Heart and Soul: This Is Us: "Pilot"

It was one of the most viewed trailers for a new show this season. This Is Us has finally premiered, and from what critics and others have said about it, it's worth watching.

The story surrounds three pairs: a married couple that are about to become parents to triplets, a TV star brother and his overweight sister, and a son who's looking for his biological father. Each struggles with life's challenges with the good, bad, and the ugly. But these three are connected somehow, and that's the most brilliant secret in this pilot.

Let's start with the married couple: Jack and Rebecca. They look to be the happiest couple in the world. They're also expecting twins, and when it's Jack's birthday, the kids are ready to be born. While waiting to meet their doctor, they get another one, Dr. Katowsky, as the other one is having his surgery. Jack seems so optimistic about everything that he doesn't take to listen to Dr. K about the possibilities of something going south. During the birth, as the first child is out (a boy), things turn for the worse, and the doctor boots Jack out to do his thing. When Dr. K comes out, he walks to Jack with a long look of sadness and tells him first that Rebecca is fine and resting and got the second baby out, too, but the third child didn't make it as it was stillborn. Jack is in shock and keeps asking about his wife. Dr. K repeated what happened and also sat down with him and gave him a nice chat.

The brother and sister: Kevin and Kate: Kevin is a TV star in what happens to be the most extensive series on television, and yet it seems like the stupidest series on television called The Manny. Not only does he turn 36, but he reflects on his life and what he was doing. He felt the series wasn't doing him anything good except making him look sexy. So after doing one great dramatic take, the writer wanted him to do a lighter take with his shirt off, and soon Kevin blows, and it's the internet quick.

Kate is Kevin's twin sister, and she's having trouble with weight problems. She's joined a Weight Watchers program where they talk about their struggles. There, she meets with Toby, another overweight person who likes her, and the two go out. But soon, she was happy being around him, and after Kevin ruined part of the night, it was still a great night.

And for Randell: It's also his birthday, too, 36, and he's the boss of a major corporation. He soon gets an email about his biological father and that he's alive. He talks to his wife as they watch their two daughters playing soccer about it. He may not want to meet him at first, but he does and at first gives him the "I'm Randell, your biological son, and you left me at the fire station 36 years ago," etc. After his father asks if he wants to come in, he does and soon brings him to his home to meet the kids and his wife. Later, Randell learns that his father is dying and doesn't have much time, so he offers, or should I say, to make him stay with them for a while.

Now, since I've been waiting until now to write this, I think I can tell what the big twist of this story is so no one can yell at me about spoiling it. The connection between all of these characters is they're one family. Jack and Rebecca are the mother and father to Kevin, Kate, and Randell.

It's one of the most beautifully structured pilots I've seen on television. Dan Fogelman has done something special with this, and I can't wait to see what comes in future episodes. It does have that feel of "Parenthood" with that realistic-raw emotional feel that'll either make you feel sad, sound, or maybe hate (someone who'd watched it with me didn't quite like how Kate acts with Toby and Kevin about her weight).

The cast is astonishing, as each plays to a significant amount of emotion and humor. The one person I would say that stole the entire pilot is not even a cast member, but a guest star as the man who played Dr. Katowsky (Gerald McRaney); he gave a tremendous performance in scenes with Rebecca and Jack but also with Jack after the babies were born.

I give this episode a 9.5/10.

You can catch "This Is Us" on Tuesdays at 10/9c (soon to be moving to 9/8c on Oct. 11) on NBC.

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Chicago Med S1 Recap/Top 5 Episodes And Preview of S2.

If you haven't seen it, this could be your lucky day, as I will recap the past first season and give some previews for the upcoming season.

The Blacklist S3 Recap

There's just less than 12 hours til the most anticipated season premiere of They  Blacklist tonight at 10/9c on NBC. Season 3 blew the roof off like no other show! Let's take a short, quick recap of last season.

It was a real roller coaster at speeds that doubled at the beginning of last season. Liz and Red are just beginning their run from the law as Liz is wanted for murder for killing Tom Connolly. So, instead of leaving the city, they will stay until things cool off. They do it most fabulously: dress up as cops, steal a car, take a redesigned cop car, break into a place for some clothes and a new hairstyle, and be on their way to a guy with a shelter in his bar.

Liz had to make a couple of sacrifices to save her, and by the time she ran into the Russian Embassy for safety. But she would be safe there for much longer as Ressler and Red had to work together to save her from the Russians as she had a bounty on her head.

She does get saved, and from Red, the two are off on a trip I would call an adventure of a lifetime, but calling it gathering the pieces to fight the Cabul. There were those moments when Ressler and the FBI team would get so close to the two, but Liz and Red were two steps ahead.

Meanwhile, Cooper, out of his job, teams up with Tom Kean to help save Liz by finding the man who framed Liz.

But all the running that Liz and Red have done must end as Liz gets caught by Ressler and taken in. The Director and his team have been working with the FBI near the midseason finale, trying to capture and finish Liz.

The episode The Director, Concussion was the one that could stand out the most from that point. One of the moments was as Liz was in the safe box, The Director finally got his guy to break the code and make her suffer. Aram, being the only one there, does everything and gives him the code to release her out of the safe box. Aram runs in front of them with a gun and demands that they release her, and thank god he did because Ressler and company saved her life.

Liz still had to go through a trial, and that's where Red and his Team of 11 come in and do their version of Ocean's 11 to help save Liz and finish The Director for good.

As soon as Liz was free, she learned that she was pregnant and that it was, of course, Tom's. So the two try again to be together, and Red doesn't think he is an excellent person to be with once again.

Tom and Liz get married with a gun blazing as a new force comes to take Liz away. Everyone was on at hand to protect Liz, but when Liz and Tom made their get, things didn't look promising as Liz started to bleed. She was taken to a secure location where Red and Mr. Kaplan had a team to care for her. Soon, a baby girl was born. But Liz's health had worsened, and they had to move her. For that, they needed to get to the hospital, but it was too late, and in front of Red, she died.

We see Red, in a significant defeat, walk off and then go by himself to a place in Cape Cod to get his thinking straight until he sees someone running towards the water. She was trying to kill her, but he saved her and took care of her. Whoever this person was wasn't real, not even the bad guys that were after her. Everything he had seen and heard was through his mind, like the stay of Gone Girl.

It took Red a while to get back; thanks to Aram for turning in Red's debut that he owns him. And now the team seeks revenge on who killed Liz. It all came down to a woman named Susan Hargrave, who ordered the hit or, should I say, kidnap Liz. When Red got her, she gave the name Alexander Kirk, one of Red's most dangerous friends.

Gargrave helped Tom as the two teamed up for an ES coming later in midseason.  

When they got how to get Alexander Kirk out of his secret place, the pieces for Red were in place to shoot him on site, but he didn't come as he was still in his home. The foolish thing was Tom escaped his protection and flew to Cuba, where Liz was waiting. The death of Liz was a plan from Kaplan from the time the baby was born, and boy, when Red knew about it, he was so pissed.

Liz being alive might be one of the shocking moments, but it came when Kirk kidnapped Liz and her baby. Liz is tied up in a dark room with guards, and soon Kirk comes in; he talks and tells her that he is her father.....

There have been so many twists and turns this past season that have opened a flood of stuff for the new season that no one seems to tell. Hell, the promos and trailers are former clips of the past three seasons, with only a few for season 4 with Red and Dembe.

You can catch the season premiere of The Blacklist tonight at 10/9c on NBC.

Opening Up: Blindspot "Heave Fiery Knot"

The team is on the edge when it comes to working together as each member deals with their feelings for one another and to stopping a cartel from blowing up something big.

Jane relives another memory that has had her with a army team trying to stop someone, but when they get there a woman comes out, her team goes in and the place blows up. Jane tries to escape with the woman in the helicopter but that too explodes, leaving Jane to die there.

Jane tells Nas and Weller about it as she was with Roman and Sheppard. She learns that Orion was the name of the rescue mission sort to say and that the government gave a small memorial stone for their remembrance. But also that Sheppard wanted her to solve another tattoo this one with a cathedral looking building with bullets for open windows.

Patterson and Zapata looked it up and found that the place has been apart of the Mexican drug cartel where DEA agents got killed and also that DEA agents have been taken evidence and exchange them for much more profitable like major drug cartels, etc.

They find one DEA agent that has been doing these things, Valentine. When they went to pick her up, the team still doesn't think that Jane should be on the field with them, but they got to keep their head down and move on. When seeing men with tats in suits, they figure they're after Valentine an rescue her and bring her in. When they bring her in they pushed the questions of why she was there and who could be setting her up.

She finds out from Nas that her boss and mentor was the one to order the hit on her, because she knew a little bit too much to know and that she was going to report what was happening. So she joins the team and tries to take her boss down, but with Weller, Jane, Zapata and Reade there Valentine stayed put outside until she spotted him and tries to take him but failed by getting shot.

After this point the team really breaks into a couple of minutes to vent, which I feel they really need. I do agree from Zapata that it felt like being yelled by the principal. But the team came together and after sharing feelings to one of the members it looks like they got their focus.

Weller still has hard feeling about his dad, who killed Taylor. Jane still upset about the team given her to the CIA, Zapata and Reade doesn't want to work with Jane, and Patterson and Nas butt heads because Nas has some really cool toys that she doesn't have, which I think she should.

Finally, Patterson finds out where the truck with the weapons went as it was heading to the East Side of the city. But not to mention that five cartel members entered the US that day and look to be in gun exchange. So the team heads off and later figures that the cartel wasn't going to blow up the East side but blow up a plane that has someone very important  people.

Weller and Jane takes down the guys handling the missile's projection while Reade and Zapata take down the guys with rocket launchers. After a nice couple of fights, one getting slammed on his back from Jane and Weller tackling another, Jane saves and projects the missile from the plane to the East river.

The team feels happy of the events that they prevented from happening. Zapata and Jane seems to be working slowing of trust. In the middle of the episode, we saw Dr. Borden asking out Patterson for dinner after given her a disk for The Oregon Trial computer game (AWESOME!!!!). Reade, who's been trying to get Coach Johnson case moving, rethinks of why he didn't remember anything when he was with the coach.

And the cherry on the cake or should I saw two cherries on the cupcake, Weller finally gets ride of his dad's stuff and as he walks in Allie comes in, she has some news...she's three months pregnant. Holy crap!! Also as Jane was looking at the memorial, she gets drugged by her crazy-ass brother, Roman.

This was a very good well paced, well action episode. I loved how the team struggles with their feelings about Jane and other things that has messed up the team during this episode. But Weller, a leader, takes control and get them on the right track. I still mixed about Nas even when she was lying to Jane about listening to case files as she was listening to her conversation with Borden. Speaking of Borden, I was wondering when Patterson and Borden are going to be a couple or have a relationship.

Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10.

You can catch Blindspot Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

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