S01.E01: Pilot

[formerlyfreedom]

Series premiere airs Wednesday, September 26, 2018.

They say friendship isn’t one big thing, it’s a million little things; and that’s true for a group of friends from Boston who bond under unexpected circumstances. Some have achieved success, others are struggling in their careers and relationships, but all of them feel stuck in life. After one of them dies by suicide, it’s just the wake-up call the others need to finally start living.

[MerBearHou]

I watched for James Roday and Ron Livingston and didn’t hate the pilot.  I’m not a This Is Us person (never seen it) so I’m not overloaded with melodramatic shows.  Lots of secrets, so far a likeable cast with big issues they’re dealing with — I’ll watch again next week.  

[memememe76]

I liked it enough. I hope Grace Park has a bigger part. I like her so much, that it shades how I view the marital affair. 

[Aileen]

I can’t believe so few people have commented. I loved it and didn’t see the affair coming. I thought the casting was great, although I’m only familiar with Livingston. I’m in and liking it more than This is Us right now.

[doLLish]

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. I did not see the affair coming and I literally felt like I was punched in the stomach. The guilt they must feel...I can’t imagine a situation where they eventually end up together and everyone accepts it, especially knowing that it began when Jon was still alive. They really better not even try it.

I really enjoyed the Maggie character. And I need to know what the secretary is hiding.

Im also way more into this than I am This is Us at the moment. Completely in for the season.

[tennisgurl]

I was honestly super predisposed to dislike this show. Mostly because it seemed to exist to capitalize on This is Us and its FEELS based ratings, and because I had gotten so sick of the constant commercials for it over the summer, it drove me up the wall! But, I like a lot of the actors in it (James Roday! David Giuntoli! Grace Park!) so I decided to give it a shot. I actually liked it more than I expected, I think this has a lot of potential. It even has a This is Us style mystery and a twist that actually surprised me! The acting is good, and as long as they can keep the inspirational speeches to a minimum, I think this might be pretty good. 

I liked the woman who James Roday met at the support group. It reminded me of the first episode of 6 Feet Under, where the main character was having a quickie with a stranger when he heard his dad had died, and he ended up bringing her along, and they became a couple. And its interesting that his character had breast cancer because, as he said, its rare in men, but does happen. And even beyond the general suck of having cancer, I feel like being a man who has a cancer that is so uniquely female focused (pink ribbons, mothers and daughters marches, etc.) would be a strange situation, especially at first. 

I did not see the affair coming at all. Damn, it was bad enough that he was having an affair, but having it with his best friends wife? Thats just brutal, and now having that guilt that they might have caused his death? What is the secretary hiding? The obvious guess is he was having an affair with her, but it looks like maybe its some kind of business thing. 

[HawaiiTVGuy]

So...the assistant has a note left by Jon and is also deleting a business file?  I am not sure how I am going to think about it if it turns out Jon and the assistant were having an affair.  It kind of seems like a cop-out justification for the wife to than sleep with the stay at home dad, who of course is given his justification by being married to the stereotypical female breadwinner who is a bitch.  But from what we know, Jon was the best so why would she cheat on him.

[Chas411]

Affairs quickly make me hate a show. Once the shock of it wears off I'd say the rest of the season will just the writers trying to justify it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I had to watch this because of the combination of James Roday, Romany Malco, and David Giuntoli. I have loved all of them in various projects (Psych, Weeds, Grimm, etc).

When we were initially introduced to Ed on the phone saying that he had to leave his wife that day because he was in love with whoever he was talking to, I immediately assumed it was one of the other wives I was scrutinizing his interaction with all of them on the day of the funeral. Something about the way Delilah told him the eulogy was beautiful made me suspect she was the one, but later when he told the guys that he was in love with the mother of one of his students so I thought okay, fine, I jumped the gun on that. And then HA, it was Delilah!

I know it's still early, but I liked the friendships between everyone. I thought the show did a good job of giving each character a distinct personality so that I wasn't getting mixed up by all the different people we met (heh, although I have to admit that I initially thought that Rome and Gary were a couple when Rome saw that Gary was calling and he kept ignoring the call in a very exasperated way).

For most of the episode, I thought James Roday's character was similar to Shawn Spencer - the guy always cracking jokes and hitting on pretty girls. When he said that the guys didn't really know each other and he let the anger about his cancer out, I liked that they showed this in the first episode instead of waiting until mid-season for that kind of reveal.

Even today, there is still so much stigma about depression, seeing a therapist, taking anti-depressants, etc. so I really hope that this show sheds some light on mental health issues and helps normalize them. People need to be able to talk about how they're feeling and not feel ashamed or like they have to hide it.

Edited September 27, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ChattyCathyLA]

I’m so disappointed!  I was SO looking forward to this show!  Not anything like “This is Us”, which is my fav show.  Completely different animal!  This is not an emotional show about the interactions between the characters, past and present tense, that pulls in the viewer with well-developed characters and thoughtful dialogue.  This is a mystery melodrama about hidden secrets (business and otherwise) and affairs.  The only thing in common with “This is Us” is an ensemble cast of really good actors.  To bad they’re stuck in this stupid, “seen-it-all-before” plot!  Blech!  Bad writing, characters doing things out of left field without any explanation or emotion driving these behaviors.  I felt absolutely NOTHING for these shallowly written, unlikeable characters, in spite of being fans of the actors who played them.  Worst of all, I don’t even care to find out why John jumped from the balcony.   And, I’d bet no one even finds out why before this series is cancelled! It’s got a 2 hour comedy block lead-in and up against stiff competition from the NBC “Chicago” juggernaut, and “Criminal Minds” on CBS.  I don’t think it stands a chance.

Edited September 27, 2018 by ChattyCathyLA

[WhosThatGirl]

Hm. I don’t think I like this show. I wanted to really like it but it did nothing for me. And then they threw in the affair plot and I’m just.. I’ll probably still watch but so far I don’t really like any of the characters to care about them.

I know it’s only the pilot but usually there’s something that makes me want to watch more to find out the answers. In this show, I don’t really care what the secrets are or the reasons. 

I will probably stick around and see if something changes but it’s a meh for me. This doesn’t pull me like TIU did. 

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

had to watch this because of the combination of James Roday, Romany Malco, and David Giuntoli

Same here. Plus Grace Park and Ron Livingston. The only episode of This Is Us that I've ever seen was on an airplane. 
At 37 minutes after the hour, my crazy middle daughter called to tell me how drained emotionally she was from talking a friend through breakup despair, and that it was a good thing she did not become a therapist despite everyone always telling her how good she is at it, even though several of her friends have committed suicide. We talked for an hour and a half.

So, what did I miss? Is there a chance he did it for some Reason related to the shady office coworker with the phone call and the note (which seems straight out of a Psych plot).

And about the affair. Wasn't the dead guy having one with the coworker too?

Edited September 27, 2018 by shapeshifter

[woodstock]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Even today, there is still so much stigma about depression, seeing a therapist, taking anti-depressants, etc. so I really hope that this show sheds some light on mental health issues and helps normalize them. People need to be able to talk about how they're feeling and not feel ashamed or like they have to hide it.

I loved that scene between Rome, Gary and Eddie at the Bruins game when Rome revealed that he was in the middle of attempting suicide when Gary called with the news about John.

I'm really curious to see how they handle mental health issues especially Rome's. In the black community (especially church) there is a huge stigma surrounding mental health issues/illnesses. During one of the group chats Regina made a off hand comment about how mental health isn't talked about in the black community because 'we got Jesus' and I was nodding my head. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people in church say 'how can you be depressed when you've got Jesus?' or 'pray it away'. It will be interesting to see Rome's journey as he deals with his issues.

I've seen so many story lines with women having breast cancer it was a nice change of pace to have Gary be a breast cancer survivor. The visual of him sitting in a circle of women and then Maggie asking 'what is he doing here?' and Gary's response made me chuckle. It just showed that we're so used to thinking of women being the only ones who get breast cancer. I wonder why Maggie skipped out on her chemo appointment?

I'm neutral on the Eddie/Delilah affair. It feels cliched. I am curious about Eddie and his wife's marriage; there are definitely issues there.

[SunnyBeBe]

I fell asleep and missed it.  lol  I hate it when that happens.  But, planning to catch up and check it out.  It looks amusing, but, hope it can avoid the This Is Us traps. 

[Empress1]

I kept thinking that on the day I buried my husband, I would not have the emotional bandwidth to deal with his friend's one-night-stand. (I mean, I know she won't be a one-night-stand, but Delilah didn't know that.) I kept thinking that I'd be thinking "Why are you still here?"

4 minutes ago, woodstock said:

I loved that scene between Rome, Gary and Eddie at the Bruins game when Rome revealed that he was in the middle of attempting suicide when Gary called with the news about John.

I'm really curious to see how they handle mental health issues especially Rome's. In the black community (especially church) there is a huge stigma surrounding mental health issues/illnesses. During one of the group chats Regina made a off hand comment about how mental health isn't talked about in the black community because 'we got Jesus' and I was nodding my head. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people in church say 'how can you be depressed when you've got Jesus?' or 'pray it away'. It will be interesting to see Rome's journey as he deals with his issues.

I've seen so many story lines with women having breast cancer it was a nice change of pace to have Gary be a breast cancer survivor. The visual of him sitting in a circle of women and then Maggie asking 'what is he doing here?' and Gary's response made me chuckle. It just showed that we're so used to thinking of women being the only ones who get breast cancer. I wonder why Maggie skipped out on her chemo appointment?

I'm neutral on the Eddie/Delilah affair. It feels cliched. I am curious about Eddie and his wife's marriage; there are definitely issues there.

His wife seems like the classic cold workaholic (that comment about not realizing she'd have to spend all day at her husband's best friend's funeral was kind of shockingly shitty), and I hope they give her more depth than that. I also hope they give Jon some more depth because he's being portrayed as kind of saintly.

I really agree with the bolded. I'm Black and I go to therapy, and my therapist is also a Black woman. We talk about this a lot. Black people, particularly Black women, are perceived as strong - we have to be, to some extent, because we get a lot of shit. (One of my best friends is white and a teacher and she talks about some of the micro aggressions that her students of color face in the predominantly white school where she teaches, and she was like "And they just have to keep dealing with it as they get older. Jesus.") But we're just people, and sometimes we need help like anybody else. I will be very curious to see how the show handles it.

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

And about the affair. Wasn't the dead guy having one with the coworker too?

We don't know, but I assumed so because it's such a trope - guy sleeping with his attractive assistant.

"Both Sides Now" is one of my favorite songs. I liked the version that the daughter did at the funeral; I did not like Eddie's cover.

The show creator said he was inspired to write the show because years ago he ran into an old friend, made plans to have lunch with him, and within days of them running into each other he killed himself. I am not sure if I'll stay with this all the way through, but I'll give it a couple more episodes.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 minutes ago, woodstock said:

I've seen so many story lines with women having breast cancer it was a nice change of pace to have Gary be a breast cancer survivor. The visual of him sitting in a circle of women and then Maggie asking 'what is he doing here?' and Gary's response made me chuckle.

When she asked why he was there, I thought girl, you never watched Oz? Ryan O'Reily!

[HazelEyes4325]

Yesterday, I ran my mouth off (in a friendly way) with a TIU fan and somehow committed to watching 1.5 seasons + 1 episode of this show.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pay up on that.

What I liked: The performances were strong, stronger than TIU honestly.  I did like the relationship between the men.  I also really liked Maggie.

What I didn't like: There was a lot.  What bugged me most (and the revelation at the end doesn't change this) is that the women, especially Delilah, seemed completely unrealistic.  In Delilah's case, I can only compare it to my own experiences, but it just seems wrong.  I know people who have lost their partners after a long illness when they knew death was coming and I know people who lost their partners suddenly and without any notice (including a couple of suicides).  Delilah's reaction is much more like camp A than camp B, which I just don't get.  The other women were flat and/or cliche, although--as I said--I did like Maggie.  I also found myself having some sympathy for Katherine, which pisses me off because off-screen Grace Park is troublesome to me.  I know that's not fair, but there you go.

Because Hulu was having some sort of glitch and only had the commercial version of this show, I had a chance to tweet out "I feel like hooking up with someone from a support group is something I've seen before."  Despite all its claims that this is nothing like TIU, it sure seemed a hell of a lot like TIU.  

I'm not a fan of love-triangles and while I can see that it adds story opportunities for Eddie to be sleeping with Delilah, I hate love triangles and this is the most love triangle-y love triangle they could have come up with.

I'm still in (apparently for another season and a half unless I never want to hear the end of it) and I hope it can turn itself around.  I do think that, if TIU was not a thing, this would be an easier show to like.  It would also have been easier to like if I hadn't been told for the last 6 months that I would cry because, surprise!, I was completely dry-eyed.  And I cry at everything (except this, apparently.  And TIU).

[Novel8]

First time watcher and sensed I would not like it and sure enough, I didn't. I don't know where to start, but 2 things left me ...."why did he kill himself" and that scene where 3 men hugging each other in the seats of the Hockey arena, and the surrounding customers, looking like they were in their own world...the game. Also, the guy coming over to the widow on the first day of the wake at night, merely to show us that she was having an affair...boring as hell.

[HazelEyes4325]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And about the affair. Wasn't the dead guy having one with the coworker too?

 

It certainly seemed that way...as soon as she knew the code for his phone, I felt that IT WAS OH SO SUBTLY HINTED THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING THERE!!!

I was a little surprised with whom Eddie was having an affair, I thought it would Constance Zimmer (wasn't that Constance Zimmer?)  Actually, I wish it would have been, only because my love-triangle dance card is more than filled up.

A strange thing that made me laugh a little is how obvious it was that Grace Park was spliced into her scenes.  I mean, I get why and I don't blame them.  However, even if I hadn't known there had been a casting change I would have picked up that something was going on with that.

[Empress1]

Just now, HazelEyes4325 said:

I was a little surprised with whom Eddie was having an affair, I thought it would Constance Zimmer (wasn't that Constance Zimmer?)  Actually, I wish it would have been, only because my love-triangle dance card is more than filled up.

It was, and I thought the same thing you did. I assume we'll learn more about her because she's pretty famous.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

I liked this more than I thought I would. I was initially rolling my eyes at what I thought would be a lot of man pain with three fairly well to do white guys and their token black friend. But they added a few stories that look promising. Regina's restaurant, Maggie's breast cancer struggle, whatever Jon's assistant is up to, whatever Jon was up to and whatever Rome is going through. I was also surprised by who Ed was having the affair with, also thinking it was Constance Zimmer (love her and hope she has a storyline). I don't mind the affair BUT I absolutely loathe that his wife is this stereotypical ball-busting woman who is obviously a terrible person and deserves to be cheated on (according to the show, not me). I would like a little more nuance than that. I hope her character is treated with more respect going forward. 

I spent the whole episode thinking Rome knew more than he was letting on, that maybe his own suicide attempt was even related to Jon's problems somehow. My curiosity is piqued as to why Jon's assistant is hiding Jon's note and deleting files. I'm speculating that Jon's suicide won't be because of one big thing but rather, if you will, a million little things.

[Evie]

I liked this quite a bit. I liked the friendship between Rome, Gary and Eddie. Regina and Maggie seem likeable. Not terribly interested in Eddie and Delilah's affair, but I feel like there was setup for potentially interesting stories with the others. 

[Texasmom1970]

I thought it was pretty good for a pilot. I tuned in because of the actors I love. Found myself especially touched by the depression issues. Myself and several family members suffer from depression. Mine is high now because I lost my youngest daughter 7 weeks ago. I think they handled the nuances of it well and hope they continue to; im in for now.

[chitowngirl]

Oh, Texasmom! I’m so sorry!!

[Enigma X]

This is another show that I have to wait to see a day late due to my early bed time. Sounds like I will like it. 

 

@Texasmom1970, I am sorry. 

[Empress1]

10 minutes ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I thought it was pretty good for a pilot. I tuned in because of the actors I love. Found myself especially touched by the depression issues. Myself and several family members suffer from depression. Mine is high now because I lost my youngest daughter 7 weeks ago. I think they handled the nuances of it well and hope they continue to; im in for now.

I'm terribly, terribly, sorry.

[Texasmom1970]

10 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

This is another show that I have to wait to see a day late due to my early bed time. Sounds like I will like it. 

 

@Texasmom1970, I am sorry. 

 

17 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Oh, Texasmom! I’m so sorry!!

 

9 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

I'm terribly, terribly, sorry.

Thank you all so much I really appreciate it!

[TheGreenWave]

2 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

It certainly seemed that way...as soon as she knew the code for his phone, I felt that IT WAS OH SO SUBTLY HINTED THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING THERE!!!

I sort of took this differently.  When a coworker of mine committed suicide earlier this year, her family and friends quizzed us coworkers on whether we noticed anything different about her in the months leading up to her suicide because we spend close to 10 hours a day at work with each other (we didn't.  we thought she was the same person she had been for the 8 years we had known her).  Similar to how Jon looked, at least superficially, happy, my coworker was also smart, pretty, had three great kids, and was good at her job.  We had no idea she was in that much pain.  I took Gary's question to the assistant as expressing frustration as in: "you spend every day working with him and even know his phone code and you didn't notice anything?!?!  How is that possible?!?"  Or perhaps I'm projecting what me and my coworkers felt when asked by my colleague's family and friends at her funeral on how we could spend that much time with her M-F and not notice anything was wrong....

That said, I felt that this pilot was INTENSE.  I felt like I didn't breathe for much of it.

I am SO SORRY @Texasmom1970. 

[chitowngirl]

I didn’t read too much to the assistant knowing her boss’s passcode. I thought either A)It’s a work phone and she would have the code or B)She just noticed what the code is because the boss types it in a lot. That’s how my kids and I all know my husband’s code, we just see him punch it in all the time.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

ABC with their incessant commercials about this series caused mass depression and gave me a million different reasons not to watch it. 

[Grammy6]

I didn't love it.  It didn't draw me in in the same way This is Us did when it first debuted.  I did like some of the characters enough to watch a few more times.  I don't like the affair between Delilah and Ed, even though I like them both as characters.  I want to know more about Rome, and try to understand his depression.  I hope he gets help for it, that he can confide in his wife, and that she will understand.

[HazelEyes4325]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

It was, and I thought the same thing you did. I assume we'll learn more about her because she's pretty famous.

Honestly, I think it is a good possibility that Eddie has slept with the Constance Zimmer character.  As I think about it, I can see him womanizing as a way to deal with feeling dominated/ignored/whatever by his wife.  He "loves" Delilah probably more because of John.  John was the one who kept saying how toxic Katherine was...IIRC he was the only one of the friends to come out and say something like that.  Because I have seen TV before, I don't think it is an unreasonable prediction that his feelings for Delilah are more about his adoration and possible jealousy of John than about Delilah.

Despite my GP issues (I can already tell this is going to be a struggle for me), I hope that Katherine actually gets some redemption here.  For one reason, I am sick to death of the "ball-busting, domineering woman" and I would like to see that blown apart.  Secondly, I personally would much rather watch Eddie get his life in order than chase after his dead friend's wife. 

[WhosThatGirl]

Something about this show just felt off to me. I just couldn’t get into it. Also yeah this is us pulls me in and makes me feel many things. This for some reason didn’t do any of that.

[snarkylady]

I tuned in because I love James Roday and want anything he's in to be a hit.  Watched the whole thing (that's progress for me since I didn't make it through the "This i s Us" pilot and I have similar feelings for Milo Ventimiglia).  Regarding the Gary character, it's going to take a bit of work for me to see Gary and not Shawn Spencer.  When the group was in Jon's office ostensibly looking for tickets and somberly taking the whole scene in I was visualizing him putting his hand to his forehead and saying "wait, I'm sensing something". 

The show itself...not sure but I'll watch at least one more episode before deciding to watch the series.  The character who interested me most was Rome and I believe his story will be the most compelling. 

Waiting till next week.....

[seacliffsal]

Like others, I watched due to the actors I really like (and have pretty much the same list as others).  What took me out of the story the most was the automatic and instantaneous inclusion of Maggie into the circle.  When the men left, Delilah stated that she was fine with her good friends, and new friend Maggie.  If I were Maggie, I would have left because, you know, her husband just died and she wants to be with her friends.  I felt that they pushed Maggie way too hard into the group.  When she gave her 'discourse' on depression I was dumbfounded because, again, this was the first time they met her and she not only remained within the inner circle, she dominated part of the conversation.  I guess it's just a different generation.  Had I been asked by someone I just met the day before to attend the funeral of his best friend I would have said no.  And then for them to arrive late.... I know that's on Gary, but still...

[zillabreeze]

28 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

Like others, I watched due to the actors I really like (and have pretty much the same list as others).  What took me out of the story the most was the automatic and instantaneous inclusion of Maggie into the circle.  When the men left, Delilah stated that she was fine with her good friends, and new friend Maggie.  If I were Maggie, I would have left because, you know, her husband just died and she wants to be with her friends.  I felt that they pushed Maggie way too hard into the group.  When she gave her 'discourse' on depression I was dumbfounded because, again, this was the first time they met her and she not only remained within the inner circle, she dominated part of the conversation.  I guess it's just a different generation.  Had I been asked by someone I just met the day before to attend the funeral of his best friend I would have said no.  And then for them to arrive late.... I know that's on Gary, but still...

Well said!!!  I really liked the pilot and I'm in, but the Maggie thing was bad for every reason you give.

[HazelEyes4325]

2 minutes ago, zillabreeze said:

Well said!!!  I really liked the pilot and I'm in, but the Maggie thing was bad for every reason you give.

While I liked Maggie the best of the women (although Rome's wife...can't remember her name...I don't feel like we got to know her), I do agree with this.  Actually, I found all the women to be unrealistic.  Katherine was just a tired cliche, we barely got to know Rome's wife, and Delilah just didn't seem "real" in her reactions to anything.  Honestly, it came off as Nash not writing women well.

(I think this is the first of his shows that I've seen, so maybe I'm wrong...I'm only going by what I saw here).

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Empress1 said:

"Both Sides Now" is one of my favorite songs. I liked the version that the daughter did at the funeral; I did not like Eddie's cover

"Both Sides Now" is a song I play in my mind frequently on walks or floating on my back in the lake in the summer. I cried when the daughter sang it (I'm partial to acoustic guitar too), but then I chuckled upon reading in a NY Times review: 

Quote

A teen girl plays guitar and sings a Joni Mitchell song at her father’s funeral? Sure, I cried; I’m not an animal. 

[Duke2801]

Yeah I’m with those in the “lukewarm” category. I did not hate it; but I didn’t tear up or feel connected to any of the characters -or intrigued by any of the storylines - yet. However, I admit that sometimes that can take a while so I’m going to give it a few more episodes before making a call.

6 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I kept thinking that on the day I buried my husband, I would not have the emotional bandwidth to deal with his friend's one-night-stand. (I mean, I know she won't be a one-night-stand, but Delilah didn't know that.) I kept thinking that I'd be thinking "Why are you still here?"

 

Thank you! The whole time I’m watching that interaction of Maggie with the wives, I’m thinking a) what kind of jerk would put his one night stand (even if he does like her and see potential) in that incredibly awkward situation of hanging out with a group of grievers that she just met; and  b) what kind of woman would willingly STAY in that awkward situation?? Like, the whole thing was just ridiculous and unrealistic. 

2 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Something about this show just felt off to me. I just couldn’t get into it. Also yeah this is us pulls me in and makes me feel many things. This for some reason didn’t do any of that.

Same. I don’t think the writing is nearly as strong, or the storylines as compelling, as This is Us—so far. A lot of the dialogue felt awkward and stilted; and the situations cliched. Like, the guy was really JUST about to commit suicide when he gets news that his best friend... committed suicide?!  Come on!! (GOB voice)

[WhosThatGirl]

3 minutes ago, Duke2801 said:

Yeah I’m with those in the “lukewarm” category. I did not hate it; but I didn’t tear up or feel connected to any of the characters -or intrigued by any of the storylines - yet. However, I admit that sometimes that can take a while so I’m going to give it a few more episodes before making a call.

Thank you! The whole time I’m watching that interaction of Maggie with the wives, I’m thinking a) what kind of jerk would put his one night stand (even if he does like her and see potential) in that incredibly awkward situation of hanging out with a group of grievers that she just met; and  b) what kind of woman would willingly STAY in that awkward situation?? Like, the whole thing was just ridiculous and unrealistic. 

Same. I don’t think the writing is nearly as strong, or the storylines as compelling, as This is Us—so far. A lot of the dialogue felt awkward and stilted; and the situations cliched. Like, the guy was really JUST about to commit suicide when he gets news that his best friend... committed suicide?!  Come on!! (GOB voice)

Yeah, it did feel very stilled and awkward and I constantly felt like the writers were like “and this is what will make you cry”. And just.. no.

Also it just felt not Genuine. It’s odd to come to these boards and see that almost everyone else here  felt completely different. 

I’ll stick around. The subject matter is somewhat close to me, and even depression itself is such a heavy handed topic that often on tv shows seems to be a throwaway part of a characters story and here it’ll be a central point.

Also I felt a little bad for eddies wife. And I’m probably alone in that too. But it made me sad when she said to Delilah about John  “he always made me feel like I was part of the group” and also the scene when the guys had a game to go to and she invited Rome’s wife and her new friend Maggie to stay. And then we learn Eddie and Delilah are sleeping together Like.. okay. I get tgt eddies wife is a terrible workaholic but still.. I felt more for her than I did either of them and that’s probably not what the show was going for.

[Empress1]

14 minutes ago, Duke2801 said:

b) what kind of woman would willingly STAY in that awkward situation??

If for whatever reason, I agreed to go with dude after we hooked up and he didn't tell us where we were going, I'd have called a Lyft when we got to the church and he told me it was a funeral. If he didn't tell me until we burst in the doors late to the funeral, I'd stay because we'd already have made a scene showing up late (which would mortify me), but I'd have gone home the second it was over, cussed him out for putting me in that position, and not talked to him again. Might even find a new cancer support group. That's insane.

2 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Also I felt a little bad for eddies wife. And I’m probably alone in that too. But it made me sad when she said to Delilah about John  “he always made me feel like I was part of the group” and also the scene when the guys had a game to go to and she invited Rome’s wife and her new friend Maggie to stay. And then we learn Eddie and Delilah are sleeping together Like.. okay. I get tgt eddies wife is a terrible workaholic but still.. I felt more for her than I did either of them and that’s probably not what the show was going for.

I felt bad for her too. It's why I hope they give her some depth. The "he always made me feel like part of the group" line made me think that she knows the rest of the group doesn't like her. And Eddie appears to be a decent guy now but I assume she was with him when he was drinking, which means he put her through some shit. I'd also guess she supported him financially when he was playing music. She may be a workaholic but she's keeping them afloat.

[Anela]

I've only just watched it. "This Is Us" friendship-style. 

I was spoiled on the affair, after reading a comment here, I think it was. I was also surprised that only one or two people had commented, but it was late. 

I like the cast. Not really sure what else to add right now.

[Anela]

8 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I kept thinking that on the day I buried my husband, I would not have the emotional bandwidth to deal with his friend's one-night-stand. (I mean, I know she won't be a one-night-stand, but Delilah didn't know that.) I kept thinking that I'd be thinking "Why are you still here?"

 

Even though I like the actress (Allison Miller) and the character who popped into their lives at just the right time, it seems - I was thinking the same thing. on the day we buried my mum, I couldn't deal with anyone at first. I almost didn't go, I was in so much denial, and it was going to pull me out of it. I sat in a separate room at the funeral parlor, but people followed me in there, so I tried to sneak out of the building, but someone also followed me out there. I appreciated them trying to comfort me, but it was too much. I just wanted to be with my dad, and my sister (and our dogs). 

4 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I thought it was pretty good for a pilot. I tuned in because of the actors I love. Found myself especially touched by the depression issues. Myself and several family members suffer from depression. Mine is high now because I lost my youngest daughter 7 weeks ago. I think they handled the nuances of it well and hope they continue to; im in for now.

I'm so sorry. 

I wasn't going to mention it, but I deal with depression, too. I've been suicidal, and I've had that conversation with a people I know. It was tough to watch. I didn't know it was about someone committing suicide (supposedly). 

[WhosThatGirl]

29 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

If for whatever reason, I agreed to go with dude after we hooked up and he didn't tell us where we were going, I'd have called a Lyft when we got to the church and he told me it was a funeral. If he didn't tell me until we burst in the doors late to the funeral, I'd stay because we'd already have made a scene showing up late (which would mortify me), but I'd have gone home the second it was over, cussed him out for putting me in that position, and not talked to him again. Might even find a new cancer support group. That's insane.

I felt bad for her too. It's why I hope they give her some depth. The "he always made me feel like part of the group" line made me think that she knows the rest of the group doesn't like her. And Eddie appears to be a decent guy now but I assume she was with him when he was drinking, which means he put her through some shit. I'd also guess she supported him financially when he was playing music. She may be a workaholic but she's keeping them afloat.

Ah, I completely forgot he had a drinking problem and completely forget he was in a band and yeah probably not making a lot of money. God. This does nothing for my liking of Eddie. 

The hard part is also I don’t really like any of the main characters? The more we saw them and the more we learned the less I liked them. Maybe Romos and his wife seem okay and it was nice to see someone be like “things in my life are good but sometimes I feel so hopeless”. That is the truth about a lot of people struggling with depression and mental health. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t always have a reason. It just is.

[krankydoodle]

I couldn't believe that it never even seemed to occur to Eddie that Jon may have known about his affair with Delilah, even after he found out that Jon's last phone call was to him. I know a few people have mentioned how guilty the two of them must feel, but (unless I missed something) I didn't see much--if any--guilt on Eddie's part. He was texting Delilah that he loved her and needed to see her right after the funeral! Ugh. I've enjoyed Grace Park in other roles and I agree with others that I don't like how the show is currently portraying her, but her line about how Jon treated her as part of the group does suggest they'll do more with her.

3 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

He "loves" Delilah probably more because of John.  John was the one who kept saying how toxic Katherine was...IIRC he was the only one of the friends to come out and say something like that.

I thought it was Gary who said that, but I could be wrong.

Gary was sometimes obnoxious, but the scene at the game where he shared his fears and supported Rome was nice. The only ones I actually like so far are Rome and Regina. I don't think anyone's mentioned when Rome is about to take the pills, but can't bring himself to drink tap water after hearing the news report on Flint. I've been near the brink before and know my thinking was similarly disordered, so I liked that detail. I'm not a fan of the "everything happens for a reason" school of thinking, though, but may give it another few episodes to see where things go.

[ams1001]

I'll admit it made me cry, but that's more to do with my own depression issues (though I've never been suicidal), and the fact that I've had two family members die way too early in the past year and a half. Neither was suicide (though the first was a result of damage caused by years of alcohol abuse) but they both left behind young-adult kids (one in college, two just-graduated) who still need their parents. I debated whether I should watch at all and went into it knowing I would probably cry just because of the subject matter. At the same time, there were things that had me kind of rolling my eyes, like, dude, right after the woman's husband's funeral...not the time. I did laugh a bit at Rome's stopping to filter the water because of the news report on the TV.

 

7 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

I was a little surprised with whom Eddie was having an affair, I thought it would Constance Zimmer (wasn't that Constance Zimmer?)  

I thought the same thing. I should have figured it wouldn't be that obvious.

I was a little surprised they didn't push more on asking the assistant why he called her just before he jumped (I guess that'll come at some point). I assume she saw him go over the railing because why would she freak out like that just walking into the room and not immediately seeing him? Did he call her to come in so she would see him jump? And if so, did he want her to witness it for a reason? Or just to make sure she got the note he left before anyone else got there? 

All in all, I'll keep watching and see where it goes, but I don't know if I really liked it or not, yet.

Edited September 27, 2018 by ams1001

[WhosThatGirl]

16 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

I couldn't believe that it never even seemed to occur to Eddie that Jon may have known about his affair with Delilah, even after he found out that Jon's last phone call was to him. I know a few people have mentioned how guilty the two of them must feel, but (unless I missed something) I didn't see much--if any--guilt on Eddie's part. He was texting Delilah that he loved her and needed to see her right after the funeral! Ugh. I've enjoyed Grace Park in other roles and I agree with others that I don't like how the show is currently portraying her, but her line about how Jon treated her as part of the group does suggest they'll do more with her.

I thought it was Gary who said that, but I could be wrong.

Gary was sometimes obnoxious, but the scene at the game where he shared his fears and supported Rome was nice. The only ones I actually like so far are Rome and Regina. I don't think anyone's mentioned when Rome is about to take the pills, but can't bring himself to drink tap water after hearing the news report on Flint. I've been near the brink before and know my thinking was similarly disordered, so I liked that detail. I'm not a fan of the "everything happens for a reason" school of thinking, though, but may give it another few episodes to see where things go.

Yeah, the ending scene at the door makes it hard for me to like Eddie at all. Sorry but he didn’t show any remorse. “Tell me you don’t love me” after her husband who killed himselfs funereal. But whatever.

Also Jon totally knew, I think. It just feels kind of odd that he would call Eddie before he killed himself.

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, Duke2801 said:

  b) what kind of woman would willingly STAY in that awkward situation?? Like, the whole thing was just ridiculous and unrealistic. 

Seeing as she is a therapist that specializes in depression, I could see her wanting to stay for that reason. 

1 hour ago, Duke2801 said:

Like, the guy was really JUST about to commit suicide when he gets news that his best friend... committed suicide?!

This will be an interesting thread to follow. We know he’s suicidal. We will be watching how someone who seems to have it all together deal with not having it all together.

[SunnyBeBe]

OMG, I just watched the pilot On Demand and LOVED IT!   Yes, there are flawed characters and at times, they are a bit overly dramatic, but, it's okay. I still like it a lot and I think the writing and direction are good too.  Finally, another drama series that I can really enjoy!  I admit that I'm picky.  There are a couple of others that I enjoy too, but, not this type of thing.  I'm not really a big fan of This Is Us, but, this seems different from that to me.  

What were the files that John's assistant deleted from his computer?  Wouldn't the police already have taken that?  Even though, it's a pretty clear suicide, they would still do an investigation.  But, it may not matter.  Just because you delete, doesn't mean it's completely gone. 

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, SunnyBeBe said:

OMG, I just watched the pilot On Demand and LOVED IT!   Yes, there are flawed characters and at times, they are a bit overly dramatic, but, it's okay. I still like it a lot and I think the writing and direction are good too.  Finally, another drama series that I can really enjoy!  I admit that I'm picky.  There are a couple of others that I enjoy too, but, not this type of thing.  I'm not really a big fan of This Is Us, but, this seems different from that to me.  

What were the files that John's assistant deleted from his computer?  Wouldn't the police already have taken that?  Even though, it's a pretty clear suicide, they would still do an investigation.  But, it may not matter.  Just because you delete, doesn't mean it's completely gone. 

Yeah, IT can almost certainly recover whatever files she deleted, if they know to look for them. I was wondering if there was some kind of shady business deal going on (and if it had anything to do with the restaurant deal he was negotiating for the friend) that might be catching up with him.