This Is Us

I fell asleep on my sofa and just woke up and this was on my TV.

A young black man was knocking on the door of an older black man’s door. The older black man answered. And it was sort of rainy.

And the young black man said:

“My name is Randall Pearson. I am your biological son. 36 years ago, you left me at the front door — now hold on, let me say this — 36 years ago, you left me at the front door of a fire station. But don’t worry. I’m not here because I want anything from you. See, I was raised by two incredible parents. I have a lights-out (sic?) family of my own. And that car you see? Parked in front of your house? Cost $143,000, and I bought it for cash. I bought it for cash because I felt like it. And because I can do stuff like that. Yeah. You see, I turned out pretty all right. Which might surprise a lot of folks considering the fact that that 36 years ago, my life started with you leaving me on a fire station door step with nothing more than a ratty blanket and a crap-filled diaper.

I came here today so I could look you in the eye, say that to you and then get back in my fancy-ass car and finally prove to myself and to you and to my family who loves me that I didn’t need a thing from you, even after I knew who you were.

Old man: You wanna come in?

Young man (without hesitation): Okay.

This is my new favorite show, based solely on that scene. It is called “This Is Us” on NBC. I have not watched anything else on the show but based on this scene, the melding of the dramatic and the unexpected punchline there, I think I may have good things to feel about this fine television program. We shall see.

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