OT -does anyone else watch "This Is Us?"

[acey]

I love seeing how the characters are developing so that we see more and more of both their flaws and their strengths. Kevin especially is starting to make sense. He came off at first as a vapid, if kind-hearted, jerk. Paradoxically, his increasing substance-abuse issue I think is showing that he's got a lot of depth that he spends a lot of time suppressing. But...poor girlfriend who he ditched at the podium! Just like he ditched his co-actor on stage - although *that* was for a noble reason.

I absolutely loved the scene where Randall is cooing over the Asian American baby. I almost hoped he was about to adopt him! LOL

Mixed feelings about Toby and Kate. He gets awfully nosy and bossy sometimes about her dieting efforts or other requests. But she's also been rather self-absorbed and pessimistic lately.

Poor Miguel! Hopefully he finally gets some audience love, as we find out he didn't just move in on his best friend's widow (unlike a certain situation on a certain zombie show on AMC in the first season!)

sherry7899, thanks! I still to this day cannot get over how my black cat and tuxedo cat seem to be carbon copies of yours!

[SquishyMommy]

This show continues to amaze me with the writing and incredible acting. I just watched the latest episode that was Kevin-centric. When they cast Justin Hartley as Kevin I was a bit surprised since all I had seen him in was Passions, which was like the craziest and cheesiest soap opera ever written. And that is saying a LOT!

Now all I can say is...WOW! He absolutely killed it last night. He definitely had the talent to carry an entire episode and I never once even wondered where everyone else was because he just kept the episode moving. And the scene outside Charlotte's house...I was just in tears.

There are few shows that I watch obsessively. The Walking Dead used to enthrall me this way, but the writing has just spiraled downhill for me, and I am sooooooo tired of all the over the top speeches the characters make. My son was laughing at me the other night as I told Ezekial to just "shut up and go fight already." I know I will watch TWD to the end though, just because I was there from the beginning. So my fear is the writing on This Is Us will eventually degrade as happens with most series, but as of right now it is still blowing my mind. The writers and the cast are just phenomenal. And kudos to them casting Justin Hartley and seeing past the pretty face and crappy soap opera role to the talent that is really there!!

[MARIKA]

Jennifer I loved it too. I loved how you see Kevin become who he is and what made him that way. He was such a cocky kid then it he got blindsided.

[muggle]

I can’t be the only one who cries Every. Single. Episode. Sometimes the music reminds me of my Dad and that makes me cry because he passed away in April. I haven’t been so excited about a tv show in years. Loving This Is Us.

[sherry7899]

Muggle - I am so sorry about your loss. I totally understand. The anniversary of my father's passing is this Friday so parts of this episode were so hard to watch.

Hugs-
Sherry

[cataddict]

I like Miguel. I never saw it as him moving in on the grieving widow. Life goes on, and it was clear from the start that he was smitten by Rebecca but never did anything about it.

The episode about Kevin definitely showed the actor's range for sure. He did a great job. I still, however, think that the character of Kevin is a tool who never grew up and relied on his looks and athletic ability for far too many years. Yes, he realizes it, at least now he does, but still. He's 37, not 27. It remains to be seen what he is actually going to do to make changes in his life and/or his attitude to be at peace or get past himself now that he is rapidly approaching rock bottom. I know I sound harsh, but unfortunately I've seen this enough IRL where people get to the point that they know they need to make some changes and won't. Definitely a tribute to the writing that the character is so translatable!! Oh, and THANKS to the PTB for not getting Kevin involved with that underage high school girl who asked him if he wanted to party. I would have had to stop watching if they went down that road.

As an aside, this may have supposedly been Bethel Park PA but there were no Pittsburgh accents anywhere from anyone. That ISN'T realistic.

[hotncmom]

I had a different perspective of the episode with Kevin. I have a close relative who became addicted to pain meds due to a back injury. The injury happened to coincide with a tough time in his life where he was already feeling down and the meds made him feel better mentally as well as physically. He remained functional, unlike Kevin, but there was a lot of the same desperation to get more of the meds when they ran out so I saw a lot of parallels. It's very easy to get addicted if you are predisposed. And Kevin's father was an alcoholic so he was susceptible to addiction. So I have a lot more sympathy for that.

Yes, Kevin was very entitled as a teenager, but I don't see that he was that bad as an adult. As a star, he could've been a lot more of a diva than he is.

The tragedy of Kevin is that no one in his entire life has really cared about him as a person and seen him as a fallible human being with doubts and fears like everyone else. His monologue on the football field where he said everyone just kept expecting him to get over all of the bad things that happened to him and make a comeback every time was heartbreaking to me. You think this nice female doctor at the reunion is going to actually listen to him, but she's just interested in sleeping with him. And then, at the end, when he went to Randall's, you think that finally someone is going to realize that Kevin is in a bad place and needs help, but instead, he's going to be expected to ignore his problems again to be there for Kate.

Even when he cries out for help (literally, on the doctor's lawn), no one ever seems to take him seriously. I think he blows up his life on purpose over and over because the pressure to be #1 is just too much for him.

I thought this episode was very sad and I had a lot of sympathy for Kevin's situation.

[acey]

Originally Posted by SquishyMommy

The Walking Dead used to enthrall me this way, but the writing has just spiraled downhill for me, and I am sooooooo tired of all the over the top speeches the characters make. My son was laughing at me the other night as I told Ezekial to just "shut up and go fight already." I know I will watch TWD to the end though, just because I was there from the beginning.

I have to agree. Besides the speechifying of both Negan and Ezekiel, I'm like, "Since when did Rick's group forget how to aim? Like, they shoot up a car with tons of ammo just to kill ONE dude? One minute the walkers are easily pushed aside like so many annoying flies, the next, they're deadly weapons again. Overall, the trope of "as soon as a character finds a ray of hope, let's mow him/her down with random fresh tragedy" is getting really old. And some characters are just caricatures, like Gregory and the Trash People. BUT yeah, I invested too much time in the core group to not stick with it (and I do love the main actors).

TIU is still on a roll. I suppose at some point though, both of Randall's fathers' storylines will run out. Love those two actors. I also absolutely love all the child actors. Great casting - they all look like versions of the same characters.

[momofcha]

I thought last week's episode was excellent! I am not a Kevin fan, but this really brought a lot into perspective.

Kate drives me nuts with how she pushes people away - but I think I will understand her a lot better after tomorrow's episode.

[acey]

Originally Posted by momofcha

I thought last week's episode was excellent! I am not a Kevin fan, but this really brought a lot into perspective.

Kate drives me nuts with how she pushes people away - but I think I will understand her a lot better after tomorrow's episode.

So, do you understand her better now? My interpretation is that no matter how supportive Rebecca tried to be, she just grew up with that inferiority complex - hot, thin, talented mom, one brother who "has it all" and another who not only is also cute and super-smart but also given special attention by his parents. It seems like she feels like the odd one out, the "ugly" duckling. And it's nobody's fault. It was poignant to watch Rebecca try so hard and sincerely to support her. It's difficult for her to accept Toby's unconditional love, but by the end of this episode, I think she has made a breakthrough about that. But I'd love to see what she thought about not being able to reach Kevin during her time of need.