"This is Us" and Me is Mad!

(published from previous blog, posted March 2017)

I don’t watch a lot of television. Having said that, I will admit I have had a run lately on good quality shows – Poldark, When Calls the Heart, Victoria, and Mercy Street. These are all, of course, on PBS with the exception of When Calls the Heart which is a Hallmark show.

So yea – you see the sort of stuff I watch. Not much different than the kind of stuff I read.

So it was a little odd when a friend hooked me on This Is Us. Me watching a major network show is like seeing a blizzard in June in southeast Texas. That I became a fan of said show is even odder. Honestly, I kept trying to find reasons NOT to watch it, but I kept coming back week after week.

I love the inter-generational approach. I love the writing. I LOVE the characters, who are flawed – flawed – flawed – and yet still quite likable. I love the character growth I have witnessed – especially in Kevin.

And I love the raw realness of it. I would cry and sniff – and then think – this is so true. This is how life happens.

 I can SO relate!

But –

The season finale was . . . unfair.

There. I said it.

To anyone who cares – THE SEASON FINALE WAS UNFAIR!

I said it.

Twice.

To set us up all season with small clues as to what happened to Jack is one thing. But the two episodes before the last we were given major clues as to what we thought happened – from Kate saying his death was her fault, to the empty beer bottles in the car, to the fight he and Rebecca had.

And then, they never told us how he died.

Had they gone on with their little, drippy clues up to the last show I would not have cared. I would have thought – “oh well, they will let us know next season.”

But to set us up the two shows before the last, and then to NOT do as they sort of promised.

Hmmm…..

Authors make unwritten contracts with readers. Provide an entertaining story. Or a dramatic story. Or whatever the author’s “brand” entails. It matters not the genre.

The one part of the contract, however, that almost all authors and readers share is the “this book will have a satisfying ending.” The only exception, of course, are trilogies or series books. Even then, that can be a tricky . . . trick.

But for a television show to drop major clues the last two shows and not fulfill the contract was just . . . unforgivable.

That’s right.

Unfair.

Unforgivable.

I’m into “un” words today.

Maybe I will “unwatch” next year.

Maybe.

Probably not.

Grrrr………..

About Donna

Donna Hechler Porter has always had stories in her head. When they were not swirling and gnawing, she had her head in a history book - both fiction and non-fiction. Now, she puts her love of old things, including her genealogy, to good use by writing both genealogy books and novels. She has published five historical novels, several of which have won awards, four genealogy books on her family history, and several smallish books including a book on the 1778 Big Siege of Fort Boonesborough and a book with tips and tricks for bringing history to life for young people. A graduate of Texas A & M University, she currently teaches middle school English and literature at a small private school east of Houston and runs a private tutoring business. She stops for all garage sales and to collect treasures from the side of the road. She dreams of life in a log cabin in the woods, even as she is addicted to antique and thrift shopping.

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