Everyone Needs To Learn Polite Conversation and Subtlety S:3 Ep. 5: “Toby”
Here are this week’s Really? Moments:
Dads in the 70’s said the worst things about mental illness. In this episode, we learn about Toby’s history with mental illness, which his mother also had. So, of course, his Father tells young Toby to get over being a “sad sack.” It’s a gentle reminder to never speak to Dads from the 70’s about anything involving feelings, unless it’s feelings about your favorite sports team.
Kate stinks at polite conversation. On the other side of the feelings spectrum, Kate constantly expresses every feeling she has, when she has it. A man compliments Kate’s singing and then tries to walk away, but Kate erupts like an emotional volcano. She locks him into an uncomfortable rant about how she shuts music out of her life whenever bad things happen, and LOTS of bad things happen to her. He of course just stares at her and wonders why he can’t just go to the bathroom like he planned.
On TV, a 1% chance of something major happening really means a 100% chance. Kate’s IVF plans seem to be falling apart, and her chances dwindle until she has just one fertilized egg which could possibly get her pregnant. One shot. I’m no mathematician, but Kate had basically 1% chance of getting pregnant and miracle of miracles, it works. Honestly, it seems like there’s a better chance of Adam Sandler winning an Oscar, but I guess, in This Is Us world, Adam Sandler is now considered Robert De Niro.
Miguel is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. Miguel brings Rebecca and the kids a piano for their tiny apartment after Jack dies in the fire. A piano is not a gift, it’s a form of imprisonment. A nice plant shows you care. A piano says, “I’m moving in, can I sleep under the piano?” He might as well have brought a live elephant. Then the kids could ask Rebecca, “What is the elephant in the room?” Rebecca could then reply, “Oh that’s Miguel, he is living under the piano now.”
Kevin’s movie must have tanked at the box office. Kevin is now on a quest to find out what happened to Jack in Vietnam. His movie? MIA. If he has time to go to Baltimore, the movie must be out of the theaters and on its way to a quiet death on Netflix. The road to Oscar doesn’t go through Baltimore - just ask John Waters. It’s more a stop for crabs (the good kind).
Really? (Rating from 1-5: 1 means nothing too far-fetched happened; 5 means that someone else has died at the hands of a faulty crockpot):
I give this episode a 4. The fact Kate got pregnant so easily just shows that This Is Us will never go the full mile with drama.