The Pool

There is so much saccharine stuff on TV. It's the sludge that we wade through and everything works out in the end. My wife and I watched the first three episodes when the show first appeared. For whatever reason, we just stopped. So we went back and began again. As a more mature viewer and tired of the pap that is put on the airwaves, I found this to be wonderful. First of all, it deals with real issues concerning the circumstances portrayed. For instance, the problems of an overweight person (particularly a woman). No other show would touch that, other than for comedic effect. We feel her pain and we are made privy as to how she got where she is and how hard it is to turn these things around. Then we have the family that willingly takes on the raising of a black child to try to replace the baby that died when triplets were born. As the child matures, he is not embraced by his peers (or his white brother). The parents have good intentions, but are exhausted, and don't know what goes on with black children who have no like playmates. The pool scene shows us this as well as what the overweight little girl has to deal with. The father is flippant and leaves the wife to make serious decisions without him. The actor/brother who is the star of an insipid comedy show where he is basically a hunk, wants more out of life. He makes three million dollars a year on his show, but wants to be a dramatic actor. He has always been indulged and acts like a big baby at times and his decisions affect his brother (resentment) and sister (who has her own problems). In the last episode the birth father has been found and is living with them and we are made to realize there is a lot to the story that only one person is aware of. Wow, this is so well done and there are no easy answers. It is life.

Through this episode, I think I feel like I can understand more about the world. Like individual has her own problems, we should try more. And we do not need to be 24 hours happy, because happy is only one emotion, as human beings, we have so many emotions, they are all matter.

In some cases, we do not have good parenting, but as we grow up, we could learn to be our own parents, and feel others energies. It might work. We could learn from others how to deal with some troublesome and be humor when we face something awkward.

And at the end of the day, we might need to deal with our weaknesses all life, the crucial part is stick to it.

Again, so much is happening under what is shown in this episode of "This Is Us", that the episode stays with you after you have finished watching it. "This Is Us" has started in a great way, and four episodes in, if you have been following the lives of this family, you will probably want to know more about them. And it is curious, because it could be said that not much happens in this episode, as it could be said about previous ones. It is all about relationships.

In the past, the family goes to the pool, where you can see the whole family's dynamics. You can see many of the traits of the adults in their younger's selves, and what brought them to be the way they are nowadays. All actors do a great job, and even if in some aspects is a little bit clumsy or in-your-face, in general it is touching and subtle.

In the future, Randall continues to develop his relationship with his biological father, and the reaction's of the neighborhood to this new presence. We also get Kevin trying to find a job in the theater and working on his insecurities, and Kate on hers, when Toby meets his ex-wife.

Again, not a lot happens. But the character development is top notch, the situations quite thought of, and offering different characters' perspectives. We get the chance to see what is behind the exterior of these humans, and the show is doing a great job in developing their personalities and relationships. The writing is great, the direction, the camera work and music too, and the acting is amazing. All actors are doing a great job in bringing these characters to life and making the viewer empathize with them.

"The Pool" is another superb episode in this young show.