THANK You!!! Yikes, watch out Deja!
Yeah, names mean nothing to me - Iâm terrible at actors. I just wondered what he had been on recently or that was popular - I donât watch a ton of tv and even less movies - but I know him from somewhere!
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Ahhhh! Jeff Nordling, looked it up. I swear Desperate Housewives always comes back to haunt me!!! (Also Big Little Lies)
Description
DescriptionJeffrey Richard Nordling is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Manning in Once and Again, Larry Moss in 24, Nick Bolen in Desperate Housewives, and Gordon Klein in Big Little Lies, as well as various films.
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I wisely deferred from visiting this thread earlier today. I may finally take down my family room Christmas tree tomorrow, so plugged it in tonight to enjoy the lights and This Is Us. Loved the whole experience 
I thought this episode did a great job of exploring Nicky and Deja. Last week was okay, but this weekâs episode made me happy and it made me LOL when Nicky said he was leaving before he threw up as he acknowledged his newly found affection for Miguel!
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Could someone fill me in about Malik? Was his baby mama already living in Boston or did she move there with Malik to share custody? How does he pay for child care/rent etc? And maybe because I remember my high school exploits but if my daughter had an out of town boyfriend ask me if she could spend the weekend with a friendâIâd double, triple check thatâs where she really wasâŠ
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LOL. I read too quickly and didnât watch the video. I was clearly confused as that name did not sound familiar. Thanks for the clarification.
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This is a pretty unrealistic storyline. That an 18-year-old boy is living off-campus at Harvard with a baby. The cost would be astronomical. And does the babyâs mother live in Boston also? In another apartment, with a baby sometimesâŠwith maybe a low-paying job? Divorced parents with good incomes would struggle in that scenario. I just have to fast forward over that storyline.
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Yes, I have just decided to suspend ALL disbelief and ride along with the show. In addition to the situation mentioned above (Harvard/baby/apartment), apparently the pandemic is OVER on This Is Us.
No masks on the bus, no problem bringing strangers (and their germs) into your home, college parties as usual . . .
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Malik said something like âthe scholarships pay for almost everything but they donât cover my books and other expensesâ as his reason for working. But, also agree that itâs pretty unrealistic. I canât remember the explanation from last season (?) of the babyâs mother moving to Boston. But she was taking the child to her parents?mother? so implied sheâs living with them/her.
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My guess is that these episodes were filmed during that brief, hopeful period of early last summer where it seemed like by the time they aired they would be realistic. 
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Had to mention the funniest scene of the episode, or maybe even the series â Nicky looking in his closet to decide which of the almost identical plaid flannel shirts he would pack to go visit Sally. 
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Yes, I too thought that was hilarious. I also liked the flashback to younger Nicky with Sally - I had so much compassion for that Nicky character!!
Not to get off track with the thread but this is actually a point of discussion in tv media right now - the fact that many shows - This Is Us included and discussed as an example - had one season (the 2020-2021 season) where they addressed the pandemic and nowâŠthey donât. There are several shows taking this road âoutâ of the pandemic.
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That was hilarious. Reminds me of the commercial about becoming your parents and the guy buys the shirt exactly like the one he was wearing.
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Believe it or not, Harvard has decent married student housing apartments. Had some friends who lived in them years ago. 
Honestly I am so tired of living the pandemic I would rather the show pretend that it is over.
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While true, itâs not available to undergrads. And in the imaginary world where coronavirus does not exist, all first-year students at Harvard are required to live on campus, even if their parents live across the street.
Of course, in the real world, the probability of an 18 year old male gaining sole custody of his daughter, and then taking her out-of-state to where her mother now miraculously also lives, and then being able to financially care for her with only the support of a minimum wage part time job and (presumably) some government assistance while being a full-time student at one of the nationâs top universities, is close to zero. 
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All true!
Regarding not addressing the pandemic -
Not to bring up another show, but Greyâs Anatomy decided not to have that as part of the storyline this season, and shows a statement at the end of each episode that says:
We are existing in a fictional post-pandemic world. In real life, the pandemic is still ravaging healthcare workers.
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Iâve just never understood why Malik has a baby. Never understood why his character was written like that. It just brings nothing to the show. I think they threw him in there to show a strong black man doing the right thing. Sort of the anti-William because William gave up his baby. But he could be doing the right thing without a baby, it just makes his character so implausible. Having him take a few courses at a CC and showing him struggling to keep up would have been a lot more believable.
And how is Deja so well adjusted? She was abandoned by her mother and taken in by the Pearsonâs at an older age. But of course the Pearsonâs can solve anything so she just blends perfectly into the family after a few good speeches from Randall. And starts dating an older boy with a baby because sheâs so stable herself. Makes sense.
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There is a human trait: resilience. Both characters perhaps display this.
Real life people do succeed âagainst all oddsâ.
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