And my verdict is: not bad (I mean, I did feverishly finish 18 episodes in the span of 3 days).
Its major flaw is probably that the stories and characters are "too perfect."
The reason why I love The Wire, Black Mirror so freaking much is their "rawness" and "ugliness" which is always refreshing. Too many TV shows play it safe, making things cute and happy and all that which is definitely fine if it's a comedy (like Modern Family, Friends, 30 Rock- my big loves as well) but when it's supposed to be a realistic drama... that's where it can fall as a bit corny and cliche.
This is Us veers on that line between heartfelt and cheesy just slightly. Mostly it still stays in the realm of heartfelt, warm, loving drama about family-marriage-life-death, all that goodness. It certainly does a good job of making you care about the characters (I have sobbed like a baby at a couple episodes), and *ahem* making you keep watching (one of my irritations in fact, explained below). By the end of S1 though it started to feel a bit dry (although, I still can't stop thinking about it and hence this post...)
I confess I ran out of time and patience around episode ~14 or so. I started doing that thing where I skip forward just to watch the bits that interest me (*covers face* not proud of it). I started getting obsessed with just finding out one thing...
SPOILER ALERT
Dammit I sped through to the last episode of S1 biting my nails just wanting to KNOW for God's sake and guess what...
Got trolled.
Guess we have to find out next season (or the next... -_-;)
What a cheap move. Yeah I know - we're supposed to care more about the unfolding stories of the other characters than just know this one thing in the plot (I mean even if we know how he dies, doesn't really matter, we've known since like the first four episodes he's dead).
But somehow- I just don't care enough about the other people anymore (whoops).
Jack is not even my favorite character. My favorite is Toby. William is a close #2. But unfortunately these two are the side characters and do not get so much screen time (plus, William dies already at this point ;.; so anything else that happens with him only will occur in flashbacks).
As for the Pearsons- I am partial to Randall, obviously, but he's a little too perfect and that makes him a little boring. But he's STILL loads more interesting than Kevin who is definitely far from perfect. I sped through all his scenes with the Olivia-Sloane triangle, only then to find out they were meaningless anyway because apparently his true love in life is his sister's best friend. Like, hello?? Major plot hole here. If Sophie was really your true love, why didn't you go find her first thing you were in New York?? Instead of sleeping with two other women??
I like Kate's storyline actually, for the most part. I like what she represents anyway. It's not everyday you see an overweight person as the focus in a TV drama, so I appreciate that. But her storyline has plot holes too. She moves to New York for a Christmas party but somehow ends up staying there- what happened to her job as an assistant to that fat girl's mom?? Also, her gastric bypass surgery was this HUGE thing and then it gets dropped like that? So was the fat camp, too. Oh well, I guess that's real life for you.
Honestly my favorite part of Kate's storyline is Toby. Without Toby, I don't know how this show can go on.
Anyway. That leaves Rebecca and Jack. Which is why I wanted to write this, because the last episode of S1 featured the Fight and it got me thinking about it... Because wondering which fictional character is right and which fictional character is wrong in a fictional fight is always fun.
To start off with, I don't DISLIKE Rebecca, but I am angry at her for her actions involving William and Randall. She kept those two from each other for freaking three+ decades!! I actually don't blame her for keeping Randall from William those first ~10 years. I can understand why. The first time she met William she found out he was a drug addict (even though he portrayed a very coherent, polite, immensely intelligent drug addict who actually owns a studio apartment... think Bubs from The Wire and you'd be like, 'scuse me?). The second time she met him he was off the drugs and suggesting he wanted to see his kid regularly. I can understand why she panicked. She just didn't want her child to love her less and eventually abandon her and Jack for his birth father. Ok, so I can understand she's just human, scared, a bit selfish. BUT... then Randall turns 18. Then he leaves her home to be independent. Then he gets married. Has kids. By the way, Jack died already way before this. And she *still* keeps William a secret from him. Randall had to pay for his own PI to find William. I'm just like--- WTF
By that point, she wasn't hiding William from Randall out of any benefit to Randall, she literally just did that because she kept a secret for so long she KNEW Randall would hate her if he found out. So... she just crossed her fingers and hoped Randall will never find out about his biological father??? When was she gonna tell him-- on her deathbed? (Probably not even then because what would be the point)
It's so ridiculous. I get pissed off when I think about that because it's so sad that Randall could've known William and had some CLOSURE this whole time. Even if William turned out to be a total jerk (which is what would probably happen in real life), Randall's heart could've been at peace.
It sucks even worse that William turned out to be a friggin' cool person and the two of them (+ Beth, and the girls) only got a few months together.
So anyway, this is why I hold a big grudge against Rebecca, but the fight with her and Jack had nothing to do with Randall or William. That's why I tried my best to ignore my bias when I think about the issue between Jack and Rebecca.
I think it's very reminiscent of Ross and Rachel's fight. In both cases, the woman got a career jumpstart/reawakening and she started being passionate about something that is other than her relationship/family. She wanted to form her own self-identity and live out her dream. In both cases, the man got jealous because of another man that happened to be part of that woman's career change, also got jealous of the woman's work (because it took time away from being with them), and got very resentful but tried to hide it because they knew they should be supportive... eventually this all blew up in their faces.
So it's not anything we've never seen before.
I don't wanna sound like a crazy feminist but isn't Jack's big issue that he feels Rebecca is abandoning her family for her singing career...? He's understandably overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that Rebecca is leaving him while she goes on tour. Doesn't help that her bandmate is her ex-boyfriend-- but I don't think the "other guy" is the biggest part of it. Even if the show didn't add that Ben character, Jack would still feel a little annoyed or whatever. Because he thinks by going on tour, Rebecca is like saying, "I don't love my family or you as much as I love singing."
But why can't a woman love BOTH her family and a career equally?
This happened with Randall too; Beth was "calling marriage" at a time when Randall was about to lose his account (which he did btw). It's like when someone is really passionate about work, it seems to signal to his SO that he/she doesn't love their family anymore.
Why can't family and work exist in balance?
I guess in real life, that does become hard, and you have to make a choice. :/
I recently just watched the movie Coco, and at one scene that made me sad (besides the tearjerkers towards the end) was when Miguel's grandmother says to him, "We [my husband and I] each made our own sacrifices."
That's just the crux of it all isn't it. When you start a family, you need to make sacrifices for your children. You need to put your own dreams on hold.
Back to Rebecca. She and Jack BOTH did that though, that's the thing. I think we really tend to focus on Jack's sacrifices because of that episode with his abusive dad, and how he went to borrow money from him after he saw Rebecca sobbing. That's such a huge emotional sacrifice. Oh yeah and also another episode where they showed Jack giving up his Big Three Homes dream so that Randall can attend private school. So sad...
But we tend to forget that Rebecca made a hell lot of sacrifice too. She loved singing so much, she was trying to pursue it back when she and Jack met. Nobody thought much of her singing; her friends weren't supportive, her family probably wasn't... etc. She didn't want to marry and have kids. Of course she met Jack and fell in love, but she still didn't want kids. But because Jack wanted kids so much, she "gave in."
Then she became a housewife with three kids- also unforeseen. She did this for like 15 years. Finally she gets time to sing again, and an opportunity to go on tour which she probably never got to do. So of course that's super exciting. I mean, I can't blame her for wanting to do it, because it's like realizing a lifelong dream she had.
I don't think it meant she was gonna sign on contracts down the road and go on tour forever. Because she knows she's still got a family. I thought it was obvious that the tour thing was only temporary.
So it's just unfortunate because Jack saw it as her hating her family and responsibilities and wanting to run away from it... overdramatizing the whole thing. I saw it as Rebecca just wanting to take a temporary break from her life as a house mom and be young again. Meanwhile her heart is still with her family, you know?
I mean, if you think about it, Jack is probably so mad because he is subconsciously jealous of Rebecca getting to live her dream when he didn't. Because he doesn't like his desk job. He does it out of duty to support his kids.
It again boils down to the tragedy of sacrificing your passions/hopes in life in the face of reality. Life wears you down, little by little, like that.
Anyway... so who is wrong, who is right? ... eh, probably neither of them. They're both parents who gave up a lot for their children (which is a common theme in the world everywhere, right). That doesn't mean they love their kids any less though... but it means if you have parents, you should really be grateful to them for raising you and giving you a home, because they were people too before they had you.
And yea - that's why you shouldn't ridicule/guilt trip someone if they say they don't want kids. Having children is a big decision for most people. If you aren't ready to make the sacrifices, then you shouldn't have them. --> and if you do end up having kids, you have to be prepared to make sacrifices.
The End.
P.S. they better tell us how Jack died S2 finale. I'll be following the plot via Reddit.
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