That Was Us - Jack Pearson Level Magic | "Six Thanksgivings" (308) with special guest Jon Huertas
Episode Date: June 17, 2025Jon Huertas is back with us on the pod this week, chatting all about Season 3 Episode 8: Six Thanksgivings! Mandy, Chris, and Sterling have lots of laughs talking with Jon about memories from filmin...g this episode, including what it's like to have all those prosthetics on, Jon's idea that saved the day during a specific scene, how his character, Miguel, was starting to fit into the Pearson family more, and other fun commentary! That Was Us is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. ------------------------- Support Our Sponsors: - Get a free can of OLIPOP: Buy any 2 cans of Olipop in store, and Olipop will pay you back for one - Works on any flavor, any retailer - URL: drinkolipop.com/TWU- OLIPOP is sold online (drinkolipop.com + Amazon) and available in almost 50,000 retailers nationwide, including Costco, Walmart, Target, Publix, Whole Foods, Kroger and HEB. - For your next trip, treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from Quince. Go to Quince.com/TWU for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order. - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host ------------------------- 🍋 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. ------------------------- 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:32 Discussion 01:27:52 Fan Segment 01:32:25 Outro Executive Producers: Natalie Holysz, Rob Holysz & Jeph Porter Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Video Editor: Todd Hughlett Mix & Master: Jason Richards #thisisus #thatwasus #thanksgiving Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
On today's episode of That Was Us, we are diving into season three, episode eight, six Thanksgivings.
Kate and Toby try to make a normal Thanksgiving dinner while Randall makes an appearance for his campaign,
but it leads to a magical, unconventional meal for the Pearson family.
Meanwhile, Miguel stands up for his relationship with Rebecca, and we finally discover the story behind.
the necklace that Jack wore.
What up everybody?
You've heard of four Christmases.
We got six Thanksgiving.
We got six Thanksgiving up in this mother list.
And in addendum to six Thanksgivings, we got our boy in the house.
John Wirtes, co-hoping for the episode.
Lucky us.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for coming back.
Of course.
This is always a good time.
What's going on with you these days?
Just give us a little rundown.
What's pop?
I know you're building.
The complex.
I've got a new prefix.
What's the new one?
Farmer.
Look at this case.
Farmer John.
Of course.
Farmer John hit me up.
We were facetiming each other real quick and he hit me with this anecdote because he's got animals on there and he's got like a hen.
Is it a rooster?
What was it?
It was a turkey.
Wild turkey.
He's got wild turkey.
Yeah.
Like many of them.
He's got wild turkey.
He said he got one wild turkey that tried to run his ass down.
Really?
Yeah, try to kill me.
They are mean.
They're big, too.
They're bigger than you think.
Because from a distance, you can tell they're big birds, but they're just a bird.
Up close, it's like a dinosaur.
Yeah, yeah.
Trying to jump up at you with his high feet, so it comes at you sideways.
Yeah, yeah.
What?
Yeah.
And he said, like from the hood.
He came out of the door.
And he said, he said, like, I don't know how fast I ran, but it was a five-something-40.
He's like, it may not have been like in the fours because John's got some wheels on him.
He's like, but like.
Used to be in the fours, but this may have been like a good five-one or something.
Let's just say a wild turkey can probably get up into the low 20s, minus miles per hour.
Yeah, really?
I mean, but I did outrun this.
Yeah, that's right.
Wait, what do you do about the dogs?
They weren't there with me at that point.
They were still here in L.A., but yeah, that turkey tried to get twice.
Because I kept it at bay, I had a jacket like a, like a matador.
I was like, I was like, get off.
And I was cussing out the turkey.
Like, they could understand what I was saying.
And I'm like, get off him.
It would have been a perfect time to call somebody a jive turkey.
Damn it.
It would have been the perfect opportunity.
Next time, next time.
You ain't nothing but a job!
You imagine being across a field?
Is that what's John doing?
Jersen out of turkey.
What would have happened?
Here's my, and then we'll get to the episode, of course.
People who are interested in this is us.
But there's the fight of flight, right?
And so you choose the flight.
But, like, if you get, were you close to, like, having to turn and squabble up?
Yeah, I mean, it was literally, if I didn't have the door behind me to get back into my spot, then I would have had to fight the turn.
Yeah.
This is that close to your house?
This is where the word squabble comes from.
A man fighting a turkey.
Squabble, squabble, squabble, squabble.
Kendrick had the same thing happen.
Squabble, squabble, squabble.
So this turkey, when I came out the door, the turkey, it wasn't there.
I mean, I came out of the door and I was like, oh, I forgot my jacket.
So I reached, I went back in, grabbed my jacket, came out kind of backwards, locked the door, turned around, the turkey was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and like, all up on me.
And, like, right there, like, I'm talking 12 inches away.
And I was like, ah, and I put the jacket in front, like, get off me, and it was like, get away from me, turkey.
And he wasn't scared.
But I was like, get away from me turkey.
And it chased me back into the house.
And then I, and I waited.
I was like, and then I looked at it.
out the door and there was no turkey.
So I was like, all right, he obviously was on one.
He went to go eat some grubs or whatever they eat.
And I walked to my, started to walk to my vehicle.
As I turned the corner, the turkey was behind me, just wings out.
And then I freaking had to sprint through my barn.
They have a barn.
I cannot.
You got to kill that turkey.
I picked up a broom, like a pushroom inside my barn and had to spin on him.
I was like, get up, man.
We need that, we need that rock salt shotgun.
That's what I should.
Just by the door.
Just by the door.
We're farmer now, John.
You have to keep a shotgun by the door.
And now every day there's, because the male, it's the male turkeys to do it.
And suddenly when male turkeys are getting, like, territorial, they get their heads turn blue and their waddle turns red.
Yeah.
And they're like, and they start gobbling at you.
And they yell at you.
And I start, I'm trying to be nice.
Yeah.
I'm like, hey, what's up, turkey?
I'm just chilling, like, you eat some food,
you eat some insects?
And a turkey gets mad, swells up.
That's when the picture of a turkey
when they got all the feathers up.
Yeah.
That's not how they usually look.
Right, right, right, right.
The classic turkey, that's an angry turkey.
That's an angry turkey.
Because swell up.
The Thanksgiving turkey.
Because they're about to get killed.
They drag their wings on the ground
and, like, slap them,
so they make these little sounds like,
it's scary.
So when it's coming at you,
is it coming at you on the ground,
or is it actually trying to jump up?
It's trying to jump up to you.
It's coming with his head a little bit,
and it's beak and swinging his head out.
you and it's turning sideways and trying to jump up with his hind feet and just claw you
okay so that was the that was the most ethical treatment that you could have done in terms of
just keeping it at bay and like i don't want to talk about any unethical treatments because i don't
want to get in trouble we can though because here we are six thanksgiving six turkeys six dead turkeys on
six tables what a segue a turkey would have a turkey attack let's talk about our first thanksgiving
on this episode is is a flashback yeah to the piercens yes who are having
our man Miguel
he's coming to the crib
for the first time
since his divorce
and Mandy
oh excuse me
Rebecca
is talking in the beginning
like thank you
similar people
similar people
it's not
Rebecca
it's Rebecca
talking about like
I'm best friends
with his ex-wife
why are we having him over
to the house
and not her
she's got the kids
she's going to go see her family
Jack is like
he's by himself
otherwise he'd just be somewhere, right?
So the family's having a good time.
The Pearson's are lovey-dovey.
The big three-year-old getting teased about Randall's college essay.
Like, dude, you've got to pick the fireman for like the most important person in your life.
Most influential person in your life.
Everybody's like, hello, fireman, obviously.
Dad's like it's a layup.
He's like, no, it's not.
It's an unfair question, right?
You know, too many people contribute to it.
I disagree with the premise.
Yeah, exactly.
The premise is flawed.
The question is flawed premise.
All right.
All right, smarty pants.
But the premise for the question is flawed.
It's more he goes deeper.
He turns to get his voice deep like yours is.
So the first thing that caught me as there is a ring at the doorbell.
Miguel comes in with antithetical energy to the good vibes that are permeating through the Pearson household.
The first question I had was cell phone?
He's on the phone, folks.
And I guess it's 98.
That's 98.
Yeah, yeah, because it's the last Thanksgiving before jackdyes.
Okay, so, wait.
It is 98.
It was the brick with the first little flip.
Yeah.
We're born in 1980.
We're 17.
So it's 97, let's say.
Sorry, 97, the end of 97, because 98 is when he passes away.
Yeah, didn't even have the microphone in the flippy part.
It was just operating.
It was a cat.
That was a cat.
People had guns.
Okay, you're right.
And Miguel was rich.
So, of course he was loaded.
He was getting his.
That was one of the things.
And that's a big story point that we learned to play golf so he could get rich.
This is one of the story points that happened to the thing.
Okay.
So I wasn't sure about the time from us.
I didn't get my first cell phone, interesting enough, until I graduated from grad school.
So I got my first one in 01, right?
It was the sprint, like, single thing I jigger.
Yeah, four years later.
Yeah, four years later.
Yeah.
Not at all.
As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say I lived beneath the poverty line at that time in my life.
I don't claim poor, but beneath the poverty line.
You were happy and rich and he was happy.
My first cell phone, I couldn't afford it.
How old were you had your first one?
About the same time.
By an 01, for you, wouldn't you get your first one?
Because you were, you've been working.
About the same time.
I was here in LA already.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was, I had my first cell phone.
My parents did have a car.
Probably 99. 99.
I had a purple Nokia.
I got it from a birthday.
Nobody had.
We probably bought it from the same store.
Ryan was a big blackberry person.
Nobody ever went through a blackberry phase?
Oh, of course we did.
I did it.
Yeah, I had a blackberry.
My mom had a car phone.
Oh, my dad had a car phone.
Really?
Yeah.
I've seen those.
In his Ford Explorer.
It was like a catch, yeah, like wired to like the.
Yeah, you can hang it up.
Yeah.
Was it rotary?
No, my friend's dad had a rotary one.
In his car?
Yeah, a Mercedes convertible.
And he had it, like, it was the whole center console.
Oh, perfect.
Was the phone, like, you open up as a phone, and it had the rotary.
Did it ring like a rotary?
I never heard it ring.
I never, I mean, all I know is when I go in his garage,
I would just open it and stare at it like this thing.
It's pretty cool.
Like the coolest thing you've ever seen out.
One day.
Okay.
I had to explain it to Bear the other day because Bear said,
why do they say hang up?
the phone
really that's such a good question
it is a good question because you used to hang it on a wall
I mean just like this this doesn't mean anything anymore
like putting your thing putting your hand to your face
with the pinky out and the thumb up no like nobody
would understand that's this it's that
yeah it's like you know pick a phone speaker phone I'm on speaker phone
for me I don't even put this to my ear anymore because I'm afraid of like
what sort of like yeah it's like I either put it on the speaker
or I have the buds in and I do it that way like I actually don't
Because sometimes if I, like, concentrate, I do feel a little something.
And I'm like, it's not good to be close to my head.
I truly believe that.
I don't know if you guys have ever had that feeling.
No, I mean.
John is very dubious.
For those not watching on YouTube, he's really dubious.
Yeah, he looks as confused as the turkey.
Let us continue with the storyline, because we've got like six Thanksgiving.
Got this scene with Milo.
Well, before a scene.
Before the scene with Milo, they're at the table.
Right, everybody's at the table.
Oh, that's right, yeah.
You came in arguing, what his argument was like,
yo, just let me see the kids.
Let me just tell them Thanksgiving for, you know,
happy Thanksgiving for a hot second right now.
It's kind of mean for Shelley to not even let me say thanks.
It does seem, it doesn't seem fair, right?
No.
The camaraderie, the camaraderie, the good vibes continue at the table.
And Miguel is just seeing like everything that is happening for this family
that he is sort of on the outside of.
Well, it's not having his own experience.
Yeah, right.
He wishes that was his stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah. Anything else? Because you were insider. I always like to hear people being inside the scene just sort of talk through their experience.
Yeah. I mean, I think that's what, you know, Miguel was just, you know, seeing what he could have had if his relationship didn't fall apart.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it breaks his heart. Yeah. And I think, you know, he just can't be in this moment because he's going to ruin what's going on if he suddenly starts blubbering in front of these people.
Sure. So he just is like, excuse me, I'm going to go poop.
That's why he says.
Yeah.
And then, do you guys have a shitter?
Jack's like, I know he ain't got to go.
I'm not going to make it.
That's my best friend.
I'm not going to make it.
He's not making his poop face.
Cheeks clenched, just trying to enjoy himself.
He doesn't look.
That's a different face.
I will also, I will also be right back.
And he goes left at the end of the hallway, too, just like I did.
It's at the right where.
Yeah.
The bathroom is.
Sally, you're about to say the same between Jack and Michael?
Yeah, but he just gives you a pep talk.
He gives me a great pep talk.
Yeah, the quintessential.
For my character, at least, it, you know, definitely made him feel like I'm going to make the most of being here.
And I'm so glad to have the Pearson's in my life.
Which then later in the episode comes back around full circle.
Yes, it does.
And the line that stuck out for me in that one, too.
Like, obviously he demonstrates what a driven individual you are.
Yeah.
Where you've come from and where you are now.
Sure.
He's like, he's like, look, you're rich.
You got a cell phone.
What more you want?
What more could you want?
What more could you want?
You won golf tournaments?
Yeah.
But he does say, he does say, he does say, she could never turn your kids against you.
Yeah.
Which I was like, knowing the episode, I was like, oh.
Jack's not always right.
Oh, boy.
But I like that he mentions.
you know, take the same tenacity that you approach to your job with
and, like, make sure those kids know, like, you're still their dad.
Yeah.
You use that same energy to focus it on them.
Which I feel like Miguel has done for Jack at one point up to this point.
Doesn't Miguel give Jack a speech at some point about, like...
That was, like, maybe one or two where he's like, uh...
He's like, don't ruin...
You got a great thing at home.
Your wife is smoking and where everybody's like, why are you talking about his wife being smoking?
That's how it went.
Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it.
There's essentially two friends, two friends holding each other to a higher standard.
Yeah.
Be the man I know you are.
Yeah, the man I see.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah, I would love if we can't because I know I do these little tangents, but I just love how the show relates to real life and how you guys deal with it.
In terms of work-life balance, do you have any sort of strictures that you try to put in place to make sure that you allocate the appropriate amount of time to everything that is in your life?
Or do you feel like you take it day by day?
Like, I'm just very curious.
Yeah, I have some rules.
Hit us up.
Please.
So my phone is on Do Not Disturb from, I think, seven, six or six o'clock at night to eight o'clock in the morning.
Okay.
I don't do any business calls or anything like that after six o'clock.
Okay.
And then on weekends, I don't either.
Beautiful.
It's just.
I love those boundaries.
Beautiful.
Yeah.
And so it's just my time and my wife's time.
How long have you done that?
How long?
probably six or seven years now
before the show
about 10 years ago like the beginning of the show
before the beginning of the show yeah that's amazing
and you feel like everybody knows that and they just respect it
like your team knows it and they get a little frustration
well my team does okay but everybody else like you know
there are some people that still are like you know
pick up the fuck yeah 830 texting me like hey man can't give you a call about this
script or whatever and I'm like yeah yeah you know just ignore it
I got you.
Texting a good day.
Until tomorrow.
Yes.
I saw you called last night.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It is the idea that we are able to be reached 24 hours a day is a very new thing that people now automatically assume.
Like, why aren't you reach them?
Remember back like in the, you know, before there were cell phones?
Yeah.
If you were at dinner with your family and the phone rang, there'd be like a look across the table like,
why are they calling during dinner?
Who called?
Who is calling?
Between six and seven.
And it must be an emergency.
Right.
Then after dinner time, it's like family time.
Like, maybe we're watching something together.
Kids doing homework.
Yes.
Who's calling?
Nine times out of ten, it was a telemarketer.
Because they knew you were going to be home.
Even now, my own, I have a home line.
I don't answer this line.
Nobody should have this phone.
Yeah, yeah.
I ripped that, like, off my new house, the farm.
Like, there was a hard line coming into the house.
What the hell is this?
Just rip it off.
Yeah.
There you go.
Hard-wired.
What about you beautiful people?
How do you guys, I mean, especially for you guys, with the young people in the house.
They got screens.
No, no, no, they have boundaries.
I have no boundaries.
I have no boundaries.
Yeah, I should be better about that.
I really, I'm going to take a page out of your book, John.
Except if I call you at 10 o'clock, just answer to me.
I mean, I will, no, I'm actually asleep.
Why are you calling it 10 o'clock?
That's too late, John.
Listen, if I get a time back from Jack.
She's my next, she's my, like, emergency contact.
If I get attacked by a turkey, she doesn't have to.
Yeah, listen.
I'm not call.
I'm on the roof of my car.
I'm surrounded by turkey.
I can't get a hold on Nicole, please.
Here's something though, man.
Because your husband has to go on the road for his job.
So do you guys talk about, like, all right, if you're going to be going for this
amount of time, like, can you be, like, is there a negotiation there?
I feel like we're just starting to enter that territory of negotiation.
Like, we are in firm agreement that we,
really don't ever want to be away from the kids, like both of us at the same time.
So trying to navigate those waters of like, okay, well, this is my work schedule, this is
your work schedule, and trying to coordinate it in that sense. But that's just starting to
factor in now. Next time he goes on the road, you're like, pick two. You're taking them with you.
Exactly. You're taking two. I'll take one, you take two. You're sitting around all day.
Yeah. You work two and a half hours a day. Maybe. Maybe. That's generous.
you so uh i am fully present uh i i i don't work for seven to eight months out of the year
until the financial strain becomes too much and then i disappear for four months that's how i
never like no contact yeah yeah that's the plan is your wife's like i don't know where he is
listen i'm home all i do drop off pickup lunches bedtimes eight months straight and then when
people start to panic daddy disappears i got to go i'll be in toronto
And Rachel's cool
Because she's like
She looks at the bank account
There money coming in there
Doesn't matter
I don't care where he is
She felt the same stream
After about eight months
She's like what are you still doing here?
I love that this is funny
But that he's completely serious
And it makes my heart
A little sad at the same time
Like all things happening simultaneously
He's not lying
And it's not a good thing
Okay so I have a couple of rules
We as a family
Ryan and I
When we first got married, we had a six-week rule.
Like, we wouldn't go longer than six weeks,
but it's because I was shooting Army wives,
and I was in Charleston, and it was like, let's not go.
Six weeks is too long.
I'm a firm believer.
Six weeks is too long.
So we've cut that in half.
It's three weeks.
If I can not be gone longer than two weeks,
without somebody getting on the plane
to see the other person with the kids,
that's the best.
The first time, since the kids have been born,
we had to go five weeks when I was in Australia.
And it was long.
Thankfully, like, as opposed to the beginning of the marriage,
there's FaceTime and everything, so I'd get a chance to talk to them.
And the time difference was 16 hours into the future.
So I would just wake up whenever they went to school and when they got home from school.
So I could just at least see them for a certain period of time.
That's one of the few things that we actively try to do.
But in terms of just like, I've sort of come up with a formula for how I want my career to go,
if in the universe sees fit, which is a television show that shoots in Los Angeles for the majority of the year.
for and then a little bit of time to play
to either do a film or a play, right?
Or both, right?
But the idea that my family knows where I am
for at least half the year
is very comforting to me.
So when people say like,
oh, don't you want to go do movies
and they get all sort of mad at me for doing it?
I was like, I'm good.
I get the best of all of it.
You know, and my family gets to see me
and I get to see them
because you guys know, like,
so much changes and shifts
in these young people
that like sometimes if you're going too long, you're like, oh, snap, that I missed?
Yeah, yeah.
I don't want to miss none of that.
Right?
So that's one of the few things.
So thank you.
I'm curious.
So the longest, since you guys have been together, the longest you guys have ever been apart is six weeks.
Five.
Five weeks.
Oh, no, no, well, since Brian and I've been together six weeks, right?
Since being parents, five weeks, and that just happened this past year.
Wow.
Besides that, only two weeks.
Wow.
That's very admirable.
It's, it's.
I know.
It takes work, though.
It takes planning.
Absolutely.
We'll be right back with more.
more, that was us.
Okay, we've talked a lot about growing up on the show and how life just gets more complex.
That definitely includes how your body feels.
Like, suddenly your soda habit from 1998, not sitting so well anymore.
Exactly, which is why I switched to olypop.
It tastes like the soda I grew up on.
but it actually supports gut health and has way less sugar.
Just two to five grams per can and nine grams of prebiotic fiber sterling.
Let's be honest here, Saul.
We all care more about what we put in our bodies now.
You know, the more you learn, the better you try to do.
Especially when digestive issues become more real than theoretical.
That can of soda that you had back in the day, like, yeah, it hit one way.
Now you try to do it and you feel like your head is about to...
Buddy, I go cross-eyed.
It's so sweet.
But what I love is that this doesn't feel like a health drink.
It really does feel like soda.
My favorite is the classic grape.
And the orange crush brings me right back to childhood.
Love that purple stuff, girl.
Come on now.
Oh, it's the best.
It's my favorite.
It feels like summer.
I just popped this crisp apple.
I love the crisp apple.
And it is like...
It is a fall favorite.
I'll be honest.
You know, now that we're transitioning into summer, I've got to go with my orange and grape.
I understood.
But apple hits, too.
It's crisp.
I'd have this any time.
Chris. Listen, whether you're chilling out after an emotional binge watch or you need a bubbly pick-me-up
without the sugar crash, Oli-Pop, is kind of the adult version of soda we all deserve.
And you can find it pretty much anywhere.
Oli-Pop is sold online at drinkolipop.com and on Amazon, and it is available in almost 50,000
retailers nationwide, including Costco, Walmart, Target, Publix, whole.
Whole Foods, Kroger, and H.E.B.
And you can even get a free can.
Buy any two cans in store, and OliPop will pay you back for one.
It works on any flavor, any retailer.
Just had to DrinkOllipop.com slash TWU.
That's drinkollipop.com slash TWU.
Your gut will thank you.
You know that summer moment when you realize nothing in your closet feels quite right?
Same.
But this year, I didn't panic by.
I discovered quince, and now I actually look forward to getting dressed.
It's summer. To me, summer is all about linen.
Okay.
I just got myself some new linen pieces that are great to travel with.
Me too.
Linen pants?
Totally, you're a linen guy.
Linen shirts.
Yeah, I have a same.
I need like a matching set.
Big, bold color block.
I did like an olive, full olive green outfit.
I'm a little more of the beige family.
I got beige too.
I got beige too so I can mix and match.
We're going to the Midwest.
We're taking family portraits.
Right on.
We got the whole family, Quinn's outfits to match for the photos.
I love that.
From European linen dresses starting at just $30 to swimwear and Italian leather sandals,
Quinn's nails that elevated look without draining your budget.
And when I'm getting myself some upgrades, I always love to get something for the kids, too.
Like I'm saying.
Got to.
Can't forget about them.
Little cutie outfits.
Yes.
Quince works directly with top artisans and co-examines.
cuts out the middle men.
So you're not paying extra for a label.
Just timeless pieces beautifully made at an unreal price.
And they only work with factories that made high ethical standards.
So you can feel good about what you're wearing.
Give your summer closet an upgrade with Quince.
Go to quince.com slash TWU for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.
That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash T-W-U to get free shipping.
and 365-day returns.
Quins.com slash TWU.
You.
Thanksgiving number two.
You want to jump to what,
which one are you going to jump to?
Because I want to kind of finish out
the Miguel storyline.
The whole storyline?
I kind of like the through line of it.
Okay.
To go to.
You sure?
I don't want to listen.
Miguel and Rebecca.
Hey, you stop.
Thanksgiving number one.
We'll get you out early.
He's still going to chime in.
No, you're still going to chavit on the other stuff.
But do we jump to?
Is that the end of it in the past?
It is.
I mean, it really ends with Randall saying, you know, reading the essay.
Right.
Right.
Okay, so we'll come back to it then.
So we see Miguel, present day, Miguel and Rebecca going to Scarsdale.
Is that where we're going?
I believe so, yeah.
Upstate New York.
To see your daughter.
Amber.
And son.
Daughter and son.
And is it meeting the grandson for the first time?
Meeting the grandson for the first time.
Meant the grandson for the first time.
And he says we're a pity invite, you know.
And he's having...
Because Shelley's, you know, going to see...
She's with her new husband's family, et cetera.
And he's sort of feeling anxious about it.
And what do you say?
You say something to him.
Rebecca, don't you like?
Do I? I don't remember.
Something sweet.
You said, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
Women, I can't remember I'm just going to gobble.
You say something sweet, but then they get there.
And I have to add, there is Amari Michael Ryan Christian Brown watched this episode with me last night.
And he was watching the interaction at the table.
He said a couple of things to me, which were really interesting, because it's the first, like, he hasn't had to deal with too many step parents and stepchildren sorts of things.
And the dynamics, and he's like, so that's his son and that's his daughter and that's her husband and that's their child.
And he's like, he says, like, family get really complicated when you get divorced.
And it was just one of those things that you just sort of like, note to self.
Yeah.
Try not to get divorced.
You know what I'm saying?
Because he just sort of like clocked it and innocently as all could be.
But he was like, man, that's a lot.
I said, they're pretty complicated when you're still together.
Yeah.
You know, anyways.
Yeah, that doesn't even have to factor in to make it complicated.
It does not at all.
Okay, visiting daughter.
And they start to talk about Kevin's movie.
And they say, like, the kids say, like, they haven't seen it yet,
and, like, they heard it wasn't that great or anything.
The actor who plays your son.
Will.
Will?
He brings it.
He is such a dick.
He brings it.
But his background is comedy.
He's a comedic actor.
Yeah.
Improvisational comedy.
That doesn't surprise.
He's so good at just being a little.
So wait.
I mean, he is in this show for six minutes.
Yeah.
And he is, he immediately can see a history, a lifetime of like resentment.
He brought a sword to the day.
He did.
He did.
Just cutting much.
Yeah, man.
Kevin's movie.
We haven't seen it yet.
Yeah.
Just like.
I was like, heard mixed.
And I love the Rebecca jokes right with rotten tomatoes.
Rebecca.
Let it land on.
But Rebecca's sort of rebuttles like, oh, I don't know.
Like it got like a 94% of rotten tomatoes.
Knowing damn well, she's like, his movie's dope.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, she came back a little bit.
Yeah.
Ron Howard movie.
And then my man, Will hits, he goes, first you steal my father from my mother.
now you're trying to kill my brother-in-law
because there's slice almonds
in the sweet potato souffle or what have you
and which Amari Michael Ryan Christian Brown
just goes, shots fired!
Did he really?
I can't.
I can not.
We got to have some live commentary from this.
Oh my God!
I was crying what he did it.
Shots fires.
What?
So this is an interesting day on set, right?
because we have two regulars
are on the show
who are now sitting down
with like six day players
which is an interesting dynamic on a set.
Day players with which
we are supposed to have a lifetime of history.
Intimate relation with.
Tell us about the day.
Interesting enough, like maybe not as intimate.
Right.
Not as intimate but still a history,
but you're right.
That definitely helps serves like the stranger elements.
Yeah.
I mean, the day was a little crazy because,
and there was a whole story change
because of this Thanksgiving dinner.
If you remember, there was a baby
that was supposed to be my daughter's son.
Yeah.
Wasn't adopted originally.
Right.
This baby was the actor that was just, like, screaming, bloody murder.
The entire time we were trying to shoot.
And they'd take the baby out and bring in the stand-in baby.
And the standing baby was like,
yeah, man, what y'all want to do?
And just awesome.
And finally, it was just not going well.
Catherine Harder was just like getting red and be like,
I just don't even, like we were losing today.
And I finally said, why don't we just use the standing baby?
And they're like, he's Asian.
Yeah, he's adopted.
Boom.
Welcome to real life.
That's what they do in that family, in the Asian family.
That's what we do on the show.
People get adopted.
So let's just, and they were like, oh, ding, ding, ding.
And they swapped out the baby and the day went smooth.
Yeah.
It was your pitch.
It wasn't my pitch.
I think it was.
I think it was.
That is great.
Yeah.
And you mentioned the director of this episode,
Catherine Hardwick.
Yep.
Who you are friends with.
I'm friends with it.
Yeah.
How many episodes of our show did she do?
Just this one?
No, she did like two or three?
I think she did two.
Yeah.
She is also the director of Lords of Dogtown.
Yeah.
13, Lords of Dogtown, the first Twilight movie.
First Twilight movie.
And you guys did a film together, right?
Yeah, we did a film with Brian Cox called Prisoner's Daughter,
Pete Beck & Salle.
Okay.
Cool.
Yeah, she's great.
And she's a neighbor, and we do game night all the time.
I love that.
So these children are firing shots, as Amari has noted.
Yes, these adult children of yours.
Well, my son was.
Yeah.
But the daughter was trying to engage.
Yeah, she was trying to be nice.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Cordial.
She was trying to be cordial.
Cordial.
And we get one of the, one of the, it was a good model.
It's like a pivotal moment for our audience with Miguel?
Yeah.
A clarifying, a clarifying moment.
I think so.
Well, I also feel like this is more information.
It's helping sort of like color in the picture of who Miguel is and slowly but surely turn the audience more on his side.
I think like his son sort of represented a lot of what many of our audience thought about Miguel.
Stealing.
Yes.
Stealing Rebecca.
And there's a whole thing about like we were...
Or Rebecca stealing him, I guess, from their mother.
It's like, oh, that's an interesting inversion.
Sure.
Yeah, I think that was a device that they used is like, you know, to speak to the audience's idea
that I stole Rebecca.
Yeah.
They kind of flipped it on its head and showed the audience what they were thinking through my son.
And then it's just ridiculous, right?
It's ridiculous.
It's ridiculous that Rebecca stole Miguel.
Yeah.
to make the audience feel that it was ridiculous
that Miguel would steal Jack, or Jack,
from Jack, Rebecca from Jack.
In one monologue, because our show jumps back and forth
through time so much, it all feels so immediate.
Yeah.
Right. Like, you were married, and then you're not,
and now you're married, right? Because the way it edits together,
it's like, I don't remember how many episodes ago,
it's you realize that Jack is dead and you show up at the door.
And it just feels immediate.
It's 102, into 102.
One excellent piece of writing,
expertly delivered, you lay out, no, no, here's how it went down.
Yeah.
Oh, the timeline.
The timeline for the audience.
10 years after Jack died, we found each other.
Yeah.
This is the line, I think, yeah.
And at this point, obviously, at first, people had a, uh, they bristled at the idea
of Miguel, Jack's best friend being with his wife.
Then after a while, I feel like it just kind of became fun.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, and Miguel can be the bad guy.
And it was like, yeah, but you don't really dislike Miguel.
Sure.
You can't.
You cannot dislike Miguel.
And you can't dislike him especially after that monologue.
He stands up for his wife.
He's like, look, you know, you can give me all the shade, basically, that you want to.
But, like, we found each other.
We filled like, there's one line that I thought was funny because, and we filled a hole in each other's lives.
I was like, I bet you did.
Yeah.
And then, um, but sometimes people just match.
Sometimes you just perfectly, you just feel, they just physically, I mean.
Sometimes you just feel holes.
But, but, but he said, you know, put some respect on my wife's name.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, you know, if you ain't going to do that, then you can keep her name out of your
anywhere.
Mouth.
You understand what I'm saying.
And it was, it was really quite beautiful.
Your daughter's, you know, you know, you know,
Your daughter immediately reaches out and it's like, oh, that's on me.
One thing in that moment, I noticed, she made a choice, my daughter.
Yeah.
She only grabbed these three fingers.
Yeah.
I don't know if that's a halfway.
Why didn't she grab my pinky?
Let me see what it feels like.
She just grabbed that.
Yeah, that's weird.
Maybe it's a little easier?
I don't know.
Is my hand gigantic or something?
It feels like a normal size.
You got thick?
I never heard that before.
You got thick hands, bro.
It's good to have you.
You can do you.
At the end of the whole thing, again, Amari Michael Ryan Christian Brown says, I quote,
Son sounds like a real douchebag.
I cannot.
We have to have him on the show.
Period.
The last time I was here, wasn't he waiting in the lobby?
Yes.
Amari's always circling.
He's like, how do I get into this?
He wants to be on this.
I feel like when I walked out last time, he was like, it's about time.
Probably.
He runs my iPad down to like 1%.
And he's like, what am I supposed to do now?
I'm like, plug it in, bro.
Thank God you're here.
I need a cord.
Anybody else, get anything else to say about that sort of like Miguel through line?
Number three?
Let's move it to it.
Let's move it.
What you got?
Yeah.
Number three would be what?
What do we want to go back to?
Which one you would do?
Do we want to go to Beth and Randall?
Present day, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
We can do a little R.B.
I wrote OK boxer briefs.
Yeah.
Just so you know, note, it's always.
two pairs. It's a pair underneath a pair
because you know people are going to freeze from me. You're like, come on, man, just
pay attention. Trying to get the outline. Pay attention to what I'm saying.
Does it two pairs, like, hide the outline?
Sort of just, like, it just sort of pushes it a little.
Again, watch on YouTube so you can see the gesture.
Are you trying to explain to us why it's flat in the front?
Yeah. Oh, okay.
Yeah, that's exactly. Oh, because it was two pairs of only.
I have a penis, but they try not to show it on.
on NBC at 9 o'clock.
Absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So two pairs of boxer briefs.
Makes it look like you don't have a penis.
Got it, got it.
And then I do his tuck thing?
No.
Yeah.
You're a Kendall.
Got it.
Got it.
Got it.
Got it.
Okay.
So.
I thought Randall walked from me.
But we then realized that we're trying to understand Beth's role in Randall's campaign.
And we understand now that she is a field director.
She's a field director.
That's what we're calling it.
That's the job title.
Correct.
that she's been given.
She's also talking about, like, I wonder, does J-Wan think that I'm doing great?
And she's like, he's like, do you come up with great idea of the great idea?
Everything that's been coming up, roses, there's no need to work.
Fantastic idea.
What was the word?
Stupendous.
Stupendous idea.
Wow.
But also because she's lost her job, she's finding some meaning, like something to grab onto and contribute and feel like she has purpose.
Right.
Need something to grab on.
They're going to go.
They're going to go.
Exactly.
old flat front randall
sometimes I push back
and I was like guys why do I have to wear too
and then I put on one pair
and then I was like no it's too much
it's too much for people
oh you had to get that in there
trust me Sterling my junk is too much
no one's looking at your crotch
no thank you that's what I said
thank you very much that's the okay boxer briefs
was more of like okay someone's half naked
on television it was funny too because
Catherine Hardrick was like, what kind of toothpaste are we using while he's brushing
his teeth?
Because it was an electric toothbrush, and she wanted very much to see more lather coming out
of my mouth.
At a certain point, like, you brush your teeth so much, it gets raw.
Have you guys ever had to brush your teeth?
We talked about it on this point.
You burned your mouth.
The inside of my mouth, and this is the word I'll use, shloft off.
Shluffed off.
Toothpaste.
Because you had it with toothpaste.
I was brushing my teeth for so long.
The inside of my cheeks just fell like.
I was like, Katherine Hart, we don't need that much laugh.
Just carry out, they know I'm brushing my teeth.
So we finally got through that.
At the end of this scene, it ties in, Tess comes in, and it is sort of like in a state not feeling great about things.
And then, and this will tie in, too.
I just want to put it all together, like Black Pierce and stuff.
Deja is, her mom sends her text, she's being like, happy Thanksgiving, et cetera.
And Dage sees Tess and Beth having a moment with each.
other and just feeling a little like, ah, I don't have my mom anymore.
You know what I'm saying?
Don't have that.
There was a little parallel between Miguel and Deja.
Give it to.
Yeah.
Well, because Miguel's looking at the family going, boom.
I don't have Emily anymore.
And then, you know, it's the same.
It was kind of, I watched the episode.
The Pearson's just making everybody feel bad.
And the reason there are so many thanksgivings while they're so,
is because most of the families going off to the homeless shelter.
We're going to the shelter to feed.
Yeah.
And Kate and Toby are staying at your house.
That's correct.
You guys are coming to the cryptic cook.
To man the family's meal prep while you do the essentially a campaigning.
Yeah.
At the homeless shelter.
Yeah.
But it's interesting, too, because I think Beth is like, her whole idea as a field director is like, we're trying to make authentic connections with the community.
Right.
And then Jay Wan is like, yeah, but we kind of need people to see it.
publicity is right in order to this is the double-edged sword and it is but not even politics but even like
what we do to a certain extent you know it's like it's not captured it does it really exist did it happen
you know what I'm saying and if we don't talk about it will people come and pay attention to it
and for such a long time you're just like I just want to do this thing that I love yeah but now this
thing that you love part of your job at a certain once you reach a certain point it's like letting
people know about yeah so just real quick how do you all feel about
that part of the job.
Not a big fan.
Speak on it.
I'm not really, I don't really, I'm hard.
I don't plug stuff.
I don't talk about it.
Like you said, I just try to do the work.
I don't like the publicity.
I hate going on podcasts.
I hate the publicity, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
press.
I'm not, and it's just not a huge.
Huge fan of it because it breaks my rules.
Because it's usually after six o'clock, right?
Or sometimes on weekends.
Sure.
You know, so that's one of the reasons I don't like it.
And it's just, I'm, I think, a little bit of an introvert.
Yeah.
So I don't, uh, who's learned to learn to be an extravert.
You're like an introvert, extroverted introvert, what'd you say?
Uh, introverted extrovert.
I don't know that.
Do you have an Audi or an any?
Uh, I'm an iny.
Well, that's a.
Oh, geez.
I'm good.
Okay.
I didn't wear my two t-shirts
to keep my Audi belly button
flat against my belly.
You said it's like one of those little pop toys.
You got to keep it in.
You get squeezed John if you're stressed
as a belly button comes out.
What about you?
I mean, many more...
I mean, I don't mind the press.
I don't mind the press stuff.
But it is interesting.
The parallel I was thinking about
is I have a friend right now
who's trying to make his first feature.
Okay.
And he's trying to cast it.
Yeah.
And he knows all kinds of talented actors.
But he's also looking at the IG numbers, bro.
And TikTok numbers.
And the phrase he is used is, but they have to be a value ad.
Wow.
And I will say this, he's trying to do a movie.
And he got a lead to do this film that if I said the day, I won't say it now because
if I said it, you'd be like, oh, so the movies ago.
Right.
And you're like, no, even with that man.
Yeah, the movie.
You can tell us after the podcast.
Yeah, tell us.
I'm curious.
The movie is not a go.
Sure.
You need...
Just say his initials.
You need...
Are they Liam Neeson?
You need...
The first initial is Liam?
The second initial is Neeson.
No, you need three of him or her.
Interesting.
Right.
To make this a thing.
And I'm just like...
And I'm sitting here going, you have to be...
Yeah.
Kidding me.
Like, what about making a good movie?
Right.
Not enough.
Not enough.
Not enough to win an Academy Award.
If people don't see it.
What about doing a good thing?
No stars.
Not enough.
Right.
What about making an honest connection at a homeless shelter with the family?
Not enough.
Not enough.
You want to win an election or do you want to feed somebody lunch?
Right.
Like it's a weird political.
Very.
It's all, yeah.
Mandy?
Well, yeah, because you've been doing it for a long time, man.
Like, I'm sure, like maybe your relationship has evolved over time from being a kid to an adult.
I feel okay with it.
I mean, I share.
Yeah, I don't mind.
I think I've been doing it for so long.
I don't mind and I don't mind sharing my life.
I think as long as it's on my terms, I don't like when somebody or something else dictates, like, this is what you have to do or this is what you have to say.
That's when you bristle a little bit.
Yeah, that's when I'm like, oh, this doesn't feel authentic.
Like, I just want to share a goofy picture from, like, my day and not have somebody say, like, this is, you know what I mean?
Otherwise, it doesn't work.
Exactly.
I'm Mandy Moore.
Yeah, yeah.
It would take me, like, you know, sometimes an hour to feel good about what I'm about to put.
Like, I'm, like, working on it.
Rewrining her.
Mandy would like take her phone out and like,
chink, chink, chint, chint, ch' and then I'd see the real.
And I'd be like, that's magical.
It's like she hired someone to like shoot and edit it.
I remember when she had the phone in my face and yours.
I'm serious.
You were just such a natural at like finding a great moment
and knowing how to show the world like, you know,
an organic and authentic moment that's just like I think that people connect to.
I mean, that's why I think you're so good at.
it. So me, they're like, John, to stop posting. That's not.
You should just show. I think there's some self-esteem issues. I think there's some self-esteem
issues for me. For me, John. For me. I get it. When it comes, when it comes to this stuff,
because it's like showing up to an event or even posting online. It's like, nobody cares
if I post or if I'm there. Or I get there to the premiere. I get there. I go to the premiere and
and and everybody's like,
I'm sorry, what's your, what are you?
Oh yeah, Chris, Chris Sullivan, Chris, you know what I mean?
Like, there's like a, can you see it written on the piece of paper?
There's a, there's, there's, it's, it's tricky.
It's hard.
It's like these little micro rejections that we were talking about.
But especially when it comes to social media stuff,
I think part of the reason I am so, like, annoy,
like, see an influencer in the wild or something.
I'm like, the confidence, the lack of,
of insecurity.
I'm here at the new donut shop.
And you guys, these donuts are crazy.
And you're like, you're like, the audacity.
Yeah.
To just, I was, I was like, I thought I was, I was pulling out of a gas station yesterday.
And there was an insane person in the car next to me.
Ow!
Right?
What do you guys do?
And I look on his dash and he's,
live streaming in his car.
Totally.
And he's like, what do you think, chat?
And I'm like, the reckless abandon.
Yeah, with which.
The pure confidence.
The audacity that I have had to cultivate to get on a stage in front of someone and say,
look at me, this is worth your attention.
Or to go into an audition and say, everybody, quiet, watch this.
You know, it's like one thing.
But, like, all of this extra stuff, like, to get that to trans, to, like, roll over is hard for me.
Yeah.
And then when you see that they've got, like, 15 million followers, like, how what the?
I just saw him acting like a goofball in a car, and you guys like that.
And I'm so insecure about what I'm going to write or post or whatever.
Yes, yeah.
Because to see somebody act that way, I don't know.
When I see it, I like it.
Yeah.
When I see it posted.
Yeah.
Because it gives me permission to go dance in a way.
a waterfall somewhere. Yeah, exactly.
Go sing in a fountain, like, whatever the thing is.
I think you've hit on what I think the key sort of thing is.
Mandy Moore, I think, understands it, is authenticity.
Like, if you are using your platform in such a way that feels authentic to you,
then I think most people are going to respond to it. So it's like, that made, that,
you know, donut shop thing may not be exactly your thing.
Right. But if you find your version of,
Of it, that's the thing that will draw people in.
And then the other part is, like, on your terms.
It's easy to talk about things that you love or easier, I would say.
Yeah.
When you are asked to promote something that you do not love.
Oh, that's tough.
Boy.
Boy.
It's like, can we not do this?
Yeah.
Because I don't have too many good things to say about it.
Right.
And I'd rather just let that cup pass me by, you know?
But it is part of the job.
But also, it's like you would like to believe,
and this is the thing about the artist
and the business of the art,
you would love that the art would just speak for itself.
You gotta tell the business mandates
that you gotta tell people about this.
All art meets commerce.
And hopefully, in the most perfect situation,
they meet on the 50-yard line.
Sure, yeah.
Some is more commerce than art. Come on, come on.
And some is more art than commerce.
Sure.
And the stuff that is more art than commerce does usually does not get as many eyes.
Right.
Yeah.
And the stuff that is more commerce than art.
The stuff I don't want to talk about.
Tends to get a lot of eyes.
It gets a little less artistic.
Yes.
You know, and then there's those things that meet in the middle.
That's what this show felt like.
Yeah.
This show was that.
Because also, too, the lifting of this show was never on one person.
Right.
We all sort of got out there collectively to discuss it.
And that felt much easier.
Because if it falls on one person, it probably, it's heavier.
But we had to split it.
Like, it was all of us.
As an ensemble, it was incumbent on all of us.
And we all wanted to do.
It was easy to rise to the occasion and do what we had to do to speak about this.
Because, like, we loved it.
It was an excuse to just be together, too.
You know what I'm saying?
Totally.
More, that was us after this short break.
Everyone has a different idea of the perfect summer trip.
Mine looks like being organized, having a place that is comfortable to land with plenty of activities for the kids,
being able to be outside, not worrying about bugs, you know, all the things that sort of come along with summer.
But I want adventure.
I want campfires.
I want hiking.
I want sunshine.
I want swimming in a lake.
All of those things I'm hoping to accomplish this summer.
Yeah, this summer, you know, we're already in Southern California, but we're going even further south this summer down to the beach cities.
with the kids. We're going to visit friends. We're going to celebrate birthdays. And there's all these
great little Airbnb spots along the way. Come on, man. No matter what your idea of the perfect
summer trip is, we can all agree your home could be doing a little something for you while you're
out enjoying yourself, hosting someone else who's looking for a place to stay. Exactly. It is
the perfect time to open your home to guests while you're off doing your own thing. Hosting on Airbnb
fits right into real life. No big commitment. No huge effort. Just
Putting your space to good use.
Summer is about making memories and hosting can help someone else make theirs, too.
Your home might be worth more than you think.
Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.
Wendy's most important deal of the day has a fresh lineup.
Pick any two breakfast items for $4.
New four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap,
biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more.
Limited time only at participating Wendy's Taxes Extra.
So, okay, that was what I wanted to talk about that.
We can continue with Beth and Randall.
Yeah.
So they go to the soup kitchen.
Toby and Kate stay behind.
They bring, test doesn't feel well, so she stays behind with Kate and Toby as they endeavor to cook Thanksgiving dinner.
Correct.
In my mind, I was like, wow, that's big of Randall because this is his holiday.
It's his holiday, but he's also got this job that he's actually.
actively pursuing, and it's an opportunity for him and his wife to do something together.
I think both of those things are, like, will supersede, not replace, but like, all right,
I have to prioritize doing something with my wife, and I said I'm going to do this, you know, campaign.
So let's do the campaign.
So Annie and Deja go with them, Test stays home with Kate and Toby.
J-Wan and Beth are just not on the same page.
They have very different strategies, as we sort of alluded to.
So Beth is very much of the thinking, like, she changed the venue, right?
It was initially supposed to be...
At a historic church that is, like, one of the big places.
Yeah, and now Councilor Brown is there instead.
And all of the press has sort of stayed there, and so they're covering that event.
Nobody is here at the soup kitchen.
Jay Juan's a little bit, like, feels a little like, you know...
Why are we even here?
For him, why are we here?
Kind of. Nobody's going to see it.
What role is Beth playing in this campaign?
Like, aren't I the campaign manager who's supposed to...
He's like, look, man, this ain't quite right.
It's not normally how it goes.
Like, you ask me to do a job.
I'm trying to do the job.
But it looks like you're trying to cut my legs out.
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
We got to get him on the show.
We really do.
He's so fantastic.
Tim Joe's a beast.
He's a beast.
So he's frustrated because he finally then manages to, like, convince a photographer from the church
to come over to the soup kitchen to at least document.
Real quick.
I just want to go through the montage of...
of seeing community service in action,
which is really quite lovely.
And a reminder to me of like, oh, man,
like giving back is a wonderful thing.
It serves a group of people,
but it also gives a wonderful sense of purpose, right?
And in the midst of that,
we have a shot of Dasia as she's giving food out,
seeing her on the opposite side of that,
her and Shauna receiving food.
And Shana saying like, hey, man,
you can give her another cookie,
you know what I'm saying?
You ain't gotta be stingy.
She's a growing girl.
And then Annie's saying to Deja on the flip, like, you're given too many.
And she's like, no, I'm not.
They ain't missing it.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, understanding the game in a way that the Pearson's...
Would never.
Would never.
Right, right.
Exactly.
So, J-1 is excited.
He got this photographer that's going to come and document this experience.
And Beth kind of steps in and is like, no, no, this is exactly what we said we weren't going to do.
Like, we're coming here to serve the community.
We're not here for a publicity stunt.
And that's kind of that.
She has the final say.
It is, um, Randall says something.
Randall says, I don't care if it's a mistake.
Thank you.
She's my wife.
Yeah.
And obviously, is that the best choice, uh, big Randall?
It's not the worst.
Not the worst.
It's just not phrased.
Right.
Exactly correctly.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
And I wonder if, like, for you, did you think, uh, as Randall, um, did you, what you were saying in the moment?
Did you even know that was, first of all,
She was in an earshot.
And secondly, did you know, I shouldn't be saying it like this?
And did you believe it?
And did you believe it?
You know, this is interesting because I asked myself this question as well,
because I think Brown is more, all right, if it's good advice from anybody, whether it's
wife or outside of wife, and we're trying to heat it, right?
But I think Randall is in a very particular spot with Beth, knowing that she needs this as much,
like, are, you know, as much as I need us to be together in something, right?
And being together in something in his mind is like, I'm going to listen to my wife.
I'm going to listen to the person that I share a bed with, that I share a life with, right?
And even if it's a mistake, it doesn't matter.
Like, it's her suggestion, it's her idea.
We're going to follow it through to its end to see how it plays itself out.
I think Brown is different than Randall in that way because it's like, oh, in the moment it doesn't seem to make sense.
I would probably try to address it, but I actually admire Randall to a certain extent of just being like, no, we're just going to be on one accord and see how that sort of through line plays itself out.
Because I feel like I question probably a little bit more. I am, here's a crazy thing. Working with my wife scares me sometimes. It scares me sometimes because we like approach life in a very different way with very different.
energy and they don't always sort of flow like hand and glove.
The podcast is a perfect way in which our energies do complement each other.
The hit podcast, we don't always agree.
Because we get a chance to illuminate our differing perspectives and how we wind up finding
some sort of middle ground.
But like, when she was on This Is Us, it was a very interesting feeling because she would
be leaving set sometimes as I would be going to set sometimes.
I was like, that works for us.
Like, that works going out.
I don't mean it in a shade anyway.
You can't acknowledge you when she was leaving.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we spoke.
Yeah, she honked.
Everything was cool.
She waved.
Everything was totally cool.
But, like, but so I actually admire Randall for like, you know what, this is something that we can do together.
You know what I'm saying?
And it takes me a little bit of time to figure out things that Ryan and I can work on together that I don't think would be detrimental to our union, but would actually be in service to it.
Oh, I love that.
That's real.
So that's that.
And so then Beth overhears that thing.
And she goes like, you know, out of all the stupendous ideas that I've had, like, how many of them did you really think were great?
And how many of them were just basically because you're throwing me a bone.
And he doesn't say anything.
Because he's stumped.
But he takes too long.
And she's like, that's exactly what I thought.
Right?
And I was like, listen, it was such a hard thing to stand inside of because Sterling loves Sue the way Randall loves Beth.
I was trying to do, I was trying to do right by you, girl.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
And she's like, I don't need that.
Is this something that you and Taylor ever talk about navigate when it comes to music?
Because music is so, can be so subjective.
Like, no, I think this is great.
I don't.
Or does that ever, does that has ever happened?
Like in terms of something that we've worked on together.
Yeah, like you're writing a song and you're like, I don't really like the way this is going or maybe he did.
Like, yeah.
How does that play out?
She gets her way.
I get my way.
You can make this song the way I want it.
Well, if it's just not feeling right, then it's something that's abandoned or maybe
like picked back up and reworked or something.
But yeah, I get my way.
He's there in service.
He's there to help me.
But in all fairness, he is.
So it's like he's just sort of like, okay, well, we don't need to do something if it's not feeling.
What about it by its first of when it's like,
he is working on tracks for his records
as far as, like, feedback and stuff goes.
Oh, well, I'm his biggest fan,
so I'm never going to come out of him and be like,
hmm, it could be better.
Maybe that bass might be a little bit.
You know what I mean.
I just didn't know if, I mean,
it's music especially is such an ethereal, like...
So personal, too.
Person.
Yeah.
You're asking the question,
but the same would apply to you?
Yeah.
Like, how do you enrage?
We don't get along.
Got it.
No.
no actually this was what we talked about in couples therapy last night is that we both have two
very different styles at approaching any projects okay and so like there was never there was
never a more obvious differentiation between the two of us than we were then when we were both
asked to host a charity gala yeah together oh boy and they gave us a script and I said great
look at that on stage yeah and and and
Rachel wanted to run it and rehearse it and rehearse it and rehearse it and rehearse it because she had different anxieties around the process and like and she wanted to follow this script to the word and I'm like, it's not going to happen.
We do 87%.
We do 87%.
I'm like, it's not going to happen.
Like it's just that's not the way I do this.
And it was like a real like it was so ironic to be there for a charity to have like these two people like kind of.
of battling it out for how this is supona go versus how let's have some fun to raise some money
we get some of the marriage and so and so it's like we were talking about last night in our in our
session where it was like so we need to kind of like be a little more um flexible in those in those
minds that we're trying to teach our son that like it's like it's it's literal four-year-old toddler
stuff right that gets locked in your brain and you're like can we teach a toddler how to be a little
flexible around his idea of how things should go and then go oh maybe i need to do a little bit more
of that too maybe you do too yeah maybe if we can all do this yeah yeah okay we have some of the
marriages what about you you you and nicole seem like you kind of just like yeah you're very
laughing hey and this is me on the outside looking in where was where was Nicole when the turkey
was attacking she was laughing probably no she might have been in like petaluma or santa cruz
She's not having a nice life.
She's always traveling.
Her word job takes her all over the country now.
But feel free to debunk or sort of agree.
Like, you guys seem like it feels easy.
It does feel easy, actually.
I think that we both respect each other's individuality.
And know that we approach things differently.
And have learned, also through couples' therapy in the past,
and have learned to give each other, you know, a little more, like give and take a little bit more.
Sure.
Like, you know, she's going to understand how, you know, how I approach certain things that we might do together, plan together, work together.
I mean, you know, her company is doing so well and I support her.
I think that what we see in each other is that, you know, there's so much support for what we kind of do.
and we're such big fans of each other
and I think if something that she's doing
is not kind of the way I would do it
I'm such a big fan of hers
for everything else she does in life
especially the way she treats me
that...
Do it your way and I'm cool
and I'll just
you know if something's really bothering me
I'll swallow it and I'll just you know
say you know
that's going to come out really hard
and bad in a couple of months
I'm kidding
just screaming
No, no, but that does happen every once in a while, but, um, okay, but like, you know, but it is like, you know, you have to sometimes, I feel like sometimes you have to just, um, you know, it's a give and take. You have to sometimes just give.
I hear you. And so I give her, her space. And, you know, she's not an artist, so we don't really interact. You don't, yeah. Yeah, you don't have to.
So it's like, you know, with music, with both you guys being actors, with you guys hosting stuff again. And also Rachel being, uh, musician as well.
You know, Nicole doesn't really do that.
We, you know...
She stays in her lane.
Stay in your lane.
Let me do my thing.
I stay in my.
I love it.
And we also, one of the things I would say about us, because we, because of her job and now us having, you know, kind of two different places and me working.
I mean, we, as long as we were separated, it was like five months when I was, you know, working on a show in Africa.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we've always looked at, like, that separation as somewhat of a...
good thing we never like it yeah but when we see each other that we we i love that build-up of
excitement that we've been a part to come together and so we never really give each other an
opportunity to um uh have like you know that real contention over you know our our approach to whatever
we're doing you know it's just like i don't care i don't care that you didn't um you know
did you left your clothes all over the fucking floor don't care i don't care i don't care i don't care
Right.
You see how much I'm not even caring?
I'm not caring about all the clothes right now.
I don't care so much.
I won't even bring it up on a podcast.
That's how much I don't care.
I love this.
No, it kind of puts things in perspective.
You're like, I haven't seen you for five months.
This thing doesn't matter as much as us being in each other's present.
I got you.
I got you.
All right, continue.
Let's talk a little bit about Cotobie at the house.
Yeah, yeah.
Toby's been kind of pulled out of his depressive slump.
Yes.
Or is coming out of it.
Sure.
And has been, and Kate and Toby are tasked with preparing a meal for the whole.
The traditional.
Slightly stressful.
Slightly stressful.
We find out, you know, things like the cranberry sauce and is, what do you mean?
This is a bag of cranberries.
This isn't.
Where's the can?
Where's the can?
No.
This is how I make cream.
How many ingredients were there?
There was like 27, 27 ingredients.
Including freshment from the garden.
It's a garden?
Herb garden?
Redd has an herb garden.
And this was a fun, this was a great fun day for she and I in the kitchen.
Yes.
Like shooting.
Yeah.
But also, whenever you're dealing with food on set, there's a whole new team that comes in.
Yes.
Food style.
They're great.
The food stylists.
They are great.
They are great.
99% of the time.
Oh, Lord.
They are fantastic.
What happened?
But in order to present a ruined turkey on the set, they just ruined a turkey.
By which, by which I mean, they blow torched and smashed a raw turkey.
That's just food waste, guys.
And brought it on set.
And it smelled.
like napalm death
on set.
Wow.
It was like,
huh.
It just felt like
singed, burned flesh.
Yeah, yeah.
It was the most bizarre smell.
Ew.
Ew.
That,
that Chrissy was having
an extra time with.
Is she doing the like gag reflex?
Yeah, it was one of those moments
were like,
are we serious?
You're serious.
Oh.
Okay.
All right.
so yeah it was a it was a really action
it was a really good day
I'm like this my favorite scene
in this episode is you're about to take
are you taking her soup?
I'm taking her some soup
you're taking tests some soup
because she's not feeling well
she's not feeling great
she's so she didn't come with us to the food thing
and I come up the stairs with the soup
you think she's got a little cold
yeah and she comes out of the bathroom
with her feminine hygiene product
She's got pads in one hand and like...
Tamp pounds and...
She don't know which one to...
Yeah.
He's the right choice.
You had Trey and she looks out...
It comes out of the bathroom.
She's like, ah!
And you're like, oh!
It's just go down the stuff.
Bruh.
With the tray of soup.
I was like, first of all, it is a deft bit of physical comedy.
Anything in the bowl or not.
Oh, yeah.
Come on.
First of all, how dare you?
I apologize.
I apologize.
Because this is way.
We do it sometimes.
If you think there's fear of spilling or something like that,
you sometimes just mime the idea that there's something inside.
I wanted 10% spillage.
I wanted a little splash.
He had doubles and triples of his costume.
Yeah, yeah.
He was ready.
Triples of his costume.
Put it to the rim.
Empty, empty bowl.
Get out of here.
I want it hot, too.
Hot.
Piping hot.
A great moment because Ayrus was perfect in the moment.
It was like, it was just, she.
Fear terror, you know, like the first person who sees me holding 50 products is my uncle.
You know what I'm saying?
It's like, no, this isn't supposed to be this way.
You go back downstairs.
It's like, yeah, I think Tess might need you.
I like the playoff.
Yeah.
That's a lady.
Yeah, no, no, she's just, you might want to check on her.
Well, thank you, sir.
I had forgotten about that moment.
And when I saw it, I was particularly proud of it.
It's great.
Because I believe Toby's response is, what, what, what?
What?
What?
What?
What?
Because it's just test screaming.
Oh, God.
It was a sheer magic.
I forgot about the woe of it.
So you go downstairs, you enlist your wife's assistants.
Yeah.
And she goes up, you know, and she's like, you know, I'll try to handle it, you know.
I'm not necessarily sure if she will be able to handle it or not.
not. That's one of the things. And she tells this wonderful story about when her cycle begins.
And this guy, her, his, girl. Yes, it's your son. Andy. It's your. That's right. It's Andy. And he goes something like,
already a dick. Yeah. Already. What did he say? Like, did you pee on yourself or something like that? Did you pee to bed? Did you pee to bed? Yeah. And instead of like sort of retreating, she's like, no, no, I just, I just began my period. Like, you know what I'm saying? I need a tampon.
Do you have one?
Boom.
And he had probably a similar reaction to it.
Yeah.
Can you also see young Beth, I mean, young Kate, you can see it.
Yeah.
I kind of wish they'd shot it.
They'd actually shot that moment just so you could see Hannah play that thing out.
And it was such a wonderful bonding moment.
Like, you know, you're going to be able to deal with these things and this is your first this.
And then your boy will have your first kiss with him.
And she's like, or with her.
Yeah.
Oh, because there's no response.
First boy have a first kiss.
Or girlfriend.
Yes.
Or girlfriend.
Boyfriend.
Yeah.
Or girlfriend.
And she's like, yeah.
Or girlfriend.
And it's such good, this is us writing.
Yeah.
Because you think you're getting one scene.
Yes.
You're like, oh, this scene.
And you get, I know this scene.
And then you get a, some new information.
Yeah.
In two lines.
Yeah.
It was.
Oh.
Oh.
It was a couple of things, too, because as Kate goes on, talking,
it was like, you're going to be able to tell your parents, like, you know,
they're going to love you regardless, et cetera, et cetera.
And it was one of, I felt this as a TV parent, weird thing.
I was like, why didn't she tell her?
I had that weird sort of feeling, you know?
And it's, I think those coming out stories are oftentimes, like,
there's somebody that is easier to say it to first.
Of course.
Than mom or dad.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, you get it out there first.
I think the idea is becoming so antiquated.
Yeah.
Even since we shot that.
Yeah.
You mean, of coming out?
Having to express to your parents which gender you are sexually attracted to.
Yeah.
If you talk to a teenager in high school, it's like a non...
To a point.
I was about to say, we live in Southern California.
But what I mean is there are certain...
I don't even necessarily mean regional.
I mean, across that generation, it is...
When you think about it.
Yeah.
Think about...
I never had to tell my parents...
That you were headed on.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Like, it was never a conversation they needed to be had.
Right.
Yeah.
And so the idea that those conversations, not only people required them or that they were so traumatizing, is becoming an antiquated idea.
You think so?
I still think that there is an assumption of cisgendered heteronormitivity.
Oh, sure.
There is.
But I think he's got a point.
I think that, yeah, like, it's less of an issue.
Yeah, it's a little more normalized with, you know, more, because.
Even the generation before the generation that you're talking about now,
you know, they've, I think that generation, which is, I don't even know the generations,
I'm with X, I think, and when millennials are now having kids that are old enough to come out as teenagers, right?
Yeah.
So that, the millennials, they're a generation that, I think, started the normalization of being attracted to the same sex or being, you know.
Both sexes or whatever, yeah, exactly, asexuality, whatever it is.
And I think that it's just, I think it's a little, a little,
less of an issue for a lot of time has passed since ellen came out on her show it's true a lot of time
to the fact that that that that billy isish states in an in an interview that she likes girls or that
myly cyrus has identified she like she i don't remember how what she it's not even news i don't
even know what it is sure sure but it's a it's it's not even news the biggest pop stars working today
it's not yeah express something about their sexual and people like oh so this is a
spectrum of change yes i would say i have a yes and i'm not going to disagree um i still like
i do think there is a regional sort of um differences right you remember sort of the surprise that we
felt in 2016 after the election yeah like it was it was like it didn't even occur to us in our minds
and i still think that the country is sort of very split sometimes on things in which there's
there's half of the country is like, why are we forcing a liberal agenda into things?
Another half of the country is like, well, that's what, this is what progress looks like,
is acceptance of all people, how they show up, and just treating them with love, right?
I still think that there are pockets of the country where this is not the easiest thing.
And I say that because-
Oh, no, you're absolutely right.
I just think in a more general context, you're right, culturally.
I think this conversation is less of a big deal now than it was even in 2018.
You may be right.
For 13 to 18 year olds.
Yeah.
I hear you.
I don't mean like between them and their parents.
I mean in their generation.
Yes.
Amongst themselves.
Like when I talk to my friend's kids, they're like the fact that older people trip off of this.
I hear you.
First of all, it's creepy.
Yeah.
That you're concerned about my sexual proclivities.
or whatever it is, it's like really bizarre to them.
Yeah.
Right.
And it should be.
It's weird.
Yeah.
To have a fixation on it.
Sure.
But amongst themselves, it just isn't the new flow.
But you're not, you're totally not wrong, though.
But to sort of end this, the Thanksgiving dinner has been ruined.
Destroyed.
Destroyed.
Yeah.
By the food designers.
Yes.
Kate has been upstairs with Tess having this conversation.
Meanwhile, the kitchen has sort of been, I don't know, destroyed.
It's devolved into...
It is Popeyes, yeah?
Yeah.
Some Jack Pearson-level magic.
Jack Pearson-level magic.
And again, Amari Michael Ryan, Christian Brown sings in the background.
Love that chicken from Popeye.
Like, he's like, does it miss a beat?
Yeah.
You know what I was like, oh, Popeye's got good biscuits.
I was like, yeah, man.
They do that.
Yeah.
Toby fixed the situation.
by just acquiring some fast food to sort of make up
for the ruined meal.
Which, let's face it,
if I turned up to somebody's Thanksgiving dinner
and it was a table of plated Popeyes,
that would be the greatest thing.
I would love it.
Speaking of which, so we're at the table.
How did Randall feel about it?
Randall's cool.
I think Randall had bigger fish to fry
because his wife did give him the side at the table.
So you could tell that things weren't quite right.
Randall was like, I better eat this chicken.
You know what I'm saying?
Let me just keep my mouth shut from Dowell.
These biscuits are good.
We got a chance to see Zoe and Kevin zooming in from Vietnam because they were still there.
But I think one of the most beautiful moments of it is Annie getting up from the table as Rebecca and Miguel come into the house and grandpa.
And you talk about somebody needing a hug?
Yeah.
And needing to hear that specifically?
You know what I'm saying?
Feeling a part of.
And I think in terms of Thanksgiving, it's a really.
interesting three line because on our first Thanksgiving, there's like, can I wear the hat sort of
thing coming from Miguel and Kevin being like, who you think you is. And here we are with
his grandchildren running up. Because your children have never known. They've never known Jack
as a grandpa. This is the only person they've known as Graham. You know, and it was such a beautiful
moment. Yeah, I wrote that down too. I really just like tugged up my heart. I was like, yes,
Miguel earned this. He deserves this. And then, you know, Faith being who she is.
The most adorable.
The cutest young child in the history.
It makes me smile.
Saying that word, saying, looking at me, running at me.
Two other thanksgivings to you guys.
There's two other thanksgivings.
Oh, my God.
You want to do William and Jesse real quick?
Let's do William and Jesse.
Yeah, William and Jesse.
This is their meat cute, guys.
They meet cute.
Williams playing on the piano, what have you.
At a meeting.
At a meeting.
Jesse comes up and they just sort of strike up this lovely rapport.
But what I thought was really great is that when they actually go to hang out and they're grabbing a bite to eat, Jesse starts to sort of give him the boilerplate version of sort of what led him to N.A., etc.
And William Tum's like, yeah, I've heard the story before.
Tell me the true story.
Right, like tell me the truth of it, right?
And Jesse is sort of like...
All right, someone can see through it.
Somebody can see through, you know...
I was really hoping he was going to drop the British accent.
I know.
I was like, is Dennis going to drop the British accent right now?
I'm not even, I'm from New Jersey.
Yeah.
But he's just talking about like his addiction to cocaine
and how it just sort of became all encompassing, what have you.
I like the way he said, I love cocaine.
Yeah.
That's what I said.
Yeah. He did.
He did.
He did.
Yeah.
It didn't say loved.
No.
Which I thought was a, yeah.
Yeah.
He did, didn't.
Because he's an addict, once an addict, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I love cocaine.
And there is.
I don't want to miss anything in this thing because it's...
Well, he said, this is kind of the beginning of the...
The courtship?
The courtship, but also the reveal that William is bisexual.
At the very least bisexual.
Right.
Well, we knew this back in the first season because Jesse was a part of Christmas and...
There's a moment when it was...
Before he actually passes away.
Oh, so, good point.
Because Tess is the person that points out to her dad in the Christmas.
this episode. He's like, I think he likes boys and girls. And Randall has a like,
what's that now? Like sort of a moment, but I just love that the idea that Tess is the person
who cocked it. She has gaitar. She has gaitar. There we go. There we go.
It's a small thing, but I just think that it's an interesting thing. Well, a young person
can. Yeah, yeah, more intuitive. See the truth. Yeah. And the way Jesse
expresses it to William about my wife and I were a complicated mismatch.
Right.
And then they go to this meal and he says something about relax.
She's my cousin.
Cousin.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, because they're at the, he invites him to the jam session, right?
And like, Williams on the piano and everybody's jam, it's a good time.
And he looks over his shoulder and he sees Jesse talking to a very pretty woman.
He's like, oh, okay, let me just go ahead and do this thing.
And that's where the, you know, relax, she's my cousin part comes in.
I do like his reaction.
I'm cool.
Yeah.
That's Ron.
I'm cool.
Yeah.
It's like whatever.
Yeah.
Whatever's clever, bro.
Yeah, we can get down how you need to.
So that's that.
Then there's Vietnam.
There's Vietnam.
Oh, here's a question.
Go ahead.
Did we know that Griffin was going to play Jack's brother before the episode.
That's a really good question.
I don't think so.
Why?
Because what Michael was doing, it was like that, like, that, like,
it was, like, Griffin, like, nailed it.
Yeah.
I think the answer is no.
Like, did Michael know that Griffin done was coming to play them?
He looks like a younger.
Yeah.
Griffin done in that moment.
Shout out to casting.
Yeah, shout out to casting.
Shout out.
Let's go.
Okay, so the platoon, wait, Jack taking it all in, goes to Nikki.
Nikki's having mad attitude and his withdrawal.
He's just resentful about having been moved from his squad.
From where he was.
He was fine.
Totally.
Totally.
It's Thanksgiving.
Jack has made sure that the guys have turkey.
They've flown in Turkey.
Yeah, they've flown in Turkey.
Yeah, he's right in the Robinson who, you know, went back home after he lost his leg.
And Nikki is, he's been tasked with fixing the barbed wire, right?
Yeah.
And Jack points out that one of the women in the village, her little boy, got his foot caught on the wire and got all cut up.
Yeah.
And he decides that he wants to go and sort of like.
like, address that, right?
Like, take care of a little boy, look at the wound.
Yeah.
And he has Nikki come with him and, like, basically gives him an order to clean and dress
the wound because Nikki was a medic.
That's sort of his job before he was Article 15.
They also talk about, like, at the dinner table at the Thanksgiving dinner, one of the
other muddicks says, somebody asks, like, what's to deal with your brother?
And this brother says, like, medics see a lot.
Like, we scoop guts.
guts back into people's bodies, et cetera.
Like, while you guys go off and do the next thing, we're cleaning.
So he's talking about just the trauma of what it means to be a medic in wartime.
In the aftermath of what the VC are doing to fellow Americans,
feathered brothers that you're serving with.
And how that would affect him differently than the shooters at the front.
And so when Jack asks him, well, we've seen this little boy a couple of times and his mom
and Jack would go to help with Carrie Ward or something.
And then I think what I would assume is her dad is like, stay away.
Just leave us alone.
Every time that Jack tries to sort of insert himself, the dad sort of gets a little vociferous in that way.
And so eventually he goes in and he asks like, can I see your son?
Foot is infected, cut wide open or whatnot.
And so he gets Nicky to come help.
And he's like, this little boy is going to grow up and try to kill me.
I'm not going to help him.
And it's a real.
And Jack's like, it's a boy.
And it sort of like goes to that age old thing.
And if you could go back and kill young Adolf, would you do it?
And it's like, he hasn't done anything yet.
Yeah.
Like, there's still innocence.
There's still a possible opportunity.
But then the question is, but if you know, would you?
And like, for Nikki's perspective, he's like, I know who the little boy's going to be.
I'm not doing it.
And so Jack ultimately winds up sort of like pouring, you know, alcohol on it to try to disinfect it and just handle it in himself.
And then he goes and has this conversation with his brother, like, what is that?
man it's a little boy this is a village of women and children and old men like what are you talking
about and then he tells him that story go so who who who who has well yeah i mean doesn't he says to jack
you know you know in where he was stationed before like yeah there was a his captain who he loved bones right
he uh took care of everybody yeah took care everybody and then uh and was taking care of this
woman right old woman oh woman and uh you know somebody came and and through a
basically an explosive and blue bones away
and it was the old woman's brother.
The old woman had told her brother
where to find the captain.
And if you cut the head of the snake off
then the rest of them were going to be.
And so, and Nikki's like,
here's my point exactly.
And I thought that was interesting
him telling a story about the old woman.
And I can only imagine that Nikki
seeing the old man always saying,
stay away from my daughter,
stay away from my grandson
that Nikki sees in that old man
the capability of what,
that the capability that he could say
to someone, you know, blow these guys up.
They're not just old men.
Exactly, not just old men.
And also, and making a point that that kid will also
grow up to despise us.
Yeah.
You see a little bit of an episode before
with Jack just saying, like, you're a good guy or you're a bad guy,
bow, right?
Like, you think like the,
the ambiguity of that war in particular
of just trying to figure out who are you here for
and who are you here against
and it not being clearly delineated
at any point or given time.
And just, yeah, go ahead.
Why does the U.S. think what's,
what do you think what's best for us is your intervention?
Yeah.
And your democracy.
Yeah.
Why do you think, what do you think what you think is better for our people
than what our own people think that are, you know,
because I think there are a lot of South Vietnamese that we're conflicted
even in that war, that the U.S. is even there.
Yeah.
Destoring our villages, our country.
Yeah.
And the way that way that way.
war was fought, was different from anything we'd encountered before or since.
Yes.
Absolutely.
But the campaign, the campaign in any war, you know, to dehumanize the people that you
were up against is a type of self-inflicted mental warfare that we put on ourselves.
Yeah.
And that the other side, I mean, whoever we are against.
At war with is doing the same thing.
Right.
Yeah.
Because it's not easy to kill another person.
No, another person.
So you've got to dehumanize.
But if you dehumanize, and that comes from the top.
Yeah, that's right.
You are trained to dehumanize.
Then you can do, quote, unquote, your job.
Right.
Like, also just narratively, like on behalf of Nikki, sort of illuminating that perspective,
because I think we as an audience are conditioned to believe Jack is always right.
He just sort of says, like, look, bro, you see it this way.
Yeah.
I've had an experience that allows me to see the world in a different way.
So you can stick to yours, but don't try to force your thing on me.
Yeah. It's true.
And this story basically ends with the mother being grateful for Jack helping her boy,
and she gifts him her necklace, which is the origin story of this necklace,
which answers the question for the audience.
Where did the necklace come from?
Who is this woman?
It's like, well, this is exactly who this woman was.
And that moment was just captured.
It was a random moment captured.
It's not like they were particularly.
close, but she gifted him the necklace, which he then gives Kevin.
Yeah, because in the episode before, didn't we see, is it this episode or the episode that opens
with the woman making the jewelry? Yes, exactly. Yeah, and then we see like it's all in, like,
all over the place, Kev finds. That they're not special. They were mass produced. Right. That they're
everywhere. But, but that one was special because of who gave it to him and under the circumstance.
But not as special as Kevin suspected of us. Yes. Exactly. It's a good episode.
It's very full, lots going on.
Everything's moving forward in the future to sort of an understanding of Miguel and Rebecca's relationship.
John Huerta's delivering one of the pivotal monologues in the series.
It's the beginning of tension between Rebecca, between Beth and Randall.
You know what I'm saying?
We know that Tess has come out to her aunt.
It's nice to see Toby in a healthy enough space to be able to handle a stressful situation.
It's stressful, but it is being handled.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, everything feels so full.
Yes.
You know, when you watch the show.
Like, there's not a lot of fat on the bone.
It's literally, this was not a filler episode.
No.
7, 8, 9, 10 feels like the beginning of a new movie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Even though we're halfway through season three, which we're at the halfway point.
We're at the halfway point.
We are smack in the middle.
Yeah.
That's it.
Yeah.
Of the series.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It feels good.
Guys, should we thank our guest host, Mr. We're at,
Thank you, John. Come back all the time.
All the time. Please.
There's not a big enough couch because if we have another person on this.
It's all wrapped up.
What's going on over here, Jack.
Let me put that there just because.
I'm wearing double underwear today.
I'm good. I don't need an iPad.
Please be watching this on YouTube, guys.
Please.
John, we look right over there and give us to that was us.
That was us.
Guys, it's time for our favorite segment, our fan segment.
And as we are digging through our emails from listeners,
we came across one about the music that's featured in the sixth Thanksgiving's episode.
The music in the show has been something that we talk about a lot in this podcast.
And it's amazing how certain songs can hit so deeply and bring up so many emotions.
This email comes from Tracy in Ohio, who reached out to share what song in particular really moved her.
All right.
This is her email.
I just finished watching the second episode of That Was Us, and I loved the conversation with Dan Fogelman.
I enjoyed hearing about the writers in their process because This Is Us had such phenomenal storytelling.
I had one question that I wish you would have touched on with Dan.
Who would oversee the music selection for the show?
I always loved how well music was paired with moments on the show, and I wanted to know how music was chosen.
I vividly remember the events of my day when the season three episode,
Six Thanksgivings aired.
I remember being incredibly overwhelmed by the day
and anxious about what was to come in the following days.
That night, as I watched your show,
the song, 42 by Mumford and Sons,
played at the end of the episode.
There was just something about the storyline of that episode,
that song, and the events of my day
that left me inconsolable that evening.
It was as if that song and your show
gave me permission to just let it all out.
To this day, when I hear that song,
I am transported back to that evening.
and the emotions that came with the day.
There are so many moments from your show
when I thought, oh, my God, that is the perfect song.
But that one in particular will always be significant for me.
Thank you to everyone who helped bring This Is Us to Life.
I don't think we will ever see something so magical again
with sincere appreciation, Tracy from Ohio.
I love that.
Thanks, Tracy from Ohio.
I mean, like, so Dan picks a lot.
He does.
There's a music supervisor who oversees.
the procurement and placement of all the songs.
Yeah.
But in our case, the creator of our show has a deep, deep love for music.
Yeah.
And so he had probably a bigger hand in music selection.
Than most creators or showrunners do, yeah.
Yeah.
I think Dan, like, sometimes would write specific scenes with songs in mind.
Really, really?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it's this episode, too, that the first, is it the first John Prine song
that shows up in this episode? I think you're right, yeah.
John Prine, being my favorite musician of all time,
was a fan of the show and reached out to the show.
What?
And asked if he could put a song on the show.
Get out of here.
And it's the Vietnam song.
And it's his most famous song, Angel for Montgomery.
But it's the, it was the modern day elderly version of himself.
Singing it.
Yeah.
Re-reporting the song.
Which I had not heard.
I hadn't heard that either.
Until our episode.
Yeah.
But yeah, I was constantly moved.
I mean, some of the songs,
From our show or in Bears' nighttime playlist.
Like, the music on this show is incredible.
Yeah.
Between the score and then the musical selections,
it just, yeah, it really was another character on the show.
Should we do a live show somewhere in a theater
where we play a bunch of music?
God, I would love that.
You guys, if you do it, I'll fake, play to piano.
No, no, no.
You can sing Brian Tyree Henry's song.
I was going to say he could sing,
Do you know the price of here?
Do it?
Yeah.
Or whatever.
And that one.
Well, listen, because I'm a team player, whatever you guys need for me, however I can be of support, that's what I'll do.
You're going to do both of those songs.
Metaphorically, I will be playing the tambourine.
That's right.
Metaphorically.
That's right.
But I got you back.
All right, cool.
Is that the end of this episode?
That's it.
You sing that song.
Guys.
We love you guys.
Thank you for watching.
Thank you for listening.
Not that one.
Oh, not that one.
The other one.
Please tell your friends.
Spread the word about this podcast because we love doing it.
We want more.
Yeah, and the reason we can provide it for free is because you support our sponsors.
Yes.
And our sponsors support us.
So the more you patronize these businesses by a gift, buy something for yourself, the longer we can keep providing this for free.
And they're all things that we approve of and we use.
We put a thumbs up or thumbs down on anything they present us.
They are a part of our life.
Otherwise, we wouldn't be talking about them.
I do a lot of malt liquor.
No, it's not the gym.
Our stamp of approval.
Right.
Yeah.
In any case, thank you.
Thank you, and we will see you on the next episode.
See next week, guys.
Bye.
Bye.