‘This Is Us’ is an NBC show airing since 2016 in the U.S. and is also available on Amazon Prime Video. It has been gathering more and more fans over the course of its five seasons. But why is it so popular? And why are people who watch it constantly telling their friends to watch it too? Well, let us help them convince you by sharing our list of reasons for you to watch it too.
- It’s a family show
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‘This Is Us’ is not a family show in the sense that, for example, One Day At A Time or Stranger Things are family shows, but in the sense that it is all centred around one family: the Pearsons. Through the method of cross-cutting, the viewers are transported to different moments of the family’s history, and eventually, both periods shown in each episode come together to explain something about one or more of the characters. This gives the writers a chance to flesh out the character more and more each season, and with that, make the public fall more in love with them because we understand them.
- It paints a picture of what “family” actually is
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While we are used to TV shows presenting us with either whacky families that always get along or dysfunctional messy families who cannot stand the sight of one another, This Is Us brings a family dynamic closer to what we see in everyday life. They have fights and patch things up afterward, they have happy and sad moments, they grieve, they feel jealous and protective of each other. The Pearsons feel like an actual family, and that is probably why everyone cries with at least a few scenes between them: we can all see a bit of our own families in them.
- At the same time, it reminds us that family is much more than blood
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Let’s start with the basics, we have three main characters: Randall, Kevin and Kate Pearson who were all born on the same day. Kate and Kevin are biological children of Rebecca and Jack Pearson, but Randall was adopted after being left at a fire station right after being born. And Jack and Rebecca never treated the siblings differently, they were always “the big three”, no questions asked. And just as the show brought up adoption and how there is no reason to think that adopted children are any different from biological ones, it also brought up a very important, but not very talked-about, subject: toxic relatives, and how you should not feel guilty for getting away from them. No spoilers, but let’s just say that at one point one of the characters finally calls out her mother’s racist behaviour towards someone she cares deeply about, and that scene will give anyone chills every time they watch it.
- No. Toxic. Masculinity!
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It is such a breath of fresh air seeing male characters who do not have that “I have no feelings” attitude! And that’s definitely the case in ‘This Is Us’. Every single main male character has had multiple emotion-packed scenes across five seasons. Randall is even considered the “emotional one” in his relationship with his wife Beth. And can we talk about how present Jack was during his children’s upbringing? He was one of the best dads in television history, and that had a very positive impact on how great parents his children would be someday.
- It brings attention to important topics
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In a world where so many people avoid talking about so-called “sensitive topics”, having a popular series like ‘This Is Us’ not shying away from it is truly amazing. Like we mentioned earlier in the article, the show has dealt with racism and adoptions on a few occasions, it is also covered subjects such as alcoholism, PTSD, grief, body image issues, wanting children or not, among many others. And it is so clear how much care and research went into the writing of those storylines. They are not there just for attention-grabbing purposes, they are there because the showrunners and writers really want to talk about them.
- Everything always makes sense in the end
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And we are closing this list fangirling over the writing a little more. Every single detail has a payoff either later in the same season or it is a cliffhanger to be revisited in the following season. But it always makes sense! And who doesn’t love a well-constructed narrative? It is especially fun to rewatch the show from the start and see if you can pick up on a few clues left throughout past episodes about important plot points.
And that is not even half of it! There are many other reasons why this show is awesome, but we’d be here all day to list them all. So, have these reasons convinced you to watch the show?
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The article above was edited by Giulia Lozano Pacini.
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