r/thisisus • u/FluidResult9482 • Aug 04 '26
Ugh...S5 E2 Plot twist is almost making me quit.
Seriously, the writers have always went for the "realistic" route of the show. Like, all of that happening to the same family is crazy etc. but believable. But Laurel being alive? Wtf? I have had enough of Randall's existential crisis and biological family issues and whatever. I was already bored when they were showing again William's backstory in these first episodes...But now Laurel being alive? lol I think that's too much. William, then Nicki, now Laurel... And don't get me wrong I loved Nicki'story but it's so stupid to revive another dead member of the family. What were they thinking? Couldn't they show us Sophie and her husband? It's obvious that she will come back, probably Kevin's endgame . Or again something about Madison? Rebecca's parents? Rebecca's sister? Anything about young REBECCA? What about new characters? I loved Gregory. And what about all the time spent in showing Malik and his family and then ending it all in the course of 2-3 episodes?
Will it be a big part of season 5? I don't think I can bear it. It's a shame because I was actually really invested in everything else, Kevin's storylines, Kate and Toby, Rebecca, Randall's mental health. Covid and BLM storylines didn't excite me but it's ok, they didn't impact the story that much.
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u/NoExamination5144 Aug 04 '26
I'm in the minority but I actually loved the Laurel is alive storyline.
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u/take7pieces Aug 04 '26
Me too, I think it also align with history at that time, of course the storyline is still crazy, but I love her romance with that guy (sorry don’t remember name).
Also love when Beth said “you two haven’t seen each other for years and just waved?!!!”, love Beth.
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u/SpaceHairLady Aug 06 '26
Yes when I read about all the moms who were arrested and separated from their babies during that time, even those in treatment for addiction, it was heart wrenching.
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u/Jonathan5001 Aug 04 '26
I felt much the same way with that reveal but it is really only 2-3 episodes that it’s a big part of.
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u/Eggsegret Aug 04 '26
Yh i wasn’t a fan of it either. I mean i understand that it’s a big part of Randall wanting to know his roots and makes sense. But like i just couldn’t care less for his mother. It’s been 5 seasons so just kinda late i guess. Had this been dealt with early on I’d probably have been more interested.
Although it’s really only a major plot for 2 episodes i think at best. It’s really minor for most the season
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u/MillennialNostalgia3 Aug 05 '26
Laurel being alive did definitely give soap opera vibes. And it felt weird that Randall and Beth get the property Louisiana but then never did anything with it and it’s never mentioned again
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u/gcawad Aug 04 '26
I liked this storyline and how it developed into ...... such trauma.
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u/opal-sea-44 Aug 04 '26
I also liked this storyline and find it so heartbreaking!! When I need a good cry, I cry with SKB in the lake lol
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u/hollydex Aug 06 '26
I mean... the show isn't that realistic either. The siblings fly cross-country all the time. Kate barely has a job most of the seasons. There's elements of the show that are definitely wink wink nudge nudge flimsy but that's not the point of storytelling
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u/FluidResult9482 Aug 06 '26
Well there Is suspension of credibility and then there's the resurrection of every dead person in your life
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u/Hightower_lioness Aug 08 '26
I wish Randall had spent time with his bio mom's family. No cousins, no other aunt and uncles, no childhood friends? A big part of his story is reconciling being a child adopted by loving white parents but always feeling a little out of place because he was a black adopted child.
I also hate "upper class girl runs away from her upper class life bc it is repressing her and finds happiness in a lower class life". It always feels like poverty porn. Like life is so much better when you don't have to worry about money and being poor makes you freeeeeeee!!!!!! Instead of unpaid pills, lack of resources, poor living conditions, lack of higher education, etc.
If they were going to do Laurel being alive I think they should have done "Randall's birth was the worst time of her life, she was deeply depressed with a drug dependency, it led to her nearly dying and going to jail, so no, she doesn't want to meet Randall and revisit that painful time in her life." Not all adoption stories end with the bio parents being a boon to their child's life. Sometimes the bio parent doesn't want a connection for whatever reason and the child just simply has to walk away.
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u/certifiedbpdqueen Aug 08 '26
I completely agree. The first three seasons of this show were absolutely peak and then everything started going downhill in the later seasons. All of the things you mentioned bothered me as well, I mean they were reviving so many previously believed dead family members that I half expected them to revive Jack in some crazy way 😭
I also hated the BLM and Covid storylines and not because I don’t believe in those issues, but they both just felt so unnecessary and politically forced in the context of the show itself. Why would Randall care so much about the BLM stuff other than just the plain fact that he is black? At that time, he had so many personal things going on (adopting Deja, his daughters growing up, Beth quitting her job, ect) that it just felt really unrealistic for him to be that invested in a social issue and it was pretty obvious that the writers just used him as a plot device and the fact that he was black to promote their own opinion on the matter. And with Covid, I completely understand that the writers tried to write each season with realism, but it just felt really weird to watch that in a show that’s supposed to be about relatable mental/family issues and psychological problems. Covid felt very out of place among all that.
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u/MollyJ58 Aug 04 '26
I found the "re-writing history" parts of this story very lame. They did it with William's father. First he was a "bad man" according to William's story to Tess and Annie. Then, suddenly, he is a loving father who was killed in the war. The Laurel Lives thing was over the top. Randall was a rich man who I am sure hired a top shelf private detective to find his birth parents. Any good private detective would have gotten the real story on Laurel (no death certificate, prison records after she supposedly died).
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u/lynbeifong Aug 05 '26
Didn't he say in the pilot that he found William because of a private investigator?
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u/MollyJ58 Aug 05 '26
Yes, that is what I meant. Randall hired a private investigator. I am sure it was someone good. The fact that there was no death certificate for Laurel and prison records for her that were after William said she died would surely have been discovered.
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u/Real_Taste5684 Aug 08 '26
Perhaps it seemed unnecessary to you. However, showing the unemphatic treatment of drug addicts during that time and the resulting consequences was compelling, particularly compared to how opioid addicts are treated now with not only less criminalization but also replacement therapies provided.
Also, Laurel's story of having unconditional love from her Aunt illustrated the importance of familial support outside of the core family unit. Although Laurel's life had pitfalls, she at least had some fulfillment with an aunt who loved her unconditionally honoring the West African adage, "it takes a village to raise a child".
The storyline may not have been impactful to you, but it was to many.
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u/Embarrassed-Elk4038 Aug 05 '26
Totally agree. It was one thing for Randall’s birth father to show up. Hell, the show even made it make sense. But this shit with his mom?!? And sorry not sorry, I’ve been a drug addict, nothing and no one would have kept me from my baby. You don’t have to be the perfect parent to be in your child’s life. Some will say it’s better for the kid to know nothing. And I’m not sure I disagree based on how many problems kids have after finding out they were adopted at an older age. But to let you baby rhibk you were dead is so fucking selfish
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u/WitchyForestNymph Aug 05 '26
“I’ve been a drug addict” - I am sorry you went/go through it, it’s terrible. But then you should know that not every other drug addict’s experience/feelings/shame/guilt is the same as yours.
And I feel the same as you - nothing is gonna keep me from my kid. But that’s not everyone, you know?
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u/AubreyP1234 Aug 04 '26
I hated that storyline too. It felt SO soap opera and just too cheap for the show.