THIS IS US: Mid-Season Review

"This is Us" is NBC's new drama starring Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia. Many will claim that this is the "Parenthood" that we've all been missing and in many ways I would agree. This 1-hr narrative drama certainly brings 'all the feels' and I am not ashamed to admit that I have cried during every episode thus far. Like "Parenthood", "This is Us" follows the lives of members of a tight-knit family. Like any other modern-day family, they have their trails and disagreements, but at the end of the day, their love for each other is very much real.

The over-arching plot of this series incorporates the lives of three siblings, while interlacing flashbacks of their childhood and their parents' lives around the time just before those kids were born, and while they were being raised. What makes their story so unique is the circumstances under which they were brought together. Rebecca (Moore) was expecting triplets with her husband Jack (Ventimiglia) and during childbirth they lost their third child. Around the same time, a baby was found abandoned at a fire station and brought to the same hospital. Jack decided it was fate and so they adopted the child, who - and here comes the real twist - is a black baby. So now you have new parents who have twins and they have decided to adopt a third child of a different race. Did I mention that this is the 80's?

There you have it. This show is not without an interesting and unique plot line and to add on, it deals with very REAL issues. These characters become heartbreakingly real to the audience because we can identify so readily with all of them. Kate, one of the twins, has always had a weight problem. Even growing up she had to watch what she ate. Of course that is going to create a myriad of identity issues and self-image problems and let's be real now, you are just lying to yourself if you say you've NEVER had an issue with who you are or what you look like. Randall, the adopted son, has to deal with being raised with a white family. Now this seems like it could be a good thing, however, he's never like his mirrored-image counterparts, because his parent's will never fully understand the ways in which he may be marginalized. Finally the oldest twin, Kevin, he was almost neglected growing up and now fights to gain the attention of those around him. Why? Well because he was the most "normal" child growing up. There is a scene in episode 5 where the family visits the pool. Kevin nearly drowns when his parents are tending the other two. Kate needs consoling after being shunned by her friends because she "embarrasses them" and Randall goes missing when he goes to hang out with the other black children at the pool.

This show is great for so many reasons, but for the character development and story alone I would recommend it to anyone because I truly believe you can relate to someone in the show, if not everyone!