A Lesson For Living | "A Manny-Splendored Thing" (S2E2) with special guest Hannah Zeile
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On today's episode of That Was Us, we'll be discussing season two, episode two, A Manny Splendid Thing. Kevin is forced to swallow his pride during a taping of The Manny. Kate gets her first gig, but can't stop comparing herself to her mother. Randall and Beth are really contemplating their next steps regarding adoption. And Jack confronts his demons in the wake of his fight with Rebecca.

And with that, I say, good morning, lady and gentleman. Good morning. How are we doing today, gang? Doing very well. I'm very excited to be here. I'll tell you right now, I'm a little loopy. I was up. My wife had me. Well, not my wife had me. Let me say. I had some things to do when I got home. Let me tell you something about my wife. Responsibilities. Responsibilities with regards to my family. So I woke up early. To watch these episodes. To watch some episodes. And...

And they don't disappoint. - No. - I'm gonna say that. Like it wasn't a chore to wake up to watch. It was an absolute joy. And what I sort of find in season two is that we've laid the landscape for the world and it's already very rich.

And it just, it's like the roots go deeper. - Yeah. - Do you know what I'm saying? Like with regards to the exploration that really begins with the relationship between Rebecca and Kate, as we get into Kevin's storyline and sort of like his reticence to discuss his own past with his dad,

Yeah. And subsequent addiction issues. Subsequent addiction issues, like the introduction of Deja into the Black Pearson family or whatnot. Can I tell you, I did not realize it happened so early. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, season two. For some reason, I thought maybe season three. Nope. It's all happening faster than we remember. Season one, season two. I wonder why.

I wonder why it seems like that. But yes, watching it, I was like, oh my goodness, here we are in episode three, right? In episode three, she pops up. When she's introduced. Yeah, deja vu. I was like, wow, she's been a part of the fabric of the show kind of almost since the very beginning. Yeah, absolutely. More or less. So that's one of the things that was sort of just like I was struck by.

But let's talk specifically about- One of the things that I was struck by about this episode is because Toby has such rare, it's very rare that we are all together.

- Sure. - And it's one of the rare scenes where it's just a big ensemble. Almost everyone in the same room for long periods of time getting to play off each other. - And that's what I loved most about the show. These were the days I was most excited. - Really? - Yeah, 'cause otherwise I wouldn't get to work with you guys. I mean, you obviously would have scenes together in certain circumstances and stuff, but

when it was like the families all together for a holiday or some sort of celebration or event. And everyone flies in to see Kevin returning to the Manny for a very special episode. Correct. And everyone's flown in and are going to watch the taping. He's very nervous. He knows that he's sort of like...

Things kind of got out of hand last time he was on this set, but he's sort of made a rebound and now he's being asked to come back and he knows there's a black Manny there and good for America. It's good for the world if there's a black Manny, but he wants- That we never see. We never see Morris Chestnut as the Manny. Could that not make his deal? Like what was the- I'm sure there were contractual obligations to other things.

But he's nervous and he's talking to Sophie at the beginning and he's checking out his abs and his abs are always fantastic 'cause Justin's built like an Asgardian. And so you can see him sort of going through the nerves of it all and they start to play out. She's like, "Do that scene, that thing you did with-" - The meltdown. - The meltdown. - My favorite episode of "The Manny."

I love, by the way, his remark of like, he wants to be Clooney returning to ER. He wants to be Clooney. And she says something to the effect like, you know, this is like your least attractive quality. And he's like, I'm aware. I know, their rapport is great. Yeah, you may be close to Clooney, but this show is not ER. Yeah.

The Manny is not ER. The Manny didn't do the same ratings as ER. But on set, he starts to reenact it and they're playing around and it turns out that the showrunner, played by the incredibly hysterical Andrew Santino, who...

Not because of our show, but because of his own talents. He has an incredible stand-up special called Cheeseburger that's on Netflix right now. He's got two podcasts, Whiskey Ginger, which is his interview podcast, and a podcast called Bad Friends, which we can shout out. But yeah, he's incredibly funny. And he killed it on Dave. Killed it. He's a beast. So he overhears the whole thing, and there's an awkward moment, and they move on through it or what have you.

And it is right. It's one of those moments where...

It reminds me of when I get a chance to bring family to set and they don't know how to act. They're like, what is going on? There's a door to nowhere. It's so exciting. Kevin's like, that's a door to nowhere. Those are stairs to nowhere. And of course, Kevin is completely in support of everyone acting like they don't know what they're doing, except for Miguel. As soon as Miguel takes a photo, he's like, you know what, Miguel, just knock it. You ruined it. Because at first I said, Betty, say what?

And then Miguel's like, no, Miguel. Stop, stop, stop. Please stop. He's so subtle. It's the best thing. Even though they're in a slightly better place, but still. He shuts them down every time. The wonderful thing about this whole scenario is if we compare it to the past, there's the talent show that's going on and everybody's getting ready for the talent show. And Kev's in particular. Parker's commitment to his Mr. T. Is admirable. Is admirable. Yes. Yes.

You know what I'm saying? Because they had no point of reference. Really? Did he get a chance to watch some A-Team or something? I'm sure they showed him. Steve Bierce showed him some A-Team. No, no, Steve Bierce just did it for him.

And then they obviously gave him a reference. But like, I mean, he was nine. He had no idea when we were like, Mr. T. Yeah, had absolutely no clue. Back in the 90s when little white kids were still doing impersonations of black guys at the end.

Talent shows. Here's my impression. It's true. Because, look, you know what's funny? Because the whole time I was watching, I was like, am I going to like this Mr. T? And I was like, you know what? That's not a bad Mr. T. He's pretty cute. All right. He committed. He committed. And Kate is going to be singing. She's going to be singing. She's going to sing Lean on Me. That's right. And sweet Randall and his yo-yo. I can't. Watch this.

I can't. Let me show you my talent. The string is just hanging from the thing. And Kev's like, bro, you're so protective. And even I was like, come on, man. You can't go do the yo-yo on stage. Anyway.

The thing that's really sweet about it is to see Sophie, like he gets up on stage as a young boy and he does the Mr. T and everybody's like, "I don't know how I should feel about this or what not." But Sophie is just cracking. - Taken, taken with him. - And so we go to the future. It turns out that Casey, Andrew Santino's character changed the ending of the Manny.

Do we know if he did it to embarrass him or not? We do. Probably. We do. Because if you put a grown ass man- Andrew Santino looks happier in that moment.

Than a pig in shit. It's like he just twisted the knife, put Kevin in a giant diaper. In a giant diaper. In order to find a baby, you got to think like a baby. So he's crawling around like, baby, where are you? In a giant diaper. The whole audience is cracking up, though. But in particular, Sophie is just like, delighted. And you realize that this big move that Kevin has made to...

win Sophie back. Yeah. You know, in previous episodes, we talked about him saying, you know, I didn't come here for this play. I came here for you. Right. And then you realize, like, it's always been for her. Yeah. Everything has been for her. Yeah. From the beginning. From the beginning. Yeah. And their, like, rapport together is just undeniable. It's beautiful. You're like, oh, this is, what? Yeah. Yeah.

What happened? - It's beautiful. Okay, so wait, so let's go back to the past and let's talk about Kate and singing, is it "Lean On Me?" - Yeah. - Yeah. - Singing "Lean On Me." And this is interesting 'cause I'm wondering how you felt about this as an actor. Mandy Moore, I'm speaking to right now, for those who are not looking at me.

When she starts to sing in the beginning or whatnot, and you say something about like, oh, sweetheart, you hold that note just a little bit longer, you're going to be perfect, but it sounds absolutely beautiful. Like, I'm curious for you in that moment, are you like, are you aware that like...

Is it an interjection that's not solicited? Are you like, no, this feels like good advice. Like, I'm curious as an actor. As an actor, I was like, this is bordering on stage parent. Okay. Yeah. A little bit of Rebecca's mom coming through. Correct. We all do better than, hopefully. Than our parents. Than the generation before. Sure. But we all bring...

A little bit with us, even unknowingly. I hear myself sometimes and I'm like, whoa, whoa. Same. Where did that come from? There are times, like the closest sort of parallel in my life is my kids and playing sports and I haven't played sports as well and wanting to say something to them immediately after the game. Don't. Yeah.

- Like constructive or otherwise? - Constructive, constructive. I try to be constructive, but even still like in that moment, they just need to have a little bit of breath. And then like the next day I may be like, yo bro, what did you think about the game? And then like allow them to start the conversation. And I was like, I saw one thing, are you interested in hearing it or not? And he'd be like, yeah, what did you see? And then if not, I'll hold it to myself.

- You're like, "All right, get your pads on. I'm eating in the backyard." - "Let me show you what I'm talking about." - But I'm still learning that, 'cause sometimes I'm like, "Oh, if I could just impart this one thing

it would take it to a whole nother level. - Sure. - You know? So I saw both sides in the listening and in the giving of the information. - Yeah. - Do you know what I'm saying? - To me, it was just sort of like, this is a school talent show. This is a little girl who like probably hasn't really done this in front of people before. Like the simple fact that she's getting up on stage and like singing at all in front of an audience is like such a big move. Why do I have to?

yeah you didn't have any yo-yo notes yeah or mr t notes it was only kate it was and so the i was struck by also i don't want to call it hyperbole but like it was the strength of the enthusiasm of how he's like oh sweetheart you have like the best voice in the house you know that and you're saying you sound amazing et cetera et cetera and mckenzie would hit you with this look of like okay right and it's it hit me at this moment like with amari

I can say things in a way that are heightened and they're received with love. And with Andrew, who's a little bit older, if I use the same sort of heightened language, he's like, "No, bro, I can see the forest for the trees." - Interesting. - Yeah. - Last night I was putting Bear to bed and it was the same type of thing where I took it a little too far and he drew the line where I was like, "I love you, buddy." And he's like, "I love you too."

And I was like, there's a little bit of silence and I'm just in that like gushing. I'm like, yeah, I'm just so glad you're my son. And he goes, he's four. He goes, oh, I didn't want you to say that. And

- He's like, easy, easy big guy. - Love this ending there. - I love you too. - So what it reminded me was, 'cause in the beginning you talk about how beautiful her voice is.

Then we see you making the dress for her. And then you pass the dress along to her and you talk about how awesome she's going to be. And when I get nervous, why not? Wanted you to have this thing. And so she's like, okay, I'm going to pop into the shower and I'll catch up with you in a little bit. And she's like, mom, mom, she puts it on. She's feeling all good. And she hears Mandy Moore, perfect pitch in the shower where the acoustics are just ripe. Just lean on me.

When you're not strong. And she's like, you know what? I can't sing. Kate was like, you know what I'm saying? And this is the second time that something has happened with you. She's got to stop going to the bathroom. Stop going to the bathroom. Knock on the door. Give me some privacy. I felt...

But so, okay, so then they go to the talent show and she decides she doesn't want to sing. That's why my voice hurts. Yeah, her voice is hurting. She's like, you sure? If you're nervous, I can help you. And she's like, no. She's like, okay, bye. She starts out going, yeah, my voice hurts. And then you keep pushing. She goes, I don't want to. Message received. That's a really fun turn for her. So then in the present...

We see Kate. Is this where Kate's sort of like a little... So we're all at the mani-taping. Yes, we're at the mani-taping. And Kate gets a phone call. Yes. Slowly, people... First of all, we're...

At a live three-camera TV taping, everyone's sitting in the front row. The hardest job anyone has at one of those things is the audience. It takes hours to film an episode of one of those. And they go back over jokes and they fix jokes and you have to laugh at the same joke. And that's why there's a warm-up person there throwing candy at you, passing pizza around, whatever they got to do, right? One of my favorite things is...

Which I guess we'll get back to you, is you letting slip to Beth, "Oh, these things take like three or four hours." And she's like, "Three or four hours?" Because she has made it known she does not find Kevin funny. She doesn't find Kevin very funny. Which we'll get back to. We'll get back to you, but it was really funny. But Kate gets a call while she's sitting in the front row that she's been called for a show at a bar that night, so she has to leave and go.

get go to soundcheck

Can we just also do a quick little touch on the first scene between you and Kate where you've made pigs in a blanket for Miguel? Oh, yeah. With the nut cheese. My boy Miguel? Yeah, you said we're both swarthy outsiders. There's some line about you talking, and I was like, oh, this is the first indication of Toby acknowledging Beth, myself, Miguel. We're all Pearson outsiders. That's right. We see the big picture. Y'all are sleeping on Miguel. Y'all are sleeping on my man Miguel. Yeah.

And John, when he comes in, just the innocent way he goes, do I smell pigs in a blanket? You sure do. And I say, boy, you got a nose on you, Miguel. You got a nose on you. As if pigs in a blanket is a specific smell. Totally. It's great. I know. It's great.

It's just, God, he's so likable. She talks about, Kate does, she's sweating mom's arrival. Every time my mom comes to visit, I'm not gonna, every time my mom comes to visit. So she, I put that down in a quote because it's like every time. And when you use words like always and or never, you know what I'm saying? It's like, you know that that's not necessarily the case, but that's also what you're projecting into that interaction. And she says, I'm not gonna overreact to everything she says this time. I'm not gonna act like a child. And

And one of the first thing that Rebecca does is hugs her, looks at her and says, "You look so good." And the way that she, and I recognize this look in such a way as someone who didn't always feel the best about themselves. It's like, really, do I? Like Kate hit her with a, okay.

and trying to fight the impulse that she just said that she wasn't going to go into. So it reminds me of like right there at when she gets the phone call to come to record, to sing,

And Rebecca's like, "You about to go through a sound check?" And she's like, "Oh, what kind of place are you gonna go to?" And it's a bar and she's like, "Oh, I remember those bars." Rebecca starts making it about herself. And just trying to fight through the smoke. I remember my first... And everything. And then she hits her with like... Oh, you used to sing? Oh, wow. You used to sing? Oh, man. And I was like, "Oh, gosh!"

Geez, Olive. I was like, it was so uncomfortable. Maybe because I see shades of myself with my own mom, bless her, that sometimes you just can't help yourself. There is a specific mother-daughter dynamic sometimes. And I would often find this to be the case with Kate and Rebecca, especially during those more, not tumultuous moments, but where there's tension for sure. And I could see myself and Kate and I'm like, it

But because I'm like, it's warranted. Like, that's effing annoying. Like, come on. It's not about you right now. And then it's not until a couple episodes later, I guess. We'll talk about it in a few episodes from now. But where you see the seeds of that relationship.

with Rebecca and her mom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? That it's all being, it all kind of gets. Also, can we bring up the point that poor Kevin, like everyone's out here to see this taping and everyone just leaves. Everybody just leaves. I was like, no wonder he always felt like the outsider. Oh, he'll understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He'll understand because they, because, so Kate leaves and then

And then Toby's like, you know what? I kind of got to go. This is her first gig. I got to go. And she's like, I understand. And Rebecca says, I understand. And she stands up and you're like, oh, shit. Yeah. What are you supposed to do? What a terrible position to put you in. We'll be right back with more. That was us.

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So the holidays are officially right around the corner. The best time of year, the most exciting time of year. I'm sure all of you guys have travel plans. People be traveling at the holidays. I'm going to go see my family. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited. Yeah, I've been traveling a lot, actually, back and forth to Toronto for this new gig, and I'm checking out the entire city with Airbnb. I get a different apartment every time I go in a different part of the city. Nice.

What a great way to get to know a city. I love that. Mandy, nobody knows Toronto better than I do. You'll have to be our tour guide next time. Listen, like many of you, we're getting into the swing of holiday planning. Whether you want to or not, it's the season for figuring out who is traveling where, who is arriving when, and is the dog coming?

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You know, I can always use a little extra money in my pocket. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host. So you guys go to listen to her sing. She starts off a little slow, just because she sees you guys and she's like, "Oh goodness, I wasn't expecting that," or what have you.

but she sings gorgeous yeah it's it's absolutely beautiful right and after it's over

this beautiful scene between the two ladies saying that like, you know what, Bugs? Like you'll learn to like sort of power through those kinds of audiences, but you sang incredibly beautifully. Like I'm putting those things together. - Incredibly beautiful. - Right, and she's like, what does that even mean? And so look, Mandy, just for the people who can't see, is holding her face like, why'd I have to say that shit? - Yeah.

I remember in the moment, like, it's not over compensation. She truly means it. And she is trying to be helpful. But it's like, it's not warranted in that moment. Like you were saying with Andrew, like, or Amari, like, taking a beat to be like, let them have their moment. Yeah. Let them revel in that. And the next day or a couple hours later or whenever the conversation feels appropriate, you can maybe pepper in a, like,

oh it's sometimes it's hard in a bar people aren't paying attention they're drinking like whatever but to do it right in the moment is like yeah it just is so cringy it was pretty great what is her reaction supposed to be you know yeah it was a pretty great mom moment though when she starts singing and you're like shushing people in the bar hey you like point up at the stage listen

It was good. I loved it. So she, they kind of have it, you know, Kate lets it out and it's like, you know, trying to remember everything that she said because it was really beautiful. Well, the big one was, I felt the way I felt because of you. And she said, what do you mean because of me? Because you existed. Oof, yeah. And so like, and also, now this is gonna, what I'm gonna remember of my first job. It's not the actual performance, it's this conversation.

To which Rebecca comes up to Toby and she's like, "Are you seeing this? Like, did I do that?" And Toby, this, now you want to talk about a lesson for living.

Like delightful, kind, generous, boundary drawn. - Yes. - Do you know what I'm saying? - Yeah. - Like, it's like, look, I already got a deal with this twin brother over here. I was like, but when it comes to you guys, I know things are complicated and does she get a little sensitive when you're around? Probably, that's between you and me. But letting you know, moving forward, I'm team Kate. - Always.

Forever. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So like, whatever you need to do, like, try not to put me in the middle of it because that's my girl. I'm always going to side with her. You can't ask me to side with you. You know what I'm saying? And I think that was, I want couples to do that. Yeah. Yeah.

Take note. Whether it's a brother or a best friend or a parent or what have you, like, you gotta let them know. Yeah. Because you teach people how to treat you. That's right. Do you know what I mean? And the fact that you did it from jump. Yeah. A lot of us wait a couple years and like, I should probably have a conversation. And at that point, you can, but it is too late. There's so much history and so much resentment. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah.

Excellent job. But I love, too, that in the car afterwards, on the way home, Rebecca acknowledges that, too. Like, you know, your fiancé's pretty great. Like, she, I think, was able to sort of hear it and take a bit of accountability and recognize how wonderful it was that her daughter has such a strong partner. Absolutely. I liked that. It was good.

It was one of those moments where I was like, I should do that for my wife. My wife should do that for me. I got really excited. And your cute little reaction when, yeah, you're like, yes. You did that. And he also has the line before he's like, shall we commence the awkward trial? Yeah. Okay. So those things happen. There is, okay. Yeah.

R&B, Randall and Beth, they are going down this road towards adoption.

They're getting ready to take their trip out to Los Angeles. He says to Beth, like, look, please laugh at my brother. He already thinks that you don't think he's funny. And she's like, I don't. I don't think it's funny at all. She's like, well, please don't say that in front of him. He's sensitive about it. Please be kind. She's like, what are you going to do about these adoption forms? Randall has been dragging his feet. Randall's been dragging his feet. Filling out the paperwork of something he wrote.

- Of something that he wants, right? And so she's like, "Okay, you can fill them out on the plane." They have a little cute banter about like how you feel about the lovemaking. And she's like, "It's pretty cool until you wanna like do a quickie." And she's like, "Well, quit making fun of me." - Until I want a quickie, my husband needs too much romance. - There you go. I think that's a line from my wife too. 'Cause like, "Ryan, how come we can't take more time?" And she's like, "Please stop." - Can't we just get this over with? - Can we just get it over with? Come on, I got kids, I got kids. - Don't make that sound.

She does. Sometimes she's like, she says, come on, come on. And I'm like, I don't, nevermind. I'll go watch another episode of This Is Us. Instead.

But they fly out. He still hasn't filled out his paperwork. So we're all in the audience waiting and she tries to give him the forms or whatnot. And he starts to, it's like, I don't want to do it. I'm going to go outside. And tells me it's going to take two or three hours. And she's like, uh-uh. She comes outside too. And she's like, what's going on, man? Like, what is the deal? Yeah.

And he says, it's question 15. Like, are you prepared to deal with a child who has a history of trauma or other sort of physical attributes that you're not familiar with? Like things that are unknowns, the X factors that with your genes and your sort of rearing from the beginning, you kind of have a control of the environment. Now you're introducing someone into your space that, you know, is going to disrupt that to a certain extent necessarily.

And he's like, "How do you know we can deal with that unknown?" Right? She's like, "Cause we can't." Like I just said yes to everything. She's like, "But don't you think you're being a little cavalier?" And I think it's a really interesting conversation because I'm sure it's something that a lot of people who have biological children who are entering into the field of adoption

may very well ask themselves. - Sure. - You know what I'm saying? Because it's like, I know our genes, I know how that worked together, I know how we got a chance to raise, but like now we don't get all of that. - Sure. And especially if you're getting an older child. - Yes.

No idea what trauma they're coming to the table with and what their life has been like and what experiences are under their belt. And yeah, it's a whole other can of worms. It didn't occur to me until this exact moment that my family went through this. Really? Like literally this moment. Tell me.

Tell us. What's really shocking to me is that I'm just realizing it now. Because it's your life, it just feels like, oh, that's a thing that happened. But when I was eight or nine, we fostered, essentially fostered my cousin. Okay. Because his parents were having difficulties with addiction. Got it. And he lived with us for, I don't know how many years. Three or four years? Wow. But yeah, it was a really kind of shocking experience.

tricky situation for our family and and and and to bring to bring somebody else into the house who who was struggling with those things what it made it i could tell that it was like really hard for him yeah and really hard for my parents and and maybe not so hard for me and my brother like it was having another friend or family living with us but yeah it was it was a a shocking

shocking to the "ecosystem," as well as it worked out, ended up working out for everybody. But yeah, I'm more shocked that I'm sitting here realizing, "Oh, wait, I've been through this exact-- - Situation. - Situation, but as a kid, not an adult. - It is interesting because we learn through Kev, and this is jumping around a little bit, but it all feeds into the storyline, 'cause Beth later on has a conversation with Kevin,

in his trailer. I really liked that she's like, "I'm gonna find a clean bathroom." You know what I'm saying? She's like, "I'm gonna go into his trailer, 'cause I know he's the only person to use it. I'm gonna use that one." 'Cause a clean bathroom is an asset on set. - Yes. - Absolutely. - And they have this conversation and she says that like, "Your brother's

all worried and freaking out over this adoption thing. And this is something that he actually wanted himself. And Kev's like, "Yeah, that sounds like Randall." Like he usually doesn't do something unless he is 100% sure he's going to succeed. - I wrote that down too, yeah. - And she's like, "Yeah."

And he goes like the one time that he actually sort of put himself out there was this really cool dreadlocked girl that he's met in college who was way out of his league with his sweater vest and whatnot. And she's like, yeah, he was so nervous and whatnot. And he can still remember that corny first line that he came up with. He's like, you don't know me right now. And then Kevin says, but you're about to. And she's like.

How you know this? She's like, you fell for the Manny's game, Ma. She's like, who do you think was Cyrano-ing him through that whole thing? And so she's like, and they have this moment of connection. And at the end of it, she's like,

I do think you're funny, Kevin. And he's like, I know. You know what I'm saying? He just takes that little win for himself. It's this interesting theme of family members. Not... I don't know what the theme is. But it's family members trying to...

get validation from a third party family member. Right. Right. So it's the same type of thing with Rebecca and Toby. Yeah. Between the two of them. Like, am I, am I the, what's going on here? Can you help? Maybe can you help me? Like, like, and, and,

family members holding different boundaries. - I think 'cause they can offer perspective. - Sure, sure. - You know what I'm saying? When someone has just a little bit of distance, when you hear it from them, it hits a little bit different. It's like the person who you're closest to, oh, you're supposed to say that. - Right. - Sure. - You know what I mean? - Right, right. - But if they're like, you could have said one way or the other. And she said, I think you're funny, Kevin. It was good. But it goes back to like, so Randall entering into this thing, 'cause I think the way that he originally envisioned it

he had control. You know what I'm saying? -Yes. Yes. Yes. -Having a baby, bringing a baby in, like, at least the most control that he could have and succeed in that way. This is-- Yeah, this is another one of those personality traits of, like, the-- of Jack Pearson's son. -Yeah. -You know, that-- that Jack Pearson and-- and mostly Randall, but even his other children, but Randall in the most Jack Pearson way has an idea

-of how this is gonna be. - Yeah. How-- No, let me tell you how this is gonna work. We are leaving here with-- You know what I mean? And he's attempting to maybe--

not honor the past but in jack's case a lot of times like correct the past like no i'm in control now right i'm gonna make it right i'm gonna heal this i'm gonna make it perfect yeah and it's the same type of thing we see a lot with randall's related to randall's anxiety is this need for like control the situation absolutely everything to be you know there there is this this moment um

After she has this conversation with Kev and she comes back together with Randall and she just jumps into his arms and they kiss each other. In the most romantic, like, I just was watching that. I was like, this is everything you want, like a movie kiss to be, well, a real life kiss, obviously. But it was just, it was so romantic.

powerful and palpable and it just I was like God I love these two people together so much yeah like they they go their separate ways and figure things out and then come back together in the best way possible and sorry to interrupt you but the fact that she was like you know like we can we can do anything

Like, we made the girls... Like, the girls were good, but we made them great. Like, just...

I don't know. I was like, yes, yes. That is exactly what you want to hear from your partner in this. - Yeah. It's exactly because it's like, he was so discombobulated or whatnot. She has a way of, as so many people have said, like even in our fan mail, like just settling him. - Yeah, grounding him. - You're gonna be all right. - Did you know she was gonna mount up like that?

- Did you know she was gonna go airborne? - Not exactly. - Yeah, 'cause she jumped and you caught her and it was just like, whoo. - Technically that counts as fight choreography. - I think we did get an addendum to it. - You got a stunt bump? - No, I do remember 'cause the first time, I had to ask when somebody comes, like the only way to really support them is from the bump. - Is from the buttocks. - And I was like, are you cool with this? And she's like, yeah, SK, thank you for asking.

But yeah, I was like, I'm trying to hold a thigh. I was like, it's not quite the same because you're like dripping down the middle or drooping down the middle. You kind of got to support it from the bottom. You have to. Listen, everyone, you have to support the buttocks. Always. Hot take. Hot take. Listen, if you're going to mount your man, you have to let him support the buttocks.

God, if we learned anything today. Take it from me. So wait, with the past storyline. Oh, we've completely. We haven't done the past storyline. Which one? Jack and Rebecca from like the 90s. Not with the eight-year-olds. Right. Jack and Rebecca post-fight. This is the drive home.

Like she said, get in the car at the end of 201. Yes. And we open with the drive home. And she's talking about, well, you can do this, man. Like you did it before, you can do it again. And he goes, it took time. It wasn't easy. And I think he says, I kind of did it by myself, but I don't know if I can do that this time. Is that right? That's in this episode. Yeah. And she asks him, so how did you do it last time?

And we see him at the office having a tough day. I think he just got chewed out, what have you. And he sort of eschews a liquid lunch. He has a bottle that's in his file cabinet that he pulls out and then throws into the trash can because he's not gonna go down there while he's tempted to, he's not going to. And he decides that like, well, maybe I'll go to an AA meeting.

We see him standing in the doorway. He walks to the meeting, he stands in the doorway, he listens for a bit.

He walks away, right? Later on in that episode, he goes to-- - A boxing gym? - He goes to the boxing gym. He's like, "How much for an hour?" He's like, "First one's free." He's like, "You want training?" He's like, "Nope, just trying to keep a promise to my wife," right? - "I just need four minutes of slow-mo." - "I need four minutes of slow-mo so I can fit in this montage as I beautifully hit this bag." - Yeah. - Because in the montage, I believe, like,

There's a few flashbacks, but one of the first ones we get is him as young Jack in Vietnam. Yeah, jumping out of a plane. That's right. Jumping out of a plane. And he is not a mechanic. Helicopter, yeah. Right. No, he has artillery and like a gun and... Yeah, he's fully mounted, right? And so we get the sense of like, oh, Jack is working through more than we realized. Yes. Okay. And for anyone who doesn't know, Milo Ventimiglia at this point has already played Rocky's son, right?

- Yes. - Yes, yes. So just so the-- if you have any question about Milo's boxing pedigree, he is Rocky's son. - He's Rocky's son. - Yeah. And then he makes it to the talent show.

And she's like, "You almost missed the T." He's like, "No, I got it." And it's fixed. He says something like, "It's fixed. I got it." - Yeah, don't worry about it. - Yeah, don't worry about it, right? - But before the talent show, isn't it earlier that day he goes to visit Kate at school, young Kate, as he does so often.

To have lunch with her in the car. Yes. And it's the first time we see her hold his face. Yeah. And then it's echoed with him at the end of the episode with Hannah. Yeah. Where he has to tell Katie girl that.

level with her as to why he's out of the house and part of where this fight with Rebecca stemmed from. And he admits to her that he's got a problem drinking and you see her sort of- - I can't wait to talk to Hannah about that. - Me too, me too. - It's gonna be awesome. She says, or Mackenzie, the youngest Kate is like, "How's work?" And she's like, "My boss has a way of making it feel like a job sometimes."

And then, you know, how are you gonna do it? The talent shows, like, I don't know, mom has a way of making it feel like a job sometimes. And then like at the end of the interaction, she just holds his face and it's so sweet. And when you see the echo of it happening with Hannah and Milo just breaks down in his daughter's hands. And it feels right. - There are, there are, there are- - I wanna say yes. - It's a very specific moment.

where a parent should allow a child to comfort them. Yes. Right? Very specific. Right? It's delicate. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, because it's like, if you're walking around the whole time and the kid is having to parent you, it's like, come on, man, you got to figure this out. Yeah, correct. Don't rob that childhood. But this was a moment of generosity because what was happening and the sort of theme of that episode, and it continues throughout season two, is that I'm doing too much by myself. Yeah.

I'm not letting anybody in close enough to be of assistance so they can be in it with me. So you need to be an example of letting people in so that the others around you will let you in. Exactly. No, that's acceptable. Teaching your kids that. I think you're right. This was a perfectly tangible, appropriate moment for...

for this girl to be there for her father, to help him. And it was unexpected and exactly, I think, what he needed in that moment too. - Beautiful. And the coolest part was where he just stood outside of the AA meeting before,

He now allows his wife to take him to AA. Yeah. And he walks in. He walks in. Right? So, yeah. It's a good setup for what's all about to come. Should we talk to Hannah about it? Let's talk to Hannah. I'm so excited to see her and pick her brain about being on the show and then this episode in particular, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be right back. ♪

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back with our guest. You know her as the most delightful member of the Big Three, the middle Big Three, that is. Please welcome Hannah Zield!

What's going on? - Hey, Hannah. - Look at that haircut. You look so stylish. This is great. - Oh, thank you. I've been, I had fallen into the trap of the internet where I now cut my own bangs, so. - This is you? - Wow. - This is me. - I think this is pretty well done. I'm impressed. - Yeah. - Thank you. - You've got another like career under your belt now if you want to become a hairstylist. - This is amazing. Real quick, not to embarrass, but because I'm from St. Louis and St. Louis is all about baseball.

We had a baseball player that I didn't know about. And that arch. You guys have that arch. We have the arch, too. And baseball. And then we have St. Louis Cardinals. That's right. Yes. I remember a longtime member of the St. Louis Cardinals was a dude by the name of Todd Zeal. Hannah's dad. What? Yes. And I remember walking up to you on set, and I was like, I never put it together. And I was like, Hannah, is your dad Todd Zeal? And she's like, yeah. And I was like, yeah!

I know. I think Dan made a joke to me one time too, because Dan's a Mets fan. Am I correct? Is it Mets? Okay. And my dad also played for the Mets and he made a joke to me basically saying, he was like, if you would have just said that in your first meeting with me, you would have got the role. I was like, oh my God. So now you tell everybody that at auditions, just in case. Yeah. I'm like, by the way. And my mom also was an athlete. My mom was a

Olympian gold medalist. What? Wait, in what? Gymnastics, 1984, Mary Lou Retton's team. Yeah, my mom. Yeah. My mom got gold on the uneven bars and she still holds the, she's the only American to ever get gold on uneven bars. Are you defecating me? What is going on?

- Yeah. - Yeah. - That's like sports royalty. - So like growing up, everyone thought I was genetically altered to be an athlete. Everyone always thought I would end up being an athlete. And then me and all my siblings ended up more creative, which is funny. - Emotional athletes. - Emotional athletes. - Did you guys play any, did you play anything? - Yeah, I was, I played club soccer and I was like ranked

in my county for tournament tennis. - No way! - Sully was a tennis player? - I was a competitive tennis player growing up too, yeah. - Really? I wanna play against so bad. It's like, I always used to see when I was younger, like people of all ages, that even if they weren't like running up and down the court as much, they were still just like keeping a rally and I miss it all the time. So I think I wanna go try to do that as an extracurricular now. - Yeah, you gotta dip your toe back into that. - I love it. - Meant to be. - I miss it. - So wait, we talked about this just oh so briefly, but,

- Mandy, admit you, 'cause we just had Logan on the show, like last episode. - He FaceTimed me to tell me how much fun he had. - Oh, good, good, good, good, good. It makes us happy. - You guys are so close. - But it makes us wanna-- - Yeah, he also just wanted to make sure he told me that his episode was the first. - Sure. - So he wanted to make sure he got that one. - Just so you know. - Very much like Kevin. - But it's almost the order of the big three, 'cause like first came me, then came me, and then so then hopefully we can get Niles at one point in time too.

But Mandy had mentioned that like we had to go back and reshoot like a timeline that you guys, 'cause there was another three actors that were hired before you, things didn't quite work out. And so with a really quick turnaround, you guys had to come in and join us. So talk to us a little bit about the process of how the show, the audition came for you. - Because of the quick turnaround also, it felt so much like,

timing was everything. It felt like I was like, it was meant to be how I ended up booking this because I actually hadn't done an audition in four years. I had done some stuff when I was 13 and then completely left it behind, went to high school, was more involved in my friend group and sports and whatever I was doing. And then at the time I was freshly 18 and I applied at my local Chipotle. So I was cashiering at Chipotle at the time.

And while I was there, I was like, I'm still so passionate about acting. That's always what I wanted to do as a career. And so I just blind called up my team from when I was like 13. And thankfully they were willing to send me back out on auditions, but yeah,

The audition for This Is Us was my first audition back in four years. Come on, man. What? You heard Chipotle when they're still doing the vegan beans but mixing in the pork juice with them. Listen, they're not giving us any money, Sterling. All I knew how to say was guac is $1.95 extra. Is that okay? That was my catchphrase for the time. But...

- I, it ended up because it was such a quick casting. 'Cause usually you know how it goes, like you're waiting and you're, it's like the whole waiting period is the most anxious part of it. But I went in, had my first audition and then like two days later I was at the cash register at Chipotle and my phone rang.

I answered the phone to my manager and she was like, Hey, so Dan Fogelman wants you to come down to Paramount and meet him right now. And I left on the spot. I left my job. You never went back to Chipotle. I never went back because it's,

seemed unbelievable to them. They were like, why would you not give me a two week? And I was like, I didn't have a two week on my, I went, I met with Dan and then I was in an Uber on the way home. It's so funny. I want to find this Uber driver. Cause he's shared the most like momentous moment of my life. I got the call.

like hey you have to be on set tomorrow mind you i also had to go get my hair i was i had jet black hair at the time i was going through something obviously i they were dyeing my hair and i had to get fitted for my colored contact lenses and then be on set by nighttime so i had like appointments the next morning it was like all quickly happening so i got the call in the uber for like the appointments are being scheduled so i'm in the back of this uber like

crying, calling my family, calling all my friends. And then finally, once I finished all the calls, the Uber just like looked at me in the mirror and very quietly was like, congratulations, I'll look out for you.

This is incredible. Go back through your Uber app. We want to talk to this driver too. Need to find the driver. Need to talk to my old manager at Chipotle that I quit on the spot. Guac is free. Yeah, it was pretty unbelievable. Did you just quit? Did you tell him, say, hey man, I got to go. Like I just booked the show. Or did you just like bounce up out of the Chipotle? I just remember going to the manager because it was to meet with Dan. I didn't know if I had the part yet, but I basically just said to her, I was like, hey, whatever consequences come from this,

it's fine but I'm just letting you know I'm not asking I'm telling you that I'm leaving I'm heading out so that's right that is gotta go opportunities call thank god I did that's right yeah you took two sides of guac and then it was such a whirlwind from there put them in your bag I squeezed them into my mouth and got out of there

Oh my goodness. And did you have, I mean, that's an exceptional turnaround that you met with Dan and then you were supposed to be on set like literally the next evening. Yes.

Did you have any idea of what the show was? Did you, were you able to read a script? Did you know you were playing a younger version of a character who was already established? Like what information did you have at that point? Yeah. So in the breakdown for the audition, I knew that it was to play a younger Chrissy Metz and I watched, I think only two episodes were had been released by the time that I was auditioning. So I,

I just don't think anything could have prepared me for like the magnitude of what I was joining. I also just because I hadn't acted in four years and I was just so grateful to even be a part of something. I was just every day was like I was so excited to be there that it was like such a whirlwind.

But what's funny is my mom had followed Milo's career. My mom was a huge fan of Milo since I was younger. So she had seen ads for This Is Us. And I vividly remember her telling me, because that's my mom and I's bonding thing, is we binge watch TV together, which I used to come over to her house every Tuesday night to watch This Is Us live with her. Aww.

That's how we bond. So she called me saying like, I think I have our new show that Milo Ventimiglia is on this new show. It just came out. The pilot's out. We got to watch it. And then I ended up. You said, no, I think I have our new show. I was like, wait for it, mom. It's incredible. I am too. But it was also exciting because when we first, obviously when we first joined in the first season, I, I,

wasn't really sure and I don't know maybe you guys have more insight I don't know if it was already predestined of how much like the flashbacks would become integrated into the core of the show at the time I wasn't sure because sometimes in flashback television it's like

you're not you're not used as much it could just be for that specific memory that they need to to portray and then it's over but i didn't realize it would be interweaved yeah nobody was more unaware of how how much this show would travel through time than old mandy moore because that's the thing they they're not flashbacks per se they're just different timelines

You know what I'm saying? Like we explore each timeline pretty fully. And so I guess, yeah, that's why it becomes what it is. So you get this show and within 48 hours, you are thrust into a very intimate relationship with two young men. Yeah. And you are to play siblings. And the roll of the dice that the three of you would get along. Yeah.

As well as you did. I know. Is maybe impossible. Yeah. It's so remarkable. So people know, like you'd see them together all the time. Tell us about it. Tell us about meeting these two guys and how quickly this connection formed. If it was quick at all. Totally. I remember the first day I was on set, I actually had like no dialogue my first day of working. And I,

I was just there for like one quick scene at the end of the night and they had spent, it was, they were doing all the football. It was like the football competition between them. So they had spent a lot of time together already. So I was, I was a bit nervous coming. I was like, I think they've already established a relationship. I don't know them well. And I'm the only girl and I can be a bit shy anyways. So, but almost instantly we ended up clicking and then Niles happened to live in my area. So,

So we almost like by the first week of working started carpooling to work. I could drive at the time. He was too young to drive yet. And we lived in the same area. So to help out, I would pick him up and take him to work and take him back. And that ended up like getting us bonded pretty quickly. And then, yeah, we kind of just made a conscious effort, like eating lunch in our trailers together and really just trying to,

get to know each other. And then thankfully, like you said, it doesn't always work out that you end up being

Really connected with the people but we've stayed those are truly like siblings to me like my brothers. Yeah, fully Logan said like I said as soon as Logan got off filming he he FaceTimed me to be like, oh my god. I had the best time you're gonna have so much fun I feel the same way with Chrissy and Justin too. That's the family. Yeah. Yeah. I actually remember you saying to me one time Sterling I mean I felt so

Like I said, like everything, it was like my first time really being on a set as like I was 18 now, an adult on my own. And everything felt so intense and I was so green. And I remember one time you saying to me, like, you know, I've had a lot of experience and it's not always, this is not always the case where everyone like,

on all fronts, everyone's like a family. Like, everyone gets along, everyone's working at the highest caliber. Like, everyone takes pride in what they're doing and loves their job. And you were like, really just, like, appreciate this moment that you're in because it's not every set is like this. And I really, like, held on to that the whole time I was working of being, feeling like, I'm so spoiled that this is my first experience. It's such a testament to

to you and your talent. That you hadn't been acting for four years and you so seamlessly transitioned into this character. There is never a false moment with you. Nope. You are so subtle. You are so...

dang good at what you do. It's so... Like, it was always such a pleasure to work with you. And it was... You know, Rebecca and Kate had a very complicated relationship. Oh, yeah. Especially at this juncture. And I just, like, any time I read a script and I saw your name on the call sheet, I was like, yes! Like, I...

I just like from, from the minute you show up on the show, like again, I'm just, I'm sitting here in awe going, I cannot believe this girl was working at Chipotle and wasn't like a working actor on show after show after show, because you just like, you had such a quiet confidence. Yeah. The work was just so seamless from the beginning. Thank you so much. And also honestly, like,

Obviously, I could sing your praises forever, but I felt the same about you. And I really appreciate it. I never, I feel like I learned the most from you just from like the way that you carried yourself on the set and the way that you prepared and the way that you were so dedicated and so talented. But it was never like you were trying to preach to me or trying to teach me or make me feel...

Less than it was just I learned just by absorbing everything around you by being a sponge. Very kind. I feel the same. You guys did not need like you didn't need any words of wisdom. It's like you are you are all operating at a 12 already that we were just lucky to have you. Let me ask you because we're this is an episode 202 and you you're not you're in it at the very end.

- Yes. - Right? And there's an echoing that happens in the episode where we see McKenzie earlier in the episode because Jack on his lunch break sometimes just goes to have lunch with his daughter and hang out and whatnot. And she can see he's going through a tough time

And she puts her hands on his face, right? And says, "It's going to be okay, Dad, whatever." And so at the end of this episode, he's talking to Katie Girl. I always wondered, did Jack come up with it? I think Milo is just sort of like Katie Girl. It's just one of those things that sticks in my head. And he's telling her about how he has a drinking problem and he tried to get over it and now he's having a tough time with it and he just wanted to let her know. And you're there just listening to him.

And my God, woman, you put your hands on this grown man's face. And I was like, I should get a daughter. I was like, these boys ain't going to do this to me. I need a little girl to go put her hands on my face. It was so tender and loving. It was so tender and loving and beautiful. Just talk to her a little bit because...

two things really start to happen that we find from the past. And it's already happened in the past in season one with Mackenzie, the younger version. But we start to really see the connection between this young woman and her father. And then we also begin to see like the sort of

between this young woman and her mother. So I'm just very curious. And we know too that this is a very pivotal juncture in their life. We know at this point now, we've seen in flashbacks that sort of a fuzzy bit of the funeral. So we know this is the age that these characters are when their dad passes away. Yeah. I'm sorry. I just interject that I was thinking that. Yeah. I just wanted to know for you, like, because...

Like, what was it like entering into that space? Like sort of living that reality both with Jack and Rebecca? Well, first with that scene specifically, it's funny because I so vividly remember filming that. And I remember the first take or two that we did, it almost felt like

I was too in my head, it was too mechanical because I knew when I was supposed to put my hands on his face and when I was supposed to hug him and I knew the dialogue that was supposed to precede that. But I just remember in between one of the takes Milo saying to me like, "You're doing amazing, just really like listen to what I'm saying, really hear like hear what Jack is telling you." And it was like the most simple tip but it was so, it was exactly what it needed. It was like

To exit any of the mechanics that went into it and really just sit there and hear. And sometimes that's the most powerful is having no dialogue at all, just reading it on your face. So I totally remember filming that scene. It was a special moment. But yeah, I always really, really appreciated getting to play

the time period of Kate Pearson that I did, especially because I think it's true for anyone, like your teenage years, you can be such a different person than you are in adulthood and childhood. It's such a pivotal time. So I always felt, although the role was shared, it felt really like I could make it my own. And I felt very individual in playing it. But I think that

Like we said, it's like in a difficult time period in general, especially I think I can relate. My mom and I, we butt heads a lot during my teenage years. I think it's just the time into becoming a woman and you're like starting to feel that you want your more independence and that you know everything and that, and everything feels heavy and complicated. And then once you become an adult, I think it's when I finally realized,

realize like I resonate so much with my mother like I was so hard on her and I didn't recognize that she's human and she's just trying her best and she's yeah you know she's a woman looking out for another young woman and she has wisdom but at the time you just feel almost resentful of someone trying to put that upon you and then I think on top of that the layer of all the trauma that that

Kate goes through in that time period. She has this super close relationship with her dad and then loses him in such a tragic way. And, you know, Rebecca seems to gracefully be such a punching bag for a lot of that time period. And seems to totally understand that Kate's dealing with a lot of trauma and a lot of misplaced anger and never seems to hold it against her, just kind of lets her

feel what she needs to feel. And then I think that's what's so beautiful about this show is that you never have to imagine

you know, a lot of times for character work, you have to imagine like, how will this affect my character's future? And what will this relationship be like when they're adults? And it's just like written out for me already. So it really gave me like such informed work because it was like, I can actually see how this transgresses already between the relationship with Chrissy and Mandy. So it's so smart. It's funny in episode 201,

Chrissy says, like, you guys are having an argument. And she said, like, what exactly did I do? And she's like, just being you or, like, your presence, like, you're existing or something. She said, yeah, you existed. You existed. And you see, like, Rebecca just take it on the chin, like, mm.

I don't know exactly what to do with that, but okay. What can you say to that? I think the show, and you highlight this, Hannah, is that there's a level of empathy that we can have for our parents in recognizing that they are not perfect people. They are people doing the best that they can, right? Because so much of it is us living it out at the same timeline. And you have all this stuff, like, they should have done this, they should have done that. And then you're like, oh, I'm making mistakes too. Maybe I should just actually have a little bit more grace for the people for doing the best that they could. Totally.

Yeah. And I think that's what was cool about like Jack making the conscious decision in this episode of 202 to like, he said, I struggled with the drinking privately before. Like now it's time for me to open that up to the children. And I think that's super important too. It's like being young, your parents are your superheroes and they do no wrong. And it's like, actually, I think builds a stronger foundation for a relationship to realize that

they're humans. This is their first time doing life too. And they're trying their best, but they're not perfect. But, um, so Jack revealing like, Hey, I know I'm everything to you that I can still be who I am to you, but I also struggle. I have a drinking problem. And to be honest and open, I think, um, my mom's always been that way. Parenting us as well. Just really transparent, really honest. I think it's like,

definitely the reason that I have such a close relationship with her. So I hope to take some of those tidbits into parenting my children one day. I'm sure you will. You will. Will you do me a favor? When we get back into the exploration of your relationship during this timeline, will you come back and talk to us, please? Because that's one of the... Yes. That relationship, I think, made our viewers collectively be like...

Who is this D-bag? And get him out of here. Yeah. Yeah. Brutal. And I couldn't believe, I mean, obviously a lot of the topics that my character dealt with resonated with a lot of people, but that storyline specifically, I got some of the most powerful messages from women that had survived crazy, toxic relationships. And so, yeah, that was...

and like maybe fun's not the right word to to describe that that time period but that was like i really felt connected to doing that work as well she'll come back you'll come back and talk to us please okay that's a commitment okay i appreciate it is there anything you've been working on that you want to shout out and tell people about or tell people what we can you know where we can find you on social media all of that fun stuff yeah yeah um honestly

I've kind of just, I don't have anything really, a specific thing to share. I'm back at Chipotle. I've mastered the guacamole.

Where can people find you online? On Instagram? Things like that. Yeah, all my social medias are Hannah Zeal XO. Nice. Hugs and kisses. Hannah, thank you so much for making time to come hang out with us. We all need to get together in person at some point in time and just sit down and commiserate. We're going to put together a big family reunion. We're going to figure something out. Sterling's going to capture that. I'll help you out. I really, really would love that. I think life just gets in the way. You're kind of living the day by day. And then when I...

see you guys and talk to you, I realized how much I really miss you guys. And when I saw Mandy, I think the last time I saw you was at the Dr. Dab. Yes. Yes.

Yeah. And it was like, I was just so excited to see you. I was so excited to see you and so surprised. Yeah. I was like, once my daughter, always my daughter. Right on. Right on. No, I know. It feels like we always pick up right where we all left off. So I really appreciate you guys having me on here to talk. And the reunion definitely needs to happen. Yeah. Absolutely. We'll make it happen. Thank you, Hannah. Hannah, thank you.

So good to see you. Thank you guys so much. We'll see you soon, my dear. This was so fun. All right. Every week we ask you guys out there to rate and review and subscribe. And this week we want to honor those who have listened to our request. Yes, ma'am. This fan segment is called Ratings R Us. And we're about to shout out some really dope people.

Don't you wish that you could be one of them? Huh? Don't you wish you could be dope? Well, guess what? You can. The good news is we all can be dope. You want to know how? All you have to do is rate us five stars. That would be dope. Boom. Leave the best review. Bam. That would be dope. And subscribe. Booyah. That would be the dopest. Easy peasy. And here we go. Here we go. Check these out. Let's see some love. Let's see some love. Oh.

The show is gold. This is gold. I feel like I'm sitting around with friends reminiscing. It is a delight. Well done, friends. Thank you, Cincypin. Thank you, Cincypin. Don't you understand? All you have to say to your friends is, I've got a pot of gold for you. And it's called The Dead Result Podcast. Subscribe. You're right. Review. Five stars. Gold, gold, gold. What's the next one? Hot tea! Hot tea!

Needs to become a regular thing. You guys had me laughing out loud and then crying again at the end of this week's latest episode. I love tuning in every week to relive this wonderful show. The insight gained from the deep dives into the show and characters is so beautiful. Thank you for the wonderful content and stories you continue to bring us. Thank you, Stephanie. You're going to get wonderful content. You're going to get heartfelt stories. You're going to get hot takes. Hot takes!

Wow, I'm sold. Neat that. Okay, we got to do more hot takes, guys. Let's honor that. We will. Hot take. Let's read another review. Let's do it. Sensitive and funny, I stopped watching the show because some topics were hitting a little too close to home, but now I'm watching from the beginning and listening, and the podcast is the perfect companion. Aww.

- Thank you. - If the show is too much for you, don't worry, baby bird. We got you. - Come to it when you ready. - Come to us, we will guide you through it gently. - Safely, gently, respectfully. - Her name, Our Lady Kitty. - Our Lady Kitty? - Our Lady Kitty. - Or L-Lady Kitty. - L-Lady Kitty. - L-Lady Kitty. - Doesn't even matter. - We appreciate it, L-Lady Kitty. Come on now, what's next? What we got?

Boom! Somebody loves it. Such a fun listen. I agree. I loved this series so much, and I love hearing all of these BTS stories about it. Behind the scenes, yes. Sterling K. Brown's laugh is my favorite sound in the world. It's true. Thank you all for making this podcast. Thanks, Kylie. Right on, Kylie Grote. Thank you all for writing in. Yeah. We love you so much. It was awesome. Thanks for listening.

Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. And subscribe. That's right. You hear it all the time for podcasts, but you don't understand how much it helps. It really does. So please, please do that. It makes all the difference. But thank you so much for these comments, for future comments. We are really, really grateful. If you want to hit us up with more comments, don't forget to hit us via email at thatwasus.com.

pod at gmail.com. Yeah, or you can give us a ring at 412-501-3028. That's the emotional support hotline. We listen, we read, we appreciate, we thank you all. We'll see you on the next episode of That Was Us. That Was Us. That Was Us. Hot take. Hot take. That Was Us is filmed at The Crow and produced by Rabbit Grin Productions and Sarah Warehunt. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith.

That was us.