that. Sometimes a cigar really is a cigar, and sometimes things don't have a great and deeper meaning.

 

[DaveF]

I liked how Kate recognized that Madison was bulimic and handled the situation with the sensitivity and empathy it deserved. And I liked the scene near the end that confirmed, eating disorder or no, Madison is just awful. Well-intentioned to be sure, and really nailed it with the wedding dress thing, but superficial and tone deaf to the max.

How so, is Madison just awful? That’s the opposite of what that scene was communicating.

We’ve seen twice that Madison is actually a decent person. The first time when Kate rear-ended her and revealed she was pregnant. Now this episode, where she set up a wedding dress outing that Kate could actually enjoy.

But we also got to see that Madison isn’t actually a vapid, attention-seeking hypochondriac. She’s actually quite ill, knows she needs help but can’t actually face up to that need and be real about her problem with the support group.

In the end, we see a broken young woman, very unwell. And consequently deeply needing support, friendship, and love. But from that actually showing suppprt and empathy to Kate.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

How so, is Madison just awful? That’s the opposite of what that scene was communicating.

Not awful in some deep, terrible way. Awful in the minor irritating ways that can make someone a chore to be around.

Her and Kate just went through this very real experience together, and Madison's first instinct is to start a podcast about it -- take something private and personal and intimate and broadcast it to the world for external gratification. And then the next thing out of her mouth is to assume her and Kate are best friends forever based on one act of kindness (the private wedding dress appointment) and one act of basic human decency (Kate coming when Madison called after she hit her head when she fainted after purging).

Maybe it's just me that's the awful person.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Maybe it's just me that's the awful person.

Nah...

You're not THAT awful, Adam!

I'd just say Madison is being written as immature, entitled and shallow. Not an awful person...but one who needs some direction in order to learn how to channel her caring for others and to care for herself.

 

[DaveF]

I see what you’re going for, Adam. I wouldn’t characterize Madison as awful. As Mike says, she’s immature. She’s avoiding dealing with her own problems directly, which can make a person come across as even more superficial.

Madison is a little like Jack, in that she’s relentlessly positive to those around her while she avoids facing her own problems. And this is in contrast to Kate who experiences only the pain in life. (This isn’t a perfect parallel as Jack did face his alcoholism.)

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I see what you’re going for, Adam. I wouldn’t characterize Madison as awful. As Mike says, she’s immature. She’s avoiding dealing with her own problems directly, which can make a person come across as even more superficial.

Yes, probably a bad word choice on my part.

Madison is a little like Jack, in that she’s relentlessly positive to those around her while she avoids facing her own problems. And this is in contrast to Kate who experiences only the pain in life. (This isn’t a perfect parallel as Jack did face his alcoholism.)

This is a good observation.

 

[DaveF]

A difficulty in describing the characters of these shows is that the leads are all awful people that we wouldn’t want to be around. They’re narcissistic and stuck in a state of arrested development. Except maybe Randall, who’s neurotic and going through a mid-life crisis that only affluent, dual-income families can afford to indulge.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm glad they're not dragging out the mystery of how Jack died. By the end of tonight's episode, we pretty much know the broad strokes of what happened. I'm a bit surprised NBC is giving the post-Super Bowl slot to "This Is Us" since networks usually use that slot for new shows they're trying to grow, not their biggest established hit. But it's definitely a suitably high profile occasion to finally tell story of how Jack died.

I love Randall and Kevin working together on Randall and Beth's new building. It's a great way to get the two siblings who have always been the furthest apart to interact with each other, and in a small way it's them furthering the legacy of their father's dream. The best bit was all of the ladies of the building pulling up chairs to watch Kevin sweating through his tank top as he tore through that wall with a sledgehammer.

My favorite moment of the episode was Kate watching the tape Jack had recorded of her singing. She's reached an age where she understands that a parent's assessment isn't exactly an unbiased assessment, and she strongly suspects that her father is telling her what she wants to hear or what he thinks she needs to hear rather than the truth. But then she puts that tape on and stops worrying about herself and starts watching the reflection in the mirror of Jack watching her sing. And Milo Ventimiglia is such a good actor that even through the multiple layers of separation of Kate watch a VHS-C amateur recording on an old CRT television, Jack's love for his daughter and pride in his daughter shines through. And what Kate realizes that what while her father's assessment definitely isn't an unbiased assessment, it is an honest one. Kate has had a really negative self-image her entire life. But in seeing herself through her father's eyes, she sees someone who is loved and deserves to be loved.

I almost wish they didn't underline the point with the follow-up scene between her and Jack in the family room. At the same time, because it's presumably Kate's last conversation with her father, I can understand why the writers felt that Kate needed to have said it to her father.