This is Us

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"This Is Us" is easily one of the best shows on TV. I think Toby is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. I loved the way he stood up to Rebecca after Kate told her off after she sang, and I loved his "performance" when Kate told him it was okay to tell people about her pregnancy. I like him so much that it kind of bothered me a little bit when Kate slept with a married man because it almost felt like she was cheating on him, (even though it was probably well before they even met).

I think we're starting to see a little of Jack in Kevin. Kevin seems to be addicted to his pain pills, just like his father was addicted to alcohol. I hope that alcohol didn't factor into Jack's death because Kevin seems to be following down a similar path right now. And I hated that Kevin tried to steal his friend's part, and I thought the director's response to it was perfect. I hope Kevin learned something from the director and his friend's reactions.

I don't know how I feel about Deja yet. First I didn't like her, then I started to like her, but I'm still on the fence about her. I like how hard it is for Randall to figure out how to deal with her. He seems to be so intelligent and on top of everything that it's kind of interesting to see him struggling with something for a change. We're starting to see some other cracks in his armor, like when he couldn't install the ceiling fan, but he was wonderful when his wife went into labor early, and he had to deliver the baby.

BTW, did we know before this season that Jack had a brother? I don't remember hearing anything about him before we saw the two of them as kids in the car waiting for their father.

Yeah, the reveal about Jack having a brother was a surprise to me too...seemed to come from nowhere.



For the most part, episode 7 was a big improvement over the last two, which actually found me shedding tears twice...I lost it when Deja confessed that she had been saving money to put on her mother's books and I also lost it during Toby's marriage proposal, though I did find his conversation with Jack's ashes a little forced and creepy. The scene between Randall and Deja's mother was absolutely brilliant...I clearly understood what was going on on both sides of the glass. Loved when guest star Debra Jo Rupp told off Randall too. Absolutely hate what they're doing to Kevin but I understand it and Just in Hartley is killing it. Didn't really get the point of going all the way back to Jack and Rebecca adopting Randall, though it did offer the opportunity for a classy turn for guest star Delroy Lindo, but wasn't this material basically covered in the episode 5 with Elizabeth Perkins as Rebecca's mother?



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
For the most part, episode 7 was a big improvement over the last two, which actually found me shedding tears twice...I lost it when Deja confessed that she had been saving money to put on her mother's books and I also lost it during Toby's marriage proposal, though I did find his conversation with Jack's ashes a little forced and creepy. The scene between Randall and Deja's mother was absolutely brilliant...I clearly understood what was going on on both sides of the glass. Loved when guest star Debra Jo Rupp told off Randall too. Absolutely hate what they're doing to Kevin but I understand it and Justin Hartley is killing it. Didn't really get the point of going all the way back to Jack and Rebecca adopting Randall, though it did offer the opportunity for a classy turn for guest star Delroy Lindo, but wasn't this material basically covered in the episode 5 with Elizabeth Perkins as Rebecca's mother?

I loved Toby's marriage proposal. As soon as they started talking about all the things that she was going to avoid by having a simple wedding, I knew that he was going to propose and they would have a big wedding. He wasn't going to let her miss out on everything she wanted just because she was scared of it.

I think the point of going back to Randall's adoption was to compare his adoption with what's happening with Deja now. I think they're trying to show us that his parents didn't have an easy time adopting him, and he's going to have some growing pains with Deja, but he'll get through it, just like they did.

And I think they're doing something similar with Kevin. They're showing his struggles with addiction to pain killers, just like Jack struggled with an addiction to alcohol. The show is coming full circle. However I don't like that they had Kevin try to steal his friend's part, but I think that was a learning experience for him because he got past that, tried improv, and eventually, (hopefully), we'll see how he got his part as "The Manny".

I want to know what happened with Jack's death, and why Kate thinks that it's her fault.



Any fears of this show suffering from "Sophomore-itis" were put to rest with episode 8,which was edgy and brilliant, easily the best one of the season, though I find myself questioning the motivation behind it. I hate what they're doing to Kevin, but I can't help wondering if Justin Hartley's lack of attention during award season has something to do with all this attention on Hartley's character, but Hartley is appearing to be up to the job and with the help some vividly imaginative directing and scripting, the scenes of adult Kevin mingling with teen flashbacks were extremely effective, not to mention the digs at celebrity obsession...loved everyone wanting to know if Kevin's beard was for a movie, and more importantly, their complete oblivion to Kevin's speech about not deserving the award. Loved everything that happened between Jack and teen Kevin, it was notice to see Jack actually doing the discipline thing like a real father. These scenes offered long awaited insight into the relationship between Jack and Kevin, not to mention Kevin and Randall and young Randall's unconditional love for Kevin no matter how badly Kevin treats him. I hate that Kate lost her baby and I hate the way they did it, but for the most part, this episode was on the money...I love this stupid show.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Any fears of this show suffering from "Sophomore-itis" were put to rest with episode 8,which was edgy and brilliant, easily the best one of the season, though I find myself questioning the motivation behind it. I hate what they're doing to Kevin, but I can't help wondering if Justin Hartley's lack of attention during award season has something to do with all this attention on Hartley's character, but Hartley is appearing to be up to the job and with the help some vividly imaginative directing and scripting, the scenes of adult Kevin mingling with teen flashbacks were extremely effective, not to mention the digs at celebrity obsession...loved everyone wanting to know if Kevin's beard was for a movie, and more importantly, their complete oblivion to Kevin's speech about not deserving the award. Loved everything that happened between Jack and teen Kevin, it was notice to see Jack actually doing the discipline thing like a real father. These scenes offered long awaited insight into the relationship between Jack and Kevin, not to mention Kevin and Randall and young Randall's unconditional love for Kevin no matter how badly Kevin treats him. I hate that Kate lost her baby and I hate the way they did it, but for the most part, this episode was on the money...I love this stupid show.

I hope they do something to turn Kevin around soon because I hate what they're doing to him. He needs help, and I hope that's why he went to Randall at the end of the episode. He was going to tell Randall something before Randall dropped the news about Kate's baby.

It's heartbreaking that Kate lost the baby, but I think they could have found a better way to tell us. The whole episode centered around Kevin, and then they hit us with the bad news. They never gave us a chance to care about the baby enough to be upset that she lost it. It was shocking, but not as upsetting as it could have been if they centered the episode around Kate and Toby, and how happy they were to be having the baby.



I was not happy with the way we learned about Kate losing the baby in ep 8, but I should have known that we would get a closer look at what happened in ep 9, an episode that had me in tears from the moment Rebecca showed up at Kate's door. Solid work from Chrissy Metz and especially Chris Sullivan as Toby. Loved the lengths he went to in order to keep that baby bath from being delivered. Wanted to slap Rebecca when she started going through Kate's stuff, we're getting a lot more insight into Kate's resentment of her mother and it was driven home by that ridiculous yellow onion scene...Mandy Moore is no Shirley MacLaine. But what I loved most was the way these events were integrated into what we saw in ep 8. God, I love this stupid show.



Ep 10 was a mixed bag, a richly entertaining mixed bag, but a mixed bag nonetheless. Before I talk about this episode specifically, i must applaud the extraordinary writing team for the last three episodes, creating a striking and imaginative story arc that was a master class in writing continuity...how they managed to tell separate but connect stories about Kevin, Kate, and Randall as teenagers and connect them to their present lives was absolutely brilliant. As for ep 10, I was impressed with the realism of Randall losing Deja...courts are always prone to siding with biological parents in such situations and I liked that the writers were aware of that. I didn't really buy the instant family they turned Deja and the Piersons into into order to heighten the drama when Deja's mother arrived and Randall's crocodile tears during her departure were a little over the top. I was also a little surprised to see how young William was initially involved with young Randall's life and I really didn't buy Randall's instant acceptance of the guys at Howard just because it was an all black school, but I'm nitpicking a pretty solid hour. I love this stupid show.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I was not happy with the way we learned about Kate losing the baby in ep 8, but I should have known that we would get a closer look at what happened in ep 9, an episode that had me in tears from the moment Rebecca showed up at Kate's door. Solid work from Chrissy Metz and especially Chris Sullivan as Toby. Loved the lengths he went to in order to keep that baby bath from being delivered. Wanted to slap Rebecca when she started going through Kate's stuff, we're getting a lot more insight into Kate's resentment of her mother and it was driven home by that ridiculous yellow onion scene...Mandy Moore is no Shirley MacLaine. But what I loved most was the way these events were integrated into what we saw in ep 8. God, I love this stupid show.

I knew that Kate wouldn't take losing the baby well, but I hated the way she treated Toby. She acted like she was the only one hurting, and I was glad that he stood up to her and told her that she was wrong. If she only knew what he went through to make sure that she never saw that package, she might have acted a lot nicer to him. But it's things like that that make me love Toby so much.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Ep 10 was a mixed bag, a richly entertaining mixed bag, but a mixed bag nonetheless. Before I talk about this episode specifically, i must applaud the extraordinary writing team for the last three episodes, creating a striking and imaginative story arc that was a master class in writing continuity...how they managed to tell separate but connect stories about Kevin, Kate, and Randall as teenagers and connect them to their present lives was absolutely brilliant. As for ep 10, I was impressed with the realism of Randall losing Deja...courts are always prone to siding with biological parents in such situations and I liked that the writers were aware of that. I didn't really buy the instant family they turned Deja and the Piersons into into order to heighten the drama when Deja's mother arrived and Randall's crocodile tears during her departure were a little over the top. I was also a little surprised to see how young William was initially involved with young Randall's life and I really didn't buy Randall's instant acceptance of the guys at Howard just because it was an all black school, but I'm nitpicking a pretty solid hour. I love this stupid show.

Would you expect anything less than brilliance from the writers of this show?

I thought Randall would have put up more of a fight to keep Deja, but I guess he realized that it was useless, and they were going to lose her no matter how hard they fought. Randall made a nice offer to help them, so maybe we'll see more of Deja and her mother in future episodes. Either way, I think there will probably be another foster kid in Randall's home soon.

I understand why Randall wanted to visit Howard University, but I can't imagine him choosing to go there over Harvard. He's too smart for that. (I hope.)



As expected, the return of the best show on network television was an emotional roller coaster. For months now, this show has been trying to infuse some sympathy into the Rebecca character and ep 11 may finally begun that process during her final scene. Don't get me wrong...I still hate her, I hate that she couldn't think of a childhood moment with Kevin during therapy and that she was completely unapologetic about not telling the children that Jack was a drinker. Yes, the children may have been too young to understand alcoholism, but at some point Rebecca should have sat the kids down and told them their dad was sick. Kate Burton was excellent as the therapist. Loved when Kate, Ranadall, and Kevin met after and apologized to each other without actually apologizing. Also loved the non-blood Pearsons bonding in the bar and I couldn't stop laughing when they said Jack looked like a 70's porn star. I love this stupid show.



Maybe I was premature when I stated this show wasn't suffering from Sophomore-itis because there were definitely signs of it in ep 12. The writers seem to be getting a little full of themselves, thinking that anything they throw a us is going to be accepted. Everything with Randal and Clooney the cat was a waste of screentime. Just didn't care about Clooney and I didn't like the fact that Randal was SO thrilled at the possibility that his father might have been bisexual. Loved when Beth told Randall to come down from space and join her on earth. The voice the writers have given Beth this season continues to be very entertaining. LOVED everything that happened with Kate and Madison though...Madison's story just might be more compelling than Kate's and when Miguel told Kevin that he didn't love Rebecca until after Jack's death, he wasn't the least bit convincing. Not a great episode, didn't shed a tear for the first time in quite awhile, but I still love this stupid show.



Some solid acting saved ep 13 from being rather predictable except for an ending intended to shock. I see two storylines beginning that can only lead to disaster both centered around married people also working together. Randall is already driving Beth up a wall and no good can come of Jack and Rebecca working together. And they need to ditch Garret Morris, the character is beyond annoying, Though I did enjoy every single moment Jack had onscreen...this is the perfect marriage of actor and character and still my favorite character on the show...it was so sweet watching his dream of a family superbowl Sunday turn to dross but the way he dealt with it was quietly classy. I'm still having trouble figuring out what year the Jack/Rebecca story takes place. Teen Kate has a poster for Buffy the Vampire Slayer on her wall, which was released in 1992, yet Teen Kevin and teen Sophie were watching The Princess Bride, which was released in 1987. And that fire...let's talk about that fire...are we FINALLY going to learn how Jack died and why Kate feels responsible. I'm thinking it has something to do with her dog trauma that almost kept her from bringing home the absolutely delicious Audio. I love this stupid show.



Well they made us wait a year and a half for it and I didn't think I would make it,but for the most part, it was worth the wait. Ep 14 finally revealed how Jack died and I was impressed that it didn't go exactly the way it had been hinted at in previous episodes. Watching the present day Piersons "celebrate" the day was definitely a mixed bag...Randall said he was celebrating his dad's death but he, as usual, was making it all about him and I think Kate feeling that Jack's death is her fault and her reaction to the tape getting stuck in the VCR was ridiculous. One thing this episode did do that they failed to do for me is imbue Rebecca with some sympathy. I loved the scene where Rebecca got the news and her first impulse was to bite into her candy bar. The most heartfelt reaction to the day came from Kevin IMO. His conversation with Jack was terrific. I love this stupid show.



The last two episodes have confirmed why Jack is my favorite character and how perfect Milo Ventimiglia is so perfect in the role. I was afraid when it was first revealed that Jack was dead that it would limit his screentime but it seems to have had the exact opposite effect..."how does Jack die?" had become the new "Who shot JR?" for awhile. Ep 15 was a bit of mixed bag but the good outweighed the bad. I loved when Jack made teen Randall and teen Kevin walk home. I think Kate's guilt about her father's death is stupid and a waste of screentime. Now she wants to get rid of the dog? Please. The return of Gerald McRaney's character smacked of convenience. I bet the return never would have happened if McRaney hadn't won an Emmy last season. And Jack's final speech to the car salesman was SO corny and I don't think any car salesman IRL would have fallen for that. Nevertheless, I still love this stupid show.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I finally found the time to catch up with this show, and with this thread. I'm glad they finally showed us how Jack died, and that they didn't just take the easy road and make it obvious. Even though we could see it coming, it still pulled at the heartstrings and made me cry. (It reminded me of the episode of "Ghost Whisperer" when her husband died.)

I never for a second thought that Jack wouldn't go back in to save the dog, and someone needs to tell Kate that it's not her fault. Jack heard the dog bark, and he went back in. It's just not in his nature to know the dog is in there, and ignore the barking without at least trying to save the dog. I understand why Kate feels responsible, but it's not her fault.

I loved seeing Gerald McRaney as the doctor again, I just wish it were for a better reason.

And @Gideon58, just in case you think we'll be seeing less of Jack now that they've done the big reveal, I just want to let you know that the trailer for the next episode said that "Jack's story has just begun".



Episode 16 was a mixed bag of what is, still arguably the best show on network television. I actually found everything revolving around the Pierson family and Kevin whining about the cornish hens pretty dull. The two characters that made this episode sizzle were Beth and Toby. I love that Beth continues to speak her mind with Randall though I wasn't crazy about the fact that Randall was right about Deja. Didn't expect this show to be so predictable. Very disappointed with Randall and Kevin blowing Toby off during his bachelor party. Glad Kevin and Randall made up for it and am I the only one who knew Kevin was not cut out of Ron Howard's movie? I still love this stupid show.



After Ep 17, it can no longer be denied that this show is suffering from sophomore-itis. Honestly, Deja's backstory was of no interest to me and this episode confirmed that. The attempt to connect Deja's over the top story to the other families on the show just came off as pat, contrived, and very hard to swallow, I guess this episode was supposed to evoke some sympathy for Deja and Shauna but the effect was just the opposite for me. Shauna's transformation from the teen mom who didn't even want to hold her newborn to the struggling mom who thought Deja was the sun and the moon just didn't work for me. Did love Pam Grier's cameo as Shuana's grandmother though. Deja's whole story of moving through the foster system was just too much of everything. There was one beautiful piece of continuity that I loved...LOVED that moment when Deja was cooking alone in the kitchen and the TV in the next room was showing an episode of THE MANNY...just brilliant, I still love this stupid show.



OK, I'm totally over Kate. This obsession with her dad is approaching creepy territory. This woman is about to marry the most terrific guy ever and all she can think about is her father. She left everybody hours before the wedding so she could get her dad's favorite ice cream to serve at the wedding? I understand a lot of what Kate was going through here, but I didn't understand her need to not tell ANYONE what she was doing. It was selfish and weird. And that flashback where pre-teen Kate asked Jack if she could marry him made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. On the plus side, the scene with Toby and his parents (Dan Lauria, Wendie Malick) was brilliant. I love that we're getting more backstory on Toby...the reveal that he's on meds was heartbreaking....this was the first time this was revealed correct? I'm also over that little teenage bitch Deja, her behavior at that wedding was unacceptable. Oh, and Kate's wedding dress was gorgeous. Despite everything said here, I will continue to love this stupid show.



Just finished watching the season 3 premiere which contained a surprising amount of pretension in the writing that made for some confused goings at times. OK, first off I need someone to explain the whole Franco Harris thing and what it had to do with these characters we already know and love. On the positive side, I absolutely LOVED the first meeting and first date between Jack and Rebecca and I loved that it was an absolute disaster. Jack's speech in the car coming home from the carnival was brilliant and it was great seeing Milo Ventimiglia sans goatee. He looked 10 years younger and not like a 70's porn star. I felt bad for Kate and Toby when they received their news but the way Kate brought down her birthday luncheon was wrong and made any sympathy I had for her fade away. I'm so tired of Kate wallowing in self-pity and this was just another example and the fact that the doctor changed her mind at the end didn't make me feel any better. Speaking of wallowing in self-pity, I'm also sick of Daija and her constant whining about her parents not loving her. Why can't she just accept her new family and forget the past? The look on Randall's face when she got upset with him comparing his life to hers was heartbreaking. Sterling K Brown is an amazing actor. I'm also looking forward to finding out why such a positive and outgoing character like Toby is on anti-depressants. Oh, and Kevin and Beth's cousin has disaster written all over it.
I still love this stupid show.