Reviews: This Is Us

Language: English (American dialect)

Type: Drama

Plot:
36 was a significant milestone for Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), Randel (Sterling K. Brown), Kate (Chrissy Metz), and Kevin (Justin Hartley) who, at first glance, seem to be completely unrelated but who are, in fact, closer than one would imagine.
This show deals with several universal themes including; love, loss, poverty and untreated mental illness, using a disrupted narrative and a scenario that jumps back and forth in time and space.

Why this show?
Have you heard of the term « Sonder »?
It’s basically the moment of realization that everyone around you, including strangers or acquaintances, have a life just as, and possibly more, complex than your own. It’s when you think of all the small details that wouldn’t otherwise pop into your mind while interacting with a person for the first time.
This show is, in my opinion, the visual representation of that word.
Judging others is an instinctive innate behavior that morality forces us to conceal (If we try to be good people, that is).
We subconsciously judge overweight people are being inherently lazy; alcoholics as being vile; and what would otherwise be called « neglecting parents » as selfish.
This shows gives us a new inward perspective, however; a subjective, far more humane outlook inside the lives -and minds- of its heavily flawed characters. It, most definitely, will trigger your empathic roots and might help change your perception and alter some of your premade assumptions regarding certain matters.

You’ll see a bit of yourself in every one of them: Randel’s struggle with his identity and his incessant stress provoking perfectionism, Kevin’s depression and unjustified low self esteem contradicting the degree of his wealth and success, Kate’s weight fixation and obsession with food, Jack’s reoccuring alcohol addiction, the kids’s decades-long inability to overcome grief ect..
Moreover, Kevin’s personality is particularly interesting, for how shallow it appeared at first; his needy and self absorbed behavior made him the most cringy and least liked character on the pilot, but as different layers of his persona lay bare, the viewer will find no other option but to sympathize with him, perhaps even understand him.
« This is Us » is captivating in the sense that you find yourself focusing not just on the events but on the emotions, as well; on what their actions represent to you and the part they move within you, especially that the characters are a far cry from each other; a succesful black man adopted by a white family, a depressed wealthy movie star, a struggling obese woman, perfect families, drug addicts, unstable housholds..
This idea was even reinforced by the pilot’s title card that claimed that « [According to Wikipedia] There is no evidence that sharing the same birthday creates any type of behavioral link with those people. » alluding to Jack, Kate, Kevin and Randel’s joint birthdays.
Nevertheless, they connect, somehow; for even though all the characters might be worlds apart, their humanity proved to be their vital link; the common denominator they’ll never escape. Maybe, that’s why « Wikipedia » was the site of choice even though it’s particularly known for its false or unproven content. Perhaps, it was a metaphor for how little we truly know about humanity and behaviorism.