This Is Us. Season 3

[Anonymous]

How did they make phylicia rashad look so young? That was neat.

[Anonymous]

What is up with you people nitpicking and analyzing every single freaking thing about this show? You people are truly obsessive. Either enjoy it for what it is or stop watching. Jesus Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was still weird that she busted out modern dance after having trained in classical ballet.

This was s pretty big misstep (pardon the pun) in this episode. There was a point where her dance teacher suggests she might be suited to other forms of dance than ballet, and she immediately rejects the idea. I think the suggestion by the writers is that if she had agreed to try other forms of dance, she might very well have achieved a career as a professional dancer. So, to see her first tentative dance steps in a studio after all those years be modern was very jarring.

Sorry if that seems nitpicky to the PP, but it completely disrupted my emotional investment in the the scene, all the more so because of the way black dancers were historically considered physically not right for ballet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is up with you people nitpicking and analyzing every single freaking thing about this show? You people are truly obsessive. Either enjoy it for what it is or stop watching. Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ. Can you understand that discussing details and nitpicking things can enhance our enjoyment of it? Some of us are not passive consumers of entertainment, we enjoy critical thinking. Talking about it here is like discussing the details of a book during a book club meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is up with you people nitpicking and analyzing every single freaking thing about this show? You people are truly obsessive. Either enjoy it for what it is or stop watching. Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ. Can you understand that discussing details and nitpicking things can enhance our enjoyment of it? Some of us are not passive consumers of entertainment, we enjoy critical thinking. Talking about it here is like discussing the details of a book during a book club meeting.

NP here. I don't agree that the nitpicking is "enhancing enjoyment." You're ripping apart every plot line, every timeline, every set detail, every choice made. That's hardly critical thinking. It's pedantic and tiresome.

[Anonymous]

For all we know, Beth took modern dance classes as electives in college. If you are a TIU fan, you should know that there is always more to be revealed. Maybe her modern dance training will be revealed.

Patience my pretties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t like the Beth episode at all. I love her and adore Zoe but this episode didn’t do anything for me for some reason.

I agree, I had zero emotional reaction to it. Beth's parents seemed already elderly during her child years. Her mother kept referring to these mystery older brothers and sisters who we never saw and Beth has never mentioned or had a relationship with otherwise (unless I'm forgetting things.)

Perhaps part of what bothered me is that as a former professional dancer, tv shows wanting to portray the ballet world can never seem to get it right. None of the girls they had dancing in Bethany's childhood classes had the skill to make it anywhere near professional level. The adult Beth actress didn't look like she'd done a plie in her life before during her Flashdance moment. I get that this is fiction and we can use our imagination and suspend reality, but can't NBC afford to hire real dancers for their episodes??

The actress is a trained dancer: https://www.tvinsider.com/753818/this-is-us-young-beth-actress-susan-kelechi-watson-dancer/

"In the final moments of "Our Little Island Girl," Beth tears it up on the dance floor, showcasing her abilities as a ballerina The sequence was both empowering and surprising since many have never seen Beth's skills in action, which begs the question, were those moves via a body double or can Watson actually dance?

The answer? Yes, that really was Watson. The actress spoke with People about her character's special passion and how it mirrors her own dancing past. "Dance is so important to me because it's a way of expression without speaking," the actress told the outlet.

The TV star studied ballet, modern, tap, jazz, Brazilian, Caribbean, and African dance. Similar to Beth, Watson's parents could tell she had a gift from early on. "My mom said there was never a time when music played that you did not dance. I do that to this day. … I think Beth and I have that in common.""

I find this interesting because it was clear to me in the dance sequence that they used a body double. They'd show a tight shot of her face, then a shot of the whole body from behind - without showing her face.

They did not use a body double:

https://people.com/tv/this-is-us-susan-kelechi-watson-refused-stunt-double-beth-dancing/

I totally agree that NBC could have hired some actual girls with ballet training - nobody in that dance class, including Beth, was going to make it at the Royal Ballet or ABT! But I think the child actresses portraying Beth did a great job w/ getting her character. But the dancing was pretty bad. If they didn't use a body double for Beth's dance sequence, then I thought her arms looked well shaped, but her feet were not professional ballet worthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is up with you people nitpicking and analyzing every single freaking thing about this show? You people are truly obsessive. Either enjoy it for what it is or stop watching. Jesus Christ.

No life

[Anonymous]

I guess it’s good that so many people found the Beth episode unrelatable. I lost my father at 23 to a short stint with cancer and found Beth’s episode to be the biggest tear jerker of the season.

I can only give my perspective, but when you lose your whole childhood life quickly it can be easier to start everything over instead of merging two worlds. She lost her father and in a moment she lost dance, at that point starting Howard and pursuing her love story with Randall became the new main components of her life, like another PP said once there were a career and kids it’s easy to let dance go completely.

I was close with my father and not with my mother, and he was my biggest fan as I pursued it competitively. I have no intention of putting my children in the sport unless they requested it on their own. I don’t think it’s weird that’s Beth hasn’t put her daughters in ballet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is up with you people nitpicking and analyzing every single freaking thing about this show? You people are truly obsessive. Either enjoy it for what it is or stop watching. Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ. Can you understand that discussing details and nitpicking things can enhance our enjoyment of it? Some of us are not passive consumers of entertainment, we enjoy critical thinking. Talking about it here is like discussing the details of a book during a book club meeting.

NP here. I don't agree that the nitpicking is "enhancing enjoyment." You're ripping apart every plot line, every timeline, every set detail, every choice made. That's hardly critical thinking. It's pedantic and tiresome.

Hello, show writer! Could you tell.the team to check their plots against Google Maps, just for fun?

[Anonymous]

^^ could you check google weather too? Because the 70 degree sunny Valentines days never ever occur in Pittsburgh. I guess a little fantasy is ok every now and then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ could you check google weather too? Because the 70 degree sunny Valentines days never ever occur in Pittsburgh. I guess a little fantasy is ok every now and then.

Also, if we could have a word about election dates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ could you check google weather too? Because the 70 degree sunny Valentines days never ever occur in Pittsburgh. I guess a little fantasy is ok every now and then.

Also, if we could have a word about election dates.

I’ll turn a blind eye to travel distances and times and lack of jobs/underemployment approaching standards of living (mostly Kate & Toby) because I know this is fiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ could you check google weather too? Because the 70 degree sunny Valentines days never ever occur in Pittsburgh. I guess a little fantasy is ok every now and then.

Also, if we could have a word about election dates.

I’ll turn a blind eye to travel distances and times and lack of jobs/underemployment approaching standards of living (mostly Kate & Toby) because I know this is fiction.

EXACTLY.

[Anonymous]

Ballet is a great foundation for almost all forms of dance. Ballet teaches you so much about body awareness and how to move. Etc. I don’t think it’s a big stretc at all for a classically trained ballerina to be able to transition to modern dance.