SPOILER ALERT: This story contains plot details from Tuesday nights episode ofThis Is Us, titled The Pool.
For young Kevin (Parker Bates), it was literal.
(Somebody give that guy a Worlds Greatest Dad T-shirt.
Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBC
Or even a mug.)
(You are doing everything right, son.)
Lets snag not one but five pool chairs and wave over the lifeguard, a.k.a.This Is Uscreator Dan Fogelman.
(To read the casts thoughts on the episode,click here.)
That was kind of the starting place for the entire thing.
In the end, he gets the apology that he wanted, but wasnt expecting at that moment.
Does this accelerate the bonding process?
And do their different backgrounds put them in any more conflict in coming weeks?
But I think this is ahugestep forward in kind of the arc of this series.
Theyve gotten to know each other.
So the next batch of stories, thats where a lot of that comes.
I think we have a couple of episodes that are a little bit lighter with the two of them.
Race can be a tricky thing for any show to tackle.
This episode showed Jack and Rebecca a little out of their element raising an African-American child.
We just wanted to treat it real.
So thats where that started from.
If we can find the reality of it, theres humor in the fact that its not 2016 Hollywood.
This is 1980s Pennsylvania; its not super common at that time for this to be going on.
And there will be informational challenges for this couple who dont have an Internet to look things up on.
I think we try not to shy from the race stuff.
Our writers room has lots of debate and good discussions about what the line was here.
Whats most interesting about this story is for Randall particularly, its a completely internal story for him.
Theres this [incident] with the security guard that sets him off.
Any race of person at anytime in their life can be having a moment like that.
NEXT: It only adds more fuel to the fire thats slowly going to burn and eventually explode.
This is the starting point for the family.
Can you talk about making that scene?
And how rocky does her adolescent journey get?
A big part of what were going to get in the childs background is how that was formed.
She obviously has this loving family and these loving parents, but where did this all stem from?
And for the first time in her life, she covers herself up and its kind of heartbreaking.
So its all so real and complicated.
I just love that moment so much.
Is that something you will show more of?
A parent is always trying to find the line and just wants the kids to be happy and healthy.
Its just a very complicated thing, so yes.
How much more of that side do we see from Toby?
And how much more self-sabotage will we see from Kate in this relationship?
Kates issues, as she says, dont go away overnight.
Shes a complicated person who is at a crossroads in her life.
Toby feels like hes gottenpastthe crossroads of his life.
Kevin has the worlds worst audition, but the power ofThe Mannylands him the part maybe not his talent.
First question: Is he in for a world of hurt?
Should we brace for some fireworks and/or sparks between them?
Yes on both counts.
Olivia becomes a really big part of his story.
But also you cant quite trust anything shes doing because for her art comes first always.
And a Trump pageant joke, which I know you filmed a while ago, but very timely.
We debated if we should take it out at one point, but then we figured we were okay.
