NOTE FROM LB: The week before last, TVWriter™ Contributing Writer Kate Graham wrote a very positive review of the This is Us season finale. A few days ago, without knowing about Kate’s review, our Critic-At-Large, Diana Vaccarelli sent us her perspective. They’re a bit different, but then, so are Diana and Kate.
by Diana Vaccarelli
—SPOILER ALERT—SPOILER ALERT—SPOILER ALERT—SPOILER ALERT–
Tuesday March 14, 2017 was a big day in television for me.
It was the season finale of This is Us. This show has become one of my all-time favorites because of both its originality and its performances, which have been of highest quality each week.
Each Tuesday of this, the show’s first season, I have been glued to my television, and this episode was no exception. I have been looking forward to the finale in the hope of seeing Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) step up to make things right with Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and the Big Three, Jack and Rebecca children, make important decisions regarding their futures.
Unfortunately…
THE GOOD:
- The performances of Ventimiglia and Moore couldn’t have been any stronger. The scene where the two characters fight was like a powerful blast of pure emotion.
THE BAD:
- It truly pains me to say this because I do love this show and everything it represents: Family, love, commitment, and truth. But this episode did not live up to the rest of the season.I was shocked at the writing, and not in a positive way. Dan Fogelman, the creator of this series, partnered with Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger to bring us an episode that was moved like a daytime soap opera from the 1950s, and which did absolutely nothing to further the overall story. It didn’t merely drag, it dd rr aa ggg ee dd.
But that wasn’t the big problem. Like many fans, I was aching to know more – much more – about the death of Jack, which has been the subtext of the entire season. Yet the finale told us nothing we didn’t already know, leaving me frustrated, angry…and very disappointed at best.
THE REST:
This is Us has been a wonderful series, and I highly recommend watching the whole season. Twice. However, this finale did not come close to measuring up to previous episodes. Come on, TIU writing staff, would it have killed you to tell us how Jack died and why his daughter Kate (Chrissy Metz) felt responsible? Are you ever going to tell us? Or don’t you want me to watch the show anymore?
Diana Vaccarelli is TVWriter™’s Critic-at-Large and one of the finest people we know. Find out more about her HERE