I'm not one for family relationship dramas. Shows like Brothers and Sisters, Parenthood and The Fosters are just too melodramatic for my tastes. I'll take Malcolm in Middle or Arrested Development any day. I only got into Gilmore Girls for the ridiculousness of characters like Paris and Kirk. So This is Us was never a show I planned on watching.
But I consume mass amounts of television, have followed Mandy Moore since "Candy" and am solidly, forever #teamjess, so I figured I'd give the pilot a shot. It turned out to be one of the most absorbing hours of television I watched in 2016.
Promos for This is Us showcased several apparently disparate sets of people: a couple expecting their first child, a businessman looking for his biological father, an overweight woman searching for love. And the first episode fills in some of the blanks - Mandy Moore is pregnant with triplets, not just one baby. The businessman was adopted by a supportive family, but he always felt like an outsider. The overweight woman has a twin brother. Somehow, I failed to see the show's big twist until it was happening.
Obviously, in writing about the pilot for This is Us, I have to write about spoilers. Because the twist is what makes the episode such a stand out in my mind. If you haven't watched it by now, I'm gonna assume you're not going to care about being spoiled.
Turns out, Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia aren't just wearing hipster outfits, they're living in the 1970's. Viewers were watching two separate time periods (I should've known something was amiss in Westworld!). Mandy gives birth to two of the three main characters - and when her third baby is stillborn, the couple adopts a third child.
On their own, none of these story lines are especially interesting. Again, I'm not into melodrama. But the twist had me riveted. Perhaps it's because shows like this rarely feature such unique formats, I didn't see the big twist coming at all. The pilot stands beautifully on its own, a near perfect short film I'd recommend to everyone.
Future episodes of the show haven't grabbed me like the pilot, though. The alternating past and present story lines started feeling gimmicky after the second episode. I'm not sure how the season has fared, since I lost interest relatively quickly. Still, though, This is Us deserves commendation for breaking the mold and creating one of the best hours of television this year.
But I consume mass amounts of television, have followed Mandy Moore since "Candy" and am solidly, forever #teamjess, so I figured I'd give the pilot a shot. It turned out to be one of the most absorbing hours of television I watched in 2016.
Promos for This is Us showcased several apparently disparate sets of people: a couple expecting their first child, a businessman looking for his biological father, an overweight woman searching for love. And the first episode fills in some of the blanks - Mandy Moore is pregnant with triplets, not just one baby. The businessman was adopted by a supportive family, but he always felt like an outsider. The overweight woman has a twin brother. Somehow, I failed to see the show's big twist until it was happening.
Obviously, in writing about the pilot for This is Us, I have to write about spoilers. Because the twist is what makes the episode such a stand out in my mind. If you haven't watched it by now, I'm gonna assume you're not going to care about being spoiled.
Turns out, Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia aren't just wearing hipster outfits, they're living in the 1970's. Viewers were watching two separate time periods (I should've known something was amiss in Westworld!). Mandy gives birth to two of the three main characters - and when her third baby is stillborn, the couple adopts a third child.
On their own, none of these story lines are especially interesting. Again, I'm not into melodrama. But the twist had me riveted. Perhaps it's because shows like this rarely feature such unique formats, I didn't see the big twist coming at all. The pilot stands beautifully on its own, a near perfect short film I'd recommend to everyone.
Future episodes of the show haven't grabbed me like the pilot, though. The alternating past and present story lines started feeling gimmicky after the second episode. I'm not sure how the season has fared, since I lost interest relatively quickly. Still, though, This is Us deserves commendation for breaking the mold and creating one of the best hours of television this year.
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