Big-network dramas are effectively going the way of the dinosaur when it comes to top-notch programming, but last fall, when we heard that This is Us was about to kick off and that it was drawing a lot of comparisons to Parenthood (which we really liked), we figured we had to at least give it a try.
Now, it's a year later and the second season of This Is Us is about to start, so it's a pretty weird time for us to be wrapping up Season One. We actually watched everything except the final three episodes as they were released and then just put the finishing touches on the season this past week. A big reason for the delay is that This is Us has a serious knack for dropping sad-bombs, and with two of the saddest bombs possible hovering over the season's final episodes, we had a hard time working up the desire to watch something that was inevitably going to bum us out. That's excluding the fact that This Is Us had to compete for our attention with our rampage through The Sopranos. Hardly a fair fight.
By now, I've pretty much conceded that I can't truly write what I'd consider a good review of TV without dropping some spoilers, so feel free to check out here if you truly don't want anything ruined.
This Is Us centers on the Pearson family, which consists of triplets Kevin, Kate, and the adopted Randall, Randall's immediate family, his sick biological father William, and a married couple, Jack and Rebecca. In the fantastic first episode, the stories of the various characters seem unrelated until it's finally revealed that scenes with Jack and Rebecca are actually taking place in the distant past and that they're the parents of the triplets. The show jumps back and forth between the present and past, often with storylines intertwining and events of the triplets' childhood proving relevant to what's going on in their lives.
The structure of the show largely works, because even if the triplets aren't around one another in the present, they're linked by the scenes involving themselves as 80s/90s kids, so it never feels like the show's telling three different, completely unrelated stories. As far as plot-driven drama is concerned, This is Us does a great job of sucking you in with dramatic twists. Talent-wise, the cast is pretty deep and they make the big moments feel earned, even if the underlying character work is occasionally lacking. Scenes like Dr. K trying to help Jack cope with the death of his child, Jack's saving of Thanksgiving with his 'Pilgrim Rick' spiel, and the good-bye between William and Randall make for unforgettable moments that will always pop back into my head first whenever anyone brings up this show.
The characters on This is Us are somewhat hit or miss. Randall (played by a wonderful Sterling K. Brown) is easily the best character on the show, as he's often the dramatic heart of the present day scenes and adds some sneaky-good comedy as well at the right moments. His relationship with William (an also-great Ron Cephas Jones), who abandoned Randall at the hospital at birth, is consistently the best feature of the show and the writers get a lot of mileage out of Randall meeting such an important figure in his life with very little time left to truly get to know the man.
Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) is also very compelling throughout the struggles of raising his three kids and the ups-and-downs of his relationship with Rebecca (Mandy Moore). It's really easy to like Jack, and that helps us forgive the fact that for most of the season, he's essentially written as the father and husband that's meant to make the rest of us look like shit. The show explores SuperDad's flaws later on in the season, but it feels sort of disingenuous that This is Us shows him as nearly perfect for so long before we start to see that. It's not like the events of the earlier episodes shouldn't have tested his character. Even if she's written to be less likable, Rebecca winds up being the stronger, more relatable character and Moore delivers some great scenes, particularly in the later episodes.
Where the show fails is with Kevin and Kate, two people who've failed at every turn to justify the amount of screen time they're given. Kevin is an entitled man-child who skates through life on his looks, the help of Kate, and the fact that he landed a gig on a highly-rated big-network sitcom, "The Manny", a show that's apparently just as creatively lacking as you'd think it is. Throughout the season, he gets opportunities and privileges simply because people recognize him as "The Manny". He initially struggles to succeed as a "real" theater actor and we're supposed to care, but can't. He's in a relationship with a co-worker played by Lily from the AT&T commercials (just Google that), and isn't satisfied with her, ostensibly because he thinks that she's not as attractive as another co-worker that seems to have few other redeeming qualities. Kevin's "big moment" of the season involved actually leaving the theater minutes before his opening night performance to be with Randall, apparently because he sensed something was wrong. He abandoned a theater filled with people who payed for tickets, critics from The New York Times, his aforementioned friend/love interest, and everyone else who worked on his show to run to console his brother. Randall actually was having a breakdown and really did wind up needing consoling, but what Kevin did was arguably not a "hero" move at all given the other stakeholders. Also: it's fucking ridiculous.
Kate is a woman who struggles with her weight, and I bluntly point this out up front because the show has no time or desire to delve into any other aspect of her life. With the exception of the end of the season, in which she reveals that she's either responsible for, or blames herself for, her father's death, she's lacking in storylines that are not weight-centric. She has a mostly awesome boyfriend, Toby, who's a great combination of funny and genuinely sweet. In return, Kate behaves standoffish, often rude, and confusing towards Toby. The show doesn't bother to treat Kate like a fully formed person, so it's unclear why Toby does.
Despite two of the major characters being so weak, This Is Us pulled off a successful first season. If I have one concern about the show going forward, it's that they're overly dependent on the aforementioned huge twists and "very special" moments. Shows like that tend to find themselves reaching for plot moves to hold interest unless they have a very strong character base, and with William deceased, the ratio of strong characters to weak ones takes a hit. Had they dealt with Jack's death in the season finale, as would have been natural, I could have pretty easily considered the story of these characters complete. Instead, they kicked that can down the road and tacked on some potential future plot lines (Kate pursuing a singing career, Kevin moving to work with Ron Howard and the associated fallout with his oldest/newest love interest, Randall wanting to adopt a baby) that all feel somewhat contrived. Despite the weak finale, we're excited to see what Season Two will have in store.
Season Grade: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment