This Is Us Review: Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)
It’s no secret that fans are yearning for NBC’s new drama, This Is Us to fill the Parenthood–shaped void in their lives.
And why wouldn’t they? This is a show that promises viewers a feel-good family drama. It’s a show that tugs at the heart and serves to celebrate life’s small moments. It’s the little show that could.
What distinguishes This Is Us from all the rest is its unique and unexpected ending, making the highly anticipated series premiere one of the best I have ever seen.
This Is Us Season 1 Episode 1 introduces us to several different, seemingly unconnected characters who all share the same birthday.
We meet Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), new parents-to-be who spend the majority of the episode in a hospital during a difficult delivery; Kevin (Justin Hartley), an unsatisfied actor looking for depth in his life; Kate (Chrissy Metz), an overweight woman who makes a friend at a support group; and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), a successful family-man who tracks down and confronts the biological father who abandoned him at a fire station when he was a baby.
Apart from Kate and Kevin being twins, all these stories appear to be disparate vignettes of people living separate and unrelated lives.
The characters themselves automatically feel real, authentic, and likable; that’s enough for the first episode.
It helps that the show features a tremendously strong cast. Everyone is terrific in this. They bring a sincerity to their portrayals, making the performances feel natural and immediate.
Through the course of the episode, we discover that Randall was adopted by a family in the hospital the day he was brought in by a fireman. We also learn that Jack and Rebecca, who are expecting triplets, lose their third baby after delivering a healthy baby boy and baby girl.
However, it isn’t until the final moments that we get the real kicker.
Through the use of appropriately set background music and slow pan ups, the viewer is met with a sense of unease and confusion as the revelations sets it. As Jack looks through the nursery at his newborn babies, a fireman standing by tells him of the baby he had just found at the station.
The fireman then offers Jack a smoke, and the camera steadily captures the pack of cigarettes in his hand.
Suddenly, we are reconciling the fact they’re in a hospital and smoking is prohibited in public buildings, and then we gain a clear picture of the vintage surroundings and it dawns on us.
Jack and Rebecca are the parents of Kevin, Randall, and Kate, and what we’ve been experiencing are dual timelines. One takes place in 1980, and the other takes place in 2016. It turns out that these characters are connected — they’re family.
I was not only surprised, but I was viscerally affected. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I had chills.
Naturally, there is some uncertainty about how the show will progress from this point on. Our expectations have undoubtedly been shifted given the two different timelines the show follows.
At the same time, it’s an extremely exciting idea to be able to track these characters in present day, while also potentially witnessing their childhoods simultaneously.
It’s a cool technique that may offer different glimpses of the same family through the course of multiple years. One may offer the perspective of new parents who are happily in love, navigating through life in a simpler time, and then it may also allow us to see the fruits of that labor through the people their grown up children have become.
What’s most exciting are the possibilities.
Imagine Kevin and Randall talking about a memory of their parents while we actually get to experience that memory only to find that they remembered it wrong, or imagine seeing how history plays a role in shaping a person. This goes deeper than the flashback because both timelines are as equally important and relevant to the story.
Despite my high level of praise, there are a couple of flaws.
At times, the episode feels bogged down by trying too hard. Kevin’s meltdown is a little over wrought, and Randall’s argument with William upon their first meeting was a smidge over-the-top. These things are forgivable but keep the premiere from being perfect.
However, given that the show both defies and lives up to its expectation, it’s safe to say that This Is Us is worth looking into, for curiosity alone.
For those of us who are innately drawn to the show because of its Parenthood–esque tone and feel, there is no question about it.
It’s quiet shows like This Is Us that remind us that forming connections and relationships with other people is what makes us, us.
Other final thoughts:
- Milo Ventimiglia, I love you.
- Toby, played by Chris Sullivan is a fun character that I’m hoping we see more of.
- The hospital scenes are heartbreaking, intense, and the highlight of the episode, besides the end reveal.
- Sterling K. Brown, I love you.
- Chrissy Metz is great.
- Justin Hartley, I love you.
What did you think of the series premiere of This Is Us? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
Shabnaj Chowdhury
Shabnaj is a pop-culture enthusiast who spends much of her time enabling her coffee addiction and thinking about Jon Snow's hair. Some of her favorite shows include Friday Night Lights, The Leftovers, and Game of Thrones. Shabnaj also loves to write creative non-fiction.
One thought on “This Is Us Review: Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)”
LOVED IT!!!!!!
Any show that makes me think about my own life and makes me want to improve..love love love..
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