A Turn of Events | "Taboo" (607)

on today's episode of that was us we're diving into season 6 episode 7 taboo as the piercens gather for Thanksgiving Kate and Toby confront lingering tension and Rebecca makes an important decision about who will care for her as her illness progressives. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. We haven't seen each other in so long. Good morning. Good morning. It's been a minute. I was telling these guys off camera that I just flew back from Washington DC and finished shooting paradise like for good for good. Thank you very much. It was it was very very sort of emotional because it's been it's been a wonderful journey over these past three years and like ten years too because there's people that I may be saying goodbye to that I may not see again like Cory was there John Joyce who was a cameraman. Did he work with you guys on the land at all? Maybe yes. Stillman Glenn Stillman who was one of our premier first AD's all and the director of this episode right. Yeah. Where's the I was like let's go still. Yeah. Um Fogelman was there being his regular charming self and it was really like to to be in the nation's capital which is sort of the backdrop for the show. Yeah. Um to be able to finish there. It's it's beautiful. I guess spent quality time in DC. Yes. I actually have. I love DC. Yeah. Absolutely gorgeous. A great culinary scene as well. Yes. Yes. Yes. But just like looking at like the people who designed this city right there is a majesty to it. You know as there should be great to get there soon if you want to see it. If you want to see it before it's all torn down. Get the queen. Guilded. Oh, sorry. I mean it's true. There's no museum. Get to those museums. Whatever. I don't know. There is not an arc. There are I could go further. But I'm not going to go too much further. All my ride home. I got a chance to watch men telling me the breadwinner. I got to watch the breadwinner. The charming performance of Mandy Moore always elevates any and every day that she is in. Lesson of the movie. Uh, a mother's work is often underappreciated. Yes. Um, underestimated, underestimated until somebody has to step into those shoes and you realize. That's right. She makes our whole life. That's right. Go. Make it makes it look easy. You know what I'm saying? It makes it look easier. I also I also watched it recently. I texted you both from my my hotel room. Who I'm like all three of our movies are literally side by side in a hotel. Is God is the breadwinner and mercy. I didn't watch mercy. I watch watching is God is breadwinner back to back. Later. I don't think two movies could be further on the spectrum. Yeah, from each other. As we have left. This is us. We've sort of going off in our own individual journey. Yeah. Sometimes they're overlapped to mercy. Uh, Chris Sullivan. Great. Great job. Thank you. Right. Thank you. A very interesting movie. Yes. Right. And I don't know how to dance. I do want to watch it now. You should watch for Christopher because I got an inkling of like what his role was in the movie as I was watching it. And I was like, I see Christopher. Yeah. You give little shades of things and stuff like that. It's pretty cool. I enjoyed it. Um, I'm also very tired. I can't even imagine. But but the last decade's been a lot. You've been doing a lot for the last 10 years. Yeah. It's been busy. I'm about to go. You're shooting right now. Yes. You have a break from shooting right now. But Fogelman is showing me clips of the land. There's like a new trailer. I can't wait. Like you get to bring the pain in this story. Yeah. Bring the pain. Yeah. What do you mean? I feel like I feel like you kind of function as the female heavy in this show. I'm getting that sense from the trailer. I think that it's, it's. There's a lot of testosterone. Yeah. Give us a little. I'm trying to get strong. I gotta stay with you guys. There's a lot of testosterone in our show. It is very much an ensemble the way this is us was. Yeah. I think the season is is leaving room for there to be a little bit more. Like the way the season ends is setting setting my character up for some some juicy stuff next season. Is it fair to say that people who tune into the land will see Mandy Moore in a light that they have never seen her before? Correct. Yes. That's what I'm talking about. That's right. She's not a nice person. That's right. I can't wait. She's she is like steadfast in what she wants. She doesn't have kids. She doesn't have a partner. She's married to her job. Her world revolves around this team and and ownership and all of it. It's really fun. There's snippets of conversation in the preview between you and Maloney. And it's just like you want to you want to come for me? Yeah. I'm going to come for you. The very first shot of the first. I was like, God, I hate this. I have to like walk in and chew Christopher Maloney's house about nothing. You know, I mean, just like FFFFFFFFF. I'm like, okay, yeah, not Rebecca Pearson. I got a lot of fun. Yeah. We didn't get that many. How many Fs do we get an episode? That's good. That's why I said F. Yeah. Todd said we get two. Oh, really? So okay. In case you wanted before we what before we start beeping them. I didn't know that. I didn't know. We don't really curse a lot anyway. Every once in a while. It comes out. I probably do it the most. And it's interesting. I'm not a big cursor. But I get excited. We get emotional. We do get excited. Yeah, we get excited. Okay. So here's the thing. This episode. Yes. Enjoy very much. I had to watch it a while ago because then I did Ryan and I come on after this episode and we review 608. Yeah. That's right. But I wanted to talk on a macro thing before we even get into like the depth of it because I feel like this is a big part of the episode. Not taboo, which is what the name of the episode is and my favorite group board. You love it. Oh, agree. You love it. I love taboo. I love it. Is that gay? I mean, some people will go with like new stuff like Trader and like you know, catchphrase. Catchphrase. Pretty much catchphrase. Pretty close. Yeah. Yeah. You can also do what celebrity. Yeah. Sort of like put them in the actor when you. My wife and I have to be on the same team in taboo. Okay. If we do battle of the sexist and she does not win. Oh, she does not talk to Brown for the rest of the night. Okay. That's not how you want things to go. No, no, no, no, no. I love my wife. No, but you do, but you, but you also want to win. I'm going to win. Oh, I don't need you. Oh, you got that airies in you. I do not. I feel it. I feel it. I feel it. I'm going to go nuts. Rachel doesn't even play games with me anymore. That's really nuts. But you have the least competitive of the three of us. Yeah, but I'm the most capable. That is godless. That is godless. That's godless. I'm maybe the least competitive of us. You, you, you, you, you, you, me, same. You fire. Yeah. Yeah. That's what is the most. Uh, what's the. Oh, non-competitive. Okay. See that. You got me. Competitive. That's good. Yeah, I wanted to acknowledge this. That one, because directly still. Well, before we get to it initially, I think it's the best game of taboo catching on camera. Yeah. Yeah. The way that that game goes down is so awkward. And the reactions of everybody around it. When we get there, remind me to tell you my catchphrase story too. Okay. I have an incredible before we get to the tab. I should also say that Glenn Steelman was our one of our first eighties on the show, right? So we had rotating because our show was a lot. Yeah. We had 18 episodes. And so while one episode was shooting the other team of eighties, we're prepping. Right. Right. Correct. So Steelman was with us pretty much from the very beginning. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so he was someone that knew the show like the back of his hand. And the fact that he was asked to direct in this last season, but also an episode that I feel is so ambitious. Yes. There is a lot. There is many thanksgivings in many timelines, which is historically like some of the biggest episodes of the seasons throughout the show for us. So I think it really said a lot that like he was given this task as a, as a, you know, first time director on our show to do this particular episode. And he was wonderful. He's wonderful. He is a wonderful human being. Yes. Being I think a first, a great first AD on set may be the most important job. Hands down that there is. We have questions. And is the stage manager of, if you know theater, That's essentially functioning in a. very similar fashion. You got to crack the whip, but you have to crack the whip in such a way that's not dushery. - They keep, they keep morale up. - Yes. - They keep things on schedule, they keep people happy. And I mean, when I mean people, I mean every department. - Every department. - Every entire crew and past. - It's responsible for communicating to each department to let them know what their time tables are. We need this actor at this time. Can you be finished at this time? - Yep. - They keep things on budget? - Yes. - They run everything. - If the show is successful, it is in part because they have an excellent first piece. - Yes, you got a great first piece. - When things are crumbling. - Yeah. - And we've all been on those shows. - May not be the best. And it is a tall order. It's a really unbelievably difficult job. - Yeah. - And it's not for everybody. - No. - It is a certain kind of person, like you said, that can crack. - We've seen good ones. - We've seen not so good ones. - Yeah. - That crack the whip, but also it's like you can do that in a way that like doesn't depress morale. - Correct. - That makes people feel important, that makes people excited to show up for work. Like being a just a deeply good person who like is confident in their ability to keep the train running. I don't know. I still mean was that like times a mill. - He's that dude. - I love him. - He's that flower. - So he was with us on Paradise. I just saw him for the last time in DC. Like we took a picture together. Like he did a toast. He got misty. - Oh well. - I got misty. Like he's a beautiful, beautiful man. I'm so happy for him and the work that he did on this episode, right? Thank you, Mandy. - Yeah. - The other thing that I wanted to talk about before we get into the episode, 'cause I think it's such a big one, is food. - Yep. - Right? - Yeah. - And relationships to food. Families relationships to food. And so I wanted to ask you guys, and then you can, I'll turn it around on myself. What was your relationship to food and the house that you grew up in? And how has it colored how you deal with food as parents of young people now? - Really? - Food was pretty basic in the house I grew up in. You know, a good rotation of like 10 recipes that were pretty straightforward. - Did we all grow up with like four, four, three, two? Do you guys remember that food pyramid? - Yeah. - Those would have looked forward to it. - Yeah, that was definitely there. There was a lot of, looking back, there was a lot of sugar, lots of sugar. - Lots of sugar. - Lots of sugar. - I think we grew up in the evening. - Did we drink Kool-Aid? Did we all drink Kool-Aid? - Oh, yeah. - Yeah. - Do you soda? - Porter, right? - Yeah, yeah. Sugar, I mean, the whole deal. - Yeah. - Which ended up being a problem for me. So now there's not a lot of sugar. - Okay. - And there's no soda in our house. - Yeah. - Oh, God. - Oli pot. - Oli pot. - Come on, Oli pot. - But you know what I mean? - Are you happy? - Yeah. - Those sodas that have 40, - Bro. - 50 grams. - Isn't it a major sugar? - When I thought about this, there's much Kool-Aid as I drank. And then I looked at it and I was like, there's more sugar in this two liter bottle. - Yeah. - I didn't realize it's a lot. - Yeah, it's a lot. So yeah, we, I mean, we still, there's still treats and things with sugar in them, but not things that are sugar forward. - So then is it a situation for you then that the sort of biggest change for you is what you allow into the house and not necessarily how you police the eating habits of you. - Yeah, we tried, we tried to have stuff in the house that if you wanna go eat as much of whatever it is, it's there, especially for the kids. - Gotcha. - The little drawer of like snacks that they can get into themselves. Go ahead. - Yeah. - And there's no added conversation from mom or dad about, should you be like, do you need to do this? Do you need to do that? It's just like you have in the house which you want them to consume. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And there's still so little. - Digging, digging, digging. - I feel very similarly like really basic. Food was not a big issue in our house. We did have lots of sugar as well. - Sure. - I just think it was a different day and age of like. - Yeah, totally. - Yeah, like a lack of awareness, a lack of conversation and, you know, parents that didn't, that had fairly healthy relationships with food and with their weight and their, you know, physicality in the world. You know what I mean? So food was never like, there wasn't like a diet culture in our house or anything. So nothing was really off limits. And like, you know, we'd go to Sam's club. And by like, you know, big boxes of sugary cereals or pop tarts or toaster strutals or something. And so I think pop tarts. - Yeah. - I think back to that now that like, we just have so much more information and education on food. And there's been so much innovation. I think with like, what's available for kids to eat and for us to cook and make and, so we try to be more mindful and healthy and give them healthy options. Like, our kids are not like, my kids are like mac and cheese. I'm like, what? That's like kind of the best thing. - Crapped was a staple. - Yes. - With lots of black, I mean, not craft, not homemade mac and cheese. These guys are red sauce, pasta, dudes, and lady. - More of that was us after the short break. (gentle music) - My mom used to put a scoop of butter on the plate. - Oh. - And the mac and cheese on top of it. - Oh, whoa. I thought you meant like in the pasta. Oh, damn. - Also in the pasta, that's true. - Yeah. - But just mac and cheese sitting in a lake of melted butter, you got it. But here's the other thing. We were also hyperactive. - Yeah. - We were outside a lot. - I mean. - Writing your bike. - I never had a weight issue. - Right. - I ended up when I got older and I became less active. My awareness of how much sugar I took in became more evident. But growing up. - No, I almost burned through that. - Yeah. Hands down because it was like schools one thing and then three to four hours of whatever the activity, whether it was athletics or run around or boys or whatever outside. Like, so I never felt unhealthy. We were unhealthy kids. - Yeah. - But it definitely down the road. - Led to. - Led to. - What about you? - So this is interesting because I think, and I talked about this, Ryan, I talked about this on our podcast so long ago. I don't think I had the best relationship to food or do I think my family, if you ask me and my first cousin's brother and sister, I think they would all agree. So I think my family had a very sort of Henry VIII sort of relationship to food. I'll give you a humorous sort of anecdote about that. If I came home from college, my grandmother, who was born and raised during the depression from Arkansas, and if she thought that I had lost weight, if she thought I was a little bit slimmer than when I left before. She's like, who cab, you staying poor? Right, staying poor. I said this for you right before. And if I came home more or not, I looked a little bit fuller, a little bit more, you know. - Meat on the bone. - A little bit more meat on the bone. I said, you looking mighty prosperous there, Jack, right? And like, it sounds funny, but it's also sort of like, there it is a luxury to have weight. - Sure. - You know what I'm saying? 'Cause it meant that you were able to feed your family, that you guys were not finished, right? And that the relationship wasn't towards what made you healthy. The relationship is what makes you full, right? - Interesting. - Okay, and so there was this thing, they would call me hollow leg, because I would eat my food, and then if people didn't finish their food, I'd be like, yeah, you're gonna kill that? And I would go around and hit like three or four other people's plates in, and how's it? Like we go to McDonald's on like, family vacations or whatnot, and I would get like, you know, two or three bacon egg and cheese biscuits, right? Where I'd drop like the grape jelly on them or whatnot, and then somebody would get like the hot cakes and somebody would get something else and I'd be like, you gonna kill that, you gonna kill that, you'd kill that? And it would just go away, 'cause I would burn it, right? - My order was two double quarter pounders with cheese. - Oh, they cow you back. - Okay. - She's a lot of food. - Yeah. - It's a lot of food. And so I have had to re-teach myself, because the value wasn't like, how much food can I get for my money? Not what's the healthiest option that's available to me? So I also wanna point out that the three of us on a very privileged position to have resources to have healthy options. - Absolutely. We don't have to sacrifice volume for health or whatnot for us. - Oh, it's real privilege. - That's a real conversation. How much can I get versus what's the healthiest thing I can get? And so I found myself having a real moment with Tobias Damon in this episode, being like, he's not wrong. - He's not wrong. - Yeah. - The, I, looking back on this episode was like, this is when the show became really not fun for me. (laughing) To sit at the Pearson Thanksgiving table and have the entire family look at me. yeah. Even though I know they're acting. Yeah. I mean, we'll get there. We'll get there. We'll get there. But yeah. But I feel this way about Kate and Toby and the, you know, slow demise of their relationship. They're both not wrong. Sure. Right. Sure. And that's often the case. Yeah. We're not, you're not wrong, Walter. You're just an asshole. People, people, they, they're both right. And they don't agree. Yeah. And so what else, what else are you going to do? Yeah, you're at a crossroads. You're at a crossroads. I let you guys start the episode. This episode opens with the flashback. I was speaking of food on, you know, baby, Rebecca. The one, the one episode where Mandy doesn't play. Yeah. Rebecca. 10 year old version. There's one with the pig tails. Yeah. And she's in the kitchen with her mom and they are making the family recipe for sugar pie. Oh, you, you and me both. Which when I saw it in the script, I was like, what is this atrocity? Yeah. It's probably delicious. Oh, I tasted it. It's the best thing I've ever had. I want to go to this sugar and butter, because it is literally sugar and sugar. Yeah. Yeah. It's delicious. It's like a dump kick. Yeah. Yeah. You just dump. Yeah. Stump. Yeah. But I too had never heard of sugar pie. I'm like, put this is sugar pie. And then our wonderful food stylist. I made it. My man be killing it. And I was like, Oh my god. Heaven. Incredible. Incredible. But anyways, young Rebecca is in the kitchen with her mom. They're getting ready for a Thanksgiving. And this is the first time that we see a mother indicate to her daughter that we need to be careful with what we eat. Yeah. Because right off the bat, there's the quote, which says, we have to watch ourselves. Yep. She lets her lick the spatula. Like they have fun making it together. Then when she brings it up, she brings her like the slimest liver possible. And then she doesn't have any for herself. Right. What's the lesson here? What are we doing? We spend all this time making this thing with sugar. We're not even going to enjoy the fruits of our labor. That's right. Hey, Paso. Hey, Paso. And we kind of jump straight into a flashback of now. How old are you in this and when you and Jack are married? Like late 20s. Some like that. Yeah. Late 20s. Because he's 36. No. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. He's 36. So you're about 30. Yeah. Some like that. Yeah. Okay. She's like late. Late 20s. Her lady never tells. And we now have a late 20s Rebecca, uh, uh, preparing thanksgiving for Jack and her parents. Yeah. For the first time before they get married. Yeah. No, there's one to get it right. Yeah. She's got a pretty stressed out to host. Yes, stressed out to host my parents exactly wants to impress her mom. And then when her mom and dad do show up, you know, mom immediately starts in with like the nitpicking of like, I don't think you did that right. This is kind of lumpy. And did you add the secret ingredient to the pie and just like immediately jumps in and you can tell that Rebecca is and comfortable. Be annoyed and see like, no, mom, I didn't have the secret ingredient because you never told me. Yeah. Like trying her best to keep the the lid on the pot of like, I'm not going to boil over yet. Yeah. I know that this is what she does. This is this is the effect she has on me. But like really wanting to make it right. Yeah. Even just the the circumferencing you are what to say in the kitchen. Hey, man. Yeah. Get the got out out of the kitchen. Yeah. If you ain't here to help back this is literally I'm in the kitchen. I'm in the kitchen a lot. Yeah. Hey, whether it's cleaning, cooking, whatever it is, I like it in there. Sure. People are always like wandering in. What can I do? What you can do is leave. Yeah. What you can do is get out of the kitchen. Yeah. Okay. I'm like, noted. I am not going there. You can post up in the corner and talk to me. Yeah. Go over there. Like if you're like walking through like. Yeah. Oh, yeah. She was like on her tail. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like every she's zigged. She's agged. Like she's this kitchen is open concept for a reason. Yeah. Go over in the open part of it. Yeah. The question for me is always do you stay in that timeline because it goes. Yes. It montages through. We'll stay in this timeline because I feel like it's easier. Go for it. She talks about the wedding and then makes a comment of like like how are you sort of preparing for it. And she's like, you know, we have to starve herself early to sort of make up for the bad choices. We make a little closer to the date. I'm insurance. It's you're just like, I cannot believe she said this. Yeah. It's not even quiet part out loud. It was like the fact that that's what she thinks is bonkers. Yes. Bonkers. Yes. Also, everybody loves that if you get a love scene where you have to remove clothing, you want it early in the day. Before you eat. Before you eat. I've heard you say that. Yeah. Yeah. Do you disagree? Like wait. I haven't had to do a ton of that. So. Oh, man. I haven't. I haven't. Not only just pouring myself for the full of public consumption. Yes. Episode three. We remember. Putting themselves out there. Yes. Wait. I'm going to tell you something. I had to do something this year where I'm doing stuff and fog of it. I'm like, I'm told the cover off of me so he could see more. I was like, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, let's face it. The show is great, but there's some weird stuff going on with Dan Fogelman. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the shower scene was awesome, but it was a long walk to get there. It was a long and it was and it was all fun. All out of Dan Fogelman's mind, Dan, talking to you, Dan. You always remember someone wrote this. Somebody wrote it. It's not. I didn't just decide. Decide the shower. I have an idea. This is my choice. And and that person was a little apple-dumpling cheat. Jewish man who just spends extra time thinking about much and sterling doing this episode. How much could I tell you? It's a similar dynamic. It's like, you want to show yourself off the best way or what have you. You eat, you will get some sort of bloat. I know that my body weight change is probably about five to six pounds from the top of the day to the end of the day. And it go, you know, it's just like with food and then releasing it. It's just like, it's such an unnecessary thing for a mother to say to a daughter. It's like, do you know what I mean? I do. It's already been planted in her brain, obviously from a young age, that our value is tied directly to how we look and how thin we are and what our body looks like. And so it's like, I could just tell Rebecca, this is not the conversation I want to be having ever, but especially around the holidays while I'm making this food. Mom, it's not a problem. There's a lot of, so through this whole timeline in this episode, it's kind of like we're learning one big thing, right, about Rebecca. And it's interesting because we've, I don't know, has our episode with our significant others come out yet? Okay. So it's already been out, right? Yes. And what we're watching in this timeline is what what happens to every person who decides to unite with another individual, right? Yeah. You unite with this person. You love this personality. There is this operating system that they arrive with. Then as you get to know them and you meet their family, you meet the people who installed this operating system. Good. And you go, okay. And you want, we watch Jack kind of witness it, right? Yeah. Like we watch him. Hey, should I go in there? And his dad says, no, you do not go in their son. Yeah. You do not go in there because of relationship between a mother and a daughter. So Jack is observing all of this, right? And he's seeing what the dad is giving. He's seeing what the mom is giving. He's seeing how all of that makes Rebecca behave, right? He wants to get up and interrupt it and intercepts the weird energy. Should he? Can he? Will he? Yeah. You know, and it's it's the beginning of a marriage, right? And an educate a learning of your partner, where you're like, oh, okay. So this is, so this type of interaction is how you got to have this opinion or you react to food this way or whatever the thing is. Sure. It's all illuminating. And what we end up seeing as the whole thing unfolds is that Jack figures out a way that he can help. Yeah. Yeah. Because the the the the the nagging continues to the point where Rebecca boils over and essentially lets out, you know, late 20 a high 20 years of of information on her mother that ends in essentially like, what would you even know about any of this? You haven't had a slice of this pie in 20 years. Yeah. And there's all things about getting married at the country club, we're not going to get married at the country club. It's all stuffy with people that you don't even really like, et cetera, et cetera, yeah. All stuff that Rateson I went through, like very similar stuff, we had two weddings, because there was a whole extra 150 people who, not extra, just a lot more, not extra, not second choice. Not the second tier. No, but we went to Rachel's hometown and had a whole separate reception for a whole new group of people, because we didn't want to have 300 people at our wedding in Chicago. That's a big wedding. But planning a wedding is a microcosm of your entire relationship together. It involves planning, it involves both families, which let's face it. Maybe the first and last time that those people will ever be in the presence of each other, ever again. My parents and Rachel's parents had not seen each other since the wedding. Yeah, and not, but mostly because of proximity. It's like they live in the, you know, and when we go to visit them, we're not bringing my parents in. Yeah. Five percent. But you haven't had a situation yet where you've coasted and both families come to? No, no. Her family's too big and my family's close by and all these things. But there's compromise. There's finances. It's literally a microcosm of a marriage. Press down to this diamond of what's going to be the most special day in the history of days. And it could be a lot of pressure. Yeah. And it boils over for Rebecca, these talks. Yeah. And then Jack goes to talk to your mom first. Janet. To Janet. Took me a minute to remember right now. To be like they listen. She wanted this to be perfect for you. She really tried. Family recipes. It matters to her. And all of a sudden, the conversation gets flowing and Jack gets some information. Yes, he does from mom and mom and dad are moving. And that's why everything is a little stressful. Oh, interesting. Okay. Let me go give me 10 minutes. I'm going to go talk and he goes to talk to Rebecca. And it's really kind of he's trying to mediate. And it's brilliant. Yeah. Because he knows what he's doing. And he he says, I've talked to your mom and listen, I just I think that that between this and this and the move that there's just been a lot. She's like, what? The move move moving. And essentially, what Jack has realized in this compressed little Thanksgiving dinner is the way that he can reunite Rebecca and her mom. Common enemy, bro, is to give them a common enemy, which is him, which is I can't believe if you told her that we were moving. I didn't want you to find out. She's told you that in private. Yeah. And Jack just being like, yeah, like, I'm okay in this role. I know what I was doing. Oh, dumb me. Sorry. I got shot out to Madison too, who really played this role well. He's like, my name has been at nine in it. Yeah, I'm saying like that was the way you do today. He's like, the relationship between mothers and daughters is very complicated. Jack and the more you stay out of it, the easier. And Jack's like, all right. I don't want to be involved anyway. Yeah. They'll get my friends on Collins and we'll figure it out together. Yeah. But Jack's like, I'm gonna find my own way in and and Kudos to him because like, I've actually tried this what Jack has done. Not as well. Not as well. It wasn't it wasn't written by the writers of this. It is a tight rope walk. Well, just because there is a history that has absolutely nothing to do with you. Yeah. That's right. You know, I'm saying there's like, you know, things may be coming out and it may feel like it's directed to you. But it's like, not it's it's there's and for me, 18 years of a relationship that exists before I came into the picture. That's right. Like every once in a while I try to say like, I don't know if you ever get a chance to hear what this person says about you that maybe they can't say to you directly for for better and for worse, but mostly for better. I'm not trying to like point, but like that there's real love and affection and like, maybe if you heard it, then maybe it would sort of help you sort of open yourself up to it in another way. But they my my my wife and mother-in-law. But for my entire life, I was a PC family. We were a PC family. PC? Yeah. I'm getting back to metaphors. Got. And then Rachel came into my life and somebody handed me a MacBook. Copy that. And I was like, I don't. What is this operating system? I don't know how to work this. Where do I? Where's Microsoft word? I just want to write a document. Oh, and so it's I'm just saying it's a learning process. Yes. When you are when you're decoding all of these years of relationship and experience and trauma and triggers and yeah. I get there was you're talking about the marriage thing and then we'll move on to another where we got married and my wife was really insistent that we that I pay for the rehearsal there because it's the groom. It's like totally fine, right? Now my mom has been retired for an extended period of time. My father passed away when I was fairly young, but I was working. I was on a TV show called army wives at the time. And she's like, well, your mom should pay for it. And I was like, well, listen, how about I just pay for it myself? And she was like, no, your mom's supposed to pay for it. And I was like, yeah, you know what? Let's not go like toe the line so hard. We're older people. You know, I'm in my 30s. I can pay for it. But then like, there's a whole conversation between moms between my mom and her mom. Oh, yeah. It's tough. The big conversation with the big fight that Rachel and I had during our wedding planning was a wedding registry. I didn't want one. Did one one? No. And she did. And she did. Because we both were adults with two households full of stuff. We were going to have to throw away half of it anyways. Yeah. And I'm like, what do we need? That's interesting. What do we, we have beds? Yeah. We have dishes. We have all these things already and got quints. And it was in this. It was in a weird time. Thank you. I got quints. Yeah. I got quid. I got everything I need. No, but it was in a weird. So in 2010, would have been an interesting kind of middle window between like proper wedding registries. And now people don't have them to have like honeymoon. Like you literally, you can just contribute to the honeymoon. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, help us fund our honeymoon. That wasn't a thing. Right. Or maybe it wasn't. No, maybe it wasn't. Rachel didn't want to like just be asking for cash. Sure. And yeah. So that was like, what'd you do? What do we do? We had a registry. Yeah. We had a giant hold on. Not only we have a giant full blown registry. We got all of the gifts. And then I found out I got the Broadway show. We moved to New York five days after getting married. And all of our wedding gifts went into storage. And we didn't see them again until we moved to Los Angeles in 2016 for this is us. When I had that shipping container, that sat in a warehouse. That sat in a warehouse for six years accruing. How? Who knows how much money to for that thing? And then had a shipped had a shipped from Illinois to Los Angeles when we opened up like an Indiana Jones arc of the covenant. And it was like a kitchen aid mixer. Just what I've always wanted. But it's six years old. It's an old model. Not the box unopened. I know. I mean, unopened wedding just like. Did you use most of the stuff? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Okay. We still have we still have our fiestaware dishes. Yeah, you do. That is so fiestaware is good. It's no plastic. That's right. No led. That's good. That is hilarious. Okay. Yeah. Shall we move on to Rebecca and Miguel and Marguerite and that. This is a good one. Yeah. The world's most uncomfortable timeline. It is so good because we got an alcoholic 20 year old. We got our world. Yeah. Why am I laughing at that? Yeah. Well, they're checking all the boxes in this time. Yeah. Yeah. We have we have Kate who is who has fully entered her her food addiction. Sure. We have Randall and Beth who are just Randall's trying to fix everything and Beth is just here for it. Yeah. She's like I just love it. Which by the way she also is in the present day time. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. These are crazy. Yeah. Also kind of my position when we traveled to Rachel's family, like Rachel's family. I'm like, there's nothing going on, but I'm like, I'm here to take it. I'm learning. I'm still learning the operating system. Absolutely. So getting, we're taking note. Okay. Yeah. - Yeah, all right. - Interesting. - That's my favorite. - Okay, that's trash. - Okay, good. I do a lot of dishes at Rachel's parents house. - Ooh. - It's good listening. - Good listening. - It's helpful. - Yeah, you're liking these from-- - I do actually enjoy it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - We've got Miguel and Margarit who show up for Thanksgiving, just like they said they would. - Real quick, she's French, for real. - No. - She's good accent. - It was a really good accent. - Yeah, good accent. - It was. - Okay, good. (laughing) - So we've got a shoot. - Matt. - Matt. - Matt, who shows up. - He's so, he seems like he-- - Callie. - He seems like how he looks. - Don't you just want him to win? - You do. - I'm like, oh, that. - Just want Matt to win. - Yeah, Matt is on the land too. - That's right. - He's on the land. - He's on the land. - I'll get out of here. - Yeah, Matt is like the anti-mark with the sea. - Yes, that's right. - He's our special team. - He's marked with the kay. - He's so lovely. - Mark with the kay. - There you go. - And Matt walks in the door right as he hears Rebecca saying, "Me sweet, he's nice, see you're gonna like him." - Yeah, like that. - Yeah, like that. That's how it works. - You are so scared to hear that. - Everyone arrives, Mark, Matt arrives, Beth and Randall walk in and Kevin goes, me and Sophia broke up. - We broke up. - Not got a divorce, not legs. - Yeah, we broke up. - Yeah, we broke up. - You want a beer? And Rand's like, "Uh, it's not quite new yet, so I'm okay." And then Kate literally, like it's just, they're stacking 'em up. Kate runs in and she has gotten heavier. And there is a look of recognition on Randall's own. - Hey, hey, and so the traffic jam of issues is just piling up very, very, very quickly. - Very fast. - Yeah. - But I will say that the old girl who plays Margarit, when she says, when she says, "History, we have a problem." - As you style, we have a problem. - We have a problem. - It's not just that. It's the look of Rebecca's face. Every time she says it, and if it's even a second or third time, Rebecca's like, "Well, she really likes that one, let's see." - She says the problem of her routine, I guess. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Okay. - Yeah. - And the awkwardness of like, so Miguel, I think Miguel's legitimately trying. He has a moment with Matt. When he's like, "Oh, man, I just want this to go well." I'm trying to stick around for as long as possible. He's like, "Right, oh, man, I wish you well." He's like, "I brought a bottle of Pino and watch." I think it's Rebecca's favorite. And he's like, "Right?" Like Miguel's like, "That's not her favorite." But I like, "Okay." He's like, "He opens the box." - Oh my God, it's so great. - Well look at him. - This is so John. - John and John? - Yeah. - And he like smells a little bit. - And it's like, it was perfect. - Yeah. - And Mack goes, "Oh, no, is it okay?" And he goes, "Sure." - Not reassuring at all. - No. - Sure. - Sure. - Sure. - It's okay. - It's just okay. - Yeah, where it's just throwing shade is so good. - When they get together and she's like, "You get a chance to talk to Matt." Like, "Yeah, yeah, nice guy." You know what I'm saying? Like, "Sweet." Like, "Not too sweet." He's just like, "The right." Not too sweet, not too sour. Just like, "Right down the middle." - Right down the middle. - Yeah. - He expands it. - Yeah. - And then Mack is like, you know, Mercury is very beautiful. You know, to be French, I thought she'd be, I can't remember. - More worldly. - More worldly. I thought, in my mind, I thought it was gonna be culture, but more worldly, but she's actually really normal. - Really normal. - Just shade. - You guys, it was like, it was like, yeah. Jouston. - Yeah. - Like, emotional jouston. I'm just like poking each other's. - Like, he's down the middle, and she's normal. - Yeah. - Who would've thought? - I thought she was gonna be. - Yeah. - Yeah, being French and all. - So, so we, the kids are able to clock upon first meeting is like, yeah, this is kind of tense. - This is gonna be weird. - There's something going on here, right? We get to that, I'm gonna use one of them right now. We get to that fucking game of taboo. - So good, so good. - You guys. - You got it. - Like, it goes from like, you know, like, I think, Randall and Beth have a cute little hook up. It's like, my six favorite thing about you. - Yeah. - My dimples, my dim, it always bothers me that this kid's voice is deeper than my dimples. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. (both laughing) But then, so Rebecca's up. It's like, come on, old people. You gotta get it together, right? She's throwing stuff out. And then she gestures like, you know what? Hey, man, like, it was a tortoise thing. And it's like, it's kind of like a tortoise. And people were like, what are you talking about? And you had a couple of these, like, oh, lizards, right? And then it's just like five or six and a half. - Yeah. - Right? - Yeah. - Where she just is playing to Miguel. It's like, in their own world, nobody else is there. It's like, they have a rhythm. - Yes. - They've found the rhythm and she's sticking with it. It's like, they've totally, 'cause I think when the game first started, it was like, Margaret didn't really know the answer. And it was just like, okay, not you, Miguel. I'm gonna just focus in, because you and I know each other. I'm gonna just give you all these clues. And it's such a sweet thing because you start to recognize, like, oh, they know so much about each other. And they have a real history. It was like, that one time at Froggy's with Jack, when he blocked all of these examples. - Yes. - Like all of these examples. - Yeah, and all in composing of the light. - But there's another thing too. If you go another level, there's a couple of like, used to call me Mary Tyler Moore, because I would wear Beret's. And there's like, Billy Joe's favorite song, right? She's always a woman. - Right, but not a different word. - But not a woman, a different word for that. And then there was like, oh, used to always watch Susan Day and say, she's such a beautiful, and so like, I kind of love, because you kind of do fit into this Mandy Moore, like this sort of Susan Day, Mary Tyler Moore, like classic beauty sort of thing. And we make these references too. And I don't think they're just, if you go a little bit deeper, like it's like, everybody else can see it. - Yes. - And you guys are acting like you can't. - Yes. - Or you don't actually, like, what do you think? What's your take? I'm curious. - My take was no. - In that moment. - Is no. - No, no, no, it's just like, not so what? - Not to the porch. - No, the porch. Yeah. I think it's just like, he is so easy and comfortable and familiar that I truly believe that it was all in. - This is what I think. - Good fun. - I'm gonna tell you this. And I want you to disagree with me. You've already gone so far as to say, you're pretty much like my best friend, right? We've had that set on camera, right? And I think the unspoken part, which is like the thing that I think allows the audience to sort of root for you ultimately, is that there is a recognition on both people that this was my husband's best friend. And this is my best friend's wife. And that never escapes. Like that is always president's center. I think for you guys, if that thing was not president's center, you would have been together. - Deeram, like, I think like the big, I don't, I just, I don't think that Rebecca was in the place for that to even be a possibility until it was. - Okay. - And until that possibility was taken off the table. - You don't know what you got to let's go? - Yeah, for sure. I think Matt was the first nice guys that crossed your path. And he was like, oh, I could do this. This feels easy and I don't have to put a lot of thought behind it and he clearly really likes me. I think the Miguel possibility was like, and maybe she was lying to herself, but the way I always thought of it and always played it was like, this was not on her brain until it was. - Yeah. I agree with that. I agree with that because of how you came into each other's life. - And I think so. They have this awkward game, right? - Yeah. - And you could have like dropped, it was the-- - They were dead quiet. - Dead quiet, like the fun and game sort of came to halt as everybody was recognizing like, oh, these two people are soulmates. Or like they are, like this is wild and uncomfortable, how much they know about each other and how in sync they are with one another. So that scene ends and-- - Because you're in sync with them like, even more so than Beth and Randall. Like more so than the couple that is there, you know what I mean? - And looks are exchanged whatever. Next time we see them Miguel's outside taking the trash out, right, and Kevin's out there. And he basically essentially is like, dude, like what was that? - Let's even go back 'cause like, I shout out to Logan when he first beats Matt. Yeah, he shakes his head. - He's like, you on your own home? (laughing) - Yeah. - For a magic. - Yeah. - You on your own? - Yeah. - And so then he curves up to McGarry's like, at the whole time I've been checking out the wrong guy. But the cutaway in the background, you hear Matt say, well, it's a townhouse. - Yeah. (laughing) - That's all I'm saying. - Oh, I'm not in that scene. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. (laughing) - There's an H.O.A. - Yeah. (laughing) - But yeah, I own him. - But he gives Miguel a dress and that's like, I don't know what you're thinking man, but, you know, you come's hard. - He comes. - Yeah. - Do you have it written? - Well, just like, I can hear my dad's disappointment. your husband. best friend. And essentially like, if you ever act on anything and you feel the earth rumbling under your feet, that is my dad rolling over in his grave. I mean, talk about coming hard and coming from dramatic and only the way a 20, early 20s can come early 20. And inebriated, early. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that Miguel is like, I think you need some water. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You need to chill out. Yeah. Like he wasn't his feathers weren't ruffled, but clearly it did help him realize like I got to have this conversation. Yeah. I also think dramaturgically, Kevin, that moment represents a lot of our audience. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So like he's saying that thing out loud that a lot of people are like, they don't know. Absolutely. So the next time we see them, um, is on the porch, right? Yeah. Like what are they doing? Everyone's, they're cleaning up. Yeah. They're cleaning up everybody. Okay. Okay. Everyone's gone. And Rebecca essentially, you know, they both kind of admit like, all right. My, my, my, my job at at Marguerite and your job at Matt, like maybe they weren't so like incidental. Maybe they're a little more pointed. And he, I think says, you know, I've been hanging around because I, you know, felt like I needed to, but at this point now, I think you're okay without me. You're back on your feet. Yeah. And, uh, I'm moving. I'm, I got a job offer in Houston. It's closer to my kids. It's why she was making that dumb joke all night about Houston. We have a problem. Um, so don't blame her for that. That was my job. And then what does he tell her? I mean, he says, he says it's time, it's time for me to go. And then he goes, that's really hard because I don't know what else to do. You're my favorite person. Yeah. When he said that, I want to cry now when he said that to me. Yeah. In that moment, yeah. It was like, yeah, it was everything she needed to hear that she didn't realize she needed to hear after all of this loss, her world being flipped upside down. Um, also way better than I'm in love with you. Yeah. Like that is just this is us quality writing. Yeah. And it's also like that is longevity. That is the ballgame. That is everything. That is the foundation for everything. Not you're my best friend. No, you're my favorite person is so romantic. Um, and she's, you know, crying in bed afterwards. I think she's just really overcome with, I can't believe he's leaving us. I think there's a part of her that's like, this is my last connection besides my children to my husband. Yeah. And if he goes a piece of Jack goes, um, and also like, I, you don't know what you got till it's gone. Like imagining my life, then I don't have, you know, I've Randall, I don't have Kevin. Kate is here. But like, there's been so much like dispersion. There's been so much change in transition. And now this is one more thing she wasn't expecting. I think she assumed like, Miguel and I are just going to be like those best friends that watch who wants to be a millionaire and go have like, but you know, why nights together and go see movies and like, he's just going to be like my best friend. And that she thought on the porch. I think before the porch, I think realizing how hard that hits her. The porch is the turning point. The porch is the turning point of like how hard that hits her. I don't think she was expecting to be a that he would ever going to leave. Sure. But that she would be so devastated by that loss. So this is interesting because I agree, because I think his move also in part is that he realizes that he has feelings. Yes. Right. And like, you ever been caught in that genre? Like, I'm in the friend zone and being in the friend zone is actually growing uncomfortable. Yeah. And I need to remove myself from the session. Yeah. That's exactly what he did. Yeah. But I think Rebecca was content to stay in the friend zone. Yes. Maybe lying to herself, maybe blissfully unaware. But so I think Miguel did the only responsible thing to do for his own well-being to be like, I got to take myself out of the equation here. But the comfort that Kate teen Kate provides Rebecca in that moment of just like getting behind her and holding her really echoes perfectly why. Yes. In the future, we see the choice that Rebecca had to make that has to do with Kate that we'll get into. It's really beautiful. Yeah. It's beautiful. And I asked, I'm going to ask the audience and the folks who watch this, like who watched the show before who are following with us now. Like, I'm just want to hear your comments and thoughts about Miguel and his choice. And like, I was like, because like, he got a lot of iron for a long time. Yeah. I'm wondering like who made the turn? Yeah. And who didn't? Right? I'm just curious. Right? If you have any thoughts on Miguel and Rebecca, let me know. I think by the time you get 615, if you haven't made the turn, then you don't even at this point. It's like seeing their connection. It's like, oh, it's, it, it wasn't what you thought it was. Right. Right. And he was always a gentleman. Yeah. He was always a stand-up guy. Miguel was always a woman to me. Always. Shall we go to the cabin though? Oh my God. Oh, real quick. Yeah. The button on that scene. He turned ingredient. Randal tries to fix mom. Can't she still crying? Yeah. Kevin says, I'm going to the pool, right? Because it's setting up the next episode. Yes. That's not bait. And I'm going to the pool. And then I heard it's closing down. And then we go back for all time. Yeah. Before that, before it's gone forever. Yep. And then the last thing in this timeline, we see is Kate crawling into bed with her mom, which is something that we'll tie into the next storyline. That's correct. That's correct. It's Thanksgiving at the present day Thanksgiving at the cabin. Yep. Kate and Toby are tense. Kevin is trying to learn Anna begins. Yeah. One of the more obscure tracks from August and everything after by the counting crows. One of my favorite albums of all time. And there are tons of hits on that record. And he's trying to learn Anna begins. Can I do like that choice? I do too. Yeah. It was like, it's not a hit. He doesn't get a single chord, right? Nope. We should have taught him one. No, I'm kind of obsessed with it. You know, Justin was probably, I got it. No, no, no, watch this. Yeah. Beth and Randall show up. Of course, Beth is ready for all the drama. And Randall is is filming everything. He is. He wants documenting everything. There it is. He's, you know, as time is becoming shorter, his mom used to live right, you know, around the corner. Now she's across the country. Yeah. He just wants to make sure that his daughter's remember his mom. Yeah, I love that he insists the day be off their phones while he is just like glued to his. Yeah. But but Rebecca is in the kitchen making making the sugar pie. Yep. Don't won't tell Kate the secret ingredient. Oh, okay, the secret ingredient. Meanwhile, Kate is is offering Jack, the spatula, the spoon to lick. And this is the first time we see Toby be like, yeah, maybe, maybe he's had enough sugar. So we don't need to. He's already had sugar syrup. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We don't need to and and we realized that this is the tension. Yeah. They're that they are not. They are. In my two go to's. I think we've talked about this before. Frosted flakes. Yeah. Captain Crunch. Would tear the roof of my mom. Yeah. Yeah. Too much. Yeah. I mean, it'd just be delicious. I'd eat the whole pot. Delicious. I was Reese's peanut butter puffs. That was like a later. Yeah. Invention. That was that was a later. That wasn't in high school. Yeah. Yeah. I guess coming up the sugar cereal was more frosted flakes. Yeah. Which is just a race as soon as the milk touches them. Basically because it means so quickly. They'll do that. Yeah. I would like life. Life cereal. Life is like a regular regular regular. It sounds like healthy. It was sweetened. What? Yeah. I mean, it wasn't like sugary sugary, but it's sweetened. It's a really challenge of a name for something. Yeah. What do you have in a bowl of life? What? Quaker. Yeah. I guess I'll have two. Yeah. I don't know. Later on in life, I found something called crackling oat bran. Oh, crackling oat bran is. I like a honey bunches of oats. Great. Crackling oat bran also kept you regular. Well, sure. Yeah. Sure. Anyway. I'm off track. Anyway. Kevin. Kevin, Kevin, Kevin guitar and is annoying everyone. Kevin's annoying everybody with the guitar. Randall comes in black piercings. Yes. Rebecca knows she wants to have a little talk with everyone. Yeah. Just the four of them and the yellow. Yeah. Correct. God. I hate nothing. I hate nothing more than when someone does that. Let's face it. It's racial. When we're Rachel wants to do that. Hey, can I talk to you later about something? - And then it's just weighing on you. - God no. - No, just talk to me now. - No, I need a log line. I need just what's it about? - Give me a heads up here, please. - What's it about? No, no, I'll talk to you later. Well, then I'm moving out. - Yeah. - I'm leaving you with the children. - Yeah. - Because I can't sit in a position of like give me an idea. - This doesn't work with my operating system, my anxiety levels. - Yeah, even if it's bad, tell me what it is. - I'm wondering how I feel about it. Ryan wants to talk. I'll talk about it, whatever it is. I don't know, it doesn't, the talks. 'Cause well, here's the thing. Ryan is actually a little bit more tight-lipped than sterling. Like information doesn't flow easily. So she ever like volunteers to talk. - Yeah. - Yeah, let's do it. - You're ready. - I'm ready for it. Hey, what if it's, what if you just arrived on set? This is a hypothetical situation. - Yeah. - It's never happened. - It's 9 a.m., and you get a text that says, "Hey, when you get home, I just want to talk to you about something." (laughing) - Absolutely not. - Yes. - What? - Okay. - I got everything. - That is diabolical. That's diabolical. - That's good. - So, okay. - It's 12 hours or no? - Okay. - You need a caveat or something. No big deal. - Or just don't text me that. - And talk to me later. (laughing) - Yes. Yes. I agree. - What? (laughing) (laughing) - 'Cause you're not gonna forget. - I'm not mad at that. - Needless to say, we're still learning each other's operating. - Bigger. - Yeah, I know. - I get it. - I get it. - Lord have mercy. - Okay, so then Kevin is walking everyone around and he's showing them the property. Where everyone's requisite. Like wings are gonna be your family wings here. Your family wing is here. And then this'll be sort of the primary suite for mom. And Miguel very kindly just goes like in the midst of all of this like incredibly generous building and plans you're gonna be building. What about a guest house? And Kevin immediately poo-poo's that like, what you want of your fishing buddies? Like, sorry dude, I'm thinking about my immediate family. - It said it's a family thing, so I wasn't planning on having like extra space for like your buddies to come in and we'll have you. - Yeah. - Before that, there's Randall's asking what do you think mom wants to talk about? - Miguel's like, I don't have anybody, buddies. - Yeah. - When did you see the friends? - When do many of us have friends? - He's like, if you just let me get a word in Edgewise. Randall's like, what do you think mom wants to talk about? You know, she, I can't remember what he said. Something about her. Is she gonna lose her driver's license? - Yeah. - Don't bother. I don't know either. And then Kate's like, I think we should just wait. Let mom tell us what it is that she wants to tell us. And like the brothers are like, all right, if you say so. Whatever. - Yeah. - That sounds like a problem. - That's her adult and mature. - Yeah, sure. - So are you do you. - Then Tobias comes through to say, Kate, I'm having a meltdown over here. I'm trying to get my man to do something. But you're taking for a walk. And she's like, well, have you tried narrating? Like, tell him about the birds. And I think, yeah, I'm trying to. But he's crashing out because he's had too much sugar. It's kind of hard to have a conversation. - Yeah. - Because he's like quite a little passive-aggressive job. And it's hard to narrate a David Attenborough documentary when he said, do more chugther. You bad mother. And she's like, are you serious man? And so she comes and helps and says, oh, no, sorry. Kate says, you know what, when, when, when? - This happened yesterday to me in Rachel. This type of interaction, bear listen, this little Yodo radio, love them. They have these little cards. And I got him this set of fantasy dragon stories that he loves. Maybe he loves them too much. Maybe there's some language that's a little old for a six-year-old in there, like calling someone a squid brain. Or, you know what I mean? - Okay, I feel like in a squid brain. - Listen, listen, I may be patting my side. But it's kind of the point where it's like, it's all he wants to do is listen to these stories. And he's listened to them a lot. And now we don't want to listen to anymore. It's a Rachel, Rachel turns to me. We're at the pool the other day and goes, and she's telling some friends of ours about him. And she looks at me and goes, can we just throw them away? And I was like, yeah, yeah, of course we can. And she go, do it. And she goes, well, you bought them for him. And I was like, oh, I didn't realize I was being blamed for this. And obviously it wasn't actual tension, but it was like that type of interaction where it's like, it's okay. - Yeah, Jack is loosening his mind over here. Maybe you could help me. Well, yeah, try doing this. No, yeah, that didn't work because you had too much sugar. - But the next step of it is the brother-in-law tension because Jack is like, you know, when he's doing like, I just like try to sing a song. You're like, oh, really? My son likes music? - This is my favorite lie. This is my favorite lie. Now if you could tell that I enjoyed delivering it. - What was the line? - I was like, oh, does Jack like music? Interesting. And I just move on. And it was, because that one was a little earned. - Yes, it was. - Buddy. - Pike down. - Oh, does he like music? Great, thanks. - Well, because there's an escalation, which the payoff for this one, like even in watching it, I was like, okay. So anyway, we get down to the Thanksgiving table. And don't let me miss anything with something else in between. - In the Pilgrim Ricat. - He's in the Pilgrim Ricat and he's explaining the lore of the Pilgrim Ricat, how like it's become sort of this thing about the creepy in-keeper that they sort of gets mythologized, you know, for what have you. And so, listen, this is the full circle. When you start to feed him, and in my mind, you don't make a big show. - Of skipping the marshmallows. - Skips, you know, skips the marshmallows off the top. So he can feed the kid, the sweet potatoes. He didn't say he was doing it. He didn't make a big show, but Kate clocks it. And Kate's like, really toast. And something becomes public that wasn't meant to be public. - And I just wanna acknowledge, I think every once in a while, somebody got to step up for Damon because we see how things are going in the season. And we know how to end. He was not being ostentatious. - No, I agree. - I agree. - But it was escalated. - It was escalated. And so she's like, what do you think's going on here, man? She's like, are you like, you're like back, policing my choices and everything like that. And she's like, listen, I feel like I get a chance to have some sort of a say and what happens inside of our house, right? Like how we're feeding our children. - How we're feeding our kids. You're treating me like I'm some absentee father who's off doing God knows what with who knows. That's not the case. Like I've done this before. And it would be silly for us not to acknowledge our-- - Shared genetics. - Shared genetics, right? And at that point, I believe Kevin Pearson from the opposite end of the table when it's totally quiet says, take off the hat, Toby. - Yeah. - No, there's even a more of an escalation because he pops off. Hey, he goes, Toby, can we just-- - Oh yes, that's right. - He just gets him like a little calm down. - If I want to listen to the man child that is sleeping on my couch. - Am I, I would ask for it, man. I provide for my thought. - That's right. - Yeah. And then he, and then he pops off at Kevin and comes right back and says, and you are correct in the story goes, and I think we would be, we wise to acknowledge our genetics. - Yeah. - And crickets, and I would tell you, I remember visibly this day at this table. I'm like sitting down essentially at the kids table. - Yeah, you're on the other end for everybody. - Sure, there's two babies on the other side of me, and I'm feeding both of them. And the black Pearson girls are giving me side eye. - Yeah. - That's probably what made me feel the worst, is when young people are like, they don't even together. - When black women give you side eye. - Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the polar opposite of when they call you baby or sugar. That's all I want. It's for like a 50-something-year-old black woman to call me sugar. - Oh, baby. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that side eye, and Kevin just looks at him and goes, take off the hat. - It's so cold. - It is, okay. - I was about to use the second one. By the way, I already used one. It's not fair for me to use both of them. - Yeah. - Eyes fricking cold. (laughing) - And Toby goes, what? - Whoa. - Screw his legs. - Take off the hat. And this is the turning point for this relationship. - Yeah. - This is the real like, oh, this is done. - Yeah. - Yeah. - You will always have your sister side no matter what. - Yeah. - You think that was, that's not the turning point in that relationship. - No, but this is the crossroad. For Toby and, and for Toby. - And the Pearson's? - Yes. - For Toby and Kevin. - Toby and the Pearson's. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Okay. - Like, I mean, I'm dramaturgically is what I mean. Toby and Kevin, yes, Randall doesn't say anything. - No. So I think Randall is Switzerland and that, [BLANK_AUDIO] twin, those two brothers, yeah, well, because they have close proximity, and you can only really get annoyed with the person that's right next. That's right. That's right. I love the end best of like every year at the same time. Yeah, but she kind of likes it. Just like the interjection of humor and pressure. Yeah, of course. She gets some watched people freak out. Yeah, wonderful. There's something about holiday meals in general. Arbor. There's so much build up. Pressure. So much pressure and expectation is like, special meal. And it's not. It's not. Yeah. Can I just say that? Can my hot take be? Give it? Yeah. Thanks, giving. Yeah. Can I hear my, here's my hot take. Thanks, giving food specifically. Here's my hot take. If I, if I never saw another turkey, 1000%. You know, the last like four years, I have ordered ordered some of the food for an owner, because I don't trust myself to cook a turkey, and I've ordered salmon. Great. Yes. I like that. Yeah. Actually, probably more present at any of the original quote unquote, even though they're all pretty. Sure. Yeah. Made up Thanksgiving dinners. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My hot take is like Thanksgiving is I love it in theory. Sure. In practice, a lot of holidays are always a little like. Yeah. You want to make it special. Give me a Thanksgiving Tomahawk. Just a big ass steak. Yes. But I mean, just the general like celebration. Maybe I've like never had the proper. I will say, I will say growing up, our Thanksgiving's were perfect. Yeah. My mother is very good at holidays. Christmas, picture rest. Oh, wow. Yeah. She I didn't have that. Thanks. Thanksgiving. Perfect. But I cannot achieve that. No. And I and I don't desire to continue it. My wife does she does well. And she cooks. Yeah. And she cooks most everything. Wow. And I'm so blown away by it. Right. She and there's certain things that she only allows herself at Thanksgiving and Christmas. She does not eat macaroni and cheese the whole year. Okay. Thanksgiving Christmas. She goes in. She will have sweet potatoes, but she doesn't like candy the yams the same way that she does them for Thanksgiving. Sure. And Christmas, right? My biggest thing with the holidays is the lack of green food. Now we have greens, which are a big thing. Do you guys do greens? Yes. Yeah. We have spinach. I don't like green spinach, but we do green beans, but do you do not like greens? No, not like collards or mustard to turnips or anything like that. That's a that's a major staple in the black house, right? And they're delicious. But like that's usually the only green thing that's there. Yeah. And sometimes there's some pork in the green. So my wife will flavor hers with jalapenos, which is which is a nice it gives it a little bit of a fine which green gets the jalapeno. So it's usually she'll usually do like a slick leaf mustard and a turnip together. Yeah. Right? And it's it's with jalapenos. Yeah. Yeah. I give you an idea. Coming over. Okay. Yeah. I invite it. Can I come over? You can come over. Okay. The other thing that like I find most delightful. What I call dressing. Yeah. Do you call? Nothing. God. Thank you. I appreciate it. But here's the difference. Yes. Do you cram it in the bird or not? Then it's dressing. Yeah. But if you. But if you. But if you put it in, then it's not. If you scoop that out of the. That's just to be really careful, like in terms of like, yeah, salmon, you know, and whatever. There is at the end of this one, uh, you and your wife have a conversation. Yep. You want to talk about that? I mean, it was just essentially her talking about her operating system. Yeah. And how her sensitivities of food and this, that, and the other thing, uh, she tries to relate it to a 1900's film called. She's all that. She's all that. Evan Rachel Wood. Smokesher. She. Oh, oh, Rachel. No, no, not Evan Rachel. Look what's in it. It's not Evan Rachel Wood. No, but one of the funniest. She's all that. One of the funniest edits in this is us history happens when she's telling. Rachel something. She's telling this. Rachel. Three names. Thank you. Kate is telling this, uh, uh, story about the movie and the song Kiss Me Comes On. And one of the funniest edits in in the history of our show is is the cut back to Toby and he says, I don't think that that movie is this piece of cinematic history that you think it is. And it is a hard cut out of that song. It goes quiet. It is, which I was like, that's funny. That's a good choice. It's really funny. It's good. Um, but we do see her in the past, too. You caught. Yeah. There's these moments when like her mom gives her the spoon or when she's sitting down at the table and she starts to sing the song in her head. And we essentially, this is the conversation of like, this isn't working. Like, we disagree. Yeah. Fundamentally. Fundamentally on this. Is that what we leave it? Is that essentially? It's not so harsh. Yeah. But it is like what we're talking about. I'm going to let my children not have the same shame around food that I had growing up. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure they watch what they want to avoid the pain that I felt as a chubby kid growing up. Yeah. And so they were just sort of like, that's my argument. That's my argument. And there was no resolution. Yeah. Essentially. That sounds right. And it's interrupted by Rebecca saying like, okay, it's time to start this family meeting. Yeah. We're going to have this family meeting. We're going to have a meeting. And you give one of the best monologues of the show. Guys, let me say this. I've already expressed my enthusiasm once. I won't stand up again. But this was this this shit was. And it was one of those moments, right? I also looked at her and I'm like, this is not a 70 year old woman. Yeah. I'm like, and I forget. Eight years younger than me. Yeah. And I forget. And I'm like, that's my mom. It's very kind of you guys. I think there was so much leading up to this. Yeah. And you know, I felt like very weirdly like calm about it. Yeah. But also like, I wanted to just do it in the same way that I'm sure Rebecca felt that same anticipation. Like, I need to just get this out. Yeah. I think it was less about, you know, the sort of like totality of it. And more specifically about I know that choosing Kate should anything happen to Miguel is going to devastate my relationship with Randall. And I feel like we just sort of got on years and years and years of pain and betrayal. We've sort of found ourselves back in good standing with one another. And that wasn't lost on her that that was really going to be a huge blow for him. I don't know if you know some of my face. Like, it's like the palpable. I couldn't look at you. Like just like I was at a state of a disability. I was like, you didn't pick these writers in my inside of my whole body. I was like, I was ready. I was like, I'm step up. I got you. Whatever it is that you need. And when I heard Kate, I was like, I mean, like, it's a weird thing when you fool yourself. Like you read it. I knew what was going to happen. I was like, no, she's going to take it and say Randall. So we get two things. We get Kate will be in charge of my affairs. Should anything happen to Miguel. And she also says to them, I don't want any argument about that. Yeah. And I don't want what's happening to me to affect you guys to affect you. You will not make your lives small because of me. And the only response to this is a yes, man. Yes, man. Yeah. And it's just one of the great monologues of the show. Yeah, delivered flawless. I think it's like, I'm so proud that we were able to show this moment as evidenced by our caregiving episode. There's so much feedback we've gotten about this scene in particular of how one can move forward. And truly, one of the more responsible and caring things, someone in this situation could do for themselves and their family unit is to have a meeting like this where they make their wishes known very concretely, very specifically. So that when things do progress and they're not able to communicate it and with such clarity that things are already set in stone. And people know what their roles are, know what to expect. And she says that more or less, like, I don't know how fast or slow this is going to be. None of us know where this ride is going to take us. But what I do know and what I am in control of and the choices I can make now. This is for everyone's benefit. And it's to be able to to show that, to model that, like, this is a way forward as well. I think is a really beautiful gift that our show gave families that are in this position. It's an important conversation to have. Yeah. And then, you know, when I take myself out of being Randall, like, it does make sense because later on Kate comes up to you and she asks, like, you know, like, why, why me? And you're like, it was, it was always you. Yeah. And we see that through time, it was Kate. It was all Kate was always there. You're my best friend in my daughter. She's always there in the bed with you when Miguel says he's leaving. Yeah. And there's, there's like, I think think if you go with Randall or Kev, then you actually have to deal with them sort of like, you know, side eyeing each other. And they are also sort of with Randall. I won't speak for Kev, but like there's Randall has already proven that he's going to do what he kind of wants, not necessarily what mom wants. But also there's evidence from the past of him totally railroading his life, like sidelineing whatever ambitions he had. And she didn't want that. I see what you're saying. To take care of her. And that is exactly what she didn't want. And she knew well enough to know that he was going to do that again. And Kevin has a lot on his plate with his family, his sobriety, his guitar lesson. There was just too much. It was like, it was the best option. Yeah. You know, she was going to take it very seriously. But it also not let it like take over her life in the way that Randall would. Sure. I think what I learned from this episode too about Kevin is that he's learned a lot, but he's still going to be Kevin has a lot to learn. He's still going to be Kevin. This was a good episode. Yes, we can. It's leading us into this this last like chapter of the show. This is in terms of Kevin just that last part too. In your in your speech, so I'm just like, Miguel was asking about the guesthouse because if indeed you want to build this house for me, at some point, I'm going to need care. And those people are going to need somewhere to stay. And that's at that point. Kev's like, Oh, maybe I shouldn't just jump to the work. Kevin, Kevin does take the plans to Miguel and say, Hey, tomorrow, let's go. You can tell me everything I miss. Yes. And we'll take a look at these plans. It really means a lot to me. Because of Mel Capitan. Yeah. Which is that is that new? I think it's new. I think so too. Well, because she says that Miguel is the captain of the ship. That's right. Whatever's happening with us. That's right. Yeah. Miguel. Yeah. No one's. Yeah. It's a full episode. It was a very good episode. And it was an episode that doesn't for me, and maybe it was different for you many because because of what Rebecca, like it wasn't like a tearful episode for me. But it was like, really, there's so much. Yeah. So happy. I think that game of taboo too was just so like, oh my god. And it actually makes me excited. I'm remembering when like they you guys get on Facebook and you start to find each other again, which is got to be within the next couple episodes. Yeah. You know, episodes like I felt nostalgic and sort of appreciative for like this man honored this family. He honored his friend. He honored his his his female friend in the background, fine, female, tried to walk away. You know, I'm saying by by trying to step away. And then they found each other again. And I think that just made me root for them that much more. You know, I mean, we should get this guest in here. This next guest or or else. Yeah, he's here because because if we make him wait too long, he'll get it. I mean, it's not a guess. He's not on this episode. I know. I'm saying for the next episode, yeah, that's what I mean. Okay. Listen, the next episode, there's somebody. There's somebody in this is a what we call cliffhanger. There's somebody in our lobby that if we don't let him in here soon, he'll just get back in his car and leave basically. So we got to watch. We have to go. Listen. Yeah, that was us. Welcome back to our favorite segment, our fan segment. And we are coming back to a this is us taboo game. Let's go. Yes. We're going to play with a fan. Yes. We're going to split into two teams. And each team will decide who the clue, who the clue giver will be and who the guest or will be and our team. Yeah. Yeah. Me and Mandy. Yeah. You're on team two on team two. And you're going to be the giver. I'm going to be a giver. Yes. Okay. And Sterling. Yeah. I'm going to be the guesser and our our guest, right? Our fan will be the giver who will meet in just a second. We'll have 60 seconds to get your teammate to guess as many words as possible without saying any of the five taboo words on the car. Mm hmm. Two teams, one minute and one goal. Prove who knows this is us best. Let's play. Let's go. Let's be seconds. It doesn't seem like. Hello there. Hi. Hi. What's going on? How are you? How are you? Yes. That's correct. I'm Sterling. I'm Mandy. That's Christopher right there. Thanks for playing with us. Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be on. Where are you zooming us from? Yeah. North Carolina. What was it? Raleigh. Oh. My parents lived outside of Raleigh dorm for like 20 years. I got married in Raleigh. Oh, no way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to remember the name of the place outside of it. It was very cool. And then I have a very good friend of mine who lives in Fayetteville, which is a ways away by in North Carolina. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Air Force. He was an Air Force guy at Air Force Base for purpose there. So yeah. So obviously we're playing a little game today to figure out who knows this is us. The best. And Sterling has already claimed you. So you're you're paired up with Sterling. You're me, Kat. All right. Now you're you're gonna be guessing or should she be guessing? I'm gonna be guessing because I think our producer already gave her the clues. Kat, Kat, you have the clues with the taboo words all of them and everything, right? Yes. I do. Okay. Got it. And your team won. So I think that means you go first. Well, okay. What a what I also she sent me your list too. So I'm going to be your taboo buzzer. Okay. That's fine. If if any taboo words. So if you say if you say word on accident, skip to the next one and we just keep it moving. Okay. Okay. You're starting your time. Sterling is not. Sterling is really excited to win this. Yeah. I listen, Kat. Listen. I think we may be at a disadvantage because these two people know each other very well. And they were also on the show together. I don't care. You and me. I think she's she's a fan of the show. She's a fan of the show. She's going to kill. She's going to kill it. Hopefully I can tune in and not just be like wiggly wiggly. I'm excited. Let's make it happen. Here we go. Your time starts now. Okay. Great. But on the show. Great. Who? Great. But. Oh, oh, my love. It's really a jack. Jack Pearson. We're in that name. Yes. Yes. Okay. After Halloween before Christmas. Thanksgiving. Yes. Part of the big three, but not Kate and not Kevin. Randall Pearson. Yes. The place that Kate cuts her hand on the window. Oh, the cabin. The. What? The cabin window. The cats. That counts. That counts. He said it counts. Little Island girl. Oh, Beth Pearson. Yep. Yes. Yes. Go. Yes. Overseas grenades. Vietnam. Yes. Yes. The siblings are called the big three. Yes. Yes. Um. Time. All right. All right. Well done, Kat. Seven. Seven in a row. No wrong answers. Okay. Your face is so locked in. It's so important. Oh my god. We might even have it. Should we give them an extra point just for zoom delay? Yes. Yeah. Eight. All right. You got it for zoom delay. Yeah. For zoom delay. All right. So you. You got the thing for them right now. Yep. Because I kind of want to follow along. Do you want you want to follow? Yeah. You want to bust? Yeah. You want to bust me? Kat, you killed that. You killed it. You killed it. Great. Close. Great. Close. Great. Great. Great. Great. Team two. Okay. Oh, your mic. Get set. Go. Your character. We're back up here, son. Beyonce album about her cheating husband. Eliminate. Not Kate, not Randall, but Kevin. This is an article of shiny something that your character wore around her neck. Nope. That's a part of the word. Okay. Yep. The adopted daughter. Deja. Mm-hmm. The big event sporting event. The Super Bowl. And the day it happens. Super Bowl Sunday. Mm-hmm. Your second. Miguel Rivas. Not Pearson. Sorry. A television program that your white son starred in. Uh, the, the man he's. Uh, uh, evergreen cassette. Time. Oh, good one. Well done, guys. I was eight. There's a tie. There's a tie. That's seven because I said Nick. Because you said Nick. Oh, we lost. We lost. Congratulations, Kat. It's early. Kat. You guys killed it. What is a consolation gift? I don't know. This is not like, like, name that too. There's something. Would you like 200 big three-homes hats? We have lots of big three-homes hats that we can cancel a lot to you. God bless you for joining us today and for coming in and killing it. Did you watch the show from the giddy up for what? Oh, yeah. I've watched the whole show twice actually. Oh, thank you. Question for you. What is it? So the first time is assuming it was on the air. When you went through the show the second time, because that's basically what we're doing right now. Like what was the experience? The second time around versus the first time. Oh, man. And I think the first time it was so like you're in the present of it because you don't know what's happening. And I remember I think I cried almost every episode. It's just so much emotion. And at the time, obviously, you know, I was going through a divorce separating becoming a single mom. The second time around, I rewatched it when it came on Netflix. And so at that point in time, I was remarried, pregnant with my now third son. I have three believe. Wow. I think the second time was just such a different place in my life. And I feel like I'm able to watch it with a different kind of appreciation because there's so much in the show, I just feel like it's one of those shows where it doesn't matter where you came from, what you've done in your life. There's just something so relatable. Like, for example, I was adopted and I was raised by a white family. I'm Asian. I was adopted from Korea. My now husband is black. So we have mixed racial children. You get in Randall on the road a different time. Yeah. There's so many. My dad was in the Marines. He did two tourism Vietnam. So it just, there's so much of it where I can look back and it just gives me an appreciation for not just my parents or just people around me. But it just is so eye opening. And I guess the biggest thing that it really did was it makes so many of the ups and downs in life for the things that seem so bad in the moment. It makes it just feel so relatable that kind of whatever is happening, that there's, if you're still here and you're breathing and you're alive, that there's always, you can always get through it. And I just, to me, it was just the most relatable thing that I had found where it was just from being a mother, being a child, being adopted. It's just all of it just put so much into perspective. And I was just so appreciative of it. Just, in any point in time in my life, I was at that it just made things just seem like it would be okay if that makes sense. That's awesome. That's such a beautiful distillation of what the show is and what it means to you. That means so much to us here. Hell yes. Wow. Thank you so much. Congrats. Listen. You went through a lot between the first viewing and the second viewing. Second viewing. Holy cow. Yeah. Sure. That is, I'm curious for you, like, would you say where you were in life informed your viewing of the show as well? Oh, 100%. I mean, the first time I watched it, I felt like I was so emotional because of the emotion that I was going through in my own life. Yeah. The second time I watched it, I was still, I mean, every episode makes you cry in one way or another, but I feel like I was watching it from the outside this time. Yeah. I was watching it as if I had been through some of those things or it was like knowing and seeing where they were at that they like, you could tell or just know that no matter what it would be okay, because I had experienced some of those things in my own life, and, you know, it just, I was just so grateful for the show. It's so funny. I tell my husband all the time, you know, that I can't wait to my nine year old is in the car with me a lot. He's my oldest. And I listen to the podcast every week because I'm in real estate. So I'm always driving or I'm always taking the kids to sports or something. And so he'll say, Oh, you listen to that podcast again, mom. And so he really wants to watch the show with me. And I just think that maybe we need like a couple more years for him to really understand it. And so I'm really excited for that too. And this morning, I was walking him to the bus and I said, Augustus, guess what? I said, I'm going to be on the podcast with that was, that was us and he was like, what? No way, mom. He said, that is so cool. I mean, it was probably the most excited. He'd been about anything. I told him in a long time, hi, hi, how are you guys doing, you guys listening to those? Yes, he was very excited. But yeah, it just, I really think that, man, I think it's just one of those shows that I could watch over and over again, no matter what. And it's like, you just always see the episode a little bit different depending on, you know, if you have kids or if they're getting older or as they're growing, you know, it's like, as my nine year old is getting ready to turn 10, you know, you see the episodes with little Kate, Kevin and Randall as they're kind of getting a little bit older and how they're their behaviors change and how the dynamic between the parents and the kids change. And so it's just also relatable in one way or another. Cat, thank you. That is a thank you for sharing. But that's freaking awesome that we've been able to be with you through two very crucial parts of your life, that you were able to derive something from it each time. It sounds like you have a beautiful family. Shout out to your parents who brought you in. Shout out to your black husband because I'm all about black husbands. They represent hearts and thank you for killing it in the game because as these guys know, I hate to lose. And I'm really happy that we won. Yeah. You just made the rest of our day really easy now. Yeah. Thank you, too. And also just on a side note, Sterling, I have been watching you since the Armywives days. So that was one of my favorite shows and I've watched every episode of that as well. So when this show came out seeing that you were on the show, I was just really excited. But yes, I'm a huge, huge fan and always will be. Thank you, sister. Thank you for joining us. You have a wonderful rest of the day and thank you for the way. Thank you. Appreciate you, sister. Thank you so much, everyone. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Have a good one. You too. Bye. Bye. Winner, winner. There you go. Congratulations on your win. I will say she probably, she probably had her questions for a few minutes before, so she knew exactly what not to say and what to say. Just checking. That's fine. But good win. But good win. I don't want to take it away from you. I don't want to take away from you. That was good. It was a good episode of television. Jesus is awesome. - So on Hulu, it's kind of the perfect set up. - Guys, it makes it easy. Watch this is us. Then watch that was us. All on Hulu. - That was us, this film that rabbit-grin studios and produced by rabbit-grin productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. (humming) - That was a hit gun podcast.