Rod and Bassey discuss NBC’s family drama, “This Is Us.â€
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This Too Much: (Protected Content)
TTM 30: Vegas, Baby
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Hi Bassey and Rod,
Deja Pearson has my heart. I just want her to get all the (consensual) hugs. I love how they cut scenes from other parts of the family to compare to her life. One thing about Deja, she pick up a skill and she will not only use it, but teach you how about it so she can delegate to you. She had Shauna on a budget for a while and got Randall trained to raise those plants.
I felt bad that her Great grandma had to try to raise a third generation, especially with Shauna being a child herself. I bet that wore her heart out. I’m glad they didn’t portray Shauna as an awful person. She just wasn’t the best at parenting sometimes. It’s hard to see the genuine love not be enough, especially when it involves child protective services. I’ve been in juvenile court for dependency and neglect cases. It’s awful all around.
I love that Deja met Raven. She brought her out her shell a bit, protected Deja, got her into dancing, and got her in trouble. I don’t know about y’all, but as the quiet, sweet kid in school, it never failed that a girl like Raven took me on as a side kick. The Ravens of the world are some of my favorite people. I need to know where Raven is now. I want her to be alright too.
This is getting long so let me wrap it up. A throwback to a previous email- I FINALLY GOT MY BETH- TALKING-TO-ANOTHER-BLACK-WOMAN CONVO!!! *milli rocks* They were vibing on track team and some guy that looked like DeAngelo. Shauna hit her with the “say no mo” and I chuckled from a spiritual place. Then they got to some real talk. Shauna seeing Deja with the Pearsons, and realizing she couldn’t do what they were doing for her child (at least not right now)- my heart broke for her. I wish she could have stayed or at least been at the building they bought instead of leaving in the night. I’m sure Deja is going to be even more hurt by that. Meanwhile, Deja upstairs talking to Randall like she Jaden Smith. I hope we’re all #DejaGang after this episode.That baby said she was really tired in that fading voice and I slid from the couch to the floor. Give that girl her bed!EmojiEmojiEmoji
I watched the aftershow for this episode, which had the black lady writer talking to Susan Kelechi Watson and Joy Brunson. It was really nice to hear how they see these two black women characters. Also, Susan’s dress is BAD and can we take a moment to acknowledge Joy’s flawless skin with that dark nude lipstick? All around dopeness.
That’s all I have (Sorry if it’s still long, but I really did cut a lot).
Cas
DAMN THIS SHOW IS TOO FUCKING MUCH MAN!
So of course now I am totally on board, Team Deja, am I right?!!
Slowly but surely it was getting me there, then 3 things went down that sealed the deal:
1. When Deja’s mom, from jump, kept putting dudes before her.
2. When Deja’s mom, was like she had never seen Deja just be a kid
3. When Deja was sitting on the bed, our man Randall on the floor listening to her and Deja says “I’m tiredâ€
Dude… I lost it and it opened me the fuck up. I remember being in second grade and thinking the same thing because of the fuckery going down in my house. It didn’t help that the last dude Deja’s mom was with was Latino and shit.
I was balling. All the feelings from childhood came up and I was sad for Deja and sad all around. I even went mimis (to sleep) early because I was just sad. That episode made me really see Deja and it made me revert back to all that sadness from my childhood. I hope she stays with the best Pearsons so she doesn’t have to bed hop anymore.
I also want to know where her friend from that one house ended up.
I am not ready to see Older Jack next week. How are they going to do that to us and boom, no more episodes until September?!!! They are evil but so good.
Also NO THIS IS US = NO THIS TOO MUCH.
Can you guys review some other shit while we wait?
Gracias
Ritzy P
Hi Rod and Bassey,
I’m going to keep this short and sweet. This may be an unpopular opinion but Shauna ain’t shit. I’m sure this episode was supposed to make us feel sympathy for her but the only one I felt sorry for was Deja. What makes it all the more frustrating is that I do believe that Shauna loves Deja, but it doesn’t seem she loves her enough to do right by her. Examples of her bad decisions were peppered throughout the episode, like leaving Deja alone to go party when Deja couldn’t have been more than three or four, going out to party when Deja was home cooking her a birthday meal, bringing a whole ass criminal in their home. How are you just going to shack up with some dude you met in rehab and have him and his suspect friends around your daughter. Alone? I really wanted to feel bad for her because I was born to a teen mother and I understand that not everyone who are teen moms don’t always have the breaks and support that my mother had but damn, when she used that money toward that dude’s bail, I was fucking done with her.
And honestly, her attempt to leave Deja with the Pearsons isn’t some brave unselfish act in my opinion. She’s abandoning a child who loves and believes in her and wants her to succeed. If that’s not enough for her to want to do better then she’ll never change.
On a lighter note, this show needs more Annie. That little girl is made of light, rainbows and girl scout cookies. She is so adorable. Hope they utilize her more next season.
I’m sad that there’s only one episode in the season
Evie E
Hi Rod and Bassey,
I meant to ask this last week, but it slipped my mind. So in the Vegas episode, Ron Howard said something that gave me hope that we’re actually done with Sophie. Talking about their film, he said, “The movie couldn’t sustain the weight of a romance, but the father-son story is the movie.†And it made me think the writers were talking about Kevin’s storyline. This very well may be wishful thinking, so I was wondering what y’all thought about that.
As for this this week’s episode, I thought it was really nice to see Deja’s storyline. I’m not her biggest fan, but like you Rod, I’m just glad to see another little black girl, lol. And as someone who grew up with a single mother that sometimes struggled, I relate to her story much more than any of the Pearsons, so I appreciate her addition to the cast. But I do wonder where they’re going with this. I can only hope y’all are right and they’ll have Deja and Shauna live in Randall and Beth’s building. That would also help alleviate my issue with Randall buying a building in the first place, because that still doesn’t make sense to me.
Lastly, as much as I love Randall and Beth, I think it would be interesting if your prediction about Beth wanting a divorce came true. I like that this show allows Beth a full range of emotions, but I would also like to see her have stories that don’t revolve around Randall. I guess that’s why I enjoyed her starting to bond with Deja. But I’d like to see her story, her upbringing in DC, her life outside of her husband. So maybe if they’re separate for a little while (not forever), we’ll get a little bit of that next season.
Anyway, that’s all. Can’t wait to see Toby and Kate’s wedding! *insert eyeroll here*
Thanks!
Ashley
Hey Rod and Bassey! Great show as always!
These past 2 episodes have had me ALL in my feelings.
Vegas: I was Beth and Beth was me. When she let go of that one tear, I broke down. I know what it’s like to be the one that has to hold it together for the family. So when stuff happens, you don’t have the luxury of being emotional, stuff has to be done. Especially if you’re an empath (me, not Beth though she might be) because if you let yourself feel all you need to feel, shit won’t get done. So you learn to detach so shit gets done. Then, after all this emotional trauma you put yourself through to make sure shit gets done – you get called heartless… Randall officially graduated to ‘ain’t shit’ in my eyes with the Vegas episode.
Life: I was glad we got a little more insight into Deja’s life. It made me root for her even more. I had tears in my eyes this entire episode. It probably wouldn’t have been as bad if her experiences weren’t juxtaposed with the Pearson experiences – we got to see how things should be for a child and how they were for her. I was hoping they would move them into the tenement like Bassey said, but no – Shawna left… Lord when the babies were talking about how many beds they slept in… WHEW! I’m getting emotional just thinking about it
I can’t wait to listen to you two break down Black Panther. That’s going to be EPIC! I have to see it one more time before you do.
two more things: I think Deja reached her breaking point when Shawna paid that dude’s bail.
I felt some kinda way seeing little Tess ‘cuss’ on Drunk History LOL
This episode had me all in my feelings. I work in the child welfare system and it touched me so much. I most identified with Beth cause when you encounter these kids you can some times have so much anger with the parents and the circumstances that lead to child welfare involvement. But then you have a chance to know them and you soften because you realize most are doing the best they know how to do. Had a case where Mother and Father were addicted to drugs they weren’t doing any of their services. I came to court mad and ready to TPR (Terminate Parental Rights) but then Mom and Dad broke down and admitted their addictions would keep them from loving their kids how they should. That they knew the next hit could be their last but they just couldn’t stop because the drugs filled the holes that were in them. The holes that not even their kids could fill. I broke down internally cause I realized if just a few situations went another way this could be me. Most of these parents are dealing with childhood trauma and because of that they are ill equipped to parent their children. You begin to see that some parents just want the love and guidance they missed as a child. I also believe there is a special place in hell for foster parents that abuse their foster children. How you take children into your home knowing that have been abused and neglected and then you do the same is beyond my understanding. Anyway I like how when things were happening with Deja they showed similar things happening with the other characters on the show. It really shows we have more in common than we some time think.
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Best Regards,
Adrienne
I just want to know what’s the story behind Toby having a fake belly? What a weird thing for the show to do. Thanks guys as usual great show…love the discussions about Black Panther, could listen to people talk about the movie all day lol!