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TTM 59: Strangers

Rod and Bassey discuss NBC’s family drama, “This Is Us.”

Twitter: @rodimusprime @Basseyworld

Email: theblackguywhotips@gmail.com

Site: www.theblackguywhotips.com

Voice Mail: 704-557-0186

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10 Comments

  1. rodimusprime

    Hey Rod and Bassey,

    All I have to say is I do not like the way Beth stepped to Malik’s mother. That was the premium ‘run up get done up’ scenario. The writers played that really aggressively.

    The date between Malik and Deja was really nice though. And he’s lying. He does have hella game. None of us would have defenses against all of that charm. Good luck Deja!!

    Loving Lyric Ross as always. She’s such a beautifully delicate actress.

    Love to you both,
    Kemdoc/Monique

  2. mdog

    Hey Rod and Bassey,

    So far this season has been a slow burn for me. The last couple of episodes have been amazing though.

    As much as i wanted to be anti Malik, this young man just keeps being an amazing person and now I stan. I’m now #malikhive. This man is so corny it’s like watching a young Randall with a dash of Jack in it. Now I’m waiting for This Is Us to break my heart when it comes to him and Deja. We still don’t have much backstory on his baby mama and all we have are a his words for how that relationship was. I predict that the n
    Anyways love the show! Congrats again Bassey on the book and both of y’all keep killing it in these streets

    Much love
    Malick

    • Mdiarra

      Ignore the first part of this i fucked up.

      Hey Rod and Bassey,

      So far this season has been a slow burn for me. The last couple of episodes have been amazing though.

      As much as i wanted to be anti Malik, this young man just keeps being an amazing person and now I stan. I’m now #malikhive. This man is so corny it’s like watching a young Randall with a dash of Jack in it. Now I’m waiting for This Is Us to break my heart when it comes to him and Deja. We still don’t have much backstory on his baby mama and all we have are a his words for how that relationship was. I predict that the next half of this season she’s gonna show up again and shake things up for the black Pearson’s.

      Also I hope Randall and Beth befriend Malik’s parents regardless of how Deja and Malik work out. I feel like they need some black friends on this show.

      And now on to Kevin…. What the fuck is he doing with that Cassidy girl? I hope she reconciles with her family, but if she doesn’t I hope her and Kevin don’t work out. Kevin needs to work on himself and stop trying to fix everybody else that he sees. I hope to God he is seeing a therapist cause I could see him spiraling by the season finale.

      And finally Kate and Toby. They seem to have a lot of shit they need to talk through. Like as much as I love Toby, the fact that he’s spending so much time at the gym is concerning. I understand wanting to be healthy for your child and all, but two workouts a day seems excessive. Especially with a newborn child in the house. I wonder how they are splitting up parenting duties.

      Anyways love the show! Congrats again Bassey on the book and both of y’all keep killing it in these streets

      Much love
      Malick

  3. rodimusprime

    Hey Rod and Bassey,

    I was at a bar watching football when these older white folks just started telling the bartender all of their business! I was shocked. it was like watching the Pearsons in real life. Maybe it’s a white people thing. The black bartender seemed unfazed though. Guess she’s used to it.

    Glad y’all are back. I usually wait for the podcast to decide if the episodes are worth watching or not lol.

    J-Full

  4. ClassicRandBLover

    Hello Rod and Bassey,

    Episode 7 is the first episode of the season that feels like This is Us. I just have a couple of things. First, Beth keeping booze in the utility closet is not a good sign. We got hints of potential alcoholism last season and the hiding away of liquor is too much to ignore. Second, Jack being jealous of Randall’s teacher made sense. It harkens back to Season 1 and Rebecca making sure William was not apart of Randall’s life. I didn’t like that she did that, but I understood. I wonder if guilt over what she did enabled Rebecca to see Jack’s issues and speak on them so clearly.

  5. Anonymous

    Hey Rod and Bassey! Just a quick note to share I am really struggling with the show this season. I feel like it has become a little cliche and now everything is geared toward them manufacturing that moment where you’re supposed to cry or have all the feels— the moment that used to feel organic. I hope I’m overreacting because I used to really love the show but I think it may have fallen off. And some of the things we’re supposed to care about aren’t fully making sense. For example, in the episode where Toby and Kate took little Jack to music class they made it seem like he had issues because he was blind and it was too much stimulation for him. Well I have an infant and I’ve taken him to classes (including music classes) and he’s had meltdowns similar to what little Jack had. Babies cry and get upset and have bad days and sometimes the reason could be as simple as they have gas and it’s uncomfortable for them . . . I don’t know why they had to make that about Jack’s blindness other than to give us that moment with all the feels when they took him to the ocean. That’s just one example but there are many more. Can’t wait til you guys come back so I can hear your take on it. Thanks for doing this podcast and Bassey congrats on the success of your book!!

  6. ClassicRandBLover

    Hi Rod and Bassey,

    I don’t know what episode the show will be on by the time you get together to record next, but four episodes in and I am not feeling this season at all. There is waaay too much focus on Nicky, a character I do not like. This means I have no interest in Kevin, because Kevin is being used to wedge Nicky into the show. This also means that half of Kate’s scenes, which involve Kevin and Nicky don’t work for me. We have PTSD army mother, who is played by an actress I have never liked. The only thing I might be interested in her character for is to have scenes with Omar Epps, for the obligatory House reunion. I’m still not crazy about this Randall, Beth and the girls in Philly story arc because of how it was brought to us last season.

    I am however liking Kate, Toby and baby Jack. I know we saw them split in the future and the show tried to lead us down the Toby gets buff and leaves sad-sack Kate path, but I suspect Kate might cheat with the formerly grumpy neighbor, played by Tim Ombudsman most recently of Psych. I love that the show hired an actor recovering from a stroke to play a character recovering from a stroke. I’m still liking Rebecca, and I loved her scenes with Phylicia Rashad. I appreciate more Phylicia Rashad (she’s also good on David Makes Man playing the aloof/above it all teacher) and if nothing else, getting a double-dose of the Ayers-Allen sisters (Debbie Allen plays Shamar Moore’s mama in a bad wig on SWAT, which is surprisingly better than you would think), made this week a good tv week for me. Anyway, I’m hoping This Is Us gets back to form sooner rather than later.

  7. rodimusprime

    Tried to leave this comment 3 times on the site, my bad if it’s a repeat

    I’m so glad you guys are back at it, since at least ONE of the shows you talk about in public came back (*side-eyes Insecure and Atlanta*). I really will try to keep this short… [edit: it didn’t work.]

    From the first Episode:
    -Malik mentioned that his daughter was “special” when he talked to the Chop Shop Guy about how much it would cost to put her in school. That with the cost of tuition made me think that he meant she had “special needs” and would require an education that was specifically for that, which IS really expensive. …But I ain’t nobody’s mama so I don’t know how much the school systems are getting from folks nowadays.

    -Rebecca’s dad is a real asshole. He hides behind his wife’s openly rude attitude and lets her be “the bad guy” while he comes off as an easy-going cool dude who saves the day. He played Rebecca’s hero in her life, meanwhile, he thinks the SAME SHIT her mom does and couches his actions that expose it as a gaffe. Finding out at the end of the episode that he ALSO didn’t think Jack was good enough for his daughter meant that he was being deliberately malicious by immediately bringing up the war that he KNEW traumatized that young man. He didn’t even lead the conversation into it naturally. I can’t remember if Rebecca’s dad was even alive after the kids were young, but I remember her mom at least coming through and stereotyping Randall (gifted him a basketball or something). Maybe the dad was actually called out on his shit before they even had the kids or got married and just stayed away to be an asshole in a corner somewhere.

    From the 2nd episode:
    -I want the show to give me good reasons for ANYbody to have fucked with Kevin from the ages of 7-35. Kevin was constantly a little turd monster to his family and they just dealt with him shitting on everything. He’s lucky he got Jack and Rebecca as parents, cuz that child there would have made my household go down to twins. I would’ve tracked down the firefighter that dropped Randall off at the hospital and brought 7-year-old Kevin to him like “Did you wanna try a white one?” But not Jack Pearson! Jack gave so much solid life advice and comforting talks and Kevin’s hateful little self immediately shelved them for a couple of decades. If Jack hadn’t had the type of trauma from the war that he did, maybe Kevin would’ve been sent to boot camp since nothing else was working. I’m glad grown Kevin was worth a damn eventually, but I don’t know how he made it with his family still talking to him.

    Thanks y’all!

    ~Tish

  8. J-L

    This was an outstanding episode (the podcast, NOT This Is Us). I thought early on that that was going to be Toby’s son, but what threw me off was that it would have to be the year 2045 and yet nothing was futuristic at all. Your commentaries were hilarious and completely spot on. I actually felt like this might have been my least favorite episode of the show so far. Dark Knight Forever!

  9. Hill.shun

    I haven’t watched the new episode of “This is US” yet but, I am so excited to see Bassey was able schedule in the time to do this recap episode. I just want to take the time to say thank you. Of course, i’m always grateful for the content provided by Rod and Karen but, Bassey, knowing how busy your life must be lately just gave me some motivation to push through my own hectic schedule. Thank you both so much for giving me something to look forward too.

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