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CULTURE

Making lemonade: NBC turns sour into sweet with "This Is Us"

By Alison Perelman, Assistant Culture Editor

Warning: This review contains major spoilers for episodes one and two of "This Is Us."

NBC's hit show "Parenthood" ended almost two years ago, simultaneously breaking our hearts and filling us with joy. Since then, while the TV landscape has blossomed, there's been a void for a feel-good family drama that could live up to Braverman standards.

But now, we have "This Is Us."

I first watched the trailer when it was released in May and was immediately hooked.

Now only two episodes in, the show is living up to the hype.

"This Is Us" follows the intertwining stories of five people as they navigate their way through life's struggles. The first episode plays out over a single day -- Jack, Kevin, Kate and Randall's 36th birthday.

Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and his wife, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), celebrate by awaiting the arrival of their triplets. Kate (Chrissy Metz) struggles with her weight. Kevin (Justin Hartley) questions his career. And Randall (Sterling K. Brown) makes the decision to finally meet his biological father.

It may sound similar to any other family drama, but this isn't the simple format everyone expected. Episode one ends with a surprising twist -- Kevin, Kate and Randall are siblings, and Jack and Rebecca are their parents.

The reveal is cleverly executed as the camera zooms out and the hospital is shown with a big box TV in the corner, passersby sporting long hair and denim and a nearly smoke-filled room. The only previous indication of the deviated timeline is the first shot, in Jack and Rebecca's apartment, of a cardboard box labeled "'79 photos."

So far, both episodes have had twist endings. And while this format can't last an entire series, it does keep the audience on their toes in what would otherwise be a predictable show.

The deviated timeline in each episode (Rebecca and Jack in the past during some point of their parenting; their kids in the present in their late 30s) allows the characters to further develop as we see them at different stages in their lives.

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Jack and Rebecca are deeply in love, but that doesn't mean they are a perfect couple. They struggle to raise three eight-year-olds, including one of a different race, while still trying to be there for each other.

Ventimiglia and Moore have just the right amount of chemistry to make the relationship believable, as evidenced in a simple scene in which the two have a discussion about their parenting while sitting on the floor outside their bedroom.

Metz gets endless applause for stripping down to her underwear in order to step on a scale as Kate. Metz is able to connect to Kate on a personal level, flawlessly portraying her desire to feel good about who she is on the inside, while also struggling to change on the outside.

Kate wants to eat the birthday cake in her fridge, but is one step ahead of herself as it is one of the many food items with slightly comical post-it note warnings and repellents. She sighs in disappointment and annoyance, as if she didn't already know they were there.

Toby (Chris Sullivan), Kate's almost-boyfriend, is the comic relief in her life. Metz and Sullivan play off of each other like good friends while showing the beginning of a relationship that is grounded in helping each other become their ideal selves.

Hartley is convincible as the pretty boy who's used to things going his way, but he is also able to dive deeper into Kevin's character. Hartley masters the muddled expression that plagues Kevin's face as he goes through what can only be described as an existential crisis on his birthday that leads to a meltdown while shooting his TV show.

Brown might take the prize, though (and he did take a prize at the 2016 Emmy's for his role in "The People v. O.J. Simpson" two days before "This Is Us" premiered), for his ability to portray Randall's picket-fence, put-together life with incredible composure.

It's clear that there is a lot going on behind Randall's eyes as he strives to be a good person and provide his wife and daughters with the best life. Brown approaches this with sophisticated seriousness until Randall's life starts to no longer make sense and he breaks down into laughter.

The second episode ends with another twist, but I won't give that one away -- partly because I'm still trying to come to grips with it myself.

The main characters are easy to love, but what I love most is how "This Is Us" seems to take its own advice.

In episode one, in what is easily the best moment of the episode, Dr. Katowsky (expertly played by Gerald McRaney) tells Jack to "take the sourest lemon that life has to offer and turn it into something resembling lemonade." Each character is dealing with their "sourest lemon," and, in making a show that perfectly portrays the trials and tribulations of adulthood, parenthood, careers, life and love, NBC has made lemonade.

Catch the third episode of "This Is Us" at 9 p.m. next Tuesday on NBC.

5/5 Stars

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