Sai Mithra
Struck far away from home with the lockdown being enforced and being all by your own when you don’t even know to cook is pretty tough. Just two days into the lockdown made me realise how badly I missed my family. I then started watching “This Is Us’, an NBC show on the recommendation from a few friends who all gave me a raving review. Lockdowns could be mentally draining and we all need to look forward to “Hope”. Well, this series gives you exactly that. (Also you will understand my reference when you finish S4 E18)
So here I was starting this series to kill my boredom. When I started this series, I was expecting a mildly entertaining series based on love stories. What I got is a show that is so real. So much so, that it brought tears to my eyes multiple times.
Before we talk about this series, I would like to say this that no amount of words in a review do justice to what you feel when you see the show and also the background music is so good that it ends up in heartfelt moments with goosebumps for many of the scenes.
Giving a quick intro to the characters of the series whose reference I am going to take in this blog. (I have limited the characters I referred to the bare minimum as otherwise, the blog might look like a research paper :P)
- Jack Pearson and Rebecca Pearson – Husband & Wife
- Kevin Pearson, Kate Pearson and Randall Pearson – kids of Jack and Rebecca – #1, #2 and #3 (the numbers are just the order in which they were born)
- Bethany Pearson is the wife of Randall Pearson.
The three most beautiful things that struck me from the series are
1. The Sibling Bondings
Being a single child, I have never had any real-life brotherly or sisterly relationship. This Is Us showed me all the things that I have missed for the past few years and maybe for the first time in my life, I really felt like wanting a brother or a sister, or in fact both so that I can share a similar bond among us like the ones Kevin, Kate & Randall did. As the Pearsons refer them ‘The Big Three’, the series shows the highs and lows of the relationship between them, how they help each other out, how everyone grows differently and how their choices lead them to the lives they live. They keep following traditions from their childhood even after growing up like they always celebrate Thanksgiving together, watching ‘Police Academy 3’ and also playacting as ‘Pilgrim Rick’. All three always make each other feel that they are just a flight away irrespective of however far they are from each other.
2. Marriage Is Simple – Just Have Each Others’ Back And Everything Will Be OKAY!
You have seen me talk about ‘The Big Three’. Now imagine handling three young naughty kids at a time. That’s what Jack and Rebecca have gone through. In spite of all the exhaustion and tiredness they still always had those small moments between them and never loved each other any less than they have been loving each other throughout their life. It is when we are at the lowest that we need the support of our partners the most. This show sets a benchmark for all the unmarried men and women for how you should be supportive to your partners and what it means to have their back all the time. Beth and Randall too have amazing chemistry between them and always help each other out in critical situations. It’s about knowing your partner’s weakness and helping out them in seeing through it.
3. Our Upbringing Shapes Us
Jack and Rebecca are these amazing parents who always put in their 200% in taking care of their kids. Jack is taken as the ideal person by the three kids and try to follow his footsteps and ideology. At each important milestone in their lives, you see the kids going back to the values and memories of their dad and the relationship between their parents. Though Randall is black and an adopted son of Pearsons, they never for a second feel that he’s adopted. You can understand the issues both Jack and Rebecca might have faced from the societies’ racist thoughts to their own son Randall wondering who he really is, having a sort of existential crisis. After all these, you realise how much effort goes into being a parent and how much we shape the lives of our kids.
I hope this review makes you want to see the series. I can promise you that you will thoroughly enjoy it. There are no quotes in this blog as I didn’t want to kill the moment of awe when you actually watch the scene.
The series is available on Hotstar and Amazon Prime.
Please share if you liked this review or if you have any suggestions please do comment. Also, check out our review and suggestions from the new collection added to Hotstar.
