This Is Us (NBC) (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

You hit all the important points of the episode, Adam, and I have nothing to add except I did laugh out loud at Kevin's peanut gallery watching "The Manny" tear through a wall for their personal edification.

Once the fire started and it became clear this episode was the picture of Jack's last day of life, it made me a little sad. He wanted to spend the day with his family and each of the kids found other lures that drew them away from his planned activity. No wonder his death has haunted them so much down through the years.

 

[EricSchulz]

https://www.change.org/p/eric-schul...tm_content=nafta_fb_canonical_share_3:control


Help me get the Super Bowl canceled in Jack's honor.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This is amazing:

 

[Mike Frezon]

THAT is...amazing.

 

[Matt Hough]

How wonderful!

 

[mattCR]

MInor comment/spoiler watching live..

Spoiler

Why did she not already turn the VHS into a DVD or digitize it if it is that important??

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

That was an incredible hour of television. I bawled my eyes out at several points. Mandy Moore has never been better, especially in that scene at the hospital when she got the news.

It felt like a real demarcator for the series, which will hopefully prevent the show from stagnating. For the audience, there is Before Jack Died and After Jack Died. But for the characters, after two decades of stasis with their grief, there was actual forward momentum. They broke out of their patterns. Where they go after this episode is different than the trajectory they were on before it.

Obviously, the Jack/Rebecca storyline is the blockbuster occurrence that this episode was built around. But the present day storylines were well serviced, too.

There was a whole lot going on in Randall's household, whether it was his way of marking the anniversary of his father's passing, Annie's subplot with her short-lived lizard, Beth trying to reel Randall in a bit as he continues to spiral a bit in the aftermath of William's passing, or Tess's strange behavior. Eris Baker, in particular, was given a lot to do, not a ton of dialogue to do it with, and rose to the occasion aplomb. The payoff to the little boy being placed with foster parents was beautiful. Much like the revelation of Jack and Rebecca's connection to the Big Three in the pilot, it's a twist that broadens and deepens our understanding of and connection to our characters, rather than something that feels gimmicky or trite. In gaining context for his situation, we learn more about Tess, and we learn a whole lot more about how Tess sees and understands her father. And I was so happy to see Deja reappear.

The key moment for me with Kate, the moment that really got the waterworks flowing, was Toby watching her watch the video of Jack watching her sing. And she catches him watching, and sees the same adoring look in his eyes that she sees in her father's eyes on the tape. And then she shares with him the importance of that and her appreciation for having him in her life.

Kevin has been very adept at avoidance for a very long time. But his newfound sobriety deprives him of his best tools for avoidance. And after all that he's been through, I don't think avoidance holds the same appeal to him that it once did. And so he visits his father's tree (or at least one in the general proximity) and starting saying the things he's been bottling up for a very long time. And his attempt to get closer to his dead father brings him closer to his very much alive mother.

I'm very happy that the mystery of Jack's death is behind us. The longer it dragged out, the more macabre and salacious it felt. And the consequences of laying these cards on the table would seem to open up far more storytelling avenues than it closes.

MInor comment/spoiler watching live..

Spoiler

Why did she not already turn the VHS into a DVD or digitize it if it is that important??

The medium of delivery was part of the ritual. That looked like a regular VHS tape and not a VHS-C inside an adapter cassette, so two VCRs must have been daisy chained to make a copy at some point. But over the years the tape had become a sacred relic, and those can be treated with an irrational degree of reverence.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The payoff to the little boy being placed with foster parents was beautiful. Much like the revelation of Jack and Rebecca's connection to the Big Three in the pilot, it's a twist that broadens and deepens our understanding of and connection to our characters, rather than something that feels gimmicky or trite.

So amazingly done. I loved it!

And it's just amazing that Jack's death doesn't really change the dynamic of the show at all--the way they inter-mix the timelines and stories.

Why did she not already turn the VHS into a DVD or digitize it if it is that important??

I figured she felt like the tape (itself) was part of the connection between herself and her dad that she was holding onto with every viewing.

The medium of delivery was part of the ritual. That looked like a regular VHS tape and not a VHS-C inside an adapter cassette, so two VCRs must have been daisy chained to make a copy at some point.

I'm especially glad I'm not the only geek who would have noticed that bit of a discrepancy!

I used to dub whatever I shot on my VHS-C camcorder onto standard VHS tapes. I considered the VHS-C tapes my "shooting tapes" and would regularly cycle through and re-use them over and over. I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt that that's probably what Jack did, too!

 

[Matt Hough]

A beautiful and highly emotional episode with lots of surprises. I was riveted from beginning to end, wiping away copious tears in the process.

 

[Jason_V]

Damn. So I think we all knew this was going to be emotional, not just because of what we knew was going to happen to Jack, but also because there is so much fallout from this one event. It is the event the show has hinged on for almost two years now. This was, quite possibly, a perfect hour of television. This episode had me riveted from the very beginning...I was yelling at the TV several times...I'm not ashamed to say I was also balled in the corner of the couch, tears streaming down my face.

Jack. Is. A. God. Full stop. That was my only thought as he's standing on the roof of the house. That same thought permeated me when he turned down the painkillers (for good reason). He is this bigger than life, perfect but not quite perfect man the kids, Rebecca and Miguel all orbit. And after he dies, they live in his shadow. That is, after all, how this works, right? When someone passes, especially like this, you tend to forget the bad stuff-the frequent spending of money, the one time another person turned his head from his spouse, the nasty fight he got into over Thanksgiving dinner-and you remember the good. Miguel said it in the therapy episode and then again a week later to Kevin in the supermarket.

It's amazing, if you think about it, that Kevin, Rebecca, Randall, Kate and Miguel turned out as well as they did post-fire. They all have issues, but this event could easily destroy people. I'm looking forward to post-Jack young Rebecca the most, I think. Her scene with Miguel about either hold it together or go take a walk showed how strong she knew she had to be walking into the house with Randall and Kate. Miguel's face told me he wasn't sure he could and wondered how in the world Rebecca was planning on doing it.

I'm fairly certain I'll be a basket case next week as well.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm fairly certain I'll be a basket case next week as well.

Not next week, Jason. Tomorrow (Tuesday) night!

 

[Mike Frezon]

For me while a great episode, it wasn't perfect and I'll put the blame on Mandy Moore (like I usually do). I wasn't buying the dialogue at the candy machine with the doctor or her reaction to seeing Jack's body. And I really don't think the hospital would just leave a body lying around unattended and uncovered for anyone to walk in on. But if those are the only nits to pick in an otherwise great episode, I think we're doing really well.

 

[Jason_V]

Not next week, Jason. Tomorrow (Tuesday) night!

I don't know if I'm emotionally ready for this. Seriously. I know I won't watch until likely the weekend because of other commitments the rest of the week (and there's no way I'm watching at work), but come on. A man needs to find a way to cover up his red eyes right now...

 

[Matt Hough]

What a novel idea to build an episode around the family car! I loved the episode, and it wasn't nearly as tear-inducing as I feared it would be for me. I thought Mandy Moore (along with Milo, of course) carried the hour quite effectively.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gerald McRaney carried the hour for me...along with Milo Ventimiglia.

I LOVED the way the writers gave us that last scene of the hour with Jack and the car dealership owner. They didn't have to beat us over the head with what happened--what the outcome was--the salesman's reaction to what Jack was saying...Jack's expression after he got his deal...ANY of that. Instead we got Rebecca driving the kids over the bridge--facing her fears to carry on as she knew she'd have to.

Powerful. Minimal. Intelligent.

 

[mattCR]

Weird Al is the music that connects generations.

 

[David Weicker]

I lost it when McRaney showed up.

I knew he was going to be in the episode because of the teaser, but his actual appearance just did me in

 

[ScottH]

I guess I was the only one underwhelmed by the "Very Special Superbowl Episode". It's interesting how Mandy Moore can be so bad in the scene where the doctor gives her the news, and then so good in the scene where she gives the news to Miguel.

Curious where they go from here now that the thing they had been teasing for a season and a half has been revealed. Obviously they'll keep Jack around as long as they can by bouncing around the timeline, but at some point I suspect it will feel forced.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I guess I was the only one underwhelmed by the "Very Special Superbowl Episode". It's interesting how Mandy Moore can be so bad in the scene where the doctor gives her the news, and then so good in the scene where she gives the news to Miguel.

I really wish they had gotten someone else for the part.

Curious where they go from here now that the thing they had been teasing for a season and a half has been revealed. Obviously they'll keep Jack around as long as they can by bouncing around the timeline, but at some point I suspect it will feel forced.

I was saying to my wife that I thought this was the amazing aspect of the show. The time-shifting means that they can kill off (or have huge dramatic moments) for ANY of the characters and yet still keep them alive (and active) due to the time shifting. Jack's death doesn't really change anything from where the show was a few episodes ago. It just gives more context. Just as William's death didn't mean we would never see him again.

One of the interesting things is going to be to go back and watch earlier episodes during the show's run and see how faithful the writers were to the history that wasn't revealed to the audience until much later. In other words, a huge peek into the writing process to see how far ahead they planned out their story lines.

 

[ScottH]

I LOVED the way the writers gave us that last scene of the hour with Jack and the car dealership owner. They didn't have to beat us over the head with what happened--what the outcome was--the salesman's reaction to what Jack was saying...Jack's expression after he got his deal...ANY of that. Instead we got Rebecca driving the kids over the bridge--facing her fears to carry on as she knew she'd have to.

I thought this episode was better than the Superbowl one, but that was the one part of it I didn't like at all. It was lazy and the writer's way to crowbar in the "I want my kids to be okay" parallel. And there's no way that cheesy little speech would get him a better deal on a car in the real world. Of course we don't know for sure that he did.