This is Us

I didn't mind the all-over-the-place so much because at least they were trying to tie together some of these new characters with the older ones. Did I miss something, though? Why was the soldier woman RV shopping with Kevin and Nicky? Just because they were all at that meeting together and/or Nicky threw something through that window, etc.? Seems flimsy to me. I mean, sure, you might want to tag along if a celebrity asks you to go RV shopping (ha ha), but she didn't seem all that enamored of Kevin at ALL and was very standoffish for most of the episode. That whole bit seemed forced.

I think the baby-bonding thing with Kevin and The Manny was simply to find a way for the woman soldier (we gotta find out her name <snort>) to soften toward Kevin. Notice that she DID soften a little and even laughed. Still, though, a long scene and anecdote just to get a chuckle out of that woman.

I think the scenes with Toby and Kate bickering in the car are the seeds of (perhaps) why we seen future-Toby without Kate. Perhaps the beginning of the end? EXCEPT that, of course, why wouldn't Kate be at a family gathering in the future instead of Toby? It's HER family. Either they're tricking us and she just shows up later (and possibly because they're divorced and not living together), or she has died. They can torture us with that unknown bit for years if they want to.

I do love this stupid show, too, though.

And I love how Phylicia Rashad (sp?) can so easily play the younger version of herself and it doesn't look stupid or forced.

__________________
Linda's Author Website
Linda's Amazon Author page

I think the reason lady solider accompanied Kevin and Nicky was because she REALLY needed a meeting and Kevin just wanted to keep her from drinking if he could by distracting her in whatever way possible.

A stretch for the show but would make sense in real life.

One of us should try to remember her character's name.

The female soldier's name is Cassidy Sharp, and she's played by Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan from "Once Upon A Time").

__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Ep 5 was a very edgy combination of quirky and pretentious that was difficult to stay invested in. The writers seemed obsessed with bringing the quirky with this episode...what was with the title cards? This isn't a Woody Allen movie and they weren't any help in deciphering what was going on. After three seasons, why did the writers all of a sudden feel the need to title the segments? Teen Kate worked my last nerve. I guess this incestuous obsession she had with Jack spread to Kevin as well...her whole attitude with Kevin and Sophie sucked and whether or not Kevin and Sophie were ready to marry was irrelevant. Loved when Rebecca told off the kids in the kitchen and when Beth did the same to Randall and Tess...Susan Kelechi Watson is all kinds of awesome. The cutting the ice cream thing was silly and why are we just now learning that Jack loved hot sauce on everything and was afraid of birds? Loved Nick Weschler as Cassidy's husband...he nailed that monologue with Kevin. This character is so much darker than the one he played on Revenge. And I have to say it again...I HATE Miguel and that whole wine seduction scene worked my last nerve. Despite Miguel, I still love this stupid show.

The title cards = maybe they're taking cues from The Affair.

I'm not sure teenage Kate's reaction to Kevin and Sophie bothered me. She and Kevin are twins, after all. She's bound to feel betrayed that he didn't tell her or invite her or anything.

I caught an article today about that final scene with Kate finding Polaroids of Mark in the piano bench and showing them to Rebecca. We know she doesn't marry Mark, so her reaction to those Polaroids makes me wonder what's going to happen to break them up. Is he abusive or something? Well, we'll find out.

Yeah, that final scene piqued my curiosity too...clearly something very ugly happened between her and Mark, which makes me kind of sad, because after this episode, I really liked Mark.

The article said him showing up uninvited was creepy, but as I was watching the episode (before I'd read the article), I didn't feel that way. I thought it was more like he felt close enough to her to want to be introduced to her family.

I suppose we'll see!

When Rebecca and Kate looked at the pictures, and Rebecca told Kate that she wanted to believe they were happy, but she didn’t see what was happening, I thought that it has to mean one of two things.

1) My first thought was that Mark abused Kate, especially after seeing the way he just showed up uninvited, and then announced that he was her boyfriend. It shows his dominance over her.

2) But the way Kate looked at the picture of the two of them together, it didn't look like she hated him, or was mad at him in any way. It looked more like she missed him, and maybe she even loved him. That, combined with Rebecca's remark about thinking they were happy, made me think that maybe he committed suicide, and they never saw it coming.

I'm not sure which way I'm leaning right now, but I think it's probably one of those two scenarios.

Interesting theory

The whole golf motif of episode 6 just came off as very dated to me and made this one rough going at times. There was some hidden gold in this episode but you really had to mine for it. Glad to see Tim Matheson back as Rebecca's father, still trying to undermine Jack, which it turned out was impossible. Loved that Toby put Kate in her place because I really think Kate does want Toby to put the weight back on, even if the desire is unconscious and I think there was a lot of truth in what Toby said to her, but that's no surprise because Toby always says exactly what's on his mind, a rarity for a television character. My favorite part of the golf stories was watching Randall struggle with sport...anytime on this show watching Randall struggle with anything is appointment television. I do think there was some validity to a subject that hasn't been addressed too much on the show lately...that Jack and Rebecca bend over so far backwards to make Randall feel accepted that it sometimes looks like they want to deny his blackness. Kevin sleeping with Cassidy was an inevitability, but I don't have to be happy about it. I still love this stupid show

You said everything I would have said, had I gotten to this thread first.

Oh, and I'd add that Rebecca always tried too hard with Kate, too. It's like those parents bent over backwards to smooth out life for their two children who were different ... only to allow Kevin to slip through the cracks and end up with his own set of insecurities and issues. When you're seen as the Golden Child, you have nowhere to go but down.

Ep 7 was AMAZING! Now that was the stupid show that I have come to know and love. The dinner motif was a big improvement over the golf motif because these situations were more universal and relatable. First of all, I think Malik made a huge mistake bringing the baby to dinner. I don't think anyone involved saw that coming and it brought an instant tension to their first meeting together that they really didn't need. Loved the instant hostility between Beth and Malik's mom when they were alone in the hallway while Randall and Malik's dad were actually getting along. So glad Mr. Lawrence told Jack that he can't teach Randall how to be black and I loved that Jack was honest with Rebecca about his need to compete with Mr. Lawrence. Loved Daija's speech in the park about being scared of Malik and the kind of person he is and Malik's response to her fears. Omar Epps scored when he knew he had to have his son's back. Everything worked here. Love this stupid show.

It definitely punched all the right buttons in this episode. Agreed! The back-and-forth between the two dinners worked well, too. And the problems at each awkward dinner were handled honestly and realistically. I too was a bit shocked to see they'd brought the baby. But then I realized they wouldn't have paid for a babysitter, either. Might as well get everything out in the open, I guess.

I'm not sure we'll ever get this part of the story, but I AM curious how a teen boy got custody of his daughter like that. Probably had to involve his parents being interviewed by various folks (counselors, legal reps, etc.). Strange that the baby's mother is completely out of the picture -- or seems to be. You gotta hope that whole part of the baby's family just moved away or something.

Anyway, great episode that was well handled all around!

It is strange that Malik has custody of the child. I have to wonder if his parents don't actually have custody on paper. I agree that it is very strange that the mother is out of the picture too, I hope we're going to get more details on that.

It looks like we will eventually find out what happened between Malik and his daughter's mother. This is from an article on TVLine.com:

"Series creator Dan Fogelman confirms to TVLine that he is planning to introduce the MIA mother of Malik’s daughter Janelle — and it could happen “potentially this season.”"

https://tvline.com/2019/11/06/this-i...k-baby-mother/


This is from the same article:

"Little is known about Janelle’s mom, save for that she signed over full parental rights of her daughter to Malik. Fogelman says that when the character does arrive, the storyline will be “less about” her relationship with Malik and “more about what it means from Deja’s point of view,” adding, “This young girl is not just Malik’s ex-girlfriend. She’s an ex-girlfriend who is the mother of his child — a child he spends all of his time and energy on. So it makes it complicated for her.”"

Ep 8 was a little on the low key side, but it had its moments. I got a lot more insight into Kevin's connection with his Uncle. Loved Nicky's speech to the judge. Beth's handling of Malik and Daija was perfection even though I had a hard time buying Daija still being so connected with her birth mother, a woman who made her early childhood a living hell. And even if it worked, I think teen Randall going into that boss' office and telling him all about Rebecca's life was a mistake and he may have gotten his mother in over her head. Is he really going to be able to keep up with his own studies and teach his mother how to operate state of the art software? I hope we've seen the last of Cassidy...she's so icy and humorless I don't get what Kevin sees in her. And I'm very uncomfortable with Kate's blossoming relationship with Gregory. And might I say that Chris Sullivan is looking absolutely amazing?. I also have a feeling that if Rebecca is in the early stages of Alzheimers, I'm really going to start hating her again, since the beginning stages of the disease involve a whole lot of denial. Love this stupid show.

I think I disagree with the Deja stuff. Family ties are tough ones to unravel, and perhaps Deja now feels comfortable enough with the Pearsons to have contact with her mom again -- now that the adoption is official and everything. It might also be a little bit of guilt -- that she's doing so well but feels she's left her mother behind. Family emotions are complicated things.

I think Chris Sullivan was wearing a "fat suit" in earlier seasons. At least I remember him catching flak for that. Pretty sure that was simply to make the storyline make more sense as his character changed.

And I have a feeling we *have* seen the last of Cassidy. That felt like a wrap-up to that relationship, dropping her off at the diner like that. Especially with a season finale next week. That's totally fine with me.

Seems obvious they're moving toward an Alzheimer's diagnosis for Rebecca... but using that scene with her misplacing her phone seemed like a stretch. I have KIDS who misplace their phones like this and I don't immediately think, "Alzheimer's!" Since Rebecca is just visiting, this is the one time he's seen this. If he'd seen her forgetting things multiple times, then I'd have found it less pushy. And I'm 58 and nearly all of my friends this age have many moments like this. Doesn't mean Alzheimer's.

But, having said that, the scene where she snaps at Randall over it was well done. And yes, she was annoying! But it felt realistic.