“This Is Us” is Good TV
When I first saw the previews of NBC’s new TV series, “This is Us,” I wasn’t interested. It seemed a bit too saccharine. And, quite frankly, I didn’t have any more room on my programming plate.
My DVR is already loaded with episodes of “Star,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Fixer Upper,” “blackish,” reruns of “Girlfriends,” “Amen” and more. I have also taken to watching the 80’s primetime soap opera, “Dynasty” on Amazon Prime all because I randomly ran across an epic read of Alexis Carrington (Joan Collins) by Dominque Deveraux (Diahann Carroll) on the internet. Growing up, I was more of a “Dallas” kinda gal, a ratings rival to “Dynasty” so the luxuriously absurd world of the Carringtons is new to me. Plus, I’m patiently waiting for season five of the political drama, “House of Cards” to be released on Netflix.
Despite my lengthy watch list, I do have a life outside of binge watching 30-year-old deliciously bad TV.
One day, I decided to check out an episode of “This Is Us” On Demand. Same day, four episodes later, I was invested in the story of William (Ron Cephas Jones) and Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) newfound father-son relationship, Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) weight loss journey, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) as the perfect dad with the perfect beard and Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) career post- “The Manny.”
*spoilers
So Randall was left at a fire station by his drug-addicted father after witnessing Randall’s mother die in childbirth. Kate and Kevin were born healthy, but their youngest sibling died in what was supposed to be a triplet pregnancy. Devastated by the loss of their third child, the Pearsons decide to adopt abandoned Randall.
The Pearsons are white and Randall is Black, but this isn’t “Webster” or “Diff’rent Strokes.” The storyline of the interracial adoption doesn’t rely heavily on camp or ignoring race save the occasional episode told in afterschool special fashion. It is handled in a real-life way. It is the Pearsons not knowing what kind of barber to use for Randall or a Black mother at the pool checking Randall’s adopted mother for not introducing herself to the Black families there.
Fast forward, Randall’s life is filled with all the trappings of the American Dream — a wildly successful career, beautiful wife and two adorable daughters. By all measures, he should be happy, but he aches to know his biological family.
A private investigator tracks down his birth father and on his 36th birthday Randall knocks on his door.
The storytelling is smooth. Oftentimes, when shows rely heavily on flashbacks to move a storyline along viewers can get sea sick with the back and forth. Here, it is done seamlessly as we get to see how Kate, Kevin and Randall’s youth has shaped their adult lives. The pace isn’t dizzying. The momentum is just right. Smart scenes strung together craft episodes that hold you in suspense with Kleenex in hand.
“This Is Us” is damn good writing. Whether you choose to tell a linear or nonlinear story — show your work or not — it has got to make sense. Writing is like math in this way. The story has got to add up in the end. Every flashback must serve a purpose, must do the work of moving the story forward. Every detail must put in work. The ducks, the Steelers, Pilgrim Rick, the poet Dudley Randall must all earn their keep.
The acting is stellar. There’s no overacting here; a common downfall of dramas. It’s appropriately dramatic without being over the top. Sterling K. Brown, Ron Cephas Jones, Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore as the family matriarch, Rebecca, the only actor to play the same character in both the past and the present, all deliver. Susan Kelechi Watson as Randall’s wife, Beth is a quiet storm. She’s sharp and charming.
I believe “This Is Us.”
I believe Kevin’s insecurity, Rebecca’s resentment about choosing family over her singing career, Kate’s struggle to love another person who is also battling obesity and I believe the mailman’s tears after learning of William’s passing.
I believe in this story about the messiness of life and love.
“A life of almost and could haves…some would call it sad, but I don’t because the two best things in my life are the person from the very beginning and the person at the very end.” William on his deathbed
