WASHINGTON — It’s the most therapeutic show on TV, making us cry with welcome catharsis.
After a midseason break, NBC’s “This Is Us” returns Tuesday for the second half of Season 2.
Time for a refresher of where we left off and what we might expect from the Pearson family.
Before the hiatus, we saw three individualized episodes for each of the three Pearson siblings, fittingly titled “No. 1,” “No. 2” and “No. 3,” based on their respective birth-order nicknames.
The first followed the downward spiral of Kevin (Justin Hartley), who is addicted to pain killers after re-injuring his knee on a film set with Ron Howard and Sylvester Stallone. His addiction affected his high school homecoming, where he boozed on the gridiron and broke down on a classmate’s lawn. It has also strained his relationship with Sophie (Alex Breckenridge), after ghosting on her banquet and showing up at her door to call their future a “nightmare.”
A different strain is affecting the relationship of Toby (Chris Sullivan) and Kate (Chrissy Metz), who suffered a miscarriage. The source of tension is not only the tragic loss itself, but the way in which they shared news of their pregnancy. The cautious Kate wanted to keep it private, while the jovial Toby wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Still, there’s hope for the couple as they plan a wedding upon realizing their courthouse marriage wasn’t celebratory enough.
Meanwhile, Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) saw their marriage tested when they adopted a teenage foster kid named Deja (Lyric Ross), coming full circle to Randall’s own foster upbringing. Any time a show adds a new character to the family dynamic, it’s possible that fans will recoil. So, it’s a credit to the writers that they made us yearn for Deja to stay in Randall and Beth’s custody, then convinced us that she needed to return to her birth mom.
It’s this slice of the show that continues to be the most compelling, as Watson is truly an unsung hero, while Brown recently won both an Emmy and Golden Globe. The acclaim is deserved; the guy can literally cry on demand every episode, be it a tear trickling down his cheek or a tear drop flying as he removes his glasses. This is a real acting talent to behold, ladies and gentlemen.
As for the Pearson parents, we’re likely to learn more clues about the house fire that killed Jack (Milo Ventimiglia). The season premiere suggested it was Kate’s fault, though the details are unclear. In her grief, expect Rebecca (Mandy Moore) to grow even closer to Miguel (Jon Huertas), who reached out on Facebook to ask, “How are you?” As she deleted her initial response, “Hanging in there,” to write, “I’m good,” it’s a sign that she may be ready to move on.
Through it all, the real magic continues to be the way creator Dan Fogleman intercuts not only multiple storylines but multiple timelines. Past and present collide across generations as each sibling is shown as an adult (Hartley, Metz, Brown), teenager (Logan Shroyer, Hannah Zeile, Niles Fitch) and child (Parker Bates, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Lonnie Chavis). It’s a lot to juggle, but the writers pull it off with clever transitions and familiar images (i.e. bicycles, necklaces).
Look closely at how each storyline intersects in the adolescent years. At one point, Kate applies to colleges just before Kevin’s football recruiter enters the front door. At another, Kate and Rebecca are distracted on the bleachers at the very moment Kevin blows out his knee.
This intersection not only makes for a riveting watch with a hard-charging narrative thrust, it’s also a symbolic statement on the nature of time. Randall articulates it with a rare Pac-Man analogy, saying life is the same game played over and over, equating Pac-Man to Sisyphus, gobbling up little circles and trying new directions until his ghosts eventually catch up to him.
“That’s pretty bleak, baby,” Beth quips.
“Or, is it beautiful?” Randall replies.
Only “This Is Us” could make a life metaphor out of Pac-Man.
