This Is Us Roundtable: The Game Plan

This Is Us took on Jack (and subsequently Rebecca’s) Pittsburgh Steelers obsession in an episode that also gave us the triplets origin story. In the present Kate, also a big Steelers fan reveals to Toby why they mean so much to her and Kevin and William have a sweet moment.

Surprised by the reveal of Jack’s “fate”?
Melissa: I was pretty sure Jack was dead after that first reveal that Rebecca and Miguel were together, so I wasn’t surprised. It is a little creepy that Kate has his ashes and watches Steelers games with them. Why is she the one who has his ashes? There must be a story behind that.
Ange: Nope, I totally called this in ep 2! Like Melissa, I’m also curious to find out why she got the ashes. From the flashbacks we’ve seen so far, it does seem like Kate and Jack had a special connection and I can’t wait to see more flashback stories and get answers on why she has the ashes.

The end of the episode was a flash forward, right? Do you want to see more of that or are flashbacks enough?
Melissa: Yeah, it had to be a flash forward, at least the part where Randall was packing away William’s things. That was OK, but I don’t know how much of the flash forwarding I can handle. The past and the present are quite enough, thank you.
Ange: Oh yep, it’s definitely in the future – when we first move to the shot of Randall packing up William’s things, it’s right after Kevin says “People will die in our lives, people we love. In the future…” It never occurred to me that they’d flash forward to the future (or way to the past to even before Jack and Rebecca had met and were just kids). It definitely opens up a realm of possibilities for the show I guess.

I’m loving this show but how many episodes can they do and maintain this gut wrenching mixed in with light moments tone without becoming too….much. I already have to prepare myself mentally to watch the show.
Melissa: This was a lighter episode, despite the Jack revelation. Thank goodness. I do have to psych myself up emotionally to watch this show, but it’s always worth it.
Ange: As gut wrenching as this show is, the reason why we feel so much when we watch it is because it’s real and we can relate to it in some form or another. I think the show is doing a good job at balancing the humor, emotion and heart. I mean in this episode, we went from Kevin royally screwing up and scaring his nieces with his unintentional hilarious attempt to give them a life lesson, and then basically having everyone in tears at the end of the episode with his simple truths. And I agree with Mel, it’s worth it.

Kevin is killing it with his want to be taken seriously while still being this person who relies heavily on his family for….everything.
That’s more a statement than a question.
Melissa: Kevin is the character I’m least connected with. All of his issues seem fairly inconsequential next to Randall’s and Kate’s. Still waiting for something traumatic like, I don’t know, being abandoned by your birth father at a fire station or being severely obese. I did enjoy seeing Kevin interact with William and the girls, though. He does have a good heart.
Ange: I like that he’s flawed. He has a good heart and intentions but sometimes he doesn’t think about things before he does them and yes does tend to be a bunch of contradictions from time to time. I really enjoyed the Kevin and William scenes this week and how William kind of helped Kevin see some truths. It’s cool to a nice dynamic between two characters you never would have expected to interact on such a deeper level.

Melissa: What did you all think about the flashback scenes explaining the family’s Steelers obsession and Rebecca’s conflicted feelings about having children? Also, these flashbacks were to January 1980 and the kids were born in 1980, so either she changed her mind real fast or she was already pregnant. Also, Mother Nature has a vicious sense of humor.
Leah: Nothing says love like conceiving triplets in a bar bathroom. 🙂
Ange: I’m enjoying the flashbacks and how they’re informing us of present situations and giving us insight on how the characters have come to be who they are. I think the show does the flashbacks really well in the way that they juxtapose the past with the present. Like this week with Rebecca’s reluctance to have kids in the past to Randall and Beth worried that they might be adding another addition to their family. Speaking of which, I know we talk a lot about how much we love the relationship between Rebecca and Jack, but I’d also like to acknowledge how much I am enjoying the relationship between Randall and Beth and the way they support each other. It in a way reminds me of Jack and Rebecca’s relationship, which I have no doubt would have influenced Randall. While on the subject of Randall, it was nice to see a more flawed side to adult Randall this week in the way he kinda flipped out initially over the possibility of Beth being pregnant – I kind of felt like adult Randall has been too much of a matyr up until now, so this was refreshing.
Melissa: Agreed about Randall and Beth’s relationship – they’re pretty great together. I liked seeing them away from the home and in a context other than tip toeing around William (and each other). From Randall’s giddy plans for their night at the hotel to Beth teasing him after they found out they weren’t pregnant, it was a satisfying glimpse into their normal relationship.

This Is Us airs Tuesday 9/8c on NBC