Letters
Lazy Sunday: This Is Us
Dear Kay,
For the past many weeks, I’ve been slo-bingin’ the five-season series that I was warned would make me cry all the time.
That series, of course, is This Is Us, the hit NBC drama that follows the family Pearson through decades of life in Pittsburgh (and New York, and New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and Hollywood). Told in a completely non-chronological way, this means that sometimes in one episode we see a character as a baby, a child, a teenager, and an adult. There are so many versions of each character! There’s even an episode where one character dreams she is in a room talking with her younger selves, and it’s such a stunner to see them all together.
I have just completed Season 5, Episode 12, aka the brand-new episode that ran on Tuesday, and I have to say: this show is such a source of catharsis.
It’s true: the crying is for real. The soggy, life-is-beautiful, life-is-tragic crying. One episode at a time is all I can take. I have always loved family drama above all other drama, and this one is completely stuffed with the intrigues that I find fascinating in families. There’s race at the core of the series, and you can’t watch this without thinking hard about what it is to be Black in the United States.
Unlike me, the characters on the show tend not to break down in hysterical sobs. There is so much ooze-crying. They’re all really good at it. Sterling K. Brown won an Emmy for his skill at being broken hearted while letting a lone streak of heartbreak find its way down his cheek. As for Milo Ventimiglia, who plays the dad, I’m trying to remember if I ever saw him do anything more than a well-up of tears. And if anybody had reason to totally lose his shit, it would be Jack Pearson.
With so much joy and heartache mashed up, the show should be called This Is Bittersweet.
You really have to watch out with this series. Do not read any recaps. Avoid any of the actors’ social feeds. The potential for gargantuan spoilers is high, because this show is truly beloved, and fans write stuff all over the internet about their theories about all aspects of these characters’ lives.
Just watch the first episode. It’s amazing.
I’ve watched it on NBC.com, here, which is free but with ads. (Bonus: Watching dozens of Peloton ads has left me feeling like I do Peloton on a regular basis without actually having to do Peloton.) It’s also on Hulu. And Amazon Prime for a fee.
Love,
Ann
Oh my goodness!
This Is The Best Show Ever!!!
I allow myself to watch it every other week, because it’s so good and intense and real – it makes my face hurt. Or I wait a couple days and watch it On Demand:
I now have to prepare my black girl self for some serious mother-daughter drama from past week with a high blanket to hide in.
Oh dear. Oh dear.
Yes! It was so well acted, that scene. (Trying hard not to be a spoiler!!!)
I watched the first episode when it aired and thought “that was amazing, and also exhausting! I can’t go through that every week!”
It took me two months to watch Episode 2. It’s like retinol for your soul—gotta build up your sturdiness.
I found myself wanting to knit baby clothes for the newborns, but had to rmind myself the babies were fictional.
Ah, so true!
I’m kind of jealous that you’re binge watching This is Us and be watched every episode from the beginning I now wish I’d waited it’s an excellently written show. Another great show that I’m not sure people are watching yet is A Million Little Things it’s so wonderfully written and so full of human interaction
The very first episode of A Million Little Things put me off so much that I didn’t try it again until just before the current season aired. So good.
I have been a devoted This is Us fan throughout, but I only recently binged Gilmore Girls (long, satisfying binge with so many episodes and seasons!). Seeing an oh-so-young Milo Ventimiglia as Jess made it a This is Us alternate universe flashback!
Yes! I watched Gilmore Girls, and a couple years later my mom moved in with me so I watched it again with her! Milo was great as Jess, and as Jack.
It’s difficult to comment and avoid spoilers! I’m an adoptive parent in a multi-racial family, and I put off watching this show for a long time. When I finally did, of course it was just as good as everyone said—-sometimes too good! Cathartic and exhausting and so very very well made.
I started watching 2 episodes back-to-back while on my spinning bike starting with season 1. After finishing season 1 and getting halfway through season 2 I realized my husband had to watch this. He of course fell for it hard as well and finally caught up to me and we are now starting season 3 together. At the same time we have been watching Gilmore girls from the start and are on the last season of that… we keep forgetting that Jack is not who Jess grew up to be… but maybe he could have been! Anyway, 2 great shows to pick up if you missed them the 1st time around. My knitting has never been happier!
So agree! When you’re finished, check out the Seaside Hotel. It’s in Danish. The same families, along with their drama and that of the staff, keep you laughing and crying.
How do you read subtitles and knit without mistakes? Otherwise, sounds good.
Such a tear-jerker, which is unusual for me because I am dead inside. The most heartbreaking character for me is Nicky — I feel an actual physical ache inside for his life. And did I mention that I am usually dead inside?
The moment I saw Griffin Dunne, after all these years, well suffice to say Keanu Reeves has competition now in my world.
The comment about Peleton made me burst out laughing. If only….
I had to change the name of this show to This Is Killing Us. It’s complete heart-wrenching agony, and it’s one of my favorite shows of my weep-easily life. My husband and I started watching it when I was casting on a cute t-shirt sweater, and now I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to wear this sweater without crying tears of the Pearsons’ triumphs and losses. My “This Is Us” sweater/crying towel.
I was late to the “This is us” party, well I don’t own a TV and haven’t had one since 2012.
But I started streaming the season in the winter of 2018 and it instantly reminded me of one of my TRULY BELOVED series: 30something.
Issues over music licensing and whatnot have kept 30something out of the streaming services, but I was lucky enough to get the DVDs through my library system.
If you love this is us, check out 30something for a trip back to the 1980’s and parenting and love.
I resisted This Is Us. Once I watched it I was hooked by the device of non-linear story telling, although I didn’t find the dialog to be that great. For the most part the writing improved greatly as the seasons went on. Same with the acting, in my opinion, with one exception – Mandy Moore. I find her acting to be run-of-the-mill at best, and somewhat annoying at times. Sterling K. Brown is phenomenol!
But, my favorite episodic drama is Snowfall on FX. It chronicles the crack epidemic, drug dealers, gangs, and South Central Los Angeles in the 80’s. It is violent – certainly not a musical – but really well done. Great acting and writing. It was created by the late John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood), and the Edgar Grand Master crime novelist Walter Mosley writes for the show.
“Watching dozens of Peloton ads has l eft me feeling like I do Peloton on a regular basis without actually having to do Peloton.“
Besides being 100% in agreement with your perspective about This Is Us, I also feel your article was worth the read just to reach this last sentence! Huge guffaw!
I had to stop watching a while back because I just couldn’t take the drama anymore. But I must say, the very first episode rocked my world. Even my husband, who doesn’t like dramas was impressed. It’s a very well-written and produced show.