- Piling on the annoyance for this week's show. I didn't hate it but I was some forward plot movement. I was hoping at least in the end we would have some kind of forward time jump where SOME connection was made.

- We called our parents' first cousins "cousin Debbie." (From the north east, not a particularly formal family in general).

- And my guesses are:
Madison.
Kate is alive (and the same size).
(Madison and Kate arrive together, maybe?)
And Deja is with Malik.

But when I look over my predictions, I realize they're ll the "happy" ending ones. So I can't be right!

I sincerely hope Malik and Deja aren't planning on getting married. That would be absurd. She's 16 and has her entire life ahead of her. He's in college and has a child already. Maybe they're going to say that Deja wants to go to college in Boston too. But she still has another year of high school, so...?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beautiful episode tonight. I cried.

Same here. Though, I couldn’t quite figure out what the takeaway was from this episode.

What do we think about next week? Finally, looks like the story of Rebecca and Miguel. Is Malik going to propose? And wonder what the Kate storyline is about?

The takeaway is starting over, trying to face your fears, finding community where you can.

I was really skeptical about this episode and it turned out to be gorgeous and relatable. The end where Jack finally breaks down and says, "I don't have a mom anymore." and then he just walks right back into dinner like nothing ever happened.

Does it fit into or play into the end of the series? I don't know. In some way I think yes, but even if not, I loved this. Camryn Manheim was just a bonus.

+100
Totally agree. I did think "Cousin Debbie" was a little rough on Jack - though I guess I understand her exasperation. He could have come visited his mom any time, he just chose not to. Very sad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Cousin Debbie”? Holy exposition, Batman!

No person alive has ever referred to their mom’s cousin that way. Or their own cousin. Or any cousin.

Thank you. Shows do this all the time and it is so irritating: "I'm just waiting for my daughter Ann to get home." "You'd have to ask my husband, John."

Yep. TV writers too often think their audiences are dumb. Either trust us to pick up on what's going on without the flashing light exposition, or do a better job writing natural dialogue that works in the exposition in a more seamless way. This is just lazy writing.

NP. This part of the discussion made me smile. I do agree re: lazy writing in lots of shows! But it also amuses me, because we refer all the time to Cousin Alison in our household; there are two Alisons in our close family, so one is always Cousin Alison, or else at times there would be confusion!

And I'm from the South and find the Cousin Whoever thing doesn't grate as much for me. Grew up hearing my mother refer to people as cousin so and so at times-- even when there wasn't another person with that same name in the family! I agree, the "my daughter Ann" stuff writers use sometimes to explain things for viewers gets clunky, for sure. But it doesn't always ring false.
This is a fun discussion though.

I think this was particularly noticeable because Jack used it in conversation with Debbie herself - I think he said "Hello, Cousin Debbie." That's like asking your kid to get ready for school by saying "Please get your backpack, Daughter Ann."

DP. That was hilarious. But, as the PP noted, some families do use "Cousin ___". I have a Cousin Kim, and yes - we referred to her as Cousin Kim growing up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this show and if you do too (or at least like it) play along with my family's guessing game:

Who does Kevin end up with (at the time of Rebecca's deathbed scene)?
- Sophie (3 votes)
- Cassidy (1 vote)
- Madison (1 vote)


What's Kate's situation at the time of Rebecca's deathbed scene?
- Dead (1 vote)
- Alive and still overweight (3 votes)
- Alive and lost weight (1 vote)


Does Deja marry Malik?
- No (4 votes)
- Yes (1 vote)

Interesting votes! I don't get the fixation with Sophie as Kevin's one true love. I always felt like his yearning for a relationship like his parents clouded his judgment with her.

I might be the dissenting vote here, but I really like Cassidy for Kevin. They have a great friendship. She has hung around too long for the writers to not make her the wife.

She's hardly been in the show at all - just partially during the season when she, Kevin, and Nicky were going through rehab. She's even less than a periphery figure. I think it would be bizarre if all of a sudden, she and Kevin got married.

Anonymous wrote:Can you imagine in real life a successful movie star living in a garage of his baby momma?

Exactly! Kevin could simply buy a house across the street from them. Or any house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Cousin Debbie”? Holy exposition, Batman!

No person alive has ever referred to their mom’s cousin that way. Or their own cousin. Or any cousin.

Thank you. Shows do this all the time and it is so irritating: "I'm just waiting for my daughter Ann to get home." "You'd have to ask my husband, John."

DP. I find This is Us verbally over-explains ALL the time. They'll set up a scene by having one character narrate what the plan is, even though obviously the characters would have already discussed it. It's so annoying and patronizing to the audience, as if we wouldn't be able to figure it out.

Although I thought this episode was lovely, and yeah, I teared up a bit when he closed his eulogy with telling his mom he wouldn’t keep her, but there’s so much more in the present I want to see. That said, the previews looks to hit ALL the storylines I’m anxious to see. Especially middle aged Rebecca and Miguel romance!

Btw, I’m team Cassidy. But I agree they’ll need to give that dynamic more depth to make it a satisfying ending for Kevin.

Can you imagine in real life a successful movie star living in a garage of his baby momma?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beautiful episode tonight. I cried.

Same here. Though, I couldn’t quite figure out what the takeaway was from this episode.

What do we think about next week? Finally, looks like the story of Rebecca and Miguel. Is Malik going to propose? And wonder what the Kate storyline is about?

The takeaway is starting over, trying to face your fears, finding community where you can.

I was really skeptical about this episode and it turned out to be gorgeous and relatable. The end where Jack finally breaks down and says, "I don't have a mom anymore." and then he just walks right back into dinner like nothing ever happened.

Does it fit into or play into the end of the series? I don't know. In some way I think yes, but even if not, I loved this. Camryn Manheim was just a bonus.

I think it fits it because it helps us understand how/why he was able to cut off Nicky the way he did. Jack assumed Nicky was capable of killing that Vietnamese boy on purpose because he was conditioned to believe it by his father's violence. And the trauma of living through that violence left Jack with no emotional reserves to deal with it in the future.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this show and if you do too (or at least like it) play along with my family's guessing game:

Who does Kevin end up with (at the time of Rebecca's deathbed scene)?
- Sophie (3 votes)
- Cassidy (1 vote)
- Madison (1 vote)


What's Kate's situation at the time of Rebecca's deathbed scene?
- Dead (1 vote)
- Alive and still overweight (3 votes)
- Alive and lost weight (1 vote)


Does Deja marry Malik?
- No (4 votes)
- Yes (1 vote)

Interesting votes! I don't get the fixation with Sophie as Kevin's one true love. I always felt like his yearning for a relationship like his parents clouded his judgment with her.

+1. And in the last episode we actually got some pretty heavy-handed Kevin "growth" exposition. Of the three choices above I would pick Madison because that's the outcome I want out of those three choices. But I think the writers are going to tease this out.

I feel like Cassidy is his sobriety buddy. There's no spark, and Cassidy has a lot going on. I feel like they'd really have to significantly develop that relationship to make it believable. IS Cassidy just going to up and move to LA and leave her son, her community, and where she has her support system?

Kind of the same with Sophie, frankly. Like what has Sophie been doing with her life these last few (three? five?) years while she's waiting for the This Is Us writers to write her back in? Sophie is an intelligent, self-sufficient, beautiful woman. I feel like writing her back in just to end up with Kevin is pretty one dimensional, but it is romantic.

I said last week that I think a Zoe reappearance is a possibility, even though I don't really like Zoe.

No idea on Deja and Malik. Maybe? He's such a skinny little kid that it's hard to imagine him as a married man and father. That would be a sweet story though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beautiful episode tonight. I cried.

Same here. Though, I couldn’t quite figure out what the takeaway was from this episode.

What do we think about next week? Finally, looks like the story of Rebecca and Miguel. Is Malik going to propose? And wonder what the Kate storyline is about?

The takeaway is starting over, trying to face your fears, finding community where you can.

I was really skeptical about this episode and it turned out to be gorgeous and relatable. The end where Jack finally breaks down and says, "I don't have a mom anymore." and then he just walks right back into dinner like nothing ever happened.

Does it fit into or play into the end of the series? I don't know. In some way I think yes, but even if not, I loved this. Camryn Manheim was just a bonus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Cousin Debbie”? Holy exposition, Batman!

No person alive has ever referred to their mom’s cousin that way. Or their own cousin. Or any cousin.

Thank you. Shows do this all the time and it is so irritating: "I'm just waiting for my daughter Ann to get home." "You'd have to ask my husband, John."

Yep. TV writers too often think their audiences are dumb. Either trust us to pick up on what's going on without the flashing light exposition, or do a better job writing natural dialogue that works in the exposition in a more seamless way. This is just lazy writing.

NP. This part of the discussion made me smile. I do agree re: lazy writing in lots of shows! But it also amuses me, because we refer all the time to Cousin Alison in our household; there are two Alisons in our close family, so one is always Cousin Alison, or else at times there would be confusion!

And I'm from the South and find the Cousin Whoever thing doesn't grate as much for me. Grew up hearing my mother refer to people as cousin so and so at times-- even when there wasn't another person with that same name in the family! I agree, the "my daughter Ann" stuff writers use sometimes to explain things for viewers gets clunky, for sure. But it doesn't always ring false.
This is a fun discussion though.

I think this was particularly noticeable because Jack used it in conversation with Debbie herself - I think he said "Hello, Cousin Debbie." That's like asking your kid to get ready for school by saying "Please get your backpack, Daughter Ann."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Cousin Debbie”? Holy exposition, Batman!

No person alive has ever referred to their mom’s cousin that way. Or their own cousin. Or any cousin.

Thank you. Shows do this all the time and it is so irritating: "I'm just waiting for my daughter Ann to get home." "You'd have to ask my husband, John."

Yep. TV writers too often think their audiences are dumb. Either trust us to pick up on what's going on without the flashing light exposition, or do a better job writing natural dialogue that works in the exposition in a more seamless way. This is just lazy writing.

NP. This part of the discussion made me smile. I do agree re: lazy writing in lots of shows! But it also amuses me, because we refer all the time to Cousin Alison in our household; there are two Alisons in our close family, so one is always Cousin Alison, or else at times there would be confusion!

And I'm from the South and find the Cousin Whoever thing doesn't grate as much for me. Grew up hearing my mother refer to people as cousin so and so at times-- even when there wasn't another person with that same name in the family! I agree, the "my daughter Ann" stuff writers use sometimes to explain things for viewers gets clunky, for sure. But it doesn't always ring false.
This is a fun discussion though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this show and if you do too (or at least like it) play along with my family's guessing game:

Who does Kevin end up with (at the time of Rebecca's deathbed scene)?
- Sophie (3 votes)
- Cassidy (1 vote)
- Madison (1 vote)


What's Kate's situation at the time of Rebecca's deathbed scene?
- Dead (1 vote)
- Alive and still overweight (3 votes)
- Alive and lost weight (1 vote)


Does Deja marry Malik?
- No (4 votes)
- Yes (1 vote)

Interesting votes! I don't get the fixation with Sophie as Kevin's one true love. I always felt like his yearning for a relationship like his parents clouded his judgment with her.

I might be the dissenting vote here, but I really like Cassidy for Kevin. They have a great friendship. She has hung around too long for the writers to not make her the wife.