This is Us

[Gideon58]

Wow, do I have to rewatch this episode? Where did Madison look pregnant?

I don't overly mind the Philip storyline, but what I didn't find believable was that she was dating so heavily... by the time they were signing divorce papers. However long it took to get through the paperwork of a divorce, I just don't see either one of them jumping back into the dating pool so fast. SOME people do date right away, but if we're supposed to believe their earlier story at all, then we'd have to think that Kate wouldn't be seriously dating so soon. And yeah, Philip's sob story about his first wife was a bit TOO melodramatic. The writers didn't need to go that far.

And I'm sorry, but I just don't see Toby being QUITE that okay with Philip being the stepdad. Even in the best of circumstances, stepparents often have a rough time dealing with the biological parents. The best you can usually hope for is that the bio parent will keep his/her opinions to themselves. That bar scene with Toby and Philip just seemed a little too "This Is Us" dramatic to me. And is he really gonna explain football to Philip?? Male bonding? Really?

Otherwise, though, I too enjoyed seeing Kevin with various shallow women in every scene. And Toby comparing himself to Jack seems like exactly what he would do in that moment. It's been an underlying issue for him since the beginning: competing with that family and the odd Jack-glue that has held it together for too many years. The same issue Miguel has had to endure.

There are, I believe, six episodes left.

There was an early scene where Madison was with Elijah and she was wearing that blue dress and she definitely had a baby bump,

[Gideon58]

You have to admit there is some legitimacy to Toby's feelings about Kate and Jack.

[Austruck]

You have to admit there is some legitimacy to Toby's feelings about Kate and Jack.

Oh, if I didn't admit this--or sounded like I agreed--then apologies! I definitely feel like Toby has a legitimate gripe here! He's always had to fight against the Big Three and their continued obsession with their dad.

[Gideon58]

The beginning of ep 13 brought me straight to downer mode as Rebecca's boredom with the rut her life has become segued into her not remembering that Jack is gone. Though I didn't understand what Rebecca's haircut had to do with the rest of the show. And I know I've said it somewhere in a past post about this show, but Milo Ventimiglia does look like a porn star without the beard. I've never been a big Miguel fan, but it's time for Randall to step aside and let Miguel take care of Rebecca. He can't run the world and be at Rebecca's beck and call at the same time. This is the first episode ever where I felt Miguel made all the right moves. Loved when he referenced Sideways. Why does every TV wedding have to have a scene where the groom wants to see the bride in her wedding dress and the maid(s) of honor are shooing him away? Kate's wedding dress was GORGEOUS. Picking out something flattering for a woman of Chrissy's size couldn't have been easy but they nailed it. Cassidy looked gorgeous too. Didn't really care for Phillip's suit though. I was surprised to see Sophie at the wedding...didn't see that coming at all. Loved Jack's cameo during the Golden Girls scene. Loved Justin's impression of Peter Cook in The Princess Bride...that took guts. Randall's wedding toast was pretentious and over the top..."a remote that pauses life"? Seriously? And the most pleasant surprise of the show was the reveal that Rebecca's song was a vocal interpretation of the musical theme that has been the basis of this show's music score for the past six years. I love this stupid show.

[Gideon58]

Kevin and his Valentine cards provided a cute opening to ep 14. Though I have to admit it was kind of strange that we got the wedding last week and the night before this week, but then again, that is classic This is Us. And I was right, that is Katie Lowes from Scandal playing the wedding singer...never knew she could sing, they never worked it into her character on Scandal. Little confused by the return of Sophie to the canvas after all this time, though the chemistry is still there. It just seems a little late considering where this show is to bring Sophie back to the canvas. That long shot of Kevin and Sophie walking through that field was hypnotic. But it's a little hard to buy this whole reconnection between Kevin and Sophie at this point and it turned out, I was right about that. That scene at the bar with Justin Hartley and Katie Lowes was terrific. The scene with Kevin and Uncle Nicky was a waste of screentime. Not sure why he would leave that napkin poetry with Cassidy? Cassidy would know what Kevin's handwriting would look like by now, right? The point of this episode seems to have been to show how romantically challenged Kevin is. OK, I don't want to sound insensitive, but why would Kevin rent a car that size for Kate and Phillip? As always, Randall's Buffalo Bills analogy was pretentious and took too long to go where it's going, but I love the fact that I think he's totally wrong. I just find it hard to believe
that Kevin and Sophie are reconnecting while Kate ad Toby fell apart and Randall and Beth are on their way to falling apart. Not really buying that Kevin kept that valentine in his wallet since he was a kid, but I still love this stupid show.

[Austruck]

SAME SAME. I burst out laughing when you mentioned the car! I thought the same thing: how would Kate fit into that small car? Sports cars are notoriously tiny, plus they are low to the ground. Anyone who's either out of shape or in any way overweight (cough, me) would have a tough time getting OUT of that car, even if they could get IN. Ridiculous... but since we only see Kevin and Sophie in it, then it looks cool, right? <roll eyes>

I think the writers realized that, if they were going to wrap up Kevin's story, they would have to come full circle: showing us all his encapsulated poor romantic choices, then assuring us that he has finally matured enough to appreciate Sophie--since cheating on her had been his regret right from when it first happened. So now we're back to the beginning with him, where he supposedly was best all along.

Sure, it's clichéd and cheesy, but this is show is the epitome of cheesy, so what did we expect?

And yeah, I wanted to smack Randall after his pointless, still confusing analogy. Except that this family supposedly lived for football, right?

[xSookieStackhouse]

i never watched the tv series but it does look good cause my favorite actress mandy moore is in it but i have so much shows to watch D=

[Gideon58]

Don't understand how you can be a Mandy Moore fan and have never watched this show.

[Gideon58]

Have to admit I wasn't too thrilled when I learned that ep 15 was going to be about Miguel because he has always been my least favorite character on the show. But knowing how this show works, a Miguel-centric episode couldn't be avoided forever. Loved Paul Calderon as Miguel's father. Big bouquet to Mandy Moore, who is putting so much detail in playing a character decades older than she is...you could see the pain and confusion she imbued into every move as Miguel helped her out of bed. That scene of Miguel communicating with the triplets by phone was beautifully edited. Have to admit being totally shocked during that job interview scene, we learned that Miguel tried to Americanize himself by changing his name, but learning why he did it was awesome...great suit though. The way Miguel was acting with his parents when he came home for Christmas reminded me a lot of Randall. This Miguel does not jive at all with the Miguel we've been watching the last five seasons. That initial meeting between Miguel and Rebecca just seemed to push too hard to show their initial antagonism for each other, I don't think it needed to be that rough. Rebecca's dance in the snow was a heartbreaker. The attempt to provide as much of Miguel's backstory as they could provided way too jarring changes from scene to scene. Some of this stuff should have been provided in earlier seasons instead of trying to cram it all into one episode. That moment when Rebecca wanted to know where Miguel was totally worked. The triplets' reaction to Rebecca and Miguel being together for the first time made me really hate them.
This episode did nothing to change my mind about the character, but I have to give a shout out to Jon Huertas for the complicated work he had to do to make this episode work. I love this stupid show.

[Austruck]

Agreed on most of this. I did like the Miguel character, and I cried a little when it turned out that he died before Rebecca. He was the unsung hero of that family for being steadfast for Rebecca through everything, doting on her longer than he should have, given his own issues. He didn't seem to do it out of duty, either, but out of love.

The grown kids' reactions to seeing him with their mom for the first time was a bit ridiculous. It had been nearly a decade since Jack died. They needed to get over holding their mom on a pedestal where she couldn't see Miguel. Frankly, you'd think they'd be grateful it was someone who clearly knew her well and loved her. Whatever. Those "kids" sometimes need to get over themselves. :D

Also, I laughed when they said that East Liberty was "near" Pittsburgh. It IS Pittsburgh--one of the neighborhoods within the city limits. The first year I lived here in Pittsburgh, it was in East Liberty. :)

[Gideon58]

I must have been napping at some point, because I didn't realize until the opening of ep 16 that Miguel passed away before Rebecca did. Loved Beth's entrance into the family meeting...I love that the "Pierson Process" is starting to weigh on her and that she needs to get away from it every once in awhile. Once again, Randall wants to run the show, despite knowing this is exactly what Rebecca didn't want. Loved when the triplets sat down and Kevin and Randall were using chopsticks but Kate was using a fork...just spoke volumes to me, I don't know why. LOVED Beth and Sophie pretending to be Randall and Kevin. Teen Kate's self-pity is so tiresome. Randall is a US Senator now yet he thinks he's the only one who has the time to care for Rebecca? The ego on this guy. Rebecca's makeup was....ghoulish but extremely effective for the scene. Pre-teen Kevin's tooth fairy trap was adorable. Actually screamed when Rebecca and baby Kate were watching KNOTS LANDING, my favorite TV show of all time. Phillip's a little late to the party to be so judgmental. Loved Kate and Toby's phone call...Chris Sullivan is a wonderful actor, who always brings more to the scene than is in the script. I hope what Beth said to Randall sunk in, but I couldn't tell. Gee, sure feel better knowing Uncle Nicky is going to be around. Thank God Kevin and Randall came together in that beautifully acted and directed scene. Justin Hartley was wearing that beard. Can't believe there are only two episodes left. I love this stupid show.

[Austruck]

I am now two episodes behind but hope to catch up today! (We were on vacation for a little more than a week.) I'm avoiding your last post and will be back once I've caught up! :)

[Gideon58]

Well, with two more episodes left, I shouldn't have been surprised that ep 17 got off to a confusing start, actually introducing new characters. It was nice to see Ron Cephas Jones again though. Loved the actress who played adult Deja...her resemblance to teenage Deja is uncanny. Beth's farewell to Rebecca was lovely and I'm so glad she shut Randall down when he wanted to know what Beth said to Rebecca. That was so cool when they showed the three Randalls and the three Kevins together. I loved the detail that went into Rebecca's out of body experience, but for a show that has always nailed continuity, I shouldn't have expected less. What Gerald McRaney said to Rebecca that he said he wasn't supposed to say...he should have listened to his instinct, not sure if that's what Rebecca needed to hear at this time. Loved Toby's farewell to Rebecca too. Glad that Dule Hill found time in his Wonder Years schedule to play Marcus' father. So Marcus was in surgery the night Jack died? How can that be? Bill Irwin was terrific as the surgeon. I wouldn't have made out of body Rebecca as naive about what she's going through as they do here. They made us wait for it, but the final moment was perfection. I love this stupid show.

[Austruck]

Boy, I did a lot of blubbering and sobbing during these past two episodes. Shouldn't have watched them so close together. :D

TOTALLY agree on the casting of adult Deja. Plus, I think the actress has nailed how teen Deja speaks, which adds to the uncanny casting. You know immediately who she is by both her look and her speech patterns. I also loved seeing the three versions of each guy in the train scene. That's really how parents/moms tend to see their adult kids. We hold versions of them together as timeless. I can think of baby Yoda, toddler Yoda, kid Yoda, teen Yoda, and adult Yoda as all the same person and all at the same time.

I'm still not quite clear on how Marcus Brooks fits into the larger story... EXCEPT that the doctor who dashed away to help him that night (at the expense of Jack) saved a boy who would grow up to make medical strides against Alzheimer's, the very disease that claims Rebecca. But, I suppose this show has always been famous for throwing brand-new characters at us at weird times, throwing us off until we figure out how they fit in.

Also, I kept thinking that Marcus was the one with adult Deja, which really confused me until I heard her say "Malik!" to him at one point. Then I realized the Marcus story was its own little story and NOT part of adult Deja's story. They should have had Deja say Malik's name a little sooner--maybe while telling Randall she's pregnant?--so that we had no chance of making that mistake I made.

Unless I'm just slow on the uptake. :D

Hard to believe we're coming down to the wire now, but the pacing and story arcs are feeling like they're wrapping up. We'll be left knowing each Pearson Big Three member (and their families) will be all right without either parent.

Also, what are the odds that all three of them would be SOOOOO successful? I mean, c'mon. Nobody's just a cubicle worker somewhere? :D

[Gideon58]

Cannot believe there's only one episode left.:(

[Austruck]

Well, it's over.

I'll write more tomorrow. It's... over.

[ynwtf]

Worst. Horror. Movie. EVER.














:D

[Austruck]

Worst. Horror. Movie. EVER.



:D

<checks post thread name again>

Ummm... Who let you in here?

[Gideon58]

I can't believe I'm actually getting ready to talk about the final episode of this stupid show. Watching our families on the swings was a lovely and inventive way of opening the show. Teen Randall explaining "mathletes" was completely annoying. Loved Beth's funeral ensemble. Pre-teen Kevin's whining about his inability to do pull-ups sounded a lot more like his brother Randall. I'm not sure why, but I absolutely LOVED the scene of Jack teaching Kevin and Randall how to shave and Rebecca's reaction to it. Didn't really get the point of the scene with William and Randall, except for the fact that they wanted to include Ron Cephas Jones in the finale. Loved Randall's reaction to learning he was having a grandson...silly and spontaneous minus the pretension I expected from Randall. I'm glad we were spared of Randall's eulogy too...it would have been completely over the top. If I missed one thing I was hoping to get from the finale, it would have been a look into how Randall and Beth's marriage ended, but I understand the "back to basics" approach to the finale, and, all in all, it was a lovely finale to a show that was appointment television for six years and never jumped the shark. Thank you NBC.

[Austruck]

Quick question: How do we KNOW that their marriage ended?

[Gideon58]

About 7 or eight episodes back it was revealed that they were no longer married and that Beth had started another dance studio.

[Austruck]

About 7 or eight episodes back it was revealed that they were no longer married and that Beth had started another dance studio.

This season? I'm going to have to find that episode and rewatch. I don't remember that at all, and it's odd that they never revisited it.

[Gideon58]

Yes, it was this season