Deja & Shauna's Past | "This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life" (S2E17) with special guest Joy Brunson
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On today's episode of That Was Us, we will be discussing Season 2, Episode 17, This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life. Through a powerful series of flashbacks, we witness Deja's journey from birth to the present as she navigates her mother's struggles, deals with the insanity of the foster system, and ultimately finds her way into Randall and Beth's home.

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Wow, this episode was a doozy. It really, really was. It was one...

I watched every episode of this show, but this was one that felt completely new to me. Me too. Rewatching it, I was like, there was so much about it that I didn't remember. Although I do remember just the idea of it, of when people talked about our show, I loved to reference this episode, which was pretty much entirely about a character...

that wasn't the Pearson's and following her story and journey and how unique that was in our storytelling sort of device that our audience trusted us enough to be able to do these kinds of episodes. So I remembered in that sense, but then like getting into the nitty gritty and the little details, it is heartbreaking. It really is. A couple of things real quick. There's an episode of our show,

that has Pam Grier as a guest star and I got to do nothing with her. - I'm sorry. I thought about that. - I wanna tell K.O. Yegun who wrote this episode, shame on you. I've been watching Pam Grier my whole life, Jack. And you didn't let Brown have nothing to do with Pam Grier? I'm not happy. 'Cause Pam Grier is bad. She bad, like not bad being bad. - When I saw Pam Grier come on the screen, I was like, all right, 'cause I've been watching Pam Grier as well.

I thought to myself, I'm like, I don't know what the, what the, um, the kind of Mount Rushmore of, uh, what is it? Bad bitches? Something like that. But she's on it. She's up there. She's outstanding. Yeah. Yeah. Um, to point number two that I want to make, and it's what you were talking about, Mandy, uh, to find a young lady that you can trust to anchor an episode of television. Yeah. Yeah. Like Lyric Ross.

Lyrical Nicole, I remember the whole name. That little girl, she's grown now, she 21. But that little girl, she wasn't playing around.

She wasn't playing around and she was, it was great. We'll get to everybody else in it too. Because everybody else is wonderful, but like you got a little girl holding it together, man. - So quietly. - Yes. - But confidently. It's yeah, it's really remarkable. She's just outstanding. - She's something special.

So where do we want to start on this one? I guess where the episode starts, which is sort of... We see echoes of this throughout the entire tea of the episode. And this is something we were talking about just a few minutes ago. But it begins with Deja's birth. Yep. And the birth of all of the Pearsons. It was Rebecca birthing the big three. It was Randall's mom birthing him. It was Beth birthing Tess. Yeah. I mean, so it's just like...

I think to sort of illustrate the point that you were making just a few minutes ago, it's like,

We're all connected. We all share this like same DNA of what our lives are. Ultimately, there's violence, there's death, there's life, there's immense joy and every color and shade in between. And I think like throughout this episode, it was sort of peppered with those moments of like, this is what Deja's lived experiences. But also here's some of these, like the connective tissue of the Pearsons and the people that love her and will become sort of intertwined.

intertwined in her life like this is something they've also experienced as well right there's there's something about I think I don't know if it's modern society or human nature in general it's probably human nature where we look first and foremost for the things that separate us from one another like I

I'm black, you're white, you're male, you're female, da-da-da, because it feels like division or something gives us something to sort of like contextualize why this justifies how I behave while you're that thing. So it's okay for you to behave that way, right? And we find all these differences and stuff. And I think what this episode sort of highlights is that like, yeah, there are differences, but look at how much is the same. Yeah.

We all gotta go through this. We all go through death. We all go through birth. We all go through these things. And like, there'd be these little snippets of vignettes that would happen throughout the episode that just sort of showed that like, oh,

Yeah, I know that. I know. Like the human experience is universal. We can watch a story about anybody and find ourselves inside that story. I think that was one of the powerful things about the show at large and this episode in particular is that it sort of made a very pointed point of saying that we're not that different.

right yeah i think when we encounter people yes we encounter people as they are right in that present moment right where the situation that they're in the the way that they appear to us mostly yeah because we are we we take things at face value yeah probably to a detriment when i see people or people treat me a certain way i make up a story

In my head about why that person did that, why they're acting that way, how they feel about me, blah, blah, blah. And a lot of times my storytelling is negative. Okay. I have a negative bent. Sure. Someone cuts me off in traffic. That's because that person. Yeah. Is an intentional asshole. Who's out to get me. Right. You know, I can, I can fantasize in a way that, that leads me, that can lean negative. What this show does is.

you these backstories and it kind of taught me how to shift to a compassionate narrative. Gotcha. Right?

Right? Because that's what we learn with all these characters. Like, if you have a problem with anybody in this show or you think you know why they are the way they are, what this show is gonna show you is every little step that seems maybe insignificant-- There's a lot of them in this episode. They're like, "Oh, this little moment that seems like--" She cut her hand while she was trying to make dinner for her mom, and it's like,

Look what that kind of like how that unfolded. That's right. And the last episode ends with them living in their car. And you see, I see people in Los Angeles all the time living in their car. And I'm sure for every person that I've seen, there is a new story about how they got there. And all the little things that need to happen for someone to end up in that situation. And like you said...

how we're all not that far from that. Well said. Well said. So we'll start with Shauna giving birth to Deja. How old is Shauna when she gives birth to Deja, everybody? 16. 16 years old. Is her mom present at this birth? No. We don't know what happened to the mom, do we? Nope. Not sure, but we know she's being raised by her grandmother. Yes.

- Gigi. - Gigi. Which is what my kids call their grandmother. - Really? - Yeah. She's like, "You ain't gonna call me grandma." So we're gonna do a Gigi. So Gigi is what she is. - I think that's so cute. - And you just sort of see her at a certain point, Shawna not wanting to hold the baby, right? And grandma's like, "You gotta hold your baby." She's like, "She lived inside of me for nine months." I already know she's like, "Until you hold your baby, you're not gonna know," right?

It's sort of because it's contrasted with

the familial structural support of like what the Pearsons got to start off with. You know what I'm saying? What the Black Pearsons got to start off with, with Randall and Beth. And so you usually have a different family structure that's here. And this grandmother's doing the best that she knows how to do, but like she's not doing it to replace the mother. She's doing it to help the mother. And at a certain point, three years, we pop forward into the future because I believe Shauna's 19 when she goes out with the night with her friends and whatnot.

and left the baby, the three-year-old baby, house. Yeah. It says, like, I put her to sleep. Shauna. I know. Yeah. It's one of those things that can happen oftentimes when babies raise babies. Yeah. That's right. And it's a simple foundation of trauma. Yeah. A traumatic situation that lays the foundation for all of this. Yeah. Right? A 16-year-old having to process trauma

-Becoming a parent. -Becoming a parent. -Yeah. -Which I can barely do at 40 years old. -Same. -Preach. Uh, and, uh, so, uh, grandmother comes in. She's reading "Good Night, Moon" to her, and then, like, Shawna finally comes into the house. Like, "Shawna, you can't just leave the baby." She's like, "I put her to bed," everything like that. She said, "My life would've been completely different. I'm supposed to be in college with my friends. This thing happens." She's like, "Look, I know that this happened, but that doesn't mean that you just get to--" -Yeah. -Like, you have to be here, right?

So grandmother is clearly the glue that is sort of holding things together. Yeah. They're about to go, maybe they're going to make her jambalaya because that recipe gets repeated throughout the episode because they're getting tomatoes or something. They were at the grocery store and, uh,

see grandma walking down the hall first of all shame on you carrie for not giving me more pam uh yeah i know not only she only want you just kill her off right there you know right up at the beginning of the episode like almost before like the credits are even finished but it's like you you i felt this and i'll say this honestly any time a matriarch passes away the family has to reconfigure yeah

And I'm not like, we may live in the patriarchy or whatnot, but family-wise, when the mom goes- Mom is the nucleus, yeah. Yeah. When my grandmother passed away my freshman year of college or whatnot, I could see her five children sort of be like- Uh-oh. What do we do now? Trying to figure it out, right? Like my mom with her ALS right now,

Her very presence maintains a certain sort of status quo that is comfortable for everybody. Sure. And as soon as she goes, me and my brother and sister will have a moment of like, huh, how does this work?

So I felt it in my soul. Even like the way that they shot it, they had her drop to her knees. I was like, hey now, you better give her some knee pads because you can't have Pam Grier bumping her knees on no hard floor like that. Shame on y'all. I bet they did. I know our show. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Thank you. Thank you for putting my soul at ease. So you see these guys. The next thing you see is...

Shawn is saying to her daughter, like, I don't know what I'm going to do. Like, sort of struggling with it, crying through it or whatnot. Y'all know what happens? This little girl starts reading her mother, Goodnight Moon. Because it's what Gigi used to read to her when she was a little one. This little girl starts reading her mother. So this is an interesting theme that's going on in our show, right? About, you were talking about it with your kids about when Jack passes away. Rebecca was talking about it. And making sure that...

that they don't have to take over any of the parental responsibilities here. -Yeah, to assume anything. -Your job is to be kids, right? But as we get older, we do. Like, it is important that we become parental with our parents at the right time. So it's interesting to-- Because the passing of a matriarch,

or, or a F a patriarch implicates that, that the child has now officially become hopefully an elder in the, in the lineage. Sure. Right. And a lot of people get older, a lot of people age, but not very many people become elders. Yes, sir. Right. So as we raise our kids,

We want to prepare them, set them on that path of wisdom and connection and becoming elders. And eventually we will be

become like children ourselves and need taking care of. Yeah. Hopefully our children will be able and willing to do that. Yeah. But they should only have to do that at a certain point. At a certain point. Yeah. Not five. No. No. Let me know when we want to get into hot takes about Goodnight Moon too, because I got some. Drop it right now. Yeah. I know this is a heavy episode. Here it comes. All right, let's do it. Hot take. That book is creepy as hell. It's creepy. It's creepy.

Goodnight Nobody? Goodnight Nobody, Mandy? Yeah. Goodnight Nobody? Every time I read that page, I'm like, no. This can't be. Okay, question one. Do you want us to have a Patreon? Question two. Do you want me to do a dramatic reading of Goodnight Moon on our Patreon? Hopefully they're asleep by the time you get to Goodnight Moon. Because I will do it. Oh, man. It's like 10 pages long. It's not that long. If they let me do...

A dramatic reading of Goodnight Moon. It'll be as good as Sam Jackson's Go the Fuck to Sleep. Because, have you heard that? Oh, yeah. It's great. Because that book is creepy AF. Really? I've never been creeped out by it. Goodnight to the old. Whispering. Whispering. Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. It skips out of the rhyming scansion. Yeah, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. We don't have to do moon and moon again. Ha, ha, ha.

Good night, socks. Good night, clocks. Good night, clocks. Oh, my God. Good night to nobody giving a fucks.

But "Goodnight, Nobody" is the creepiest, laziest moment in book publishing history. - I agree. God, I'm so glad. - Where was the editor? The words "Goodnight, Nobody" on a blank page for anyone who's not a parent, because if you are, you've seen this book. - You know it well. - Anyways, hot take over. - Hot take, I appreciate that. We need a little bit of humor in this one. - More "That Was Us" after this short break.

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Because I think we fast forward to her, to our lyric playing Deja's pretty soon at that point. Sean is going to work trying to get his stuff together, paying bills, etc.

Deja's trying to make her grandma's jambalaya. I think she's looking at the... Well, they have no water, too. Remember that? They have no water. That detail. That's the whole thing. She's like, Mom, I sent the bill off. She's like, where's the bill? I sent it off yesterday. We don't have any hot water. Shauna says it should get paid at the end of the week, whatnot. They can shower somewhere else. It is...

Shauna's birthday. Yep. Correct? So she's like, I want you to, what time are you going to be home? Seven o'clock. She's like, is that a seven seven or 10 o'clock seven? She's like, girl, you better stop talking to me. It's going to be a seven seven. She's like, well, I'm trying to make you dinner. So make sure you- It's really well played by both of them because they feel like- Mother and daughter. Totally. And also it's interesting just to see the pattern of

emerge where Deja is taking care of her mom. She's like, mom, your uniform, that's in the bathroom. I already paid the bill. She's like, you're going to be late to work. Keeping tabs on her mom, which you just watch and go, no child should be put in that position of being the adult. And then also, sort of like

Shauna's childlikeness in terms of like, well, I want to take you to school. It's my birthday. And I can be late. I'll be late whenever I need to. Sort of like the priorities are making you. It's literally like a scene between Randall and Deja with the roles flipped. Totally. Yeah. Totally. So we cut to her prepping the dinner at night. And this is like, she's the adult in this household, but nobody ever taught the young lady how to use a can opener.

'Cause as soon as she starts to go at that can opener, I was like, this ain't going, that don't look right. See what you're doing on the floor, sticking the thing, we ain't got a side binding sort of thing with Jigga. And when that cut happened, kudos to makeup, 'cause it happened and then it spread. Whoa!

I'm squeamish, I don't like that. I don't like seeing the baby cut like that. - Can I just interject one thing quickly? - Please. - Did anyone notice the Manny on in the background? - Of course. - Okay. I just thought that was a fun little quick Easter egg. - It was great. - Anyway, sorry. - Isn't it interesting, the basic, I mean, I didn't even realize until I'm out into the world, like how prepared I was without being aware that I was being prepared.

-To be an adult. -Like how to do laundry. -How to function, yeah. -How to open a can. Like things that when-- If you end up parenting your parent, that's a problem. But also when we lose parents young, changing a car tire, you know, all of these self-sufficiency things that I know how to do. And then finding my blind spots.

You're also an Eagle Scout, bro. You should have felt fairly prepared. What's a blind spot? You want to know what a blind spot is? Give it. Here's a blind spot. Chris, at age 25, goes to get his first apartment that I went to go get. Not the company that I was with got for me or I was sharing with roommates. My first apartment by myself. So I went and saw the apartment.

Talked to the landlord, said this place is great. And then showed up on the move day, on the move-in day. And the landlord was surprised to see me because I never rented the apartment. You didn't give a first, last, no security. You're like, I'll take it. Yeah, I thought it was like a handshake thing.

Guys, my stuff was in a U-Haul out front. So what did you do? Luckily, there was another apartment available in the building. I moved into the same building into a different apartment. Wow. Because if you don't know, you don't know. Because if you don't know, you don't know. Yeah, I get that. No blind spots? I'm the only one? I'm the only one with blind spots? I was 25 when I moved into my first place. But it was sort of a handshake thing. But not a hand. It was a furnished room. Okay. Yeah.

It was rented at $85 a week. Okay, great. Cash only. Great. So it was simpler, but you get what you pay for. Sure, sure. I was 125th and Fifth Avenue. It was a four-floor walk-up. It had a shared bathroom for the hallway. Yeah. Okay, I had one window.

I had like a little green fan that swung back and forth in the room. Like how does that, the water pressure got worse. I was on the top floor. So I had to like move around like this little trickle of water to take the shower. Oh, it was grimy. It was grimy. But I was working at the classical stage company at the time.

With an original operetta by Joanne Eccolitis with music by Philip Glass. Nice. Wow. I made 300 a week. That's right. Clearing 215. That's right. You can't tell me nothing. I was living the dream, baby. Living the dream. Living the dream. No blind spots? Oh, well, I don't know how to change a car tire. I was like, can Sully teach me how to change a tire? Sure. I miss that. I mean, now we don't need to. Like, what?

But I want to know. Oh, all right. I also don't know how to drive manual. I don't either. But luckily the world has evolved past it. You know what I mean? I know. There are just certain things. But when you were young, was there anything that like when you went to do it? God, I'm so bad at remembering all of this stuff. Did you shrink an entire load of laundry? Did you...

I'm sure I did. I'm very, I've been very into doing like laundry, dishes. Like my parents were good about all that stuff. So I feel like I was very prepared at a certain age. And I do love, I love cleaning. So anything. I actually have to do better with my children. I feel like, so my mom was very,

She's a great supervisor in terms of making sure I did things the right way, like vacuuming steps and putting on the attachment. My mom would come and look and be like, you missed the crease here, so you have to put this thing on. I was like, do you want to do it? She's like, no, no, you're going to do it. And so I'm like, yeah, I have to do that. And now I've gotten to this place where I'm so anal about things that I'm not giving my children the same opportunities that my mother gave me, and I need to do better. That's interesting. She cuts her hand.

And this is what I wanted to highlight is like the infrastructure and know how as to like what to do, you know? She did know to go to the hospital. You know what I'm saying? But like you think about the flash at that point was really sort of telling because it was Kev,

in the hospital on his bed. Was it Kev or Kate? - It was Kate getting wheeled in to get her appendix removed for Christmas. - Kate getting wheeled in to get her appendix out. And it was like, oh, some families get a chance to do this all together. - Right. - Yeah. - Right? - Exactly. - And this young lady is there by herself. - Yeah. - Right?

Her mom shows up, and this is the intro, Debra Jo shows up for the first time. Yeah, because there's no, she calls her mom, her mom doesn't answer. Because there's a child at the hospital by himself. There's no water in her, yeah, so she has the wherewithal to take herself to the hospital. And it was so, this was really well done. This was really well done. And I'm going to say this because it wasn't,

It wasn't an opportunity to make this woman look bad. This woman being Shauna. Because Shauna comes in and she's like, "Baby, you okay? What's going on?" She's like, "Mom, where were you?" She's like, "I decided to go out with some friends of mine. It was my birthday." I completely forgot that the girl told you 7:00.

You know, at least be home by that time and whatnot. She just goes out and does her thing because she's still a baby raising a baby, right? And at this point, she's older. And it's still like in here. We've all met those people who are 42. Yeah, emotional. Going on 15. Arrested development. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And so...

What I really applaud and it's probably because Kay wrote it too. It's like, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Deborah Jo says, and they walk up to the side like, "What's going on? I need to see my baby." She's like, "Well, I'm from child, you know, CPS and whatnot. And I can smell the alcohol in your breath and whatnot." Like it played it low, like not to embarrass or blow up, but like we need to do what's best for this child now. Right, right, right. Okay. And that's when it begins where she's in the system. Right.

And the young lady who's her foster sister that we see her with in the first home also auditioned for Deja. Oh, wow. And gave a very good audition, right? And she killed this role. Yeah, she was great. Shout out to Sierra Hart who plays Deja's foster sister when they're together.

Beautiful work. The two of you playing off of each other was magnifique. Thank you so much for your service. - Agreed. - She was great. I mean, a lot of things happen. She's the sassier of the two, right? Deja's a bit more subdued, a bit more quiet, et cetera. Like, why are you always so loud? They go to, they want to get put on makeup 'cause they're going somewhere later on that night. - School dance. - But they don't have any money for makeup or whatnot. So we gonna go to the old man's store, we gonna steal his makeup. So he's like, "He's too slow. He ain't gonna do nothing."

They get there, they get the makeup, they just walk in, walk out. You could tell Deja's a little sort of freaked out by it, but I want the makeup too. And then later he comes to the house, the old man realizing that, hey girls, you took my makeup. Dad, the foster dad,

just slaps the crap out of the young lady. Not Deja, but the sister, right? And then we see a slap of young Jack, right? And do we see a slap of Kat? Was there a... I feel like there was a hit of one of the Pearson kids, but I might be making that up. Don't let me make stuff up. I feel like there was Jack punching the guy that I was in the... Ben. Oh, that's what it is. Okay, gotcha. There was Jack. Okay, good. Jack on Ben. Um...

But it was heartbreaking, right? That this is something that this young lady had to go through. And they even hinted at it before saying like, why do you always talk back to him or things like that? It's like, if I keep the attention on me, I'm going to get hit anyway. You know what I'm saying? She's like, he going to do what he going to do. At least I keep him off of you. Right? So,

small part of like, you know, nobody is immune from physical violence within the home because we saw Jack had to deal with it. We see Deja's having to deal with it, but we don't want anybody to deal with it, period. At a certain point, Deja winds up talking to Debra Jo. What's her character's name? I'm calling her a real name all the time. Linda. Linda. Thank you. Calling her Linda.

And Linda's like, is everything going okay? You guys good in the house, et cetera. And she's, you see her trying to sit on it. Maybe she's not going to say anything. And then finally she's like, he hits us.

And her foster sister is really upset because she's like, you could have just kept quiet. Like wherever we go, we're going to have shit that we have to deal with, basically. But we could have been together. At least we get to deal with it together. Now they're going to separate us. Like now it's like, you know how many beds I've been in? I don't, I don't want to be in a whole bunch of other ones. Like we could have just stayed here and it would have been okay. Right. And I felt that. They're like,

what a shitty situation to want to stay in. But it's better to dance with the devil that you know than to dance with somebody else that you don't. At that point, if I have to choose between a shitty situation and a shittier situation, let me just take the shit. Yeah. And so many people have that as their choice. You were talking about taking for granted that you had

skills of self-sufficiency to leave the home with. There's one shot of Deja as she's like bouncing through different foster places or whatnot, studying. Or is this back when like her mom comes back into the scene and she's dating the Dominican cat and she's studying and there's like argument going on and people are getting loud. And like, I talked to my sister about this who works in the public school systems in St. Louis, Missouri all the time.

I went to St. Louis Country Day School that turned into MICDS, college preparatory school. All my friends go to fancy colleges, et cetera, et cetera. All I was responsible for when I went home was doing my homework. What a fucking privilege that is.

What a privilege that is, that was definitely taken for granted by Brown, right? Until I met other people that was like, "Bruh, there's so much shit going on in my house. I have to go to the public library. I have to go somewhere in order to have like space in my head to think." - To do my homework. - To do my homework.

And so that was one of those moments that hit me in that particular montage of just like, it's like she had to hover over her head and she was doing this thing. - And she's listening to her mom and boyfriend argue. - Yeah, yeah. Because, okay, so we're going all through this thing. Deborah Jo says, "Your mom's doing better." Right? "You get to go back home." After she's like bounced from a few different places, et cetera, goes back home.

And mom's just like, is it okay if my friend from rehab comes to the house tonight? Like, da-da-da-da. Right out of the gate. She's been home. They just got reunited. Speak on a man anymore. Well, it's just like, I mean, how disappointing is it? It's like, after everything this girl has been through, she's finally home. She's finally been reunited with her mom. And the first choice she makes is to bring her new boyfriend that she met in rehab home.

No spending time with her daughter, no trying to make amends, no quality. Like, it just boggled my brain. I was like, ugh. I mean, it's an origin story of addiction, right? Yeah. We get to watch in a single episode of television, like, the very...

pedestrian everyday things that happen to people all the time, that when they line up a certain way, a person develops these coping mechanisms or these way of dealing with these codependencies and codependency shows up in a certain way. And if you are not equipped with the emotional tools to handle any of these things, you reach out to external forces, whether that's other people or alcohol or

or whatever it is, toxic relationships, to try and solve your problem because you're unequipped to do it on your own. I mean, you are, you could, you can be, it's just takes a lot more work than that. And we see this boyfriend just immediately move in to their lives, their home. Yeah.

and things start off okay, but then quickly, yes, devolve into them fighting all the time. And as you alluded to, Deja trying to do her homework with like her hood over her head while they're fighting and-

He brings some other characters into the house and she's leaving. The gun is introduced. Yeah, the guns are introduced. She's leaving to go to work. Kadesha's getting ready to go to school. He tries to kind of, you know, like mention like, oh, don't you have a math test or something today? And it's like too little too late. Like she just wants no part of. This is, okay, this is a PSA from Brown. I don't even know if it's a PSA. This is just like,

Slightly hot take, but not a humorous hot take. I have two boys.

My youngest son is very good friends with this young lady who I love, who's adorable. And I love her parents. And it's like, we both have kids at the same age, four years apart. Our two boys are friends and my son and daughter are friends. Their daughter are friends. And I remember one time they said like, can Amelie come with us to a restaurant or whatnot? And it was just me with the kids or whatnot. And I said, I'm more than happy to take her, right? And they were like, cool, go for it.

And I sent in a text thread later on that night after they picked her up after like two or three hours of hanging out or whatnot. I said, it takes a lot to leave your young daughter with a man. It is not lost on me that that is something that has to be considered deeply. I appreciate your trust. And if you chose something else, I would understand it. I ain't leaving my daughter with no dude. Not. I don't know you, bro. I don't know you.

Like straight up point blank period. Yeah. That is an enormous amount of trust that people are putting in something. And like clearly we didn't go in a nefarious way with that storyline and whatnot. Although we did hint at it with all he did was hit me from her foster sister. At least all he did was hit me. Right. You know what I'm saying? I'm saying that to say like, Shauna,

- Do better, do better. - No! Bro, you have me screaming, I'm like screaming at the screen. - Yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - So I'm just, I'm saying that because I'm like, I don't know you, bro. - Yeah.

And we see her being excited to go to school and we come to realize it's because she has drill team. Yes. And it's like something that she can pour herself into that is an escape that's outside of the trouble that she experiences at home and with her mom and how complicated that is.

And, of course, what happens just as she's about to, like, go and show the team whatever, like, her dance, her movement, is the police come in. What can I do for you, officers? Yeah. And it's like, your mom's been arrested. You have to go back into the system. And the next thing we see is Deja showing up at the Pearson store. That's right. And it just...

goes to show you, as you were saying earlier, having compassion. We think we know someone's story. So we meet Deja when we met her a season and a half ago or whatever. As she enters the Pearsons' home and she's quiet and she's removed and she flinches when Randall touches her. And the entirety of this episode has illustrated why. Mm-hmm.

What this poor girl has endured, has experienced, has seen, has witnessed, has absorbed and digested. And you're just like, I mean, how she is able to be as open and vulnerable and loving as she is with the Pearsons in spite of what she's gone through is just like, is what...

It is so remarkable about her. I love that you said a season and a half ago and it was at the beginning of season two. Oh, sorry. I thought it was the end of season one. No, it was the beginning of season two. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It's okay. But it feels like she's part... Yeah, 17 episodes, 16 episodes again. It's like, yeah, she... But it's just crazy what these writers are able to do where it's like you bring it back around to that moment of origin of how she entered the lives of the Pearsons and therefore our lives as an audience. Yeah.

and what she had experienced when she arrived in that moment. And I just, I was so taken by the compassion that you have of like, wow, you don't know what goes on, what everyone is bringing with them to the moment. - I was reminded of how Randall felt like, I'm not connecting. Like, you know, and Deborah Jo, Linda's like, hey man, calm down. I can't tell you everything that the girl just went through, but you can be all right. - Yeah. There's no one,

you can't love if you know everything about them. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Or at least know more of the picture. - If you hear someone's story and you hear what they've been through, obviously it doesn't excuse bad behavior or abuse or anything like that. But it begins to give you an idea of how this person arrived in this place. - On top of what you're saying, it's like,

The snap judgments, it is the idea that we assume that we know who these people must be based upon their circumstances in life. These people must not be intelligent. These people must be lazy because where they are in life would indicate to me that that is who they are.

You don't know nothing about them. You're just seeing where they are in life at this particular moment in time, and we're making a judgment about who they have to be in order to be there. They haven't done anything. They're just being, and we're sort of like assigning meaning to their being right now. And it's a defense mechanism, right? Because it's a deep, deep animalistic tribal...

-survival technique. - Yeah. You were saying, like, we identified difference. - Right. - And difference means you don't live here. - Right.

in this village or in this family. - Yeah, right. - So we need to learn a lot more about this person before we can trust them, before they can take our daughter to a restaurant, you know what I mean? Like we do it just, or I do it, speak in the I term, just kind of like that all day long. Boom, boom. And these people are gone. I'll never see that car again. I'll never see that person on the sidewalk again.

interact with that person at a store again. Instead of-- instead of-- You know, if I'm gonna make up a story, might as well make up a good one. - Right. - A positive one. - Yeah. - Give them the benefit of the doubt. - Sure. - Give them some compassion. Because my survivalist, you know, flinch nature is gonna take over enough. I don't need to encourage it. Yeah. More "That Was Us" after these words from our sponsors.

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So, okay. So that's when we meet him. And then at some point, Mandy, let me know if I jump something. No, no. When we get to the present, because ultimately, Shauna and Deja wind up coming to stay with the Pearsons for a night, right? You know what I'm saying? So they can get back on the feet. Well, before that, we see the moment when Deja leaves the Pearsons, when Shauna gets custody of her again. They're reunited. Right.

And they get home. You know, she says, it's just you and me now. Yeah. And like Lonzo's out of the picture. They're paying bills. And it goes well until it doesn't. Until it doesn't. And Deja realizes that her mom has taken the money that she has saved for these very occasions to pay the bills, to help her.

You know, fill in the gaps for her mom. And her mom has essentially stolen that money and used it to bail Lonzo, the boyfriend, out of jail. And...

Rent is due, they're gonna be evicted. It is a very precarious situation. Deja came up with the idea of like having a home bank so that they could save money for like, so that they could budget, so they could come up with a way of not getting, you know, behind on these things and putting it in there diligently, they're sealing the envelopes, et cetera, et cetera. Deja sees that they're behind on some things. She goes to check the boxes.

What a violation. Listen, I had a minor violation like this. Minor, but still. Wait, wait, should we save it for the Patreon? We can. I'm going to use it right now. All right, cool. I used to save quarters in large 32-ounce Gatorade bottles. Yeah.

I would use them as my dumbbells to lift weights when I couldn't afford to go to a gym. - It's working. - Okay? - It's working. - I'm still using them. - Let me tell you what. - Still using those Gary bottles. - It works.

I go out of town to do a play at like the Berkeley Repertory Theater and I come back to my apartment with my roommate and my change is gone. And he winds up telling me like, "Listen, I took your change. I got a parking ticket. I need a quick money, et cetera." Now, cell phones existed. And if he had called me and said, "Listen, this is what's going on," I would have given him the money. Not a problem.

But the idea that like, "Bro, this money's been here. You know it. Like, I'm not trying to hide it from you or anything like that. You know what I use it for." And you just took it. It's a minor violation. That's what I'm saying. - I mean, not really. I don't think that's that minor. I mean, that's pretty blatant. - It hurt. It hurt. And I was like, "Hey." And he knew he was in the wrong. But like, it's also, for Shawna, it was like, it's bigger. And it was like, there's no apology. There's no- - Acknowledgement. - Yeah. - Did you bench press that roommate for a year?

You're like, guess what, buddy? Now you're my weight. He's a big guy. Yeah. And it worked. So, yeah, thank you. Thank you, buddy. He's like, guess what? That's fine. You can have those quarters. I'm just going to lift you. I'm going to take you. I'm going to need you in my room every morning at 8 a.m.

laid perpendicular across my chest. So that's when, at that point, is that when? Well, then they're evicted and they're sleeping in their car. And it sort of kind of brings us right to the present when the Pearsons discover them sleeping in their car. Brings us to the present. And they say like, look, you can stay for a night or whatnot until you get on your feet. It's all good.

Bring her back to the house. The girls greet her. It's like the joyous sound of like, "My sister's here." It felt really cool to hear and see. They're preparing a place for them to sleep on the couch in the living room. And then Daisy says, "Is it okay if I sleep in my old room?" "It's okay if I sleep in my old..." And she's like, "Yeah, yeah, it's fine." And she's like, "Night, Daisy?" She's like, "Night."

And Shawna and Beth have a conversation and Randall and Deja have a conversation. Always give Brown the kids. Brown loves the kids. I love them a whole, whole, whole, whole, whole, whole lot. And I'm always just happy to have these scenes with this girl because we get a chance to echo the big, beautiful life. What's the name of the episode?

It's a line that Randall uses with her earlier when she first comes to stay with them. Because when I see you, I see myself. And if all these big, beautiful things can happen for me, I think that they can happen for you too. It's also, I don't know who's in our writer's room, but it's a line that gets used in recovery a lot.

Is it? Yeah. That like once you won't believe the big, beautiful life that you can have. So whoever's in it, I don't know. I don't know who's who and what's what. But yeah, yeah. It's an interesting kind of like needle that threads through this whole. Wow. Because we get in these cycles, right? And these cycles can be like a riptide. Yeah.

Right. Whether it's the foster system or, or becoming unhoused or, but, but, but also these systems of, of positivity, once you get caught up in them, they almost become self perpetuated in the same way that, that these systems where, you know, you see Deja making,

One stupid mistake of shoplifting or whatever, whatever the thing is that gets somebody in a system. Yeah, man. And they can become riptides. They could become very hard to get out of. They can become more perpetual. This is interesting too. To that point, Ryan, I have these conversations with the fellas and we say the repercussions of your actions may be different than your friends that don't look like you. Right.

Regarding that riptide, right? You know I'm saying and it's like I I don't I want you to have your childhood I want you to have your fun You're gonna make mistakes, but make sure like the mistake I have to let you know that certain mistakes have different repercussions and

because of who you are. - Right. - That's, yeah, that's it. But she said like, "I didn't really understand that, what you said before when you thought we were similar, 'cause I think we're so different." Because Randall's already told like a corny dad joke or something, just being silly. - It's a very good Deja. Did you catch the Deja Slime? - Oh yeah. - But anyway, and she says, "But like, I have this thing where everybody goes to sleep at night."

He's like, whether you rich or poor or black, white, you know, like everybody goes to sleep. And I was like, and this show sort of the montage of everybody. So like, we're all kind of the same. Like, even though I feel different from you, like everybody in the world does the same thing. It could be on the floor. It could be on the bed, but we all do the same thing every night. And like, it's,

Her attempt of sort of like putting the, and like, I like the writing of it too, because it's like, it's not fully thought out, but it's thought out enough to be like, you know. - That makes sense. - There's something that we all do. - There's something there. - You know? - And they all read the same creepy ass book. - So flash to Beth and Shawna.

having the conversation. And her saying, Shawna's saying, I'm surprised I remember this. I did better than I thought. I've never seen her like that before. And I seen her like what? She's like happy and like a kid, right? She's always had to be the adult. And she says to her, like, I've always said today, just from the time that she was young, what would I do without you, right? And she even, and there's a dawning of like, what a thing to say,

- To a child. - Yeah, she says, "Who does that to a kid?" - Who does that to a kid, man? And it was like a moment like, "Thank you, Shawna." - Some accountability and self-realization. - Thank you, girl. Who does that to a kid? And then she sort of comes to, now this isn't necessarily the right move because she's like, "I gotta go."

And I can't take her with me. And now whether that's the right or wrong decision, sure. But like, you kind of have to still talk to your daughter, man. Right? That's what I thought too. Like, because the girl has gone through enough because she wants to be with you. Yeah. You're her mom. She wants to be with you. And I know you're not in the place to do it right now. And that may be right.

you gotta go tell her that. - You can't just leave. - Like you're skipping steps, right? Like I appreciate the thoughtfulness and whatnot, but like now you have to have that difficult conversation with your child and sort of try to lay out for her what you want the future to look like instead of just, you know, going. - Abandoning her. - Because I think that's, is that where we end? - Yeah, yeah. - That's where we end. - That's it, yep. That's what I have. What an episode. - This one messed with me. - Yeah.

Because it wasn't just sad, it was frustrating. Yeah. It was frustrating. But illuminating. To see her story unfold the way that it did, to get a glimpse, I hope, a realistic portrayal of what it might be like to be in the system and have an experience not unlike Deja's, I think that's important to show on television and mirror that in the thoughtful way that our show is.

always does. And again, like the audience trusting us with an entire, pretty much an entire episode about a character that's not the Pearsons. It's really special. And I think it was one of the things I loved most about our show that we were able to take those sort of calculated risks and know that people were on this journey with us. Agreed. There'd be times, so I did a TV show for six years. I had a wonderful time doing it. But I remember there'd be sometimes I was like,

"Oh, I'm in this scene." Or they'd be like, "Oh, I'm not in this scene." And then lines would get reassigned that were already written for another character and given to me because they're like, "Oh, we gotta have you in the scene. We're paying you for the episode. We gotta have you in the scene." Right? That's one way of doing it.

Then there's the, this is us way of doing it. It was like, I'm gonna get paid one way or the other. But whoever's best to help tell this story. That's right. You know what I'm saying? It gets employed in that direct way. And I appreciate that we were able to think in a sort of largesse in that way. Yeah. That we didn't have to just shoehorn people into things if they didn't fit organically into the story. Yeah. Dan would never. Right. Just wasn't gonna happen. That's not how he does things. Oh.

Good one, gang. Yeah, really good one. And again, one more time, shout out to Joy Brunson, who plays Shauna and plays Shauna delightfully, expertly. She's exquisite. To be able to have all the awards on you unapologetically, you know what I'm saying? Because I know as an actor, sometimes it doesn't always feel good to make bad decisions. No. Because you're still a person. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But you have to do them anyway. And she did them wonderfully. Yeah. She did them with perfect...

- Integrity. - Yes. - Yeah, yeah. - Because myself as an actor, when I get into a character like that, I find myself even trying from the inside to fix that person. - Sure. - Yeah. And apologize for that person. - Sure. - Because I don't wanna be that person.

- But she did it with perfect integrity. - She didn't do none of that. And then off to my little baby girl. I know you're not a girl anymore. I just love you so much. Lyric Nicole Ross, you're great. You did such a good job. I'm so proud. - I love watching her on screen. She's so captivating.

And listen, we're gonna go to a break right now. But also, let's, if you could help us spread the word about the podcast, we're still trying to quote unquote grow the show. So if everybody listening could tell, I don't know, why don't you tell one person? Tell one person, send them an episode, send them your favorite episode of the podcast and ask them to join us so we can keep this thing going. And yeah, we put a lot of thought into the advertisers that we bring on this show.

We use the products. We make sure that we like the products and that we believe in them, that we stand behind them. So if you can support those, um, those businesses, they help support the podcast. They keep supporting us. That's right. We'll be right back after this break more. That was us coming up.

- There's the joy of acting. - The joy of acting. Hi, Joy. - Hi, y'all. How are you? - Good. How are you? - Great. How are you? - I'm doing so well. I heard that's Spanish. That was nice. - - They're good. - Gracias. - Come on, makeup. Come on, hair.

Come on, take it away, Sterling. Save all the compliments. Yeah, save it, save it. Introduce the woman. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here with one of our favorite guest actors that we've had over the course of our time, Miss Joy Brunson, who brilliantly brought to life Miss Shauna, Deja's mama. How are you doing today, sis? It's so good to see you.

I'm doing so, so, so well. I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me, y'all. What a reunion. It's a pleasure. First of all, the makeup, hair and makeup team. I know. Are they known as Joy Bronson? It's killing it. Joy and Joy. Thank you. I'll let them know. Killing it today for anybody who's not checking it out on YouTube. Shame on you because she's looking good today. Thank you. We got finished watching 217.

And sister, you put your foot real deep in this job. Really. Thank you. Truly. Thank you. Before we get into 217 though, because we get a chance to meet you when you are incarcerated, when you're Randall and you have the first interaction, and then you come to the house and you get your daughter and whatnot. So talk to us a little bit about the audition process. How did this show come to you? Where were you in life when it did?

Oh my goodness. It was a balmy fall day. No. I remember the show had already been out. You know, people were already very much in love with it. And when we had the audition, all we got was This Is Us. It was dummy sides. We didn't know the characters.

very little information. But at that point in the audition, we were still going into the room and I saw all of my peers and I was like, okay, this is interesting. Who's here? This is interesting. And we had the first audition. It went well. It wasn't until the callback that I saw

who was really there that I was like, oh, this is something serious. Still didn't know what it was. I think it was sides from season one. Really? And I just remember getting in that room and now Dan's in there, Kay's in there, everyone's in there. Oh, wow. And I got super nervous. Wow.

was nervous but i didn't know what was going on yeah when i got in that last callback room i was like oh goodness so it went really well they had me do about four or five times did they tell you the care like what did yeah what did they give you give you any information they said she's a young mother whoa and and i thought maybe cool my baby's two or three years old right it wasn't until i got to set that i was looking lyric in the eye and i was like oh well look at

Oh, interesting. Yeah. So,

So they had me do one more note. And I remember going to the mirror and talking to myself and being like, Joy, this is it. This is what you've wanted your whole life. You know, leave it in this room no matter what. Just have as much fun as possible. And I left the studio that day and I was cheesing as if I had already booked it because I really felt like I left it in the room. I was happy with my audition, which isn't always the case, you know? Amazing. Yeah.

Turns out you did. Yeah, you did. Hey. Yeah. Worked out. So then the first scene was the one when like in the episode where we were supposed to come see you, you wound up getting in the fight, we couldn't see you. And then we have that scene with each other. Talk to me a little bit about what it was like for you. And I'll tell a little bit about what it was like for me. How much fun was it working with Sterling K. Brown? Yeah.

Exactly. How did you let Sterling? The Sterling K. Brown. Not only was that my first scene on the show, it was my scene with you, and it was the day you came back from winning the Emmy. Oh, no pressure. Yes. He brought it? Yes. Sterling did not bring it to set.

Excuse me. Wait, Joy, real quick. He brought it to set so he could show people because they wanted to hold it. Dan asked me if I'd be comfortable bringing it to set so that everybody could, and everybody on the crew was taking pictures of it. Of course. Of course. You know Sterling. It was a beautiful thing, but I hadn't shot my scene yet. So I'm watching everyone take a champagne toast knowing that when this was done, I had to say words to you. That was terrible.

The comedy side of this is from your perspective. Of this guy who, not knowing Dan, not knowing him at all, shows up with his idea. And everyone drinking champagne. It's too good. It's like a Ricky Gervais sketch.

If you were nervous, you could have fooled me. Your presence was so grounded and so strong. And it was these two different perspectives of two people who had genuine affection, love, and a growing love for this young lady. And you did not back down at all. You were like, come on, sir. You think you know me? Yeah.

You don't know me, sir. It was great. Yeah. Incredible. You know what it was? In my heart, I was like, we're both theater babies. Yeah. And that always just helps me. I'm like, he wants me to win. I want to win. Sure. So let's do it. Yeah. You know? It was a great dance. Thank you, ma'am. It was fantastic. And so let's move through. Can I just interject? Your scenes with Lyric...

are so powerful. They are so emotional. And the two of you, especially in 2017, like, getting to sort of see the breadth of, like, your relationship. Yeah. How did you connect with her? Like, it's so... It's incredible to watch an episode of television like that where, you know, we're following...

Deja on and learning about how she sort of came into the Pearson's life, right? And what her life was leading up to that. But the connection that you guys have, the rapport you have as mother or daughter is so

seamless and so believable the way you guys listen to each other your report like how did you develop that because we know as actors like you're just sort of thrust in a situation on the day there's not like a ton of time to exactly to to sort of develop that to find it how how did you guys manage that

Wow. Well, thank you, first of all. She really became my little sister instantly. We're both only children. I also have to always give credit to her mom, Brandy, who was always there. And I was able to talk to her as well about their relationship with each other because it mirrored, at least age-wise, myself and Dasia, or Shauna and Dasia. And so I think just connecting on where I was when I was 15, 16,

And I mean, she's a professional actor, so we were a little different. But kind of navigating high school and meeting new friends and really relating to each other allowed us to, I think, have our own kind of secret moments and bonds that served as subtext for those scenes. Yeah. Wow. She's a young lady that can play things close to the vest. Did you find that she sort of opened up readily or did you have to ask some questions to sort of get her to open a little bit? We had...

to crack the show a little bit, for sure, for sure. But I respect it, you know, because I'm also a private person. I was like, listen, what's yours is yours. But after a while, I don't, it might have been 217. I think so. We had a really good belly laugh and I was like, oh, we're locked in now. It was one of those moments. I was like, okay, we're here. It comes across on screen. You feel it. I love that. Yeah. Chris and I were talking about the episode and your performance in it.

and how sometimes as an actor, you may have a tendency to sort of apologize for a character when you know that they're not doing, they ain't getting their act right on. - Try to rewrite history through your performance. - But there was something so unapologetic and you just sort of owned it like, listen, if I'm a 19 year old mama, I'm gonna wanna kick it with my friends.

I put her in the bed. She's supposed to go to bed. I don't know what she's still doing up. You know what I'm saying? Like, talk to us a little bit about like, sort of like just owning all of who Shauna was throughout that journey. Right. I mean, you're absolutely right. And we're always taught not to judge our character. And I really couldn't, I will say, because we did so much during that episode, there was little time to stop and judge where we were. I just had to be present. I heard that. I went from six.

I think I aged 10 years in that one episode, so I was rolling with it. But also, having incredible people to be opposite of, working with the incredible Pam Grier, working with the lyrics. If you do one of those things again, you show up. I'm saying, you got to do an episode of the show. I didn't get no scenes with Pam Grier. I'm still a little salty, just a little bit. You know what? I would be too a little, just a little bit. Yeah.

But it was, I didn't know. It was so amazing. And she was so giving and warm. And every single time, I truly didn't judge Shawna because it's like she was trying. I truly believe she did the best she could in each moment, even if it failed, which she did a lot.

- Amen, amen. - Did you show Pam Grier your Emmy? - I didn't get a chance. I did not get to meet Pam Grier. I never ran into her in the hair and makeup trailer, like the whole time. - I didn't mean to bring up a rough spot, I'm sorry. - It makes me sad. - He's sore about it. - That's Foxy Brown, Jack. Talk to us a little bit. I just learned this interesting little tidbit. Somebody just got a master's degree

- Mm-hmm, yes. I went back to school and got my master's degree last year, yes. - And a master's in what? - In what? - In African and African Diaspora Studies. - I needed that said on camera, baby. I need to represent for the people, you know what I'm saying? Congratulations on that. Is it one of those things where you actively took a break from auditioning or were you auditioning while in school? How'd that go together?

I did the whole thing. It was after, you know, the pandemic and then the strikes. And I always wanted to go back to school. And I was like, Joy, no one is going to stop time for you to do this. Yeah. So I applied and I went back and I've always been interested in representations of black women on screen. So I want to marry the academic and the artistry together is my ultimate goal in life. So I went back and did it. Cool.

Wow. Oh, interesting tidbit about Joy. Joy is a golf instructor. I'm a golfer, yeah. She's a golfer. And it's been for a long time. Are you still actively instructed? You got like 19 hats on. I do a lot of things. It's so funny. I was at the course, was it yesterday or two days ago? So I'm not teaching. I'm teaching my friends. But I'm playing still. Yes, absolutely. You're getting in like 18 holes a week, more or less, what?

Much less these days, but I want to get back into it. I had a great group of women that I played with, and then everyone moved on to different stages of life. But if you're a female golfer, please come. It was pickleball, wasn't it? They all moved on to pickleball. Pickleball ruined golf. Everybody's playing pickleball. You're so interesting. That's so cool.

Absolutely fascinating. Wow. Do folks recognize you from the show? And if they do, what kind of feedback do you get? Yes, people still scream, Deja's mama. That's better than Manny. Manny! You get Deja's mama. Yeah.

Hey, Deja's mama. I often see that clip, our first clip circulating where everyone's like, oh, he told her about the headscarf and the clip. So they're still reading me. Yes. But I actually have gotten a lot of love from people who were foster children or who went through the system and how much they related to both Deja and Shauna's perspectives on things. And that's always really heartwarming. I'm sure. Yeah.

Absolutely. That last scene, I'm curious, because you and Sue had a really wonderful conversation in 2017. I was loving seeing two sisters on screen together with slightly different perspectives on things, right? But that decision, Mandy and I had this conversation. Again, when you have to make a decision,

First of all, do you agree? Like I was saying that, yeah, she probably should leave Deja, but is the way to do it by not talking to her? Maybe not. So I'm always curious, like, how do you feel like when you as the actor is like, I wouldn't do that, but no, but this is what you're doing. This is what Sean is doing. How does that sit in the soul?

You know, it is troubling and I hope and that's what I felt in those moments that she was wrestling with that decision. You know, coming to the house, watching you all watch the film. I don't think she knew what she was going to do when she first came over and asking for help. But by the time we meet each other on the stairwell, it was almost as if I had said everything that I could.

And now it's like I'm passing an emotional baton. And also I would like to think that she wanted to go get herself together so she could come back better. It's always about coming back better for Shawna. But it definitely was a wrestling of emotions for sure. Yeah. I mean, I had this whole moment when I was talking about 217.

When I was talking about leaving my little girl with some grown ass man that I don't know. I was like, hey, come on, girl. This is your daughter. I don't know him. I know. I know. Leaving him with Lonzo and his friends. I was like, this is this will not end well. Questionable decisions were made. Truly.

But it was a beautiful performance. And it was such like, listen, what I love about what Dan allowed in the course of this show or whatnot is like every once in a while, he let other people who sometimes have to play the tambourine step up front and get a chance at the microphone.

And like you had an opportunity and you crushed the opportunity, man. Absolutely. Really, really beautiful episode. Beautiful work. Thank you so, so much. I definitely didn't take it for granted. I wanted to make everyone proud. I recognized the moment and I tried my best to rise to it. So I appreciate that. You did and more. It was extraordinary work. And thank you for joining us and chatting about it today. So happy to revisit you.

If people wanted to catch up with you right now, you want to hit them with what your socials are. And is there anything that we can look forward to or things that you're particularly proud of that you said, go, go ahead and stream this because I like that. And what's your handicap? Yeah. Yeah. And that.

I haven't had it in a long time, but I was sitting at an eight for many years. I played in college as well. Come on now. All right. So Joy Brunson on social. And then I just started a new social film club called Black Girls Cinema Club. So please check us out on Instagram and www.blackgirlcinemaclub.com as well. I'm very excited for that new venture. Very cool. I'm excited to check it out. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Joy Brunson Films.

Thank you so much once again for your time sister. Thank you Joy. Lovely to see you. All right. Hey everybody, it's Chris, Sterling and Mandy, and we are here with the Peloton Retread. The Retread is brought to you, like I said, by Peloton. Find your push, find your power with Peloton. Well, we talk on this 217, beautiful episode, right?

We talked about how much I love Lyric Nicole Ross, who plays Deja, who's a young lady who held this episode together flawlessly. We talked about Joy Brunson, who plays Shauna, who let all of her warts on her skin show easily, effortlessly, and beautifully. Thank you for being the foil for a wonderful episode. We sort of talked about the ingenious nature of appreciating our audience for riding with us on this journey of an episode that

happened to unfold about one character that wasn't the Pearsons and how we were able to sort of model an episode like this throughout the entirety of the series, which I thought was really a special thing about our show. Agreed. Lean away from judgment, lead towards compassion. I like that, man. Try to find the things that connect us rather than the things that separate us. That's right. Consider yourself retreaded. This was our retread segment brought to you by Peloton. Find your push, find your power with Peloton.

That Was Us is filmed at Rabbit Grin Studios and produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. That was us.