Nine Years On, This NBC Pilot Remains the Best Drama TV Episode Ever

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The Impact of the Pilot Episode in "This Is Us"

When discussing the best TV dramas of all time, it's nearly impossible not to consider the exceptionally popular and award-winning titles such as Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, and Deadwood. These TV shows have shaped the way people watch drama entertainment, setting the standards for every new addition to the expansive genre. In addition to these extensively praised series, NBC's This Is Us is both a drama show that has received monumental praise while still being underrated among viewers.

Many drama TV show viewers consider the family-centric series to be overrated, not living up to the thrilling and shocking twists prevalent in drama entertainment. On the other hand, This Is Us has a realistic quality that is often overlooked in other shows for the sake of exaggerated plots that keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Nine years after the release of This Is Us, the pilot episode continues to be one of the best introductions to a drama series ever made.

A Moving Introduction

The pilot of This Is Us was incredibly moving. The very first episode of This Is Us pulled viewers into a drama TV show like never before, offering a fun and exciting twist that viewers were immediately thrilled by, even if they saw the surprise finale coming or saw a spoiler before watching. Before it was known as the most heartfelt family drama of the 21st Century or one of the most diverse modern shows, the series captured a dedicated audience with a single compelling sequence neatly wrapped into a 42-minute episode. Even viewers who rarely watch drama TV shows, or are very selective about the types of drama shows they enjoy, admitted to being immediately interested in what storylines This Is Us had to offer.

In Season 1, Episode 1, "Pilot," of This Is Us, the episode tells the narrative of four main characters who share a birthday, setting up the installment to give viewers the impression that this similarity was just a coincidence. In one storyline, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) is celebrating his birthday with his pregnant wife, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), when she goes into labor for their expected triplets. In another sequence, Kevin (Justin Hartley) is a TV sitcom star contemplating his decisions in life and if he'll ever be taken seriously as an actor. Meanwhile, his sister, Kate (Chrissy Metz), is struggling with her weight and her decision to make healthy choices. In the final vein of this episode is Randall (Sterling K. Brown), a successful man with a wife and two daughters, who confronts his biological father, William Hill (Ron Cephas), for leaving him at a fire station when he was a newborn.

A Revolutionary Twist

The twist of this drama series is the final scene of this pilot episode, when it's revealed that Jack and Rebecca's sequence takes place in the past, and Kevin, Kate, and Randall are their children as adults in the present timeline. Each of these storylines, despite being interconnected, tell their own captivating tale. In Jack and Rebecca's experience, they tragically lose their third triplet, choosing to make the daunting but heartfelt decision to adopt Randall, who was brought to the hospital the same day Kevin and Kate were born. Randall, despite having a happy childhood thanks to his loving parents, chooses to bring his biological father into his home because he can see how remorseful the man is over his decision to give up his son. Meanwhile, Kate makes the daunting decision to join a support group for people who struggle with their weight, and Kevin has a meltdown on the set of his sitcom, unable to cope with the lack of substance in the show.

There is a lot that This Is Us fits into this initial episode, preparing the audience for a complex and multi-layered plot. Despite the complicated structure of this pilot, it was shockingly effective, making a point with all four of these impactful storylines but promising an expansion of these individual but intersecting plots. The audience quickly understood that the Pearson family was at the center of this narrative while also understanding that the show would be more than a typical family drama. Though the show is now praised for having one of the most endearing plots overall, the very first installment of the series is not just the tip of the iceberg but a drama TV episode that has one of the most revolutionary and impressive designs in TV history.

Capturing the Nuances of Life

There's no other show that perfectly encompasses the nuances of life. This underrated NBC drama doesn't get as much praise as groundbreaking hits like The Sopranos and Succession, but it developed a dedicated audience due to its profound dedication to representing the nuances of life by telling the story of the Pearsons' lives. Though the major criticisms of this narrow view of family and societal struggles are valid, especially when discussing the lack of financial diversity in the series, this didn't take away from the core point of the concise six-season narrative. The title of this show was pointed, clarifying that what this family goes through is a representation of the experiences of everyday people.

The most prominent theme throughout This Is Us is the complicated and important family relationships regarding parents, children, and siblings. Though the Pearsons, like many other families, are close-knit and loving, they often struggle to understand the others' perspectives, especially when it comes to Kevin, Kate, and Randall's individual experiences from their childhood. This theme was represented in the pilot episode in a couple of different ways, such as Kevin and Kate, as twins, being very close as adults, and relying on each other for emotional support. In comparison, Randall is shown facing the father who left him behind because he had a very different experience growing up, especially for a black child growing up in a white family in the '80s and '90s.

Relatable Storytelling

Another critical aspect of This Is Us, that many viewers relate to, is how the past often shapes the present and makes people who they are, especially when it comes to overcoming tragedy and dealing with the guilt of lost loved ones. For a majority of the series, the storyline highlights how Rebecca and her children were influenced by the sudden loss of Jack when the Big Three were teenagers, all of them having their own unique experiences with mourning, coping, and dealing with survivor's guilt. Even this drawn-out theme and plot is touched upon in the first episode, not only capturing the horrible loss of Rebecca and Jack's third triplet, but also how Randall mourned the loss of the biological parents he never knew throughout his childhood.

Among these two major themes in the drama TV show, the plot also tackles several important issues throughout the series, including mental health, substance abuse, generational trauma, adoption, and societal prejudice. Not all of these topics are introduced in the first episode, but this short pilot does a lot with the short time it has to capture its target audience. In addition to the overall focus on family and relationships, this episode brings up the substantial focus on adoption, especially interracial adoption, setting the groundwork for the expansive exploration of the complexities of this real-world scenario and how it influences everyone involved.

A Drama Everyone Can Enjoy

Few drama TV shows are this relatable. This 2016 NBC drama has been widely praised for its exceptional emotional appeal and the astonishingly relatable nature of the characters, situations, and conflict. From small scenarios like disliking a coworker to major world conflicts like the Vietnam War, This Is Us utilized well-known and important storylines to represent the lived experiences of millions of people. The pilot episode did not encompass all the topics and issues this show would tackle throughout its six-year runtime, but it introduced the non-linear structure of the narrative and how this served to tell an intergenerational story that depicts realistic scenarios everyone can relate to or empathize with.

As a whole, This Is Us is a drama that everyone can enjoy, even when it comes to viewers who are wary of drama TV shows and rarely explore the genre. However, it was critical that the first episode represented the astounding feat the show would be tackling, clarifying that it isn't just about one aspect of life or another, but about the many facets of life, love, and loss. The pilot was not only able to introduce the non-linear structure, which successfully carried the series from beginning to end, but also determined several key topics that would be the grounding force for the entire narrative.