An Ode to William Hill | "Memphis" (S1E16)
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On today's episode of That Was Us, we'll be discussing season one, episode 16, Memphis. William recalls his life's pivotal moments and dashed dreams as he and Randall take a road trip to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. How'd everybody fare watching this one? Because I was a mess. I was a mess. Yeah. Not good. I remember the first time I watched it, I was in Vancouver.

shooting a film, The Predator, like just silly sort of what have you. And the episode aired and I messed up my whole world, man. So we were done shooting. We were done shooting. By the time this aired. Correct. Got it. Um,

Let's see, what can I say about this thing? First of all, John and Glenn came back to direct it, who directed our pilot, and they directed... Three and four, I believe? Yeah, three and four. Was this their last one? This was their last one. Until the Super Bowl. Until the Super Bowl. Season two. That's right, okay. So they had ideas, they wanted to make it like a film and everything, and I was like, oh, it sounds really fun. Fun film-wise, okay, like in terms of the things that they wanted to do. But this was...

I can remember leading up to this, every once in a while, Dan would come and he'd say like, a lot of people love William, like they don't want him to go. And he's like, I could change it, but then it wouldn't be the show that I conceived of. And he's like, I kind of got to follow through on this thing. Yeah. Right? And I was like, I get it. And he talked to Ron about it too, and Ron understood as well.

It opens up with this sort of Williams mom and dad while he's like in her belly singing, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. And it sort of becomes a recurring thing that we hear throughout Williams singing it later on in life as well. Dad was in the military. He goes off, says he'll be back. You get that familiar sort of thing that we see in movies.

TV and film because it happens in life with the two soldiers that come to the door to let you know that your loved one is not going to be making it.

William is raised by his mom alone, played by a sister by the name of Amanda Warren, who has a, she had her own show on ABC for a minute. I can't remember the name of it, but she's a brilliant actor. We had two Yalies because they overlapped with each other. And there's Amanda Warren, Brian Tyree Henry, who we'll get to a little bit later, playing cousin Ricky, who destroyed, destroyed this thing, right? Yeah.

So we see William's beginnings, montage through his mom. He gets older. Mom has to go to Pittsburgh to take care of her mother, leaves William behind, and he starts his sort of music career. He's writing, he's hanging out with the band, he plays the keyboard a little bit. And one day his cousin, Ricky, who she's like, "Make sure your cousin don't be leading you in the stuff you're supposed to be going to. You lead him." Da da da. This is Brian.

And he writes this song. He said, "Yeah, I've been working on something." First of all, young William played by Jemele Nakia is such a beautiful, sweet spirit. We are three of the people along with John Huertas and Jemele who wound up going to Ron's memorial when he passed away.

Now, we all, like you said, you haven't had many scenes with him, but you see each other. We're at the different press events together. Like, we celebrate successes, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know how much time Jamel actually got a chance to spend with Ron. You know, he had scenes with you, none of us, but, like, he was there. Yeah, to honor him. Yeah. And I was like, my man. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's just the kind of guy. - Jermell is. - Jermell is. - And we're gonna get to talk to him later in this episode. - And we get to talk to him later in this episode. But he comes up with this song. - We can always come back to this. - We can always come back to this. - So he came up with the lyrics, right? - Yes. - And that's when Brian, - Yeah, yeah, he looks at it. - Cousin Ricky was like, "Okay." - He's like, "Let me see what you got." He's like, "It's about damn time you didn't come up with something." And so then Brian Henry starts singing this song.

And I'm like, "God, Brian Henry did four years in the Book of Mormon, by the way." Brian Henry can sing. - Oh yeah. - Yeah, you think?

But he is an old friend of yours. Yes, he is. Yes. We have the same manager. We go back. We did a play with Terrell McCraney at the Sundance Theater Lab the summer of 2009. Wow. 2007. And then we wound up doing the Brother Sister Trilogy at the Public Theater in 2009. So we've known each other for a long, long time. Yes. And he is so funny, too, because he came on the show.

And he said, "Brown, they got me to do this song. They got me to do this thing and everything." And he said, "I've worked on it with your musical producer, whatever." And then when he sang it, he's like, "Brown, I killed the song." He knew.

He's like, I ain't trying to brag in front of a brown. I killed the song. This is going to be an Emmy nominated thing. And he got an Emmy nomination. Yes, he did. I think it was his first. It was. Before Atlanta or anything like that. I mean, for a show to be doing what it's doing and then to take a little pit stop and produce like a true hit song. Yeah.

- Yeah. - It's just crazy to me. Like that song is so good. - It's so good. - It's so good. - Sid wrote it, you know what I'm saying? - I mean. - Brian did it, and then we have like covers of it later on in that episode, into the next episode. But anyway, things are going well for William. Gets a phone call from his mom, 'cause she went to go take care of her mother who passed away. Now it turns out that his mother is a little ill. So he winds up leaving his cousin,

to say that he'll be back, but he's just got to go take care of his mom. And he goes and it turns out that his mother is sicker than she let on. She's got cancer. The first time I watched the show, it didn't quite land for me, but this time watching the show, it just lands like what type of person William is. And how hard it would have been for a person like this to leave a child

at a fire station. It was like the dichotomy of that, to walk away from his life to take care of someone. Sure, knowing what his own mother meant to him. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. So he goes and she says, "Hey man, you know what? Get familiar with the city. You don't have to be up underneath me. Go get some chicken. I'll make it up. We'll do good." And then we, there's a few incredible montages

in this episode that's sort of like compressed time. Compressed story so you understand like, yes. How William got from being that person to a person who leaves a child at a fire station. On the bus and it's sort of, 103 is the first time that we sort of explore this thing. So it sort of dovetails into that. We meet Laurel who is Randall's mom. We see this sort of

courtship of things. Joyful. Them playing together with his mom and they're a family and whatnot. Across the hall, there's a dude who's

doing heroin, what have you. You see Laurel go in there the first time, you're like, oh man. And William keeps going. And then when it's all done, then he's in there as well because his mom passed away, sort of dealing with grief. So we see that, right? Can I talk about those montages for a second? Those montages hit me in a way that it's so hard to...

People are so, including myself, terrified to see someone at their bottom, right? To see a heroin addict on the street or on the bus or on the, anywhere. Yeah. You know, living in the big cities. It's not, I've seen it many, many times. Sure. And it's scary and we don't want to look at it and we don't want to face it and we don't want to deal with it. We don't want to talk about it. But to see in these montages, the time compressed like that, to realize that this is a person

who had joy, who had love. Who had purpose. Who had purpose. Yeah. And we can't comprehend how someone gets there. Yeah. But when you see it in a three-minute montage, it's so clear. It humanizes people in that position. And how easy is not the right word, but how unconsciously it can just unfold. Yeah. One or two wrong choices, one or two bad breaks, right?

And everything falls apart. Yeah. And that's unfortunately what happened in this particular case with William. Yeah. That's a great point, because it—

Because it's hard to look at, it also becomes easy to dismiss. Like, you know, like I don't want to think about it and so I'm not. And so now your story is unimportant because it's not something that I want to... And I think Dan time and time again throughout the course of the show says, these people who you are dismissing are of value and worth and I want you to pay attention. Yeah. Not look away. Yeah. Which is pretty damn awesome. Yeah.

So that's how, you know. That's the backstory of Memphis. That's the backstory. What he left behind in Memphis. What he left behind. We open up with Randall and Beth are at the doctor's.

He's checking in with the doctor to see if it's okay if Randall goes on this road trip. See if it's okay. And Beth is leaning hard on the doctor like, you understand everything that's just happened to this man. Correct. Yeah, he just had a mental breakdown and now he wants to drive halfway across the country. And the doc says, I think he's okay. Yeah.

He says, "You two are really cute." And we go, "We know." It's like one of my favorite little moments of just R&B love. Followed right after you two walking out of the office and that look on Susan's face, on Beth's face, and you just give a fist bump to William. She's like, "I saw that." I saw that. And you know that the road trip is on. It's on. So we're gonna go on a road trip. And before we hit the road,

You see William go. Kiss the girls goodbye. Kisses Faith. Annie. I'm always saying everybody's real name. Kisses her on the forehead because she's still sleeping. And then she talks to Tess and Faith. And says, you know, you keep up with your chess. And she's like, okay. And he's like, all right, go back to bed. And then he says a little goodbye to Beth.

Right? And they get in the car and they're on their way. Randall's got his maps. He's like, you know, I got it all planned out. This is how we're going to do it. This is old school. No GPS, it's the maps. He's like, let me see those maps. Tosses them out the window. Said, just drive, son. We'll get there. Yeah. This is just such a beautiful lesson for Randall in particular, for everybody, I think to a certain extent, like,

There are plans, and it is good to plan. It's also nice to allow yourself to move with the flow that is life. Yeah. A couple of days ago, I had a breakfast with a very close friend of mine who pitches TV shows for a living. Okay. What he does. Yeah. Tells these little 10-minute stories to try and sell TV shows.

And he essentially pitched me This Is Us because I was trying to learn. Taylor and I have been working on this thing for a long time. Yeah. And I'm trying to figure out how to manage it myself without having to have too much outside help. Right. And he pitched This Is Us back to me in a way that I was like, wow, wow. And he said, you need to identify in your pitch everyone's want. Right.

And then you have to identify and let the person know all the things that are going to get in the way of that person getting what they want. Yeah. And he goes, "And that's it." Like everything else is storytelling. Like that's where your story is built around. And he talks about Rebecca and he talks about Jack. But he talked about Jack in a way that was like, and Jack wants everything the way he wants it. And he wants it to be perfect.

Because he wants to, that's the way he loves people. And I saw that bit of Jack in you, in Randall, for this episode. Jack Pearson's son is going to make this perfect, is going to make this right, is going to heal this man. Yeah. So, yeah.

So they're on their trip and it's very quiet scene. - Sorry, what gets in the way of you wanting that? Maps out the window. - Maps out the window. - The person you're trying to save is like, "Yeah, we're not gonna do it that way." - Now we're gonna do this in a completely different way, right? He's asking me about, he's like, "It was tough. Couldn't imagine seeing you like that." He's like, "Is that called an anxiety attack?" He's like, "You know, panic attack, anxiety."

There's a lot of different names for it, you know, something I've lived with for a while. My dad used to help me manage it. He was sort of the calming force.

You know, he sort of take his hands and put them on my face and he would just breathe. Guys would breathe together. Until I come, calm down. And I'm curious before we get into, do you guys have anything like that that you do with your children? Not so physical like that, but we say to take a deep breath. Absolutely. Like when Gus, our oldest is, you know, having a moment or freak out or really upset about something, it's like,

Let's take some breaths together. And not that this is silly, but the other day I was really overwhelmed and I was crying about something in front of them, which I don't, I try not to make a habit of, but I'm very pregnant and our dog is sick. And, you know, and so I was crying and he turned it around on me and he was like, Mama, everything's okay. Take a deep breath with me. And I was like, I can't cry.

So I had to like take the deep breath. He's like, and another breath. And like he breathed. He turned the practice back on. It's just like, you're like, okay, I'm doing something. I mean, then five minutes later, he smacked his brother across the face. The balance of two. Exactly. Yeah. Since this TV show, I've asked when I am in my place of anxiety or having, Rachel does that for me. Yeah. Hands on the face. Everything's going to be okay. Yeah.

I love that. That's what I asked for. And I had to, in our therapy, I need you to do that, that exact thing. Wow, I love that. And that will work. And it does. What about you? So similar. So I helped to assistant coach my youngest son's flag football team. They made it to the Super Bowl. They lost the Super Bowl. I saw. I was like...

Seven, eight-year-old boys just collapse onto the ground and start crying. And so you get down on their level, so you're not standing above them or whatnot. And I say, hey, man, it's going to be okay. And I put my hand on his chest. And I say, just breathe for me. I said, let me feel the breath. And I take a deep one in and out. And I said, now, it's okay to cry. You deserve that.

But you're going to be okay. And especially if they make a bad play in the middle of the game, I have to tell them, I said, listen, your tears are fine, but I also need you to keep playing this game. Now, if you can play through the tears, that's fine. Otherwise, there's still a chance to win. So let's wait until the game is over until we feel everything. Right? Wow. Great advice. Try. It is life advice in general. Let me tell you, because the way that I was coached,

Not like. No. Yeah, yeah. No tears. No, no, no. No, no tears at all. So very much like 2024 trying to like go through the filter of like, okay, what worked for me? Because you can't give up before. They essentially had, sometimes you give up before the game is over. Sure. Can't give up before the game is over. I don't mind the reaction that you're having to it, but I still need you to keep playing. Yeah.

So that's part of the thing that I think I've taken from the show and sort of adapted and made it into my own. And it's a beautiful moment that like thinking back to little Randall getting his face held by Jack. It's wonderful. Yeah. So in talking about his dad, William says like, you know what? You know, I wish I could meet him. And I said like, where is he? And he said, well, Kate has him in an urn.

there's the urine right there um but we did scatter part of his ashes at this one place and he's like can we go with me that's kind of half day out the way and he's like hey man take me to go meet your dad so we're gonna meet the dad and i can remember at this time in shooting ron was very weak

He felt like he was probably like a buck or five soaking wet. He was probably like a buck 20. But you put your hand on his back and you were wondering if he was going to be able to stay up. And he had his oxygen tank, which we just incorporated into the show. You saw me putting it in the backseat of the car as we're on the way to go. And we had to walk up this hill and we'd have to take a deep breath.

And it was hard to get air or whatnot. And like, so everybody just took their time. And when he was ready, he was able to do the lines and sit down. And then he would muster the strength to walk up. And he's like, you know what? Go ahead and say your goodbyes and we'll go. And then they call cut and he'd have to sit down. Catch his breath, yeah. Like, it was such a...

interesting sort of like parallel of like us collectively being like, we need you to be okay. While knowing that like he wasn't okay and that what was about to happen to the character, et cetera. But there's this beautiful moment of him saying like, thank you for doing what I couldn't do, you know, for raising him into the son that he is or what have you. - That got me. It gets me now just thinking about it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so he says, you know, say your goodbyes and we'll hit the road.

So we hit the road and we're on our way to Memphis. And then again, like John and Glenn do wonderful collages of just like

- Introducing Memphis. - Yeah. - You know what I'm saying? - It was great. - Seeing the record stores and just like different things around town, et cetera. And they had this one moment, because a lot of this episode was improv. He's like, you know, we're just gonna take collages of different things. And you guys say, we're in the barbershop. I'm talking about like the real haircut that I had when I was a kid, where I had this ramp and I dyed it. They took this part out, but I dyed it dark Auburn because yeah, black people's hair changes in the sun.

I tried to play it off. It was like, oh, yeah, it's just the sun. You know how it is. Like, bro, is your hair red? It's that thing that happens when I'm just like out and about, that kind of thing. Oh, man. And then there was, we went to this sort of Woolworth's thrift store place. And John and I were like, look, these are segregated drinking fountains. I was like, this is like the white one set up a little bit higher than the colored one.

And they're like, "We should do something with this." I was like, "Yeah, just roll the cameras, let's go." And then Ron starts talking about, "Yeah, when my day, you know, couldn't drink from this fountain, had to go to this one here, dah, dah, dah." And I said like, "Well, you know, I was raised by white people, so I go straight to the white fountain." And he's like, "Oh!" And I was like, "Come on, man, come taste this water, it's pretty good." But it was just this delightful- - You can feel it. You can feel it. - That was happening. You know what I'm saying? We were having a wonderful time.

- You went to the barbecue joint and said, what Sterling says, you know, I try not to eat a lot of pork. Which is every time I've- - You heard me say it! - I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying not to eat a lot of pork. - I was like, that's not scripted. And that's not Randall. - But the place was, oh, I took a bite. That reaction to the bite. - I've been to that place. - The reaction to the bite, I was like, mm, so good. - More That Was Us after these words from our sponsors.

I could talk about my experience with Airbnb because I've been using it since the very beginning. Same. I've used it across three or four different countries. Really? Because when I go somewhere, I want to be comfortable. Yes. I want to have my own space, and I want my space to be in the middle of the action. I don't want it to be where all of the hotels are located. Sure, you don't want to be removed from the action. No, I want to be in the city. I want to be amongst the people. Yes. Feel local. Feel local.

I want to feel like a local. Yeah. And the best way to do that is to stay in someone's home. I love that. I love that. While you're away from home and traveling, your home could be an Airbnb. What better way to earn a little extra money or offset some of your other travel expenses? This year, I'm going away for work. I might be gone for six to eight months at a time. And so not only do I need to find...

the perfect place to stay where I am going. But while I'm gone, I could list my home or our brand new guest house on Airbnb for whoever may be looking for that perfect place to stay. Well said, sir. Listen, when you're on the go a lot or are very...

road tripping with your estranged family members exploring the complicated secrets of your past. That's what Randall and William do in this episode. Airbnb is a smart choice to make to ensure those trips, no matter how simple or complicated they may be, are as smooth as possible. And your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.

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Or before we go to Memphis. And I make the bed. Yes. I have that written down as well. And he's like, why are you making the bed? And I was like, I like making the bed. He's like, we're in a hotel. Somebody's going to do it. And I said, first of all, it's a motel. Yeah. I don't know if people come to make the bed in a motel, too. You know what I'm saying? It's not quite the same.

But it's something that gives Randall order. Control. Like the things that I can control in terms of my environment or whatever are things that mean something to me because I know I can't control it all. So what I can control, I will. But it's another step towards this man teaching you how to let go. Yes. Fully live. That control. Yes. And to live your life.

absolutely god damn life yeah so he's like so so then we go to memphis or whatnot and i remember him he says something about the p-buddy and the ducks he's like oh i hope the ducks are there man and uh his somebody used to take him to see the ducks all the time and i was like okay so you filed that away and so then we in memphis and then we go to see cousin ricky yeah does he go his childhood home first

Yes. Yes. To see, yes. Yes, yes. And this hit me because Ron is different in this scene. Yeah.

he approached this whole scene differently than he has done anything else in this show yeah and he is a little boy and childlike and and he's like uh he i don't know he was he was like bubbling right and he finds his treasures that he hid when he was a child in the fireplace and this couple is like this man is dismantling their house and it's just a couple of toys and and and it's any any on the way out he says

He says, "Can you believe it? After all these years, these are still there. Isn't it," and see if I get this right, "Isn't it funny the way the universe sticks and moves that way?" - Yeah, that's right. - That the things that change are so unbelievable and the things that don't change- - Right. - Are also so unbelievable. - So unbelievable. - Yeah. - And that line, I was especially knowing

that you won't see the man again. - Sure. - Yeah. - It was just like, I was in the kitchen, I was watching from essentially from the kitchen table. Rachel came in again, she catches me every time one of these moments happen, she walks in and just. - Yeah, this episode was. - Like, hands on the face. - Yeah, man.

Yeah. Okay. So that moment happens, which is so beautiful. The two people who own the house, the actors, were so cool. And I was like, look, man, I'm trying to do the best I can. I know it's weird, us rolling up on your house like that. But he was so impish and delightful. And you're lying. I didn't know that was going to happen. Ha ha ha!

God bless and how you guys went. Yes. Then we go to see cousin Ricky. Yeah. And this is where does tell with the past because he told Ricky in the past that I'm gonna be back and I'm gonna come back with 60 hit songs and we're gonna do all this and he's like, cool, man, that's all great. So he comes to see him now and we see old age Brian Tyree Henry and he tells him to get the hell out of his club because

He didn't communicate. Right. We, we left, William didn't communicate. Obviously we saw that he was using, he was an addict. He cleaned himself up, but still like, he felt like he couldn't come back. Yeah. Didn't know how to. And, uh,

There's sheer delight from Randall at the possibility, like he called him cousin. He's like, wait, cousin? Like that means you're my cousin? - The way they shot this with you popping in and being like, sorry, I'm sorry. - Yeah, yeah. - Randall. - Like I have other family I've never met before. - You guys go ahead. You go ahead. - Go ahead. - It's so good. - It's a real, do you guys know the difference between second cousins and cousins removed? - No. - No.

Cousins removed? Okay, so check it out. Through marriage or something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your brother's children and your children are first cousins. Yeah. When your child has a child to your brother's child, that's a first cousin once removed. When your brother's child has a child with your children, second cousins. Wow. Right? Yeah.

That's how it works. I had to. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yep. No, you got it. I got it. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. Because that was one of the things I was like, for Randall, I was like, I need to understand this part because it's important to Randall, but then I realized I'm breaking the vibe, so I got to kill it. Right.

I love it. But then there's this, they are able to heal and he understands. And so that we go into like, you still play? I think what he's like, I can always. You're too sick to play? You're too sick to play? He's like, I'm never too sick to play. And you see him on the keyboard or whatnot. And Randall's hanging out with, he's got other cousins. And he does the Oprah. You have a cousin. You get a cousin. Everybody gets a cousin. Yeah.

And then there's this just great convo with his wife, which, man, I'm telling you, like, you're talking about like, hey, let me make sure my wife knows that she's a part of this thing. Like, joy is transpiring right now. And everything is better with a little bit of Beth on it.

But, man, I'm having the time of my life. And I'm so happy that I get a chance to share that with my partner. Yeah. And what a balm to her after everything that she just witnessed you go through as well. Like, the trip is going this well and you are on cloud nine. It's amazing. Next thing, I get a chance to scat a little bit and then do the robot, which are always fun things for Brown to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How much was improv? How much was scripted? It's all improv. Yeah, yeah. Like this was the most improv episode. Because that's what John and Glenn said. Like what we want to do is just catch snippets of life. And then we'll figure out a way how to sort of weave them together. Sure. But like you want to have the highs because the next thing you see is we're about to go –

somewhere else and we go into William's bedroom and he... The next morning. The next morning after this wonderful evening of celebration. Yeah. Yeah, that went into the evening for sure. Yeah. It was a party. So he is struggling. He's struggling. William is now struggling. And so I'm going to flash back to something real quick because...

February 5th, 1987, St. Louis, Missouri is the day that my father passed away. And earlier in that day, I remember walking into the kitchen to start breakfast or whatever. My mom was on the phone calling 911 and she says, "Go put some clothes on your dad."

And I'm like, huh? She's like, go put some clothes on your dad. And I was like, okay. So I walked into my parents' bedroom, and my dad was turned over on his side, almost, like, stiff, like, couldn't move his body in a very similar way to how Ron was. And, like, he was naked, and I remember, like, he couldn't move his arm, so I was trying to pull his underwear on. He could see 10-year-old Brown was uncomfortable with, like, putting underwear on his dad, and he just said, go get your mom on.

go get your mom right and and so what's interesting about this is like when the paramedics finally came

I have a split level house, so they have to carry him downstairs to the front door. And as they're carrying him down the stairs to the front door, my dad hits me with a wink. That's the last thing I ever saw from my dad. - Oh, Sterling. - Last thing I ever saw from my dad. 'Cause they didn't want me to go to the hospital because they felt I was too young to deal with that. So this is what I'm talking about, the parallels of life and art, art, life, dovetail, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So he's turned over on his side and I'm watching it, right?

Then the next thing, we're in the hospital, and the doctor's explaining to me that he's not going to make it out of the hospital. I was like, what are you talking about? Like, he's got months, and he's like, no, he's got days. I was like, listen, all due respect, he has a doctor in New York. You know what I'm saying? I don't know where his doctors do it, but, like, I have the resources to do this. He's like, look, man, I understand what you're trying to tell. I'm trying to tell you right now. You have hours. He's not leaving this hospital. Make the most of the time that you have. And so we go into...

the room and william is sort of he's talking about just life and and where he is right now and the mistakes that he's made and i i don't want to overly summarize this so if there's moments that you guys want to like highlight but he says the the two things that i remember most i'm most happy about is the person that i was in the beginning and the person that i am at the end and then he says i'm a little scared and uh just

So the reason why I think I'm having sort of the reaction I am is that I got to be there. Yeah. I know it's Randall. I know it's William. But Sterling kind of got a chance to be there to say goodbye to his dad. Yeah, man. And I said, it's going to be okay, man. And he put my hands around his face and I said, just breathe. And you see him just breathe. And he passes, right? Yeah.

But it makes me think too, like this is weird stuff. I'm somewhat tangential, but you guys bear with me and then bring me back as I need to. Because like my dad went really quick and so did Jack Pearson, right? And my mom or Randall's mom was ill for a long time, but it was a progressive illness. And like my mom has ALS.

which is a sort of progressive illness. So it's a weird sort of thing still that's happening in my life where I'm seeing like a slow thing happen with my mom's body, not with her mind, but with her body. And my dad went pretty quickly. But it was such a joy to be there. It was a joy to be there.

You know? Yeah. And then we'll come back to this in season six or whatnot, but for those three kids to be there for their mom, that means something. Yeah. That means... Because not everybody gets to do it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Not everybody gets to do it. And so don't let me miss anything, you guys, because I know I'm jumping through, but it's so interesting. No.

Tidbit, the first time we shot the last scene of this episode was in Memphis. 'Cause we did go on the road to Memphis. Like it's one of the places that we went. We went to Pittsburgh, we went to Vietnam, we went to Las Vegas, we went to Memphis.

And we were shooting this last scene and we were running out of time with the ducks going across and the ducks weren't actually there. And like it was being very harried and whatnot. And I didn't feel good about how I had left like the last scene. And John and Glenn were like, dude, it was great. Don't even worry about it. I give these guys credit because they said they looked at the editor or whatnot. And they're like, I think Sterling could do something else. And so we reshot it.

- Really? - We reshot the last scene once we came back to LA. - With the ducks. - With the ducks going across the car or what have you, because like it's sometimes when you feel rushed in a sort of emotional scene, it's just like, ah, I don't want to do funny things with my face so it feels like I'm forcing something or anything like that. So when I saw it and I saw the ducks and it was just like, I could hear Ron Williams' voice who's like, oh man, I can't wait to see the ducks at the Peabody.

You see the ducks walk through and it was like, it's this moment of recollection and realization that I have all the time with my own dad is that he's still here. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Is that he's still here. Yes. And watching it like last night.

And recognizing that Ron is gone. But still here. But he's still here. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? So it is, as I think about the show, and Chris, you were saying this early on in another podcast that like, you know, why is the show so sad? Because you're sad. You know, like the show's not sad. Like there's sadness everywhere.

It's part of the fabric of life. What a joy to be able to feel all of it. - Right? It feels so good. - Yeah. - To feel human. And the full range of everything. - All of it. - Yeah. - That's right. - You know what I mean? Like it's, nothing's good or bad. Like it's all, it is what it is. You know, you have to allow yourself to experience all of these things 'cause that's what life is. - Yeah. - You know? - And the harder that we try to control it. - Yeah.

the more painful it is. Come on, bro. I wrote down this thing that William said to Randall. Roll the windows down, turn up the music, and take me to meet your father. I loved that. It was like, what a mantra for backtracking a little bit. But it was just sort of like when he threw those maps out, it was just sort of like, you don't always need that. You don't always need that. And I feel like Randall...

of anybody needs to like take that in, in his life and really digest that. And what a, what a beautiful lesson to sort of like be told at the end. Amen. Yeah. There's, there's, you know, there's so little to say about this episode outside of your experience of it. Yeah. You know what I mean? And, and, and our audience's experience of it and it's, and it's,

There is a reason that it is one of the most talked about episodes of the entirety of the series. People had such an affinity for William. It was such an artistic, thoughtful way to close out this chapter. None of it was heavy handed. And I think that's why it was like...

so emotional for all of us to watch. Yeah. You know? I'm just looking at different quotes that I copied. Again, when I was talking to my cousins, when I did the Oprah thing, I said, sorry, I was raised by white people. Yeah, I have that written down too. Everything's better with a little Beth on it. I want them to remember looking up at me, not down, when Randall talks about getting the girls here so that he can be covered in hugs. Man, that was a hell of a thing you did knocking on my door that day. Yeah. Yeah.

I have "Up Not Down." Yeah. I believe that was like him referencing like wanting to look up at some, right? And not down as there. He said, "I had a happy life." Right there in the song. I do love the montage at the end when he gets reunited with his mom. She's really sort of beautiful. You know, just in contemplations of what is next, what is the life after this life?

I don't know exactly what it will be. You know, I've done my...

My ayahuasca, so I have some ideas. But the idea of being rejoined, of being reconnected is something that fills me with a great deal of joy. With all the beautiful people that have left a mark on the tapestry of life. The painting of your life. You know what I'm saying? Just being able to be rejoined with them in that way. Again, I say these things because Fogelman never talks about

of like the spiritual, but like it's all over the show. It's every... There's so many fingerprints of that over every... Everything that the show is. It's all over. Everything it represents. He also... Earlier on when we're first getting to the car...

He said, "You seem to have it all together." And Randall says, "Too together." And it just reminded me real quick of the check on your strong friends sort of thing. Because it's a real... And I find myself in these moments, I don't know if you guys do too, I was like, I feel this pressure to have it all together. I feel like people look at me sometimes like, "Oh, Brown's got it all together."

Nobody has it all together all the time. No one. And God, it's so nice when somebody says, you all right, man? You like, bruh, I've been waiting for this. Somebody just ask. Yeah.

And William did that in a really beautiful way. Sterling, I mean, hats off to you and to Ron. This episode is just like, it's beyond. It defies description. It's so, again, there is a reason this is such a called upon, remarked upon episode of the show. It just like...

What the two of you did single-handedly. And again, this is another episode that doesn't really have anyone out. We introduced some new characters with Brian's cousin Ricky and whatnot. And Jermel, obviously. But it just like it really relied on the two of you and your chemistry. And what a remarkable way to wrap everything up. It was like, it was so, I think such a feast and such a treat for the audience that was along for the ride and loved it.

your connection and the father-son relationship and what you guys were able to create on screen. Thank you. The only other performer in this episode who has, you know, the intimate knowledge of the story is Jermell. Yeah. You know, and he gave us all such like a lovely gift of like,

Getting to know William. Yeah. Yeah. We should talk to him. Let's talk to him. Let's pick his brain. We're going to get him on. That was us right after this interlude. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jermell Nakia to the show. What's going on, bro? Hello. What is happening? You look good.

Oh, thank you. What are you? You have to go do something or something like, or is this just for us? This is what I'm trying to figure out. This is for everybody. That's right. Yes. That's right. This is not for the three. It's for everybody. That's right. That's for everybody watching. This is kind of my everyday though. So, you know, I'm not really doing that much. You've had, you've had the swag since we met. Did I peep a man bun? Did you turn to profile for me real quick? Oh yeah. Look at this. Oh yeah.

So this is the crazy part. I usually have a big afro now, and so I was like, let's just tame it down a little bit. Jermell is the reason people need to watch us on YouTube. I'm not mad at you. Absolutely. You look great. Thank you for joining us. Are you in L.A.? Where are you joining us from today? I am in L.A. Yes, I am. We were just talking about the Memphis episode.

The beautiful work that you did in terms of introducing us to young William. Obviously, your first episode was 103. Is that the first episode? Correct. That is right. Yeah. But like, I'm curious because we actually never got a chance to have any scenes. You got a chance to act opposite Mandy, clearly. But like, what kind of interaction, if any, did you actually get to have with Ron?

You know, it was very brief. If I remember correctly, I was on set for them to decide how the hair and makeup was going on a Tuesday. Okay. And they're like, hey, would you like to meet Ron? I'm like, well, yeah, of course. So you were filming...

You and Ron were filming, and so they drove me over, and I got to meet him for all of about maybe five minutes. But it was kind of this, I felt this old soul connection. And then on Thursday, I was filming, so it was just sort of like, okay, I will just take that and just drop it in and let's go. Because you hadn't had a chance to even watch, the show had not been on the air yet by the time that you started shooting. So you hadn't seen...

Did they show you anything? They didn't show you anything. I had seen, before I even auditioned, I had seen, you guys I think had done the first episode, right? So there was a little bit of a teaser on YouTube. Okay. That's it? Right. That's all I saw. So I remember the time my manager was like, you know what? I think I found the role for you. So I watched that and I called him back and I'm like, oh yeah, oh yeah. That was like on a Friday. Yeah.

And the audition was on Monday, and I got that job Thursday and then on set the following Tuesday. That's right. Whoa. That's how you do that. That is a crazy turnaround. Yeah. Yeah. It was quick. So it was just kind of like...

With Ron, we had this eye connect, and it just kind of like, I'm grateful that you're you so I can play you. The younger version, you know what I mean? And it just kind of worked out. I mean, we had some conversations along the journey of it all. I think when Jesse was introduced, and he was kind of like, so how do you feel about this? Did anything change? And I just thought, why would anything that's organic and just...

or living in the space change, I think just be, and this just happens to be another element of who William is. So for me, it was just like, okay, there's just one more thing, which of course there were so many things that William had to contend with. So that was just another like, all right, we got it. No problem. Gosh, Jermell, I'm curious too, considering that you were cast and brought on and shot so quickly in that sort of succession, did you know...

who this character was in this story and where it was going? Were you given any of that information? Or were you just sort of like, I'm signing up for this and wherever this goes, like, I'll just follow the lead and go where I'm supposed to go? No, I really didn't. I wasn't really given much information. I just...

You know, I always felt like my work stems from like some sort of ancestral place. So I was willing to just follow it. I was hoping that this wouldn't be that this could be any man who just happened to have fallen and got the opportunity to get up. And that's exactly what.

what I believe William ultimately was. It was nothing stereotypical about it. The only thing that I worried about, of course, was, you know, the heroin addict. And you think at the top of that, you're like, oh, man, what's this going to look like? But again, that just happened to be something that this old soul had, this innocent old soul had to deal with a lot of the journey, but had nothing to do with a stereotypical journey of living in...

mahogany skin shall we say absolutely yeah it was we were talking about that as we as we rewatched this episode and we and they have these montages that compress time so much and the gift that you gave us by by getting us to letting us get to know young william so well in such a compact amount of time allowed not only

you to do your work, but Ron to do his in a way that is so hard to tangibly explain, especially to a non-- maybe to a non-actor. The gift you gave the show and the audience in investing in Ron. It's two separate people. And I think it maybe happens sometimes in this show, but I think this is the best case

Yeah, the best example. Yeah, yeah. Especially how quickly, how quickly we needed to love and connect to both of these people, the young man and the older man. And you mentioned the heroin addiction, and that's just, it's grist for the mill, right? It's a period in this man's life. Totally. And he is many things, and at one point he was a heroin addict. Yeah. And it was just, did you rewatch this episode by chance? When was the last time you saw it?

You know, and I have to tell you, when I saw it this time, it was so different from when I saw it the first time. You know, it just felt everything about it felt different. Like I was like, wow, did I ever even see it? That's almost how I feel about it. Yeah. Did it make any difference also just knowing that Ron is not here anymore? Oh, completely. Completely. Like as I was watching him, I'm looking at him and I'm just thinking, you know, you don't

have many opportunities where you play someone else, like in, you know what I mean? And you share the same soul. And this doesn't really happen. You know, we all have our own stamp in life, our own soul that we bring to our characters or whoever it is. But I shared this with someone. And so when he passed, it was like the older William, of course, went with him. And then it's kind of like,

but we still carry it on, if that makes sense. You don't share these things. When your soul leaves this earth, it goes. But now I shared this with someone. And that was a huge, when I even thought about it, the memorial, I was like, wow.

You don't have that experience. You don't share that. It was such a joy to see you there. We were talking about earlier how happy we were to see you. Yeah, that you showed up. I was saying, I don't even know how many interactions he got a chance to have with Ron. And clearly it wasn't a ton of them, but you showed up.

And I remember asking you, I couldn't not show up. - Yeah. - No. I mean, I think that, again, here we go. I shared a space with someone that out of just sheer respect, whether or not I had the actual time with him on the ground, like you guys did, I did not. But there's no way that I would have missed that. I just feel like it would have been borderline inappropriate, if not just full on inappropriate. - Yeah.

For sure. For sure. I think, you know, also one of the most amazing things about playing William, and I feel like this as an artist, the general rule is I was in Ohio actually. And, you know, I'm not thinking about William or this is us, you know, you're just, I'm out to dinner and not, none of this is going through my head. And the, the, uh, the waitress says, Oh, do you mind if the owner of the restaurant comes over and talks to you? And I'm still not, I'm not connecting the dots. And I was like, okay, sure. No problem. So he walks over and he says, you know, um,

I want to let you know, first of all, thank you for being here. And I used to be a heroin addict and I lost my family, but they started watching "This Is Us" and saw you and called me and said,

is this just some sort of human affliction? If so, can we kind of work on this again? So me and this guy just cried because I just thought, now, when your art, of course, depicts life and you actually change someone's life, like, then we've done our job. That's right. So that's what I felt like. That's the biggest honor I felt like playing William, that someone actually said to me eye-to-eye, face-to-face. That's amazing. That is amazing. Yeah, it was like, oh, wow.

Okay, so, and I take no responsibility for that. I just take that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing to aid and heal somebody else. It had nothing to do with me. It was just... You got to be a conduit for it, though. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of, like...

You know, William is such an artistic person. Obviously, you are an artist in general. But did you relate to that side of him? Are you musical? Because we saw in this Memphis episode, like you just like behind the keys. And I was rewatching this episode with my husband. And I was like, look at your mouth, like.

He's just going for it. You were so joyful up there. It was so palpable. And again, to like show that color, that side of William, it's something that like for young William, especially like we never got to see until this episode. And I'm just curious if that's something that you shared with the character. Yeah.

Well, I do have a musical background. So I am like semi-classically trained. So I did a lot of musical theater before doing the TV film. But really what rooted with what felt more organic to me was that stepping into Memphis and stepping into old black life and what a juke joint feel would feel like. And that's what I think riveted that journey.

work more than actually having the connection to my own personal musicality. Got it. Well, it definitely came through on screen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We were all feeling it. Yeah. We'll be right back with more That Was Us.

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Tell me a little bit about Amanda Warren, I think is a wonderful actor. Brian Tyree Henry, like just the scene partners that you had to sort of like live things out with. How was the process of just working with those beautiful people? Well, you know, you also again, there's no there's no time here, right? We're just rolling. Yeah. So, you know, with Amanda, I saw her from her trailer to mine and I was like, hey, how's it going? Hi, mom. See you in a minute. Yeah.

I mean, it was literally that's what it was. But she, again, also has this extreme depth that I think is one of my greatest gifts as well. So it was it was easy just to like to lock. All right. We're ready. That camera's going. Let's do it. And one of the things that I do, I've never usually do not say any line before.

Before filming, period. Nothing. Because I feel like I'm making the decision on what the other actor is going to say to me. So in order for me to listen, then I don't say it at all. Because that's whatever you're saying to me, I now need to respond to it in an organic, in the moment feel. And that's the way it was with Amanda, 100%.

Because that's just the space that she comes from. I didn't expect tears at what happened. They just happened. I never claimed, you know what, I'm going to cry here. Let's cry on this line. This will look good. Let's make sure that tear falls. They just happened. It's like when you're a POV from a different angle, I'm like, yeah, I'm going to still probably be crying because that's just what's going to happen. The same thing happened when I first saw Ron on screen and when I saw you on screen.

You look into this person's eyes and I instantly had the same reaction to both of you, which is, I love this person. Like this person, this soul, no matter what they do, no matter what they say, like they feel...

I felt like I, they felt, you both felt known to me. - Yeah, like there's a familiarity there. There's such a softness and such a kindness too. - Look at that face. - Yeah, right?

But I mean, I felt that working with you and you feel it when you watch it on screen, it just emanates from you and it emanates from Ron as well. It's just it's so wild that they were able to find that. Well, I just think that was like the gift that we were given each other to sort of somehow live on the same plane of just as as as old soul human beings. You know what I mean? It's just a little bit deeper than your average pedestrian.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? So when you meet on that, in some ways it just makes it easy because you're already there. So now just step into who this man is. Right, right, right. Yeah. You know, and I don't know. I just, I actually, in a weird way, I found it, I don't want to say easy because that's not the right word because all of the elements were given. Familiar. Yeah. Familiar. Let me ask you, you're talking about the juke joint and sort of like the negritude of...

of everything that you were sort of enjoying in that environment in Memphis or what have you. Talk to me about listening to Brian Henry rip this song take after take, because y'all probably had to do it six or seven versions and then they wound up cutting it together or whatnot. What was it like seeing the song grow and become what it was? You know, it's interesting because you sit there in the moment, I'm like, "I am William Dremel." Or somewhere else, I'm like, "Man, I wrote that?

This is good stuff. - Pat yourself on the back. - I'm like, this is awesome. And I am playing this song over and over again. You go, William. So from that stance, honestly, because that's what I feel like it's actually, it's really happening when it's happening. - Yeah. - You know, this isn't like a script. This is, we're filming real life.

For me, you know, that's the best way I can describe it is it's just, okay, we might do it two or three times. So we're just, you know, going back. But at the same time, it's actually happening. You're living in the space. I have a question for you. As a character, how did you feel about Rebecca's decision not to let William in Randall's life? That's a loaded question. Yeah.

As a character, you're saying? Yeah, I mean, we can say character and then as a human, sure. Okay, okay. It's a complicated dynamic for me as an actor, as a human, as a character. Like, there was so much sort of mixed up. So I'm curious what your thoughts were on the whole thing. Yeah, I actually remember that day really vividly, Mandy, because you and I had just filmed something right behind...

That's it. And we just went, I went straight into that because I was in that. When I opened up the letter, I'm there by myself. And I remember changing into the outfit. I was already dressed.

extremely emotional because I felt so, did she really just say no? Like, how do I digest that? That's kind of, and of course the digestion for that in the moment of actually opening the letter and seeing the words on the page, I, you know, the emotions just erupted because it's just kind of like,

you were in control of that entire fate. So of course, I absolutely can say that I understand, I think as a human being, but I also feel like I felt sorry for self and felt sorry for a man who that may actually happen to in real life. It's just like not being given

So I can't say that I have fault there, but I definitely feel like, but what if? - Yeah. - You know, like what if you had allowed it? Like what would that have looked like? How would his life have changed? - Yeah. - There's a lot of mixed emotions. I mean, it's the same thing like when I dropped you off at the bus or at the firehouse. - Fire station, yeah.

And that was a serious emotional scene for William and for self, because I just thought, I did absolutely think it was the best thing for him. And obviously as the show played out, what your life looked like ultimately because of this selfless act. And also, but it was also like, man, this is so hard to drop your child on a doorstep

and you don't know what's going to happen. You dream and you hope he has the best life ever, which you did, but who's to say all I knew is I can't do it. I've got to be man enough. I've got to be strong enough. I've got to be, I have to live in this space and the spirit that this is the right thing. - Wow, well said. - I think just you asked that question because I think like from the beginning you were like, I don't think Rebecca should have done this.

But you do in 117, you say, look, I made a mistake. I should have done that differently. And it's this beautiful moment that we'll get to when we talk about this episode. But I say, like, it's okay. It was enough time because I knew that I loved him and I know that he loved me. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Which is...

I guess that's all you want out of the interactions, the relationships that you have in life is a knowing. Not like I wonder if or confused, but like a solid knowing. I was loved. I loved in return. So yeah.

Question for you, bro. What else have you been up to lately? Is there anything that anyone can catch you in right now? I know these streets are hard, so there's no problem saying if there is something. Plugs and hugs. Yeah. What can we refer people to to see your enormous talent on display? You know, I have, and Mandy, I think we talked about this a little bit at the memorial. I have, I bought this.

huge compound in Detroit, which consists of this old 1920s school and this cathedral and parish house in this parking lot. And I was like, so you bought this because what is happening here?

And the thought behind it just came to me one day is that I wanted to see this whole facility turned over from commercial to residential and give people a chance. In Detroit, 41% of the population lives below the poverty line. That's what's actually noted. But I actually think it's higher, probably 50% or more. So in that case, you are...

In the United States, this is somewhere that I would say is almost feels like a developing nation, for lack of a better way of saying it. And that just feels unfair for any human. So if there was any way that I could find this way to give people the health care they needed, the mental health that they needed, and this year of living instability where someone said, hey, I care what happens to you.

and at the end of that year be able to be whatever their best is. That best is, you know, being off drugs, no longer allowing someone to take advantage of them, whatever, like just being able to live a full, fruitful life.

That has been taking a lot of my time and energy and because the streets are a little bit barren out there in terms of the TV film world, it's allowed me to continue to filter that out and to work on that. Do you have a social media presence around that project or is there a website or a place where people could donate?

No, not yet, which is, I know, right? You're like, what? But as you guys know, probably you see I'm the worst when it comes to social media. I, you know, it's just something I need to get to get better at. And that's the next step to to work on that. Well, when you're ready to spread the word, let us know and we'll get it out there. We'll help you. Please do. Okay.

You have the vision, which is a reflection of just who you are as a human being. You are here to be of service, whether it is through your art or otherwise in life. God bless you for listening to that calling. Yes. Yes. Thank you.

Thanks for chatting with us today. Brother, thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Good to see your face. Appreciate you. Nice seeing you all. You take care. And if you need to let the bun out, it's all good. Big, small, it don't matter. Let it flow. Trust me. And I'm sweating and everything. So this is all coming off. Hey, so are we, buddy. It's hot in here. Take it easy, brother. See you later.

All right, we are back with our favorite segment of each episode, the fan segment. And we receive a lot of mail for these fan segments, but for the Memphis episode in particular, we really, really received a lot of feedback and a lot of mail. This episode was an especially tough one for all of us because saying goodbye to someone you love and being with them in their final moments is not something you can really prepare for. No.

A lot of you related to this and shared your own experiences with final goodbyes. And thank you for sharing and entrusting your stories with us. - So today, with permission, we're gonna read a letter from a fan who shared what "This Is Us"

And the Memphis episode in particular meant to her. You want to start? What up? That was us, gang. My name is Alyssa from Risertown, Maryland. I have been a fan since my sister sat me down and made me watch the pilot about two weeks after the show was released. I was hooked as soon as I saw the fireman try to hand Jack a cigarette in the hospital. The plot twist. Don't we know it?

Little did I know I'd be struck with endless plot twisting storylines throughout the series. This Was Us was appointment television for my mother and me. We didn't watch it without each other year after year. I made the tea and got the snacks. She got the blankets and tissue boxes. We had conspiracy theories about how Jack died. And of course we were very wrong.

I am a ride-or-die R&B fan. Those are my TV parents. It was great to see a Black family be a normal family, and Beth always reminded me of my aunt and cousins. And it was nice to see Randall deal with his mental health while struggling to be quote-unquote strong for his family. I'd never seen that on primetime network TV before. The Memphis episode made me weep thick, salty, hot, wet tears all over my blanket and into my bag of popcorn.

The first time I watched it. I think I've only watched that episode maybe twice, Max, since the loss of Ron Cephas Jones. I haven't been able to watch the episode again. I refuse to watch it.

I have watched the Super Bowl episode like 10 times while reprimanding the Television Academy for not giving an Emmy to Mandy Moore for that hospital scene. I've watched R&B fight a dozen times. I've watched us learn Laurel's story a few times. Oh my God. I've even watched Rebecca walk down the train a handful of times. For some reason, I can't muster up enough courage to rewatch that episode. Memphis."

Maybe because it reminds me of when my family and I were in the hospital when my own grandfather passed away on November 11th, 2018, Veterans Day. And I couldn't even bring myself to be in the room while he took his last breath, hearing the machine go off. And the correlations between Ron's condition, my grandfather, and the image of Randall holding William's face as he takes his last breaths is just too much for me. Masterful work, Sterling, by the way. Yes.

I truly wanted to say that this show has meant a lot to me as a black woman watching this show and growing an appreciation for the writing, the details, and the acting. You guys weren't caricatures, but fully fleshed, whole, three-dimensional people I could relate to. Not just side characters, not ignoring their blackness, but leaning into it. Every character was so fully human. This show taught me that everyone has a story and that most stories intersect more than we know.

Thanks, you guys, for all your work. Peace. Wow. It's all... What an emotional... What an emotional send-off. My goodness. What was her name? Alyssa. Thank you, Alyssa. In Reisterstown. You know, I haven't watched it. That was only...

I think that was my first time watching it since it aired. Yeah. Same. I hadn't watched it since then either. That was my first time too, yeah. I understand. You know what I'm saying? And she sounds like she's watched episodes many times. That one was, yeah. That's a challenging one to say, you know what I'm going to do tonight? I'm going to sit down and watch the Memphis episode of This Is Us. Like that is...

It's wild. I would agree. A wild prospect. There's only a few things that I've done in my life where I was like, that was enough. That one time was enough. Like, I've watched it. But I did a movie called Waves and I was like, one was enough for one. Yeah. One wave. One wave. Like, it's almost like that. I did it twice because I had to do the rewatch. Yeah.

But if you had your druthers, it would have just been the one time viewing of this episode. Totally. Thank you. Thank you for writing, Alyssa. If anybody else wants to talk with us, you can send us an email at thatwassuspod at gmail.com. Yep. That's right. And I think...

- We have a phone number. - We do. You can give us a ring. - Yeah. - It's 412-501-3028. - Leave a voicemail. - Leave a voicemail. - Might call you back. - Hey, we do that. - Yeah. - We do that. - But at least our day will be made hearing your lovely message regardless. So please, please call us. - This is one thing that I wanted to do to end this particular episode. It's a little extra. This was a note that Dan put in the actual script.

At the very end of the episode. And he did this time to time. He did this from time to time. He would leave us personal messages. He's good like that. So it says, a note to the reader and particularly to Mr. Ron Cephas Jones. It's never easy writing the death scene of one of your favorite characters and actors. I hope we've done you proud. You certainly always deliver for us.

And if anyone is extra sad about this ending, I'd urge you to remember the words of a wise young actor named Justin Hartley, who once said, people will die in our lives, people that we love. But it's kind of beautiful if you think about it, the fact that just because someone died, it doesn't mean they're not still in the painting.

To be continued. And he was with us for all six seasons. That's right. You know what I'm saying? And continues, continues to be a part of our painting. Mr. Ron Cephas Jones, we love you. We love you. We thank you for your contribution to our lives. Yes. And we'll see you in the life after next. That's it. And that. Thanks, guys. Was us. That was us. That was us.

That Was Us is filmed at The Crow and produced by Rabbit Grin Productions and Sarah Wareheim. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. That was us.