This is Us – “Pilot”
This Is Us has been NBC’s break out show. Each episode has taken us further into the complicated stories of the Pearson family, making us cry and laugh all at once (with especially vulnerable performances from Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia). In its first season the show has successfully taken on the task of tackling complex issues within the framework of one family. Jack and Rebecca’s evolving relationship and the hardships that come with raising children, Kate’s struggle with weight, Kevin’s inability to break through in his career, and Randall’s yearning for finding his biological family are only a few topics that have come up in the first nine episodes. What made the pilot the best episode of all, however, was the unique path it took in introducing the Pearson family. The connection that bonds the characters seems to be that they were all celebrating their 36th birthday on the same day; as the episode continues we get a closer look into their lives. The episode ends with the most beautiful scene in the series, showing Jack and Rebecca as the parents of twins Kate and Kevin and adoptive parents of Randall; and it continues to travel seamlessly between these two generations of Pearson’s to show us that their stories are more similar than we would imagine them to be. – Melissa Linares
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