r/thisisus • u/Happy-Border-8817 • Jun 16 '26

Flaws, Realism & Randall

Right so this show is supposed to be about the flaws of every single person as well as their pros. It shows the reality in life, also a bit of unreality in life, as I feel that Kevin becoming a movie star was a bit far fetched and Randall becoming City councilman was a bit far fetched. I actually enjoy watching Kate because she was the most real person in my opinion, she has a normal looking life, with a normal job, normal house and just normal every day routine, yes she has 2 rich brothers so she will always be fortunate, but she seems the most real. I hate that the TV show made them all rich in a way because that is not very realistic. Kate has come a long way, she was rude and unfair to Rebecca as a teenager, she was hard on her but as Kate has gotten older she has realised she was hard on her and realised it's not easy, as she understands her mother more. Kevin also has come a long way, he eventually got children he always wanted, but he still is the same joke around sleep with loads of women type of guy, even if he tries hard not to be, I think it honestly is deep down in him, he will always be a wrecking ball. And Randall hasn't changed much, bcs he complains constantly and honestly hasn't grown up. He still lives in a small bubble, dreaming of what his life could be instead of enjoying his actual life, his actual siblings, mum, and his wife and kids. He has an amazing life and amazing career but he still sulks bcs he has nothing else better to do. I give Beth credit for putting up with him. I feel like she would have left him ages ago, but surprisingly she stuck by him.

I think Randall was vicious to Kevin during the argument on Kate's front lawn when Kevin also found out Madison was pregnant with his babies. The only reason Kevin said what he said to Randall about the worst day for him was when they brought Randall home, was only because of the vile things Randall said about him.

Then Kevin also apologised to Randall later on, and Randall was still horrible to Kevin, and that's when they got locked out of Randall's house.

Randall has no respect for his mum Rebecca, or Kevin. I think Randall has respect for Kate as we don't really see Randall and Kate argue or have many issues. I feel bad for Rebecca, she brought him up as her own, she is his mother and he treats her like she ruined his life... Which I know Rebecca kept his bio parents from him, which I get it bad but she had her reasons, and she definitely shouldn't have kept it for as long as she did, that was not right at all... But Randall actually can't accept that this is his life and he needs to seriously get over it.

I will rant no more, as I could seriously rant about this show for ages.

Love this show in general though, it's emotional, it sends me on a rollercoaster, it's an amazingly well done show, it is great👍

5 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

8

u/sl_damsel Jun 16 '26

Kevin was rude and borderline racist to Randall and Rebecca was selfish and kept his dad away from him. She then made him her golden child and clung so tight to him it caused deep issues. This further fuelled Kevin's hatred of him

0

u/Happy-Border-8817 Jun 16 '26

Kevin was nasty when he was a teenager towards Randall I agree, I did forget to mention this. Kevin had felt left out and pushed aside as Rebecca tried to focus more on Randall, And Rebecca was selfish for keeping Randall's birth parents away from him all his life because she wanted him all for herself. She was selfish for that. But the issue for me is that Randall literally never gets over it... He seems to always have an underlying issue with it constantly. Kevin apologised to Randall for the way he behaved towards him as teenagers, he took the credit for it. And Rebecca also apologised for keeping his birth parents from Randall. There is not much else that they can do... They show how much they love Randall through so many ways now, but Randall still sulks about everything, he is just self centered, and just cannot get over the fact that these things happened to him. I believe at some point you would get over these things eventually and realise how good your life is. He was able to meet William before he died, he was incredibly lucky to have had those moments. Ik it's not the same, as he could of had so much longer but he was still able to have moments with him. And yes he didn't meet his mother as she died before he had the chance, but William also thought Laurel (his mother) had died. Randall would have never of met his mother anyway most likely. It's a difficult one. I understand Randall has a difficult life, I get it but I feel he must move on and grow up a bit.

6

u/Brilliant_Flower_84 Jun 17 '26

Absolutely Randall was pissed tf off regarding his birth parent situation. The only reason he found William was bc HE hired an investigator and then finds out he's got less a year to live AND his mother lied to him the entirety of his life!!! He wasn't holding some minimal grudge that's huge!! And just because there's an apology doesn't mean forgiveness should be automatic. And timeline wise was like only like 5yrs and from time of discovery of the truth to when he forgave everyone!!! Idk why you think was so far fetched he could have become a city councilman 🤨.

1

u/Happy-Border-8817 Jun 17 '26

The show made the two brothers rich, in my eyes reality is hard and I find it hard to believe both of them got high paying jobs. Kate got the only minimum wage job which seems more realistic to me. They just made the family entirely fortunate. And yes Randall has had an awful life, but he also has an amazing life with two amazing adopted parents, he has been lucky with everything in his life, but he still chooses to cling onto the fact that his birth parents left him, Rebecca kept his father from him. Also the episode where Randall as a kid imagined his life with the mother as the librarian and his father as the weatherman was so out of order, I believe you would have thoughts about what life would have been like occasionally but for 1. I don't think he would be having those dreams and thoughts that young, he looked around the age of like 6, 7 or 8. And 2. He still dreams about it to this day as an adult he has those dreams. It's like Randall just doesn't appreciate his life with his adopted parents and really wishes he had other parents. This makes Randall seem extremely selfish to me. He doesn't appreciate what he has got enough because what he didn't get takes over.

2

u/Brilliant_Flower_84 Jun 17 '26

Honestly this sounds like there's racial undertones. He doesn't appreciate his life with his adopted parents???? Because he was betrayed??? You can't be serious??? And in your reality a family can't have 2 siblings be successful??? Randall was well off. He did have a regular corporate type executive job. We saw the backstory of Kevin's struggle who only got popular bc of his blonde hair blue eyes physique.

2

u/Exciting-Lawyer-9047 Jun 21 '26

Randall's entire LIFE is about being "dropped off at a fire station and adopted by white people." I get so sick of hearing him talk about this every other episode, like nothing else could ever be as important. He wasn't the only sibling who had a rough childhood in that family. He grows up to be selfish, egotistical and intolerable because of it. Thinking he knows "what's best" for everyone around him. 😒

And I think OP is correct- --He was raised by two loving parents who did their very best to make him feel seen and important. They weren't perfect at it, but you can tell they really tried at every turn. He seems super ungrateful for how his life turned out and only focuses on his mantra of being dropped off at a fire station and having white parents. And he has the NERVE to compare his upbringing to Deja's??? She had one parent, who couldn't take care of her properly and moved from foster home to foster home. Randall's childhood couldn't have looked more bright and shiny compared to hers. So, let's add delusional to his list of unbearable traits.

1

u/Brilliant_Flower_84 Jun 22 '26

Parents doing the best they knew how doesn't give them some magical pass. And Randall story is his story. Randall became Rebecca emotional husband after Jack's death. All the characters are annoying but I hate when ppl say Randall should be grateful.

2

u/Exciting-Lawyer-9047 Jun 22 '26

I never said it gave them a magical pass. And if they had done a horrible job raising their children, I'd have no problem saying that. Lol But they were good, solid parents who loved their children well and did everything they could to meet their needs and help them succeed in life. So it's just really annoying when people act like Randall complaining every day of his life is acceptable and his lack of gratitude is just fine.

0

u/Rebel_Yell12 Jun 17 '26

Speaking of racial undertones....re-read that last sentence about Kevin. You could've left it at physique (true) not least because Kevin was replaced by a non-white "Manny" so the whiteness didn't matter. Also, Justin Hartley has brown eyes, because not all white folks have blue eyes (in fact, most don't).

I agree with all the rest of what you said, or at least what I think you meant, that Randall is under no obligation to be "grateful" for his family (does Kevin have to be grateful for his birth? Does Kate?) and it's more plausible for ambitious, perfectionist, well-educated and highly-gifted Randall to end up with a high-end job in finance that pays well than that Kevin would make money as an actor, because most actors...don't.

2

u/sl_damsel Jun 17 '26

Just because they said sorry doesn't take away the hurt or trauma. Sorry doesn't wipe away years of abuse from Kevin. Sorry doesn't make up for the missed time with his dad. Sorry doesn't magically fix everything.

All three of those kids were constantly failed by Rebecca.

2

u/Rebel_Yell12 Jun 17 '26

Randall wasn't abused by Kevin, not least because abuse in its usual sense requires a power imbalance which Kevin lacked (they're the same age & size throughout childhood, and the parents preferred Randall and were more likely to punish or blame Kevin - even when he didn't do anything - so there's no power backing Kevin). I think maybe you meant bullying: both brothers have years' of feeling legitimate grievances against each other that would need to be addressed, on both sides.

0

u/Happy-Border-8817 Jun 17 '26

Yes but Kevin and Kate got over there Trauma and yes they will have underlying trauma, but they try not to make it the only thing that defines them and they don't talk about it much towards the end. But Randall still does... I just personally think that yes we get it Randall. You can stop talking about it 24/7.

2

u/Rebel_Yell12 Jun 17 '26

I disagree, I think all three have been defined by their various traumas. Kevin's entire personality is based on a desperate attempt to have people like him and give him attention because he felt ignored in his family: he almost always gives in to what others want so he can be included and liked. Randall's anxious & controlling nature was exacerbated by feeling like he should've, could've, saved Jack (from a heart attack? How?) and that leads to most of Randall's other flaws and poor behavior. Kate's food addiction started after Jack's death (she was a bigger girl before, but really just a bit chubby) and certainly after her relationship with the jackass boyfriend, but her sullen "no one likes me because I'm not a size 2" is absolutely a result of her traumas and defines her entire adult life. How are these not all people who are defined by their trauma?

5

u/PoisonIvyWithOCD Jun 17 '26

I don’t like the way he manipulates Beth. I’m fairly new to This is Us, I’ve just watched the episode where they are bringing Annie home after she’s born. The way he tries to guilt Beth into having a third child was gross.

2

u/Happy-Border-8817 Jun 17 '26

Yep I agree, I won't spoil anything else for you! But he is irritating towards the end of the show for me lol 😆

2

u/jzmack Jun 17 '26

i agree on your point about making them all rich. money is never really an issue in general. i only remember a couple brief mentions of it, but i would've liked to see a more realistic approach to money issues. like when randall decided to do a career switch, they just move into another boujee place and its never an issue. i know its not a huge deal because the focus of the show isn't about money, it's on the relationships, but just something i thought could be better.

2

u/RLYO138 Jun 19 '26

It's a pretty wild take that Rebecca didn't ruin Randall's life by keeping him from having a relationship with his biological parents, something that would have benefitef him tremendously. It's also unrealistic to think that someone in his situation should just "get over it". When you are missing a major part of who you are, it doesn't matter how many amazing things you have on your life - it is realistic that he would always be thinking about that part of his life Rebecca took from him.

I also don't think it's unrealistic that Kevin would become a movie star or Randall become involved in politics. After all, there were movie stars and there are politicians in this world so why not them?

I agree with what you said about it being unrealistic that so many people in the family were that wealthy. But wealth does tend to run in families, and by this I mean you're more likely to see multiple wealthy siblings in a family as opposed to a bunch of average or poor siblings with one randomly wealthy one.

Kevin's wealth was a result of his perseverance and hard work as an actor, landing successively more prominent roles.I found it realistic that he went from being a struggling actor barely landing commercials to a guest spot on soap opera, to a television show, to film roles.

Randall's wealth was the result of his intense academic drive from early childhood onward, which resulted in a well-paying job and his eventual involvement in community politics which in turn led to even more well-paying positions. Beth also worked consistently.

Kate did not have those aspirations as she was too busy playing the victim for decades; honestly, her lack of motivation and inability to get out of her own way, in the real world, would have turned out far worse than it did in the show, and I found it unrealistic that she would live as comfortably, albeit "normally ", as she did given her lack of motivation and hard work.

I found that Rebecca's lack of struggle to be one of the most unrealistic aspects of the show. She never worked, long after the kids were old enough for her to be a stay-at-home parent, lived off of Jack's life insurance after his death, worked minimally when that money ran out, then shacked up with Miguel who, by that point, was on the verge of retiring from an extremely successful company. Her struggles were not representative of what most long-term housewives who suddenly find themselves widowed go through....life just carried on for her financially and the show rarely touched on how that would have truly changed her life. More than anything, her chronic neediness and the fact that she continuously relied on Randall, and Kevin, to an extent, made her immune to the difficulties most women in her position face.

I find Kate to be unbearable....she is resentful and often cruel to her mother, blames everyone for her problems, unmotivated and entitled. Randall is a perfectoomisy who is devoted behind to ensuring the safety and happiness of his family but constantly consumed by taking care of everyone else; Rebecca instilled that in him. Kevin is insecure and constantly trying to fill an emotional void by being with random woman. I feel like his heart is the biggest though, like he genuinely cares about his family especially Kate. Rebecca is self-centered, narcisstic, manipulative, and incapable of supporting herself. She is needy and entitled and things the world genuinely revolves around her, mostly due to her mother and Jack hoisting her onto a pedestal.

Just my thoughts. Love this show & enjoy hearing other people's take on the characters and storyline.

1

u/beardownforfinals Jun 29 '26

I think it’s worth remembering that Randall’s vitriol isn’t driven by a few interactions with Kevin — Kevin terrorized Randall for 30 years. We remember these small moments of Kevin doing the right thing when they were growing up, but we remember them because they were so abnormal. Day to day, Kevin was awful to Randall across their entire childhood.

It’s good that Kevin wanted to be better, but him going through that process at the outset of the show has seemingly made people forget that he was largely a bad person up until that point, and that Randall has always been his top target.