“This Is Us,” one of NBC network’s most recent titles, has a very refreshing take on drama television.
I say ‘refreshing’ because it seems like the trend for drama television nowadays is to tangle characters in huge messes that not even the writers can properly get them out of. From the very first episode it is apparent that “This Is Us” proves to be a well thought-out show.
*If you haven’t watched the first season of “This Is Us” then… I’m not sure why you even decided to read this article, but you should probably stop reading now because there are major spoilers ahead.
Every episode mixes the past with the present. We are shown the present lives of three siblings with snippets to the backstory of why they turned out the way they did. Going from past to present is an interesting way to keep the audience engaged because we see everything that has changed and we want to know how it ended up that way. So while other TV shows are making audiences wonder what will happen next, “This is Us” makes audiences ask, “how did this happen?”
Beginning season two, there are still a lot of questions unanswered. My two main ones are: how in the world did Rebecca and Miguel end up together? And how did the hottest dad in history die? (Milo, shout out to you).
MIGUEL + REBECCA = WTF?
At the moment, there have been zero clues as to how Rebecca ended up marrying Jack’s best friend, Miguel. All we have seen is how in love Jack and Rebecca were which makes it even harder to understand how she could have ended up with his best friend.
I don’t think we’ll have the full story between these two just yet, but I do think their relationship will begin to develop during season two. Perhaps there will be a scene or two in which we see the chemistry flourish between them, but it is unlikely that we’ll get the full story in this season. The writers can’t spill all the secrets at once, duh.
WHAT HAPPENED TO JACK?
Last season, we came relatively close to figuring out why Jack died. In the first episode of the second season (stop reading now if you haven’t watched it yet), we discovered that the Peterson house burned down and this is somehow related to Jack’s death. The details are yet to be revealed, and I think only small hints will be dropped throughout the season, but I do believe that we’ll have the full story of his death soon enough.
The upcoming seasons will probably deal with the aftermath of Jack’s death and how it impacted the lives of the family he left behind.
ADOPTION IN A NEW LIGHT
Another theme that I think will continue to play an important role this season is adoption.
This topic is being expressed very uniquely in “This is Us.” Very few times does the idea of adoption play a central role in the plot of a main TV show, and when it does, it is often focuses on the negative impacts adoption has on the family and the child.
This negative connotation is true in real life as well. A lot of people are reluctant to adopt because they are worried of the genetic baggage that the child might come with, not just physical diseases, but mental as well. And of those who do adopt, a great deal of them adopt younger kids.
Randall went through a life-altering experience last season after finding his biological father and losing him again to cancer. After everything he went through, he decided he wanted to give another child the same chance his parents gave him when they adopted him. During the first episode of season two, however, it is revealed that his wife Beth wants to adopt a grown kid rather than a baby. She thinks that doing so would be the best way to change someone’s life, bringing up a very important topic that is not discussed enough in today’s society.
In the coming season, we will see the dynamics in Randall’s household shift as they welcome another member to the family. I think “This Is Us” portrays adoption in a different light and gives it the importance and awareness it deserves, so I expect this trend to continue not just throughout the second season but throughout future seasons as well.
SOURCES
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5555260/news
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/993/875/084.png
https://i.elitestatic.com/content/uploads/2017/09/28151639/NUP_175597_0575-733.jpg