That Was Us - A Very Pearson Thanksgiving | "So Long, Marianne" (409)

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

On today’s episode of That Was Us, we’re diving into Season 4, Episode 9: So Long, Marianne. If there's one holiday the Pearsons love...it's Thanksgiving! Today we dive into another memorable holiday with the entire Pearson family (and a few special guests) who come together at Randall and Beth’s new home in Philly. Rebecca grapples with her memory, Tess confides in Kevin about her journey of coming out, and Deja shares an emotional reunion with her mom. In the past, Jack and Nicky begin a tradition that will be carried on for generations to come. That Was Us is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. ------------------------- Support Our Sponsors: - Buy four cartons and get the fifth free, at https://davidprotein.com/thatwasus You can also find David on Amazon and at local retailers—just use the store locator on their website. Humans aren’t perfect, but David is. - Brought to you by Bombas, One Clothing Item Purchased = One Clothing Item Donated Head over to https://bombas.com and use code TWU for 20% off your first purchase. - Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com to get 50% off sitewide during their Sizzle All the Way Sale. And use code TWU at checkout for an extra $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. See site for details. A big thanks to our advertiser, Omaha Steaks! ------------------------- 🍋 About the Show: The stars of This Is Us, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan, dive back into the world of the Pearsons, reliving each episode and all the life lessons that came with it. Together, they dig in and dig deep, have the tough conversations, bring in very special and familiar guests, share never-before-heard behind-the-scenes moments, and feature listeners in highly anticipated fan segments. Join your favorite family back in the living room to examine our past, cherish our present, and look to the future with new episodes of That Was Us every Tuesday. ------------------------- 00:00 Intro 00:00:32 Discussion 00:54:47 Fan Segment 01:08:08 Outro ------------------------- Executive Producers: Natalie Holysz and Rob Holysz Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Video Editor: Todd Hughlett Mix & Master: Jason Richards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of That Was Us, we're diving into season four, episode nine, so long Marianne. The entire Pearson family come together at Randall and Beth's new home for another unforgettable Thanksgiving. Rebecca grapples with her memory. Tess confides in Kevin about her journey of coming out, and Dacia shares an emotional reunion with. her mom.

Welcome back everybody. Hello. What's going down? Fam. There's a lot. Yeah. We've been kind of like lamenting how chalkful this episode is. Yeah.

And how to strategize breaking it down because like... Chalk a block. Chalk a block. Because it doesn't sort of fit in our normal format of like Toby and Kate in this block. There's so much information. Because like you see Beth and Randall and then Toby and Kate join. And then Toby and Kate Join and Rebecca and Miguel are there. So it's like there's everyone's sort of woven into this one story.

It's another one of our few episodes of this show where just everyone's together. Yeah. I have such, I have very little memory of being in this episode. Yeah. I have memory of watching this episode unfold in front of me. Like watching you and Kevin Todd. Like I remember watching these scenes. I remember just the end coming in like because Nikki had, you know,

Griffin had never been in Thanksgiving before. And just like, and Shauna was there. Like, the whole, like, it was a big group. Which I loved those scenes and those days. They're wonderful. And it's also, like, with 42 minutes and 30 seconds to do as much as we did. And it was a reminder, right, that we would have these mid-season sort of cliffhangers because we would go off the air during the holidays or something.

We would come back at the beginning of the year. So everybody was like, we left them wanting more. And in spades, they achieve that with this episode. Right. And by the way, not how television works anymore. No. No. I mean, it's just like...

You sit down and watch the show. Yeah, you sit down and watch the show or you watch the whole season all the ones. You made your own cliffhangers. Exactly. There you go. So it's like this is a vestige of a bygone era that doesn't really exist in television anymore. Wow. You know?

Yeah. I know. But what we have here essentially is the world's most socially awkward thing. Thanksgiving. Yeah. Sure. All the different dynamics are in play. Yeah.

We have a long-lost uncle. We do. We have a biological mother. We do. Attending a Thanksgiving. We have a disgruntled matriarch. Yeah. Who sets out on her own to take some time.

Yeah. We've got a couple of new parents who are sort of struggling to find their equilibrium. Yep. Right? If you will. And it's all happening. Yeah. In Randall's new downsized, yeah.

Randall's new downsized house. Everybody walks into the house and they'd be like, wow, this is smaller? Yeah. And I'm like, it is smaller. Like, Miguel's going to love all the period details. Quit talking about my house, man. He would. Miguel would notice that.

Because he was alive when this was built. Should we talk about Jack and Nikki, like in the past? Because that's really the only, I think, like, sort of set apart. Well, there's them in the past and then there's the young them as well, too. Because the episode opens with like Young Jack and Nicky. Yeah. And they are, you hear the parents arguing upstairs. Yeah.

And they're listening to a football game as if almost tuning it out. Right. Like this is something that is customary within our household, what have you. We'll just focus on something that's good and positive so we don't have to worry about them. And they're listening to a football game. Sure. Which also makes you realize why football is such, how a tradition like this gets started. Sure.

Yeah. Football represents more than just the game. Football is an escape from the things that they don't want to have to face within their all. All right. Then we jump forward to them as the older ones, like right before Vietnam. Sure. Right? And Nikki's sitting on the porch. And they're like, and he, you can hear the arguing between mom and dad going on. And they're like, you know, why don't we just go? Jack's like, we don't just leave, right? He leaves, he knocks on the door, he leaves whatever. Did he bring a dish or?

Yeah, he brought some sort of like side dish. He brings a side dish. There's a, there's a ding-dong ditch, him and his brother take off and they go to a bar. Yep. Right? They're at the bar. It turns out they're watching football again. This is something that these brothers do. It's the Thanksgiving Day game, the Cowboys. Who plays on the many more.

You're about to do a football show. Traditionally, who plays football on Thanksgiving every year? Is it the Cowboys? The Cowboys and... I don't know. The Detroit Lions. Oh, interesting. The Lions and the Cowboys, every thanks...

Every year? Every year. Since I can remember, every year, they are the Thanksgiving game. It's just. just been that way. I don't know. That doesn't seem fair. We'll have to find out. Tell us why that's the game. I don't know sure. Why doesn't that seem fair? That it's just those two teams, like give other teams a shot. You would think so, but maybe that's... It's also why it might be part of why the Cowboys are America's team, and they are the most expensive franchise in sport.

Yeah, they are. Really? They're worth like nine bill. Traditions can be broken, but... They can be broken. They can be broken. We're going to watch the same two teams play again. So that's what's happening. But because their dad is a fan of the Cowboys, Nikki decides to bet against the Cowboys. Out of spite. And then Jack's like, how much did you bet?

He said $200. He's like, whoa. Which is a lot of money. It's a lot of money in 2025 to your boy. That's a but ton of money in 1960s. 30, 19-30. No, because it's right before Vietnam. So it's 60-something, right.

Oh, you're right, you're right. Something right around that. 24. Right, stop. Late 60s. Late 60s. So. It turns out that the game ends in a tie.

So we think that Nicky wound up not losing the money, thinking it was a push, but he actually got points on it and winds up winning a butt ton of cash. Everybody's very excited. And then unwisely, they go sit down at the table as they're having their Thanksgiving Day meal. But he's counting his money. You never count your money. Not why you're sitting at the table. When you're sitting at the table.

There'll be time enough for counting when the dealings done. When the dealin's done, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. You know what I'm talking about. Mandi, you have to know when to hold them. You've got to know when to hold them. Guys, we got to know when no. What's a word?

Walk away. No one to run. Come on. Anyway, that's not. We don't have the rights to the song. We spoke it. We don't need the rights to the poetry. We shatnered it.

We don't need the, okay, that's good. Okay, we're fine. And so they decided all over that. I shatnered my pants. They wind up getting. Five pounds of shrimp. Why? Which I think, to be out, is one of the blackest things I've ever seen on this is us.

Black folks love some shrimp. Was it K? Is it Vera? Was it Black Vera? It was KJ. It was KJ? I wonder who's idea this was in the writer's room? I'm very curious.

Because just eating a butt ton of shrimp is like, that's why we go to Red Lobster. You know what I love that shrimp. So they have a great time. They wind up. up riding back in the truck. Oh, before that, no, they're listening to a song. This is in this episode, right? Yeah. This is the name of the episode. They're drinking a bottle of champagne, Domperignon? Are they drinking in Dom? Dr. Dr. Is it Dom? I don't know. I didn't notice. They had a bottle of champagne. Yeah. And the song comes on and Nikki's sort of like schooling his brother like

turn it up. Yeah, because Jack's about to turn it off. He's about to turn it off, right? He's like, no, dude, you got to listen to this thing. Like, listen to the words. Listen, it's not even just a song. It's a poem, right? Yeah. Set to music or whatnot. This feels like a real Dan Fogelman. It does. It feels very, very focalish. This is not a song. Right.

Leonard Cohen is not a musician. Yeah, he is a poet. He is a poet. God damn it. And so, do you guys remember anything else about what he said about the song? And he's listening to the lyrics. He's listening to it. He's happy to have loved her.

He can't quite let go, sending her away and calling her back in the same breath. Yeah. Yeah. And he's not bitter. It's like he's experienced this love or whatnot. And even though it's gone away, he's happy that he just got to have the experience of loving her. And he uses a couple of phrases in the way in which he explains it to Jack, which will come back and later on in the episode. They wind up going home and they're like, this is like the best Thanksgiving ever, right?

Yeah. And they're like, yeah, it was. We'll do it again next year. Yeah. Like they've started their own tradition. And the year after that. Beginning of a tradition. And you can tell that Vietnam is around the corner.

And every time Jack is sort of like, you know, nothing's going to happen. You're going to be fine. Yeah. And Nikki just looks at him. And we know how it ultimately plays itself out. And there's a little bit of wistfulness with regards to how Jack wanted it to be a certain way. It turned out not being that way. So they go back into the house.

And that sort of is the backdrop of this episode, right? What happens in present day? Kevin and Nikki are going to travel to Philly for the holiday. That's correct. And Kevin sort of lets Nikki know that he's thinking about coming back to Bradford. Yeah. After the holiday. And Nikki kind of lets that sit.

Like, why? And are you? And please don't. Yeah, there's a lot of that all going on in his sort of silence. Right. And Nikki's a little bit nervous about seeing everyone as well. It's a little trepidious. So just trying to get him to calm down.

So we get to the Black Pearson's abode. Everybody's getting themselves ready for Thanksgiving. Daya's a little nervous about seeing her mom. Things are still chilly between Rebecca and Randall. That's a little. nervous about bio-mom coming? Absolutely.

Shona. He wants to, Randall wants to keep talking to mom, but she doesn't seem interested at all, right? I remember, like, there's this moment. I love dealing with Frosty Mandy as Rebecca or whatnot, because I'm just, like, I'm just trying to find ways, like,

trying to, like, grab eye contact and whatnot. This sister's like, nope. Like, she'll look, you missed the cellophane, bro. I'm looking right through your ass. Right? She goes to turn on the eye Because she's gonna The burner, yeah

Turns on the burner or whatnot And then just Now listen Do you blame it? She turned on the burner And walked away. No I was right to turn it off right

Yes I was like nobody just leaves The open flame But she's like dude I was just going to get some tea And then you get the sense of like Look I don't need any She comes back and sets the tea bag right on the fire

I will tell you I will tell you this Just making some tea whether he was right to do it or not. The feeling of somebody monitoring you when you are an autonomous adult who is accustomed to taking care of themselves is not a good feeling.

No. Right? Whether it is justified or not. Yeah. The idea that you have to be looked after is a tough one. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Empathy there. And so ultimately she decides to get some air. Maybe she'll go see a movie, the new movie with De Niro or something like that. Which was the Irishman. The Irishman was out at the time.

Oh, was that the movie? That's why it was so long. Remember three and a half hours? That would have justified why it took us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That movie was out at the time. Yeah. Okay, yeah, long movie.

She's a big Sebastian Manascoco fan. What can I say? Not a bad actor. Great. I enjoy him very much. Yeah, yeah. So she winds up taking off. Oh, but she does say he wants to keep talking about what's going on,

but she's like, look, I don't want to talk about. about I need to get some air. And I would appreciate it if you didn't mention this argument to anyone else. So even though she's first said, she is making a point, like, don't go around talking to people about this. Yeah. And he's like, got it. Okay. Should we just, I could go in order or we could try to like just stay with Rebecca on her journey? No, let's, no, because it's I think it's confusing. I think like going in order of what, because it doesn't, yeah, I think it's just easier. Okay, we'll go, we'll go on. Yeah. So we cut to Katobi and Jack coming to the house.

Kate, oh, no, not coming to the house. I think this before they get to the house. Getting on the plane. Yeah, getting on the plane. And Kate is feeling guilty and minds of telling Toby about Jack's first avocado, which we all agree. On the last episode. Hawaii. Why? Hawaii.

Not at 30,000 feet. Unnecessary, right? Everyone's emotions are peaked at 30,000 feet, too. All that fresh oxygen. Tobias says, so you've just been lying. to me for the past 24 hours and then, so here's my point. Listen, was she right to tell you? No.

But like, hey, man, it was some avocado. Yeah, also, let it go. Let it go. There's going to be so many first, which is what he eventually comes around to. He admits to overreacting things, you know, it's just dealing with being new parents, etc.

We cut to, no, I did Jack and Nicky, so I don't have to talk about that one anymore. Yeah. Nikki at the Pearson's household, he starts looking around and seeing pictures and taking in this life. I wrote taking in this life that his brother had after they parted ways. Like I couldn't imagine. Like here's somebody I knew from zero to, what is he, young 20s or something? Yeah, early 20s.

And then he's gone. And then you get to go back and see like, oh shit, he did. He has a wife. And he raised these children. And I see them as adults, but, like, he raised these children. And these children, this one of them has children. And, like, they have these whole, and I've missed. All of this.

All of that. Yeah. Like, I can't imagine that feeling. Yeah. You know? The resentment. Yeah. Yeah.

So he's just taking all of that in. Randall decides to drive back to the, to their old house to grab this box of holiday that he accidentally left in the attic. Yes. The Pilgrim Rick hat. Yeah. All of the accoutrema for the holiday. Right.

Thanksgiving again is the most important celebrated holiday in the Pearson household. And who goes with? Nikki decides to go with. Nicky decides to go with. And Annie. And Annie. Yeah. Nick and Aaron.

With Russell, right? He's like, I'm going to go with Russell. They're like Randall. No, it's right. He goes to give me a chance to get to know Russell. Randall. Right. See?

It's good. Griffin is so good. He's so good. He's great. Yeah. More that was us after the short break. All right, listen up, people. Y'all all know that Thanksgiving is Randall's favorite holiday.

I knew that. There's family traditions. There's so much food. And, of course, a little bit of chaos. And for a lot of us, it also means travel. When I head out of town, I like to book a stay on Airbnb because it feels like home base. There's plenty of space for family to gather. Yeah.

Yeah, we had a family reunion a few years back in the Smoky Mountains. I mean, I'm talking like we gathered, like, I don't know. How many people? 20, 25, 30 people. Wow. Yeah, and we put together, we found three houses near each other. Yeah. Within walking distance.

Perfect. So we could all commune and gather. It was lovely. Love that, man. And while you're away, you can host your own home on Airbnb. Someone else might be looking for a place to stay in your area that's just like yours for the holiday, close to family with a kitchen, where they can cook or simply somewhere that feels welcoming.

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We'd love to talk, business. We also see Rebecca walking around. And at a certain point, she sees who we think is William. It looks like William. It looks just like William. I mean, as an audience. Like young William, as an audience, I guess we're asking ourselves, like, that can't be a young William.

Like, this is older Rebecca. She wouldn't, you know, why would you be here? She winds up sort of chasing down and what not and turns out that it's not indeed. This is the first bona fide, verified moment of like what? Yeah, like what, what is going on? Yeah, something's not. She's confused. She's very much confused.

She's walking through this, you know, park of sorts and sees William realizes it's not William. He's like, sorry, I wasn't who you were looking for. And she's like, that's okay. And she's like, I'm looking for like a, like a bakery, like a place to get a cake. And you're like, oh, yeah, I mean, it's Thanksgiving. She said she was going to get a pot. And he's like, I don't know of any bakeries, but there's a really nice grocery store down the street.

And she's like, great, for enough. Perfect. That is interesting, no, because I didn't catch that. Well, obviously, we'll get to it. But her asking for a cake, you know, I thought it was a pie. Yeah. Wait a minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, she asked for a bakery. A bakery. Yeah.

A bakery. And he says, I know a place you get a good. Yeah, what's a whipped cream cake? I didn't. I don't. I don't know. Fresh whipped cream cakes. I'm like, I don't. It sounds good, but I don't know what that is.

Is that a thing? So he kind of points her in a direction. She thanks him. She goes to turn. A skateboard sort of like passes her and she gets a little flustered like, whoof. Yeah. Ah, young people. Totally.

Ah, a young person doing young person things. And you see her like kind of clocking her surroundings and going like, wait, where am I going? Takes a minute. Yeah, it takes her a second to be like, what direction? All of this is, we're just kind of trying to go with it and determine like, What is going on with her? You know what? I'm curious.

It's not because folks will, by and large, are with us with regards to the show. For you as an actor, what kind of sort of people did you get a chance to talk to? Did you read anything? You listened to anything in terms of like what this period of life could be like? A lot. A lot. I mean, I knew where the story was going. And so I like went deep into research mode, reading, absorbing, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, like as much as I could.

I mean, it's, there's, I feel like, I think what really struck people about this sort of representation, I mean, we just talked to Tim Olmanson and I think for stroke survivors to see his portrayal on screen, I feel like a lot of people, there's not a ton of this sort of representation of somebody with, you know, the onset of dementia, what ends up being diagnosed as Alzheimer's and Rebecca's case. So I wanted to approach that very thoughtfully and carefully and respectfully and do it with grace because I feel like that's how Rebecca does embrace it. Sure. But it was a lot. Yeah. And this is sort of our very sort of slow entree into those waters. I'd say beautifully done.

Thanks. Beautifully done. Like if nothing ever felt like as an audience, like you're sort of wondering like, is she all right? Is she just getting a little older? something like that, you know, like, except that seeing William was, I think, what you said, Chris was the first moment of like, okay, something's not. Yeah, right. You know what I'm saying?

And hallucination can be a symptom. I mean, I think it gets worse as the disease progresses, but that can be part of the early sort of onset of symptoms. And also the confusion, the, you know, it's your short-term memory that goes first. So it's like, yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So next, we see Kev have a nice little scene with Tess.

He's just checking in on his favorite niece, whatnot. And she's talking about how worried she is about posting a pick of her number one celebrity crush. Because there's this meme going around school. She's like, I could just abstain or I could really tell him who my crush is, which is Zendaya. She's got good taste. Zendaya's beautiful. And so Kev takes her to get some air. Kevin says, same, which I was like, he's a little young for you.

Take it easy. I mean. Take it easy. I mean. Take it easy. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, like. She's not bad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because she is a little younger. Hot take.

Okay. Kev goes out to get some fresh air. He tells Beth, he's like, we're going to go get a little pre-turkey snack. Yes. That's right. Yeah. That's right. And like, you know the rules on Thanksgiving.

You sort of, you abstain from eating all day. That's the rule. So you can fill up for the big meal. Yeah. I was like, you're breaking the rules. You did the same thing. You're like, I guess you're a little bit like her. We'll get to it.

Yeah, it's true. Then we see, by the way. Is that when she says? And then there was Beth. Yes. Something like, yes. And Miguel's like, hello. Miguel's standing right behind me.

He's like, you know, I love you, mate. Shawna comes to the house early. Early. And she looks great. Like I write to myself, I was like, Shauna looks like she's doing all right. She's taking good care of herself. Deja greets her mom and Beth smiles feeling a little.

left out. Not sure exactly when she... Well, yeah, because Sean is like, I'm working at this hospital at the front desk. The hours are long. But like, I get all the benefits. It's great. She's made this pineapple upside down cake that I guess is Deja's favorite. Like, she's kind of firing on all cylinders. And you can tell it kind of takes... Like, it sort of knocks the wind out of Beth a little bit. I'm just like, whoa, I wasn't expecting all of that. Yeah, they were reminiscing on this video of her learning the Cupid shuffle, which side note, I love line dances. You guys, we all together wound up doing the wobble on the show.

We did. We did. And it was great. You can find that on Instagram, TikTok, on the socials. We had a great time to do it. And the Cupid Shuffle is along the same sort of lines, maybe a little bit simpler. But it's cute to see them doing that. And it's also interesting seeing Beth, like they're just having all these points of connection. And Beth is just sort of like exhaling, figuring out where does she fit into all of this, right?

Yep. Shout out to Miguel and his whiskey business. He has a couple of them throughout the episode. And again, I'm like, what's that, John? I think it was written, but I think, like, he added a little dance move. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He probably added the music to it as well, right?

We cut to Kevin Tess at the drive-thru, and he said, like, an AA, you know, as you're making, I can't remember the whole thing. And so, you guys, direct me. Like, you don't have to, like, do everything for everybody at the same time. You kind of do the amends one at a time. Yeah, step by step. Step by step. So instead of coming out to everybody at the same time,

why don't you come out to this, you know, speaker? Yeah. Right? And she was like, for real? He was like, yeah, it's easier to do it to a clown and anything else. And so Kev winds up ordering his food. And then we push it over to Tess. And she goes, hi, my name is Tess Pearson and I'm gay.

And my man says, okay, it was anything else without holding? Would you like fries? Would you like war? Yeah, right? And they give each other a high five. And you can see there's a sense of relief. Like, the sky didn't come falling down. like everything is still like the world is still here life keeps going that's that's the benefit of

these types of in these types of relationships or interactions right even if you don't have someone we've talked about it uh through our advertisers here on the benefits of therapy yeah where it's like all of these things that seem so big yeah in our heads yeah if you can if you can just get them out yep if you can say them out loud if you can write them down if you can say them to another person, you realize how small or unscary they might be. Sure, man. Yeah. Sure.

There's a beautiful moment. We cut back now to, is that right? Oh, my God, there's so much in this episode. I know. So Cotoby and arrive with Jack. Yeah. Very passive aggressive. There's comments about avocados and Toby's special diet and everybody is just sort of like

fraught. Yeah, Toby brought Tempe, which. We travel with. Tempe now. It's the most annoying of the foods. I mean, even vegetarians would agree. Yeah. Of the, like, meat alternatives.

Tempe's just out there being an imposter. Not a fan. Trying to be something. It's not. Okay. Always impersonating something else. Right. Yeah.

So you're even annoyed. You're not pulled pork, Tempe. Yeah. You're Tempe. Just be Tempe. Just be tempe. You're the least interesting city in Arizona. Tempe.

That's where we go. Tempe, Arizona. Tempe. We're back at the old Pearson's, old black Pearson's house. And what is it he says? Like, Nikki is there, and he says something to the effect. Oh, no, no, wait. Annie asks a question about, like, your grandpa's brother.

Like, how come I never? How come I never heard of you? How come I never heard of you? Yeah. And he says, well, because your grandpa erased me, right? Which is like the first time it's kind of been said explicitly. Yes, from Nicky's perspective of how it went down. Because it kind of seems like a shock to Kevin a bit.

Yeah. Like, oh, yeah, I guess I never would have put it that way. No, but that's, I mean, that's basically what happened, right? They let them into the house, and it's a very festive house and things are going on. And the guy's really nice. He gives them the box of things. We got the Pilgrim Rick hat. And he also found, like, a bunch of CDs.

Yeah. A book of CDs. He's like, oh, my mom gave these to me. What, is the housewarming? Yeah, housewarming. Something like that. So we got something else that we weren't anticipating getting.

We cut to Rebecca at a grocery store. She's looking at flowers. Well, she walks in and asks which way is the bakery. She asks which way is the bakery. And they point her in the direction. And she's walking towards the bakery and she gets sidetracked by like this beautiful display of flowers. And she's looking at the flowers.

And it's all of a sudden like, oh, well, these are beautiful. I'm going to grab these. And she goes to pick them up. And she's like, okay, wait, so what was I here for? Yeah, yeah. You see her just trying to remember, like, I know I was here for something. I know I was here for something. And we've all had that feeling, right?

Where you're just racking your brain about a name or some detail of something that you know, you know. What am I here for? Why did I come here? Yeah, that's exactly what I was saying in my mind. I'm like, I know that I'm here for something. I know I'm here for something. It's right there. It's on the tip of my tongue.

Yeah. You know, you're just like sort of closing. condoms. You're closing your eyes and trying to like. And you two. And you too. That's not a hot take. We're married for 20 years.

Come on. What are you talking about? And she finally gives up and is like, well, I got the flowers. I at least got the flowers. I must be hungry. And that's when my brain's not working like this. I should get a little notch. She explains that to the cashier.

She's like, I'm a little fuzzy today. I didn't eat anything. Yeah. Which, again, we've all been there as well. have in there most of the time. Easy way to explain that. Yeah, she recommends a... She uses her credit card.

You see her shuffling through her bag. She takes out her phone, she leaves her phone. Yeah. So a couple things. She recommends a Chinese restaurant. Cool, that sounds like a great idea. I'll go there. We see the phone left, and there's one shot in there

with from the back, and we see bakery across. And like Rebecca said it from the back, but just that never happened. Yeah. That never happened, right? I wouldn't go back to the house. Talk about Shana. Is that what happens? I'll tell you in a second.

Or Randall and Nikki, they're listening to So Long Marianne. Right. Well. Oh, no. There's a conversation about nut cheese at the house. Oh, that's where we go back to. This is the most important scene. There's Toby.

Listen, by the way. That's a high quality of nut cheese. I'm also thinking that this may be a Fogelman thing because there's a prominent storyline of nut cheese in paradise. Really? Yes. Yeah. Because they can't have like, yeah. Oh, right.

Yeah, because they can't have, like, animals and stuff in an enclosed face, like methane, et cetera. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert, if you have to say it. Spoiler, nah cheese. All right. There's a whole nut cheese thing. So I think he likes, there's something about nut cheese and Fogelman. It's interesting.

Interesting. He starts talking CrossFit with Migs, and he's like, dude, if you came to my trainer, like within five minutes, I'd have you like, you all dialed in. Yeah, I get you dialed in. You lose five pounds on a week. Dude, and it is. Oh, no, nothing more annoying than that. conversation. I'm telling you, Sullivan, excellent.

He's eating tempe and doing crossback. It is, it is so I know, I'm so disappointed in Toby. So of like self congratulatory in ways, like, look at me. It's basically saying like, if you think, look at what I did. You know what I did. You could do it too. You could make this happen. This is totally it. And it's

hard to do, especially when you've made a change in your life, not that's all I talk about. I've been doing it for like three weeks. It's true. I'm a devotee, man. I'm a debautee. I pray at the altar of the tire flip. Yeah. It's like,

Jesus, man. Take it easy. You see, Kate is thoroughly annoyed. And then Beth is still annoyed that Shana is just doing so well. Like, you know what I'm saying? Seeing her and her daughter just bonding. So Kate and Beth have a nice little scene, man. Yeah, they do.

They're like, should we go outside and like talk some shit? Yeah. And Beth, why? She's like, if you tell me yours, I'll tell your mind. But it's like, look, Randall has it easy. Deja, he's the only father that she's ever known, right? But she already has a mom, right? And she has this relationship and they have this history.

Yeah, so where do I fit in? And I'm trying to figure out where do I fit into all this, right? Yeah. And then she's like, what's yours, Kate? And Kate says, straight up, I hate CrossFit Toby. Yeah. And you're like, oh, first of all, let me tell you something. in a marriage, try to stay away from that four-letter word.

The strong one, whether you're putting a moniker in the front of your husband's name or wife's name, the H-A-A-A-A-T is a strong word to use in reference to your life partner. Sure. So there's that, but then she also explains that, like, you know, we broke up because I told him I wasn't going to date a fat person. Yeah. You know, that we were going to lose this weight together. And then I get pregnant. And dude goes and lose.

the weight, loses the weight. Yeah. And I'm still in the same place. Yeah. And she's feeling a little left behind. Left behind. And it's just, yeah. Frustrating.

Yeah. Right? I think, like, in that moment, it's like, I'm frustrated with me and him. Yeah. For not having honored the thing that I said that I wanted to do in the first place. And for him, just sort of like doing it, but kind of like leaving me behind. Yeah. Right.

Any thoughts on? It all seems logical and understandable. Yeah. And Beth. That says you should tell him. Yeah. Yeah. You got to talk to him about it.

Because he's this quote, because if you're only going to other people about what's happening in your marriage, dot, dot, dot, that, it can be a, it can be dangerous territory. And let me tell you something, folks. That's real. Yeah. That's real. Look, it's one thing to go out and look for support and help, and you want to bounce things off of, right? But if you're doing that in absence of actually talking to your partner. Correct.

Let the buyer beware, bro. You have to let this person know where you. stands, where you feel, how things are affecting you within the relationship right now, so that you guys can collectively course correct, right? If you're just going and talking about them and how they're letting you down and how you feel, that's actually just feeding a bad fire that you don't want to flame. Yeah. Yep.

So anything, I just wanted to say that. Yeah, no, no, you nailed it. Amen. My PSA for this episode of four all night. You know what I'm saying? Byer beware. Randall and Nicky are going home and he asks

Nicky to pop in one of those CDs just to see what mom left them and he pops in so long Mary Ann the title of our episode Did he know he was popping that in? I don't know that was by chance right? It may have been by chance

I don't think he picked it on purpose I think it was right pop one of these in and it pops one in and it turns out that it's like oh dude my dad used to play the song for us right And he loved this song. And he would say, like, he wouldn't even let us refer to it.

Yeah, this is what Randall says. He's like, he wouldn't even let us refer to it as a song. He said it was like a poem, set to music. And he would talk about, like, listening to the words and how, you know, it was okay for him to have experienced love and he wasn't bitter because he was just happy that he was able to love this person in the first place, right? And, and Nikki's listening to Randall say all this. And we wind up learning that this was Nikki's.

song. Yeah. And Nikki's explanation of the song. Yeah. That he has lovingly passed on his family. Yeah. Has reached through time. Come on now. And what it's talking about. To let Nikki know that he was listening. And what the song is talking about, even though it's talking about a romantic love. Right. It's applicable to

Nikki and Jack as well. Yeah. You know, you can't be bitter. It's like they loved each other. Yeah. They parted ways. Like it's all not a coincidence. Yeah. It's really good. It's almost if it were written. Yeah. Almost. By an incredible.

Fogel, man. Scribe. I wrote in my note, I said, Jack held on to his brother in small ways no one knew about, right? Because Nikki had mentioned that your grandpa just erased me. And even though he never mentioned him by name, like in that moment, he's like, my brother still loved me. Yeah.

Like, there's a part of me that lived on that he passed along to his children. And that had to be. That live in his children. Well, you see it on Griffin's face. It gets a little misty there. Like, it's beautiful. Also a clap, perfect technical acting choice to just turn right to the camera. Yeah.

Just give the camera. Yeah, exactly what they want. Because he's looking out, looking away from Randall, looking out the window. Yeah. It's beautiful. Just doing mental math. Yeah. The Griffin School of Acting.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We jumped to Rebecca at the Chinese restaurant. She has a nice little meal, but as she's looking for to pay the bill, she realizes that she doesn't have her phone. And this is when we see like, this is a freak out, right? Yeah. Talk to us. I really freaked out.

They cut a lot of it. Did they really? Yeah, I really, really freaked out. But I'm sure it's like anything with Ken, you know, you modulate. Did you not go for a table or a chair? I did. No, I didn't. But I did like, I believe that I got smacked over.

You hit that woman. Figure out his number. Yeah, I did like really lose my shit a little bit. But, yeah, I can imagine how disorienting it is to realize, like, you are really, like, lost. Up Schitt's Creek without a paddle. First of all, it's disorienting if you don't have anything when you lose your phone. Correct. But for someone who's already having a bad day and clearly having an episode where she's walking around an unfamiliar place.

She doesn't know where she is exactly. She doesn't... I know my husband's phone. You know what I mean? Like, I'm trying to think of, like, what numbers do I really have memorized these days? I got Ryan's, and I got, like, my home phone in St. Louis, Missouri and a few friends. Like, before cell phones.

Yes. I remember family members' numbers, but that's it. Correct. Yeah. And so it's just, like, she realizes, like, I don't know how to, like, help myself in this moment. I don't know how to get a hold of my son. I don't know anybody's phone number.

Yeah. What am I supposed to do? in this particular situation. And it just, like, she quickly unraveled. Yeah. So we as an audience, too, are like, all right, something. Something's really not right. Maybe it to Ken, to let that freak out just go way too far.

Yeah. Yeah, we won't use it. Yeah, we're not getting used it. Just let her go. Just let her go for it. Good job, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We cut to Sean and Days watching football together.

Sean is totally into it. It turns out she's a big Eagles fan. Like, she gets together with friends and they do a potluck and they, like, get to, you know, Like, it's a whole thing. She's got community around football. But it's new. It's a brand. Yeah, she bleeds.

Spanking new. And Deja's like, green and white, yeah. Deja gets up and excuses herself because she's a little sort of like, I don't know, that's weird. Okay. Randall leaves his mom a message and greets his sister. Yeah. He's been looking for her for most of the episodes. He's a little worried.

And he's trying to be as cool as he possibly can. He's not telling anybody. No. Because his mom asked him not to. His mom asked him not to. And he's just like, listen, haven't heard from you in a little bit. you know please let me know where you are talk to you soon yeah uh beth and days have a conversation and she winds up saying like how well her mom is doing and and beth is like your mom seems like

she's in a great place and this this young lady lyric Nicole she's going through like this explanation of how her mom was and how she is right now and she says why couldn't she be like this for me and her voice kind of cracks as she says it breaks I know and it's and it's this feeling of like, why wasn't I enough? Of course. You know what I'm saying? Like, she turned her life around once I was gone. Yeah, once I wasn't her responsibility anymore.

You know what I'm saying? And that's, I mean, that's probably the most randalous thing I think she said in the show. Yeah. Because that is Randall. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. Why wasn't I enough? You know what I'm saying?

Beth, but it is a wonderful opportunity for Beth to comfort her. And find her place. And to find her place in this relationship. And she says, you know, tell me the story. about that video. And Dage tells the story about there's this woman who was a neighbor who was annoying and used to get on their case.

And so we would go ahead and dance as loudly as possible because we were directly above her. And that was our FU to her and also just a way for us to bond. He said, don't forget the good times with you, like don't forget those perfect ones. We have a negativity bias that we can latch on to certain negative aspects

of, especially if they're highly emotional negative aspects. Yeah. And we kind of can erase the rest of history. We remember the bad. Yeah. Yeah. And then we see Rebecca.

Now, this is where it gets trippy. Yeah. Then we see Rebecca getting a ride from the cops. Yeah, she's in the back of a cop car. She's in the back of a cop car getting a ride back to the house. The house? I'll say the house, right? Yeah.

And the police are like, you're a long way from California. Yeah. Which is true. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. She lives in California. There you go. Okay. Thanksgiving montage. Right? And then at the end of the montage, Nikki gives this speech. And he says, you know, this holiday is all about traditions inspired by Jack Pearson. And he says about what it was like when he was a kid. That Thanksgiving wasn't jolly when he was a kid, but they made do. And he introduces his own contribution to like his time with his brother with these five pounds of Thanksgiving shrimp. Right? And he says to Jack and to new family traditions. So he sort of finds his own little space, you know, in this family because...

I remember all of us sitting there watching Griffin Dunn deliver this miniature monologue with the middle missing. Yeah. Because the middle is a different scene. That's right. It was just a little awkward, like he would just jump to the end. Yeah. Right?

But I remember him saying the words, five pounds of Thanksgiving shrimp being like almost ASMR for me. I was like, the way he's saying it was like, I would just listen to him. Say that. Say that phrase. Over and over again. Oh, it's like too tasty of a phrase? That's hilarious.

Five pounds of Thanksgiving shrimp. Yeah, not when you say it. Yeah, sorry. I don't do it. I don't do it justice. There's something about, like, his old man kind of. Grisle. Yeah, grizzle.

Yeah. And, and. I pounds of. That stuff right. Five pounds of Thanksgiving. Shrim. I was like, oh. Got a lot of shrimp, huh?

Yeah. Too much, shrimp. More that was us after these words from our sponsors. This time of year, it is sensory overload everywhere. But the one feeling that I am chasing is cozy. And Bombas has it covered. Sox, slippers, teas, basically everything that makes you want to curl up and exhale. Show you right.

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Like, I think this moment of recognizing that he was not forgotten by his brother was really powerful and beautiful, right? He says, listen, if I need you, I'll call you. If you need me, you know, you call me. But it's time for you to get back to your life. And he's like, okay. Tess admits to hers and day a crush. She posted on IG She's getting all kinds of likes

She's very, very excited about What's going on So she's got to deal with that Kate goes and sees Toby's phone message From a woman Lady Kryptonite So like you think like As an audience member

It's like okay Tov's going through a little something He may be rubbing me the wrong way But if you're not with my sister Now You're stepping out on my sister It's over, man. Yes, I couldn't quite make out what he's saying, what he was, he was clearly complaining because her response was.

Don't let her bring you down. Don't let her bring you down. I was like, listen, bitch. Are you stepping into my sister's marriage? You stepping into my sister's marriage? For sure. I don't like it. I don't like that at all.

I don't like it at all. We're going to see where, I'm rooting for you guys. I hope the wrong works out. We shall see. The chasm grows. Tess is happy. Kevin and Randall have a little conversation. Randall looks at his brother.

He says, brother, what's next for you, right? And Kev talks about this experience of being out in rural Pennsylvania and sort of finding a tribe and looking after people and sort of just helping people. And just sort of like how it felt good to be of service, right? And he's like, I think I want more of that. He says, you know what? Before I'm 40. I think I want kids.

And a wife. And a wife, you know what I'm saying? A family or whatever. And he's like, well, shouldn't you find somebody to date first? Because that's nine months from now. It's nine months from now. Like, TikTok. Yeah, yeah.

Good luck with that. So don't bring me down, bro. I got a mission. I'm failing it, right? Randall's still worried about his mom. Where is she? So then we see the police are not bringing her back to Philadelphia. Like it's rural.

The police are taking her to the cabin. And you're like, oh no. in the woods. They brought her to the wrong place. She's given them the wrong address. She thinks she lives at the cabin. You guys, I'm totally, and listen, I forgot. You did?

Me too. Oh, I didn't. I forgot this whole thing. So it turns out we are nine months into the future with Kate and Kevin and Miguel and we're at the cabin. Because Kevin opens the door and it's like, there you are mom. There you are. And we reveal a birthday banner that says happy.

40th birthday. That's right, right? And she says, I, I was trying, I wanted to surprise you with a cake for your birthday. Yeah. And I got confused. I got turned around and I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't like ruin your birthday. Yeah.

There is. So now we have two town lines because she does make it back to the house, the townhouse as well. For Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving. With a pie. With a pie. And by the way, a different outfit. Is it really?

wearing a trench coat, which is believable that when I left the house, theoretically, this is why there's a misdirect, that I would have worn a coat on Thanksgiving in Philadelphia. So I put on this trench coat, right? And you're none the wiser because you don't see what's underneath the trench coat. Right. And when I come, when I arrive back, I'm not sure if I'm wearing the trench coat, but all of that to say, it sells the fact that I could have left the house and put on my jacket to go on my little journey. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

Oh, my goodness. That's good. The Reddit people, that's not stupid to them. Do we have Reddit people? Everybody has Reddit people. I've never been on Reddit. Really? I haven't been on Reddit either.

Not from... Yeah, I'll check it up. Okay, so we cut back to the cabin, right? It is... What is our birthday? It's August 31st, 2020. We get some new information as well. 40th birthday for everybody.

Kev's fiancé is in the back with morning sickness. Yeah. nine months later. Yeah, the police officer is like, try ginger tea. And I love that he's like, ginger tea, noted. I'm like, doof. That is like the number one thing for morning sickness. Is anything ginger?

But, okay. This thing that he just talked about with his brother about what he wants, he's engaged to a pregnant woman. Yes. And they give it to us just like that. Yep. You know what I know. And then that's it.

You guys just got to deal with it. Miguel and Rebecca are sitting quietly on the couch. just sort of trying to figure out what is next for them. Yeah. Okay. Kevin is Randall here yet, says Rebecca. Kevin says, no, mom, Randall's not coming. We're not speaking.

Remember? Which means also in the nine months, somewhere between men and men. Yes, something has transpired. Something has transpired to where they can't celebrate their birthday together and they're all on the East Coast for the first time. Okay. Also, I was like, remember? That's a little mean. Hey, remember?

Remember? You just had an episode where you got mixed up. Yeah. Yeah. Could be said. You're just like, just speaking on behalf of Rebecca. I was like, come, bro. You can phrase it.

Bridge too far. You can phrase it. Praise it another way. Thanks for the cake. Back to Thanksgiving. Randall apologizes for overreacting to his mom. And she says, I was halfway through the trailer of cats. And I couldn't remember what movie I went to go see.

I think I need to see a doctor. Yeah. And the last thing I wrote was, holy shitballs. How much crap can you throw into an episode of television? And then leave people hanging for like six weeks. Lot of mercy. Right. Right.

There would have been a holiday break after this. And come back in January. So I'm not speaking to my brother. My brother is engaged to be married. We have no idea who this woman is, but we do know that this woman is pregnant with his child. Right? We know that Toby is possibly having an affair with Kate, right? Why else would he be doing CrossFit like that?

That's what a lot of people would say? You know what I'm saying? But we know sometimes you just want to be in shape. You don't flip tires for nothing. You just want to be in shape. Rebecca admits that she needs to see a doctor. And in the ensuing nine months, perhaps there's been some sort of diagnosis, at least her condition has significantly worsened that this episode transpired.

during their birthday. And now something that was a secret, it seems as if everybody now is in the note. Yeah, is present. Yeah. Right. This one... It's a lot going on.

Heavy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very good episode. Wonderful, Mandy Moore, that whole journey for you was really quite lovely and sad just seeing someone who is used to being able, not being as able anymore. Yeah. I think about this. I think about what 80-year-old Sterling will be.

and I do mind games and puzzles and I try to work out in anticipation of trying to stay involved, some things may work and some things may be genetic. You never know. You do the best you can with what you have. You know what I'm saying? Like take care of yourself as best you can everybody. Yeah, that's a good BSA.

And then whatever happens happens, but do your part, right? That's what I was thinking through this whole thing. Yeah. We have, okay. Fan segment. We're going to do a fan segment. We're going to do a little trick. Trivia game. We've done this before.

We've done this before. I usually win. But today, guys, I'm not even going to worry. We won't even let you play. I'm going to take myself out of it. You're going to host? For the benefit of everyone else, I'm going to take myself out. I will host the game so that somebody else has an opportunity to be the victim. Why, thank you.

We'll be right back before that was us. We're so excited for today's fan segment because, guess what, we're back with another. This is Us trivia shout out. That's right. Another installment of the trivia game because it seems to be a fan favorite and a host favorite. Amen. If I'm being honest, no surprise. It brings up the demon in both of you.

We're competitive. So here's the thing. I'm going to host this thing today so that you guys are going to be competing against our fan. He's with us right now. His name is Dennis, and we're going to see who remembers so. long, Mary Ann the best. Dennis, how you doing today, man? I'm good. Thank you. I'm so sorry that my camera's not working, but I can hear you. That's all we need. That's all we need. So listen, I'm going to explain this to my fellow co-host and to you as well. All I need is for you guys to chime in

with the answer. Who chimes in with the answer first will get the points for the answer. You don't chime in with the answer. We don't chime in with like, Mandy. You want to saying our name. Yeah. Is that what we're going to do? Yeah. Dennis, you have? Dennis. Yeah, exactly. Perfect. But you have to understand that this game, especially for Sterling and Mandy, it brings out there a couple of demons.

Listen. Our airing is competitive fire. They do not care about your Zoom lag. We don't care about any of them. So you're going to have to be extra quick. That's okay. For the disadvantage, Dennis. Come hard.

That's okay. Come hard or go home. Go home. That didn't come out right. Go on. And then, that's okay. Anyway, this is still, that was us the podcast. Dennis, are you ready? I am ready.

Sullivan, are you ready? Ready. Mandy Moore, you ready? I'm ready. Question number one. This episode is titled after the song with the same name of So Long Marianne. What artist sings this song?

Mandy. Dennis was first. Lynn Cohen. Leonard Cohen is correct. Can I ask the question? Do we let the question finish? No, he said Dennis. No, you don't have to let it finish.

Oh, okay, cool. You don't have to let it finish. As soon as you said. Oh, okay. Got, I got excited. You got it, man. You got it, man. Let's do it.

Question number two. Jack and Nikki eat shrimp for their Thanksgiving dinner in the flashback. Chris. Yes, Chris. Five pounds. That is correct. Jeez, guys. Oh, man.

You just anticipated the question? I was anticipated the question. I have not seen these questions in advance. No, you have not. No, you have not. The point goes to Chris. I'm sorry, that's Dennis one, Chris one, Mandy, zero. Here we go.

Okay. Question number three. Shana, Deja's mom brings Deja's favorite cake to Randallel. Dennis. Dennis. I forgot the. Dennis, what's your answer to?

Dennis. Upside down cake. Give a point to Dennis, ladies, ladies. Dennis. Thank you. You're ready to go, bro. You ready go. All right.

Come on, host, let's see. Question number four. Okay, big dog. How much money does Nikki bet on the football game in the fresh? Chris, $200. $200. $200. Chris gets the point.

That's two for. Dennis and here for Chris and zero for M.M. That's okay. We still got a lot of questions. Here, let's keep it going. Okay. Keeping it going. Question number five. Who does Tess say is her celebrity crush? Mandy. Mandi. Mandy. Zendaya. That is correct.

Mandy Moore is on the board. We got it. We got it. Finally, ladies and gentlemen. Okay. Good job, Mandy. That was five. Thank you. Thank you. Dennis.

He'll give you. Dennis is going to give you. I'm doing it. Okay. We're moving on to the medium. Now, guys. Those were easy. Now we're taking it up a notch. Okay. Number one, when Nikki asks to go on the car ride to Jersey, what name does he mistakenly? Dennis. Dennis, yes. Uh, he calls Randall Russell. That is correct. Dennis is good. Dennis is on it. You're on it, sir. I'm feeling this dude. He's killing it. Let's go.

Question number two. What famous actor stars in the movie Rebecca goes to see? Mandy. Mandy, Deniero. That is correct. That's right. Oh, sooky, sucky now. Get tired of in this mug. Don't call it a comeback.

She's been in for years, Dennis. Here we go. Question number three in the mediums. When Nikki walks into Randall's house, dressed nicer than they've ever seen him, Randall says, Kevin blanked. Oh, Kevin blanked you, huh? Dennis. Yes, Dennis.

A queer idea. Yeah. That is correct. I don't remember that. That is correct. Dude, this is, wait, is it 4-2-2-2. 4-2, okay. I mean, I love the show.

He loves the show, guys. We appreciate it, Dennis. Question number four in the mediums. Rebecca says she was sitting in the theater halfway through, yes. Halfway through the trailer of Cats. That is correct. She has an unfair advantage because it was her lines, but she mailed back. But also, sorry about that.

I should watch that trailer. It's a tough trailer. Hot take. Wait, it's easy to forget why you're in the theater watching the trailer for cats. What is this? Yeah. What movie did I see? What is happening?

You think Taylor Swift never made a mistake. Correct. Question number five of the mediums. In the flash forward, we see Rebecca walk into the cabin where Kate and Kevin are celebrating. Mandy, 40th birthday. That is correct. Okay. Okay.

He's talking trash. Sullivan was talking trash. In the last place. Now it's 4-3-2. Here we go. Now we're moving to the hearts. This is what separates the young people from the adults. Here we go.

After Kevin and Tess walk in from a successful outing together, Kevin feels accomplished having helped Tess feel more comfortable coming out. Randall Teeses is Kevin calling him what fictional... Dennis. Dennis. Ray Donovan? That is correct. Ray Donovan.

Oh, my goodness, this dude. Fixing everybody. I feel like Dennis studied. He had to have studied. He's ready. He's ready. He watched the episode and it's fresh in his head. Yeah.

What if he's never seen the show? And he's just psychic? Yeah. He's reading our minds. Question number two, in the hearts. When Jack and Nicky are listening to So Long Mary Ann and the flashback. What does Nikki tell Jack about the meaning of the song that surprises him? Or, sorry, that it's poetry?

Chris. Yes. That he, that he, that he is. sending her away and calling her back at the same time. These are all close. This is not the answer per se. I'll give Dennis one chance. This is a tough one. Any shot on this one? Because we're both close. You may get partial points.

I'm going to say that he is not sad that she is gone away, that he's happy for her. I think I'm going to, okay, so I'm going to read this to you guys. And you tell me who you think should get the point. Okay. I'll be fair. This is an egalitarian system right here. I think Dennis should get it. I love it.

This is all you guys. This is like the first time we've done this and we're not been able to see. We haven't been able to see the guests, but he's actually killing it. This is awesome, dude. The answer is, Nikki explains that it's a poem about someone who loves another person without bitterness. Ooh. Yeah. I mean, we'll just say maybe.

nobody gets it because we're all close, but like nobody, you know, right? I'm sorry. Yeah, I agree. Give it to Jack Pearson. If Dennis agrees, we'll give that one to Jack Pearson. I like that. Good answer, Dennis. I appreciate it.

I don't think it's a flawed question. I don't think Jack's surprised by anything. But you said poem and you said love and he said about not being upset. So everybody was sort of right around here. We're in the wheelhouse. Five pounds. Here we go. You killed that.

Two questions left, guys. Come on. All right. Two questions. Kate finds a text message on Toby's phone. Dennis. Mandy, go. Oh, I got it.

Don't look at your phone. I don't know. I know. I got this one. I know. It's the fit something. Dennis. Hold on.

Wait, one second, Dennis. Fuck. I can't remember. Go ahead, Dennis. What do you say? Lady Kryptonite. Yeah. No.

Let me continue with the question. Oh. Lady Dynamite. No. Do you guys want me to finish the question? Yeah, finish the question. Let me finish the question. Kate finds a text message on Toby's phone.

that makes her question their relationship. What does this? Yes, Chris. Don't let her bring you down. Point to Sullivan. Oh, yes. Don't let her bring you down is exactly correct. Okay, so Chris, this will give you a tie with your co-host.

Mandy, this is to tie Dennis. Dennis, this is to win outright without anybody taking you down. All right. Kevin takes tests through a fast food drive-thru to practice. Dennis. Happy Burger. Dennis is our winner, ladies, in Georgia. Dennis, I'm so impressive.

It really hurts me that your camera is broken because, sir, you right that shit. Thank you. Yeah, you really did. Give it up for Dennis. Turns out it's Dan for a woman. Thank you. Thank you, and I tell you guys, something interesting.

So I know that Sully has always said, you know, that the show is a template on how to live and that you guys have talked about how the show is a conversation piece for families. But for me and my son Dylan, we watched the entire thing all the way through. And then we watched the entire thing all the way through again, except we would pause and rewind and go and look at the acting

and say, wow, look how Mandy is doing something different as older Rebecca, or look how Sterling is killing that monologue, or look how recently it was more like, hey, look how Sully is playing the humor, but you can see the pain in his eyes. It's just, so we would actually watch it and then rewatch the entire thing again and just watch like acting moments.

Wow. Dennis will be on the show. Dennis is taking the show over as hosts. Every one. From now, dude, that is the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful thing to say. How old was your boy when you guys were watching the show

through the first time? He was 17, and he was still in high school. now he's at Long Island University studying musical theater. He's going to be 19 soon. Oh, fantastic. We still send each other texts and phone calls and stuff, and a lot of it is about acting, and I'll send him, you know, clips from the show still.

Dennis, are you an actor? No, I'm a writer, actually. Really? Oh, in that case, my name's Chris Sullivan. Very nice to meet you. And, yeah, I mean, that's why I was at home today. I gave myself the day off. I'm my own boss.

So I said, oh, this will be so much fun. Listen, your attention to detail. Of course, you're a writer. You picked up on all the nuances of... You're also living the dream that your college-age son is still... In active communication with you. Right. And like emotional communication.

It's beautiful. Yeah. You know, he's only been there a month, so we'll see what happens. Sure, sure. Hey, it sounds like it's working. Thank you so much for joining us. You win. What is it going to be Chris's parting gift?

Chris, what's your parting gift for minutes? Well, Dennis' a parting gift. Yeah, what do we get? What do we get them? Oh, you get a signed poster. You will be receiving a sign poster. I love that. I love that.

I love that. I love that. But honestly, the attention to detail, the fervor with which you came to play the game, you're my kind of guy. Thank you very much for being here, brother. We love you back, man. Yeah, we love you back. Thank you for your time.

And thanks for listening to the pod. Hell yeah. Watching the show. And so far, as far as the fans we met, you're the number one fan. You're a number one fan. Number one. Everybody, you got to take down, Dennis. That's number one.

That's number one fan. And probably Dylan. We'll talk to you next time, bro. You take care of yourself. Thank you. Later, brother. Bye. That was fun.

He was good. He was great. Dennis came to play. I was like, oh, okay, anticipating the question. Yeah, yeah. I told him about that Zoom lag. Maddie said, I thought we had to finish. I thought we were being polite and waiting for the full question to be asked.

But got it. Noted. Yes, that was the end of episode 409. Before you, you're going to get us? You signed off for this? No, yes, sign it off. Great episode. That's what you call a mid-season finale.

Yeah. So we have so much hangar. Stuff going on in that one. It was chock-full. Like, we were sort of like reminding ourselves like, holy, canoli's bad man. How much stuff we stuffed into 42 minutes and 30 seconds. It's pretty remarkable. It's incredibly remarkable.

And I feel like it really lays like a nice track for the rest of season four. There's a lot to delve into. The rest of the show, like so much things that goes for. I mean, exactly. I feel you. That was another episode of that was us. Thank you guys for joining us. If you have an opportunity, like, subscribe, tell a friend.

Support our sponsors. Support our sponsors. We have a joy doing the show. We hope you have a joy enjoying the show as well. Have a joy. We love you. We'll see you on the next. That was us.

That was us. Hey, that was us. That Was Us is filmed at Rabbit Grin Studios and produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith.