Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
On today's episode of That Was Us, we will be discussing Season 3, Episode 1, Nine Bucks. Kate, Kevin, and Randall celebrate their 38th birthdays while each facing their own personal challenges. Plus, we flash back to the very beginning to see how Jack and Rebecca met and what their memorable first date was like.
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What's happening? It's good to see you guys. It's always good to see you. It's been a real pleasure. I just finished the entire first season of Paradise. Did you? I'm behind. I'm behind. It's all good. Non-stop, baby. Thank you very much. I texted you. I texted Dan. I think I texted people.
which everybody, Yasu. Everyone involved. I was like, you're all giving me classic you while giving me something completely new. I loved it. It was great. Thank you guys very much. We're about to start shooting season two. We've actually started shooting season two right now. So it's off to the races and I think season two will be just as good as season one. Amazing. Crossing my fingers hoping for the best. What have you been up to? Yeah. Nothing.
Just, you know, momming and hanging out and same old, same old. At the time of the recording of these podcasts, it is Aries Nation going on. SKB is one step closer to a half century. 49 years. Yeah, you just had your birthday. Happy belated. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Mandy Moore will have her birthday in three days time. Is that correct? Yes. Yes. On Thursday, 41. 41. Let's go. How do you?
How do you feel? You're into the 40s now. I love it. You love it? Yes. Better than the 30s? Oh, yeah. Why is that? Because my family. You got the whole family. It's like theory at the end. You were 30, no kids. 43 kids. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Like a crazy person. So I feel like...
Everybody says your 40s and your 50s, like it just gets better and better. These are like the best chapters of your life. So, so far so good. No complaints. I would agree. I feel, I don't feel, I feel like I'm getting older because I am. I don't feel old.
No. You know what I'm saying? You don't look old. Well, thank you very much. You know what I mean? Don't crack, baby. That's what they say. You know what I'm saying? But it's just a joy to live life. You see this family growing up around you and with you. My kids are almost 14 and 10. Wow. And it's just... You remember seeing them when they were babies on set and everything? And it's just...
They're a joy to behold and you see them grow up. It's like, kind of like the show. Yeah. You understand the passage of time through them. Indeed. Indeed you do. Yeah.
So, yeah, this is the beginning of season three, gang. That's right. We've done two seasons of this old podcast thing. We've been enjoying ourselves. We're keeping the show rolling. That's right. Right? What's popping in season three? What are we going to talk about first? Well, what I think is like an interesting delineation is that, and Dan sort of spoke to it when he was here recently, this is sort of like...
a big change for the show, right? Yeah, it feels it. Yeah, because we've explored Jack's passing. We know how he passed now. And that chapter has sort of come to a very... Yeah. It's come to a close. Sure. So now moving forward...
Yeah.
I think with the introduction of Vietnam, it's a really big swing. We're a network TV show with 42 minutes and 30 seconds each episode. And we went to Vietnam. And this is such a huge plot point, I think, for the entire third season. And it's a big question. It paints a more fully realized version of Jack. It shows him to be more complicated and complex than, I think...
America and the audience has sort of come to know and love of this man. And it's really... It's just... It's such an interesting toolbox that they've sort of allowed themselves. And I think, like, again...
We're a third of the way through the series, right? And this is just an interesting turning point, I think, for the show. And it starts off in such fashion because it's sort of a montage. Episode one of season three opens in the form of a montage, as a lot of our episodes do. But we're sort of...
is fixating on this family and on this man that we've never seen before. And we're not quite sure, is it present day? Is it the past? Like there's some indicators that like, okay, I think this is in the past. It's a handsome man with an Afro and a beard. And we're like, okay, who is he? How does he factor in? Who is he in the family? And we follow him and it's sort of intercut with
Kate and Toby deciding they want to make a baby. Fertility clinic factoring in. Deja's running with Randall. We recognize that Shauna has given up her parental rights. We see Kevin and Zoe in bed with each other. Yes, we do. Knockin' boots. We keep seeing this, flashing back to this mystery man who's now suiting up in a Steelers jersey. That's right. Come on up. Okay, okay. This football family, we're starting to sort of
We're also playing on the same night of Jack and Rebecca meeting. Right. And then it sort of is revealed...
that this is, what's his name? His name is Franco Harris. Franco Harris, that's right. That's right, thank you. The most important part, right? The most important detail. And this is the night of something they called the Immaculate Reception. That is absolutely, come on, Manny boy! You gotta bring it home, dude! I'm talking too much. I'm talking too much. No, I love it! No, it's great. The show, if the show is a pendulum that swings, right, between the past and the present, this is like a clear delineation that the pendulum is starting to swing
further into the future and further into the past. Correct. And the show like widens its scope to...
obviously, when you guys first meet. And then as we get a few episodes in, we see even back into your high school days. But I love that Dan and our writers are able to weave in the sort of historical context for a family like the Pearsons who love football, football's their life, the Super Bowl, like all of that is sort of woven into the fabric of the family. And sort of being able to draw upon this other part of
the Steelers history, Pittsburgh, like all of that, that makes sense for the family. Again, like you said, widening the swing of this pendulum is so fascinating. And I feel like it's only setting us up and the audience up for more of that to come as the show continues on. Should we start there in the flashback and walk through that? Yeah, let's do it. Because it, like you said, it starts with that montage and we start by seeing this, this football player. Yeah. And it's,
We essentially very quickly land in Ray's Tavern. Yep. Where Jack and Rebecca first met. Where you are singing. Yeah. And Jack is watching you sing because he's about to rob this place. Yes. While the football game is going on in the background. That's how that factors in. Yeah.
And he gets transfixed. And interesting fact, I completely forgotten about this. There's two guys sitting off to the side who are watching you sing. And they're like, look at this. And the guy says, look at this guy. He's a goner. That actor's name is...
is Paige Smith. Okay. He is an old friend of mine from Chicago. Get out of here! He is also a photographer and took Rachel and I's engagement photos. What? No! Yeah, yeah, yeah. What in
world what in the world i i of course knew that at the time and and hung out with him at that time and i called him like we gotta go we gotta go get a coffee or something but i was like that's right that's right page smith was uh you know back in the late aughts walking up and down uh some center media on michigan avenue taking photos of me and rachel you know holding hands doing like the classic like
Look away. Fake laughing. Getting married. Fun fact. And there he was. And there he was in the bar watching you sing. And he was totally smitten. Like the look on Milo's face checking out Mandy is like, that's it.
He goes out to his buddy and he's like, I met the girl. He's like, oh, you met a girl. I met the girl. How much money do you have? How much money you got? He's like, I got five bucks. I don't have any money. That's why we're here. That's why we're here. He's like, I got four bucks for my name. He's like, I got to show her like the time of her life with nine bucks. Right. And the title of the episode, nine bucks. Right.
So he takes her to the carnival. That's right. No, wait, before they even go to the carnival, they have a little conversation, right? A chit-chat at the table. And you're so just like excited and vivacious and lively. And he's just listening. Yeah. He's just like everything that you say, he's like, oh. Hanging on every word. Every single word, right? And it's so cute. She's like, well, we should probably go somewhere and do something. He's like, yeah, yeah, let's go do something. He goes to get the money. And then the thing, we find them at the carnival.
Carnival cost how much to get into? Five bucks. Cost five bucks in the carnival. More than half your money gone. Right? I got $4 left, right? Who loves candy apples and hot chocolate, baby? Rebecca has a real sweet tooth. Seriously. I'm like, that's a... You know, I like to dip my candy apple in hot chocolate, too. Could you...
It softens it up a bit. If you could just get me some. Also, the amount of candy apple. So that's the thing, too. Let me say this, folks. You commit to eating on camera because sometimes people be like, they didn't even take a bite.
There's a reason for it. There's a reason there's a nibble. If you can make the choice. I had no choice in this particular case. She was supposed to like get into that candy apple immediately. She loves candy apples. Did you do a spit bucket? I did. I did a spit bucket with the candy bar too. Back in the Super Bowl episode. There was just like a trash can next to me. I was like, I,
I'm done with the Mars bars. One of my first high-paying gigs, have we already talked about this on the podcast, was a Snickers campaign. What? No. No. So when I was in Chicago, I auditioned for this campaign of Snickers commercials called Feast. Okay. And it was...
And it was a Viking, a pilgrim, like a King George type character, a Polynesian, and a Roman. Five people associated with feasting. Okay, okay. Sure. This was in the era of, do you remember the Skittles commercials where it was like the little berries and cream, berries and cream. I'm a little lad who likes berries and cream. No, I don't.
Do you remember this? Okay. Everyone's laughing in the room right now. Pause the podcast. Go find it on YouTube. Look it up. Wait, don't pause it. Unpause it. Listen to me. Go look it up. Now pause the podcast. Watch the commercial. Anyways, it was a time in commercials where commercials were like psychedelic and bizarre. Okay. Okay. There was a whole phase. Like Puppy Monkey Baby? Super Bowl commercial? Puppy Monkey Baby.
Puppy monkey baby. Kind of, kind of. Puppy monkey baby. I can't say I do. Listen, we've got a lot to watch at lunch. Yeah.
A lot to keep up with. Anyways, so it's a series. It's a series. This is a long story for no reason. I'm digging it. It was a long audition process. Were you the Viking? I was the Viking. Okay. Okay. That makes sense. Jeff Hiller, who was- What? No way. You know Jeff? No, but I mean, I know who he is. Okay. So he played the Pilgrim. Okay. And you can still Google these. They're on YouTube, these commercials. Okay. And it was, they got five of us together in a Ford Taurus-
in July in Staten Island. That sounds fun. Driving around doing Snickers commercials, eating Snickers.
All day. Did they melt? Yes. Every day for five days straight. But you're early in your career, so at what point in time did you choose to use the bucket? Well, here's the problem. Okay. A lot of these were like one-ers, which is like chew it, talk through the chewing, feasting. Gotcha. Gotcha. Right? And I haven't had a Snickers since.
Yeah. Yeah. But Snickers, you can sponsor us. That's okay. You'll be fine with that. Listen. We'll eat right now. Of all the candies to advertise, I was into it. They satisfy. But yeah, it was when I was first offered a spit bucket. How many do you think you ate? In the course of that week, I probably ate two dozen Snickers bars. That's a lot. I just started having proper BMs last week.
Like, you know what I mean? That track. This dude is crazy, man. This was over a decade ago. Okay, so Candy Apples, it was a lot of...
Of really gross, sticky, hardened sugar. Yeah. You were outside. Outside. It was actually... It was humid. Yeah. Yeah. A nice sticky... And the fake rain that they had to use for the scene. Wasn't helping anything. But you look cute when you eat them.
Oh, you're sweet. And you have a little cute thing. Yeah, I had to leave. I had a beret, but I had to have a little bit of the candy apple on my lip so he could sort of wipe it off. There you go. The beret was such a... That's a strong... It's a signature. It's iconic. That is a signature. And it's a strong choice. And it works. It was Hala, our costume designer. It was her idea that she engineered that. Was there any pushback from you? No, no. Were you at any... No, come on. Stop, come on. Chris, stop. At any point were you like...
A beret? A beret? There was no question mark ever? Not just one like, a beret? No, actually... Because it works. I really liked it. Yeah, I did too. You're adorable. You know, Hala and I had a good working relationship. I think she was so...
She was so excited about dressing Rebecca. Yeah. Like, I think it was a real... And I've mentioned this before, but Zoe and Michael, like, whenever they got the chance to sort of, like, focus on early days Rebecca, like, Jack and Rebecca courtship or early marriage or something. It was fun. I think everybody got super excited because it meant that they could, like, live out their late 70s, early 80s, like, fantasy. So I never questioned the Bray. I always loved, like...
Yeah, I love that that sort of became her signature, her signature accessory. Absolutely. You got you. Absolutely. So you guys are at this carnival, and it starts to rain. Things are kind of starting to go downhill. They're going downhill. You're like, let's play a game. Let's play a game. Rebecca says, oh, good thing that a guy's selling umbrellas right over there. He's like, yeah, but it's not really raining that hard. And she's like, yeah, no, I guess. I guess it's not that bad. I guess not.
In my mind, I'm like, am I crazy? Because it feels like it's actually raining. People are using umbrellas. They're ducking to stand under us. Because let's go back to it. One guy gets struck by lightning. $5 to get in. How much was the hot chocolate and the candy apple? $2. We got how much left?
We got $2 left. Yeah, she's like, are you sure you don't want anything? He's like, no, no, I'm good. He's chilling. And so the next time we see them, they're like standing under a canopy, just like not having... Have they already played the this or that game? Or is that about to happen? I think that's about to happen. I think that's about to happen. Because Rebecca throws it out there. She's like, okay, let's just...
Real quick, I'm going to throw something out and we answer at the same time, right? Dogs or cats? Go. Dogs. Cats. Yeah. And it's like that. Pepperoni or cheese? Pepperoni or mushrooms? Oh, yeah. He says pepperoni, you say mushrooms. And it's just like nobody...
The vibe isn't there. Yeah. Right? Like it's falling. It's a real Russian roulette for a date. Yeah. Like you're like, all right, we're at a crossroads. Let's see. Let's see which road this date's going down. So wait, before we get to this. All right, Trump or Biden? No, stop. Before we get to this date, the question that occurred to me
- Can any of you guys recall your first date with your wife or husband? - Oh yeah. - Oh yeah. - Who wants to go? - Chris? - You go. - No, no, I wanna hear. - Y'all, Rach said no to me like two or three times. - Really? - Then she said yes a couple of times and canceled.
What were the excuses? Work stuff. Okay, gotcha. Legitimate. And then, so maybe. Supposedly. I thought, I don't know. Supposedly. I don't know this woman. Right? Yeah. But I kept trying. Okay. And on the third one, I'm a get there early guy. I always have been. And it's actually not good. I would get to my prom date's house 30 minutes early and knock on the door. I do. You're like, what are you doing?
Like, I'm being prompt, sir. Like, she's in the shower. Yeah. 30 minutes. She's not ready. Yeah, she's not ready. And so I couldn't stop because it's also my acting thing. Like, for auditions, I get there early. Sure, sure. I need to get there early and, like, lower my heart rate. Absolutely. And, like, see the door? There's the door. I'll sit over here. I'm with you. And so I got to her neighborhood and, like, went and got a coffee. Okay. Like, an hour before I was supposed to pick her up. And I got a phone call. Listen, I can't. I have to...
I have to make 10 copies of this presentation. Oh, I remember this story. Yeah, I've told you. I told it on that Zoom we did over the pandemic, too. Maybe that's why I remember it. Where I played the song, where I played... Oh, yes. Yes. And I was like, 10 copies of a presentation. It's 7.30 on a Friday. Yeah. I have to go to Kinko's. And for anybody listening who doesn't know what Kinko is, it used to be an all-night copy center because...
Let's face it. You used to have to go somewhere to print those things out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I said, I'll go with you. And just because I was like, just like calling her bluff. It's like, okay. And we got in a cab and we went to Kinko's where she had sent her order in. And it's seven o'clock at night. We're the only people in this Kinko's.
waiting for these presentations. Are you kidding me? It's a Kinko's like two blocks from her boss's house. She's going to walk the presentations to her boss's house. And while we're standing there, there's like seven employees working at this Kinko's and two of us. And over the like house audio sound system comes Purple Rain by Prince. I've heard it. You've heard of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm talking about. And I was like, oh, hell yeah. Yeah.
And I asked Rachel if she wanted to dance. In the Kinkos. Yeah, in the Kinkos to Purple Rain. And we did. And then we walked the presentations to her boss's house. So it was a real thing. And then we were supposed to go to this little Italian restaurant in my neighborhood where I knew the owners. It was like a little basement joint with like 10 tables. And by the time we did all that, they were closed. You went to Domino's? Well, I called. And the owner was like, no, no, come, come, come.
And so the owner, who was also the cook and the server, let us in and cooked for us. And we had our first date. That is true romance. Yes.
Yeah. That's pretty awesome. Yeah, it was a good date. Did she say anything to you in hindsight after like, you really wanted to take me to Kinko's? Like, was she thinking anything about like? No, she was focused on what she, she was like, whatever. I was just like, I was like, yeah, along for the ride. It worked. Yeah, it worked. It worked. I love that. More That Was Us after this short break.
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That's TWU to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. SKB? Well, I was young. You know, the Bird and I have known each other since freshman year of college, but we didn't actually start dating until junior year of college.
And we didn't even go, we went on a date after we got together. Because you get together, you're on campus and you're in college or whatnot. And so the circumstances under us getting together are sort of like weird because she was dating this other guy and she was hiding it. And then she broke up with the guy and then we wound up sort of like hooking up. And so we're together. But I was like, we should go on a date.
So we go to this place close to Stanford. It's called Armadillo Willie's. It's like a barbecue sandwich place. I know it. Do you really? Yeah. So we go to Armadillo Willie's. I think this is our first date. We get sandwiches and whatnot. And what I noticed about Ryan Michelle, and to this day, her favorite sort of food is French fries. Right? Like for Lent. I'm with her. For Lent, it's usually like one of the things that she'll...
Steak fries. Shoestring. More shoestring, more, you know, McDonald's. She'll go waffle too. Like a traditional fry. But Armadillo Willie's has like a seasoned sort of textured fry. Tempura batter. There you go. I know the fry. My favorite too, Ryan. That's my favorite. So what I'm noticing at this date is like they give a big bowl of fries for the date so that you can kind of share it with each other.
And I'm eating my sandwich. And if I grab a fry, she'll grab a fry. And she's very particular about which fries she wants. You see her looking through the thing. Looking. And this woman, I was like, oh, she's going to eat all the fries. Yeah.
So I was like, I have to get in there. And so there was this small but subtle tug of war over like- The good fries. Oh yeah. I was like, let me get the fry. And she's like, oh yeah. We're talking about middle potato. We're talking about middle potato. Not the end. Not the butt of the potato. The whole time we're talking to each other, but there's also like, you ain't gonna eat more fries than me. Ha ha ha.
We dipping? We dipping fries. We dipping. What do we dip? There's some, I'm trying to think of what, probably barbecue sauce at Armadillo Willie's. These days though, I like a good aioli. Like I'm a, I've been converted with the European ketchup is passe. I'm all about the mayonnaise. I'm serious. Okay. But Heinz, if you're listening, listen, if you want to, Heinz makes mayo too. That's right. Come on now. Yeah. This episode brought to you by Heinz 57 mayonnaise.
What about you, Tay? We met... Okay.
I heard a song of theirs. I've said this stupid story. I heard a song on the radio. Yeah. On the radio. Remember when we used to listen to the radio? And I was like, oh, I really like this song. Who's this band? And I was waiting for them to back announce it. They didn't. I went on the radio station's website and deduced who it was. Oh, look at you. I was like, oh, yeah, there's David Bowie. So I figured, I was like, never heard of Dawes. I went on iTunes. I mean, this is 2015. I got you. So this was a while ago.
and saw they had a new album coming out. I posted about it on Instagram. This was the days of like no DMs, no tagging anybody. I just was like, just posted about them, said like, can't wait for this album to come out. And so you're not seeing him, you just heard. Just heard him. Okay, okay. And a friend, like a mutual friend of ours is like, hey Taylor, did you see that Mandy posted about your band?
He figured out how to send an email through his manager to my manager. And she was like, oh, some guy in a band forwarded you. I'm going to forward this email. And it was a very innocuous, very typical Taylor. Thank you so much for the kind words or something. I'd love to send you some merch. Yeah, totally. He was like, we'll send you an album if you want to come to a show in LA or something. Let me know.
And we started emailing back and forth. Then that led to texting. And then that led to like, we should go have dinner. And I still had not looked him up. Didn't know what he looked like. Really? Yeah. Man. Because I was in the middle of a divorce. Understood. So I was like, not really. I love that you tried to find a divorce.
What did you call it? How do you say? How do kids say these days? How do you say in French? The end of the marriage. I did not. So I was not like looking to be in a relationship. I was not looking to date. Yes. Taylor thought otherwise. So we finally like choose to go out to dinner. And I walk in and he's the only guy in this restaurant because it's early. It's like five or six o'clock.
And I was like, God damn it. He's really cute. Like, this was not what I wanted. And we ended up having this, like... And stylish. Stylish and cool and funny, all the things. Yeah. And we had this, like, epic three-hour-long date, closed the restaurant down, ended up going to a bar. Neither of us are big drinkers, so we just, like, we got a sparkling water. We ran into his brother. It's a picture of Sangria. Yeah.
We ran into his brother and his brother's girlfriend, who now is my sister-in-law, and like his best friend. They were all at this bar. And we just like hung out and I got to meet. It was a real froggies moment. And then he left or we parted ways and he left for four months to go on tour.
So we proceeded to court, like have this courtship via FaceTime and texting and stuff. And I totally fell in love. We fell in love with each other without holding hands, kissing, nothing. Because this date, it was just sort of like hug goodbye. We parted ways and then didn't see each other for like two months.
And just like stayed in touch FaceTiming. And then when we did finally see each other, I met him in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Say it again. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan. You had it. Saskatchewan. The plains of Canada. Yes. And he met me at the airport. He was on tour there. And it was like a rom-com. I met him down at Baggage Claim. And we like had our first kiss while we were waiting at the airport.
baggage carousel for my suitcase. And that was it. Been together ever since. So we waited two months to have our first kiss. It was very cute. Wow. But that's such a cool thing. In a way, it feels similar to mine. I had three years of knowing Ryan and sort of developing this friendship before anything ever happened. But it's like, you loved that person before you
The other part wasn't even as important or it was just like the icing on the cake. Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah. But like the person connection was there. So there. That was how Taylor and I fell in love too. Yeah. It's pretty much. You guys have a real romance. I met him at, it was like on the Fox lot. Yeah. It was like some event. Some event. And you were there and I was there. And that's when I met him for the first time. That's where I heard of Dawes for the first time. Yeah. Which,
When I heard Dawes, I was blown away that I had not heard of them sooner. You're like, what? It's like, this is my band. Yeah. Like, this is my band. Yeah. And I downloaded every single album they'd ever recorded and started listening in order and then just texting Taylor as I listened. Are you serious? I remember that. I was like, hey, so album one, track three, I had all kinds of questions. I remember that. I was like,
I was so into it. And I just, yeah, anyways. That's freaking awesome. But we haven't kissed yet. No, not yet. Okay. We're saving it. Good for you. I can't wait. That's very- Okay, back to the show, guys. White Lotus-y. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is White Lotus-y. White Lotus-coded. Okay. So they drive home. He'd pull up. The date's going poorly, right? And Jack finally fesses up. He's like-
- They're sitting in the car, right? - Sitting in the car. - In front of your house. - In front of her place. And he's like, "I didn't have money to get the umbrella 'cause I wanted to save money in case you wanted to play games." Right? Like, you don't take a girl to the carnival and not be able to let her play the games. - And Rebecca says, "I don't play games." Oh wait, games at the carnival, sorry. - And they admit that it's not gone the way that they were hoping that it would go.
Rebecca says, there's some moves my friends told me. Like if you have a good date, you're supposed to leave something behind in the car. Right? But that's not what this is. Hasn't been that kind of date. This is, real quick, this is one of the sexiest conversations I've ever seen on camera. Beck's got game. The way both of you are playing it. Yeah. And looking at each other. And the script is just like perfectly playful and vague. Yeah.
Really, really good. It's good. But it's also like, I like seeing Rebecca slash Mandy more. You'd be like, she's got game. I don't have game. It's all a facade. Thank you. But no, I definitely don't. So this is a moment. It's clearly like a moment in the timeline of the show. What was it like? Filming it? Falling in love.
It was so easy with Milo. And it was so easy because at this point we had such a shared history. We had built so much together that it was a relief. It was sweet to finally meet this moment. Oh, we've been waiting for this. To not have to do it like episode two. Exactly. And in my mind, obviously, we had had this sort of like...
figure out what that looked like when you're building the building blocks of your relationship. But to actually get to be there and experience it and allow yourself to fall into it was very easy and effortless. And it was Ken. I mean, it's just like the familiar apparatus of our show that made everything feel logistically different.
safe and you knew to trust it. So well written. So well written. She says, "So it's a no on cats?" He's like, "I'm allergic." And now on mushrooms, he's like, "I hate them." He's like, "I really hate them." And she says like, "Gosh, I'm supposed to take this off and leave and it's not supposed to happen, but there's something about the way that you look at me, dog."
Something about the way you look at me, dog, that I'm like, I like the way you see me. Yeah. And then she come over and this kiss. I love the Jack Rebecca kiss. Mouths open full. Oh, yeah. Full on open and just like tasting each other, baby. Do it slow.
Right? And then she leaves. But as she leaves the car, you see this little thing slip off the back. She's like, bye, Jack.
I know you got Gary Vee anymore. Don't lie to me. I would never do that. Yeah. She would just figure out how to get that email. Yeah, exactly. Just figure out how to find it. There you go. And he sees it go, but he also sees that she left her garment in the car. And he kind of smiles like, all right, it was a good day. It's good stuff, right?
So the episode doesn't end there, right? No. The episode, and that storyline in particular, ends with Jack coming back from...
the next day or whatnot, sort of feeling good about himself. He actually went home, his dad who we know he has a complicated relationship with his dad. And he's like, "What are you smiling about, boy?" He's like, "Nothing, man." Like even you right now can't bring me down off the high that I'm on 'cause I met the girl, you know? And he goes back the next day to see the girl.
And we hear on the voiceover from the sports announcer, because he's talking about the immaculate reception. Right. And Franco Harris and how the ball ricocheted off of one player. He winds up catching it, running in for a touchdown. And as this is playing over, there's some dude at the door standing with Rebecca. And this dude starts kissing. Yeah, leans in for a kiss. On my mama, right? Yeah.
While my daddy is watching this happen. And my man says, Chris, take it from here. A reminder for all of us, I think, that sometimes a ball has to bounce off one person a few times to end up in the hands of the right guy and make a story truly.
Come on, dog. Yeah. How does Fogman do come up with this crap, man? I know. That's what I mean. Tying this together. We're like, what has Franco Harris got to do? With the Pearsons, besides him being a stealer. Even when I watched it for the first time, I was like, this is kind of a stretch too far. Until. Because at first I'm like, ugh.
okay, Steelers, and I'm like, how is he going to pull this on? How's he going to pull this off? And the interesting part that I thought right before that, they show Franco Harris
arriving home after the game. - I love, like, Franco took the bus to Steelers. It's a different era. - Back when athletes, it was like a blue collar job, like a nine to five. - Did you see people pouring onto the field too? I thought that was crazy. I was like, in what world? The game ends and people are freaking out and it's a frenzy and they're jumping over there. - Security's not the same. - Oh my gosh.
Wow, that must have been so fun. And to show his family. Yeah. And the family nature of... Very similar to... Yes, the Pearsons. That's right. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, it was great. But it's also a little bit of a head fake too because there's another storyline that we'll get into talking about Deja's father. Yes, there is. And you're like, wait.
Oh, so you know what's funny? Like from being on the inside, I never thought about. Oh, really? Like I know there's the scene. I know there's the scene where they pass the bicycle shop and they look in, there's the knowing glance with the man in the bicycle shop. And Shauna, yeah. But there's also this, so you're like, which is the head fake? Which is the, what's Dan Fogelman gonna do here? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then it occurs to you like,
Dan Fogelman's certainly not going to rewrite history that Frank O'Hara is her father. No, no, no, no. That would have been a big swing. Let's jump into Black Pearsons, right? Yes. Because Dej, we see that she busted up the car at the end of last season.
She's apologetic and she's doing some things to try to get herself together. She's running like Randall had suggested and he's trying to keep up with her. And it's real quick. She talked about how she started running and how fast she was going. And she wanted me, this is lyrics, saying like, that's fast, right? And I'd be like, yes. I was like, that's really fast. And she was like, how fast do you run? And I was like, as fast as I need to for this scene. And she's like, but can you run as fast as me on the treadmill? And I was like...
I do okay. She was like low-key challenging you? Yeah. But like what number do you go up to? I was like, don't worry about it. Whatever you do, I will struggle cinematically right behind you. Cinematically. It's hysterical.
It was really, really good. Yeah. And then we see that, you know, custody is shifting and that Shauna is giving up her parental rights and the dad is not going to be present. He's made it clear that he doesn't want to have anything to do with the situation, which is all. And we learned that this is permanent. Yeah. This time it's permanent. The judge uses the word permanently.
Yep. There we go. It is the Pearson's birthday, right? So Randall finds a note in bed, it's his birthday. Deja thinks back to her dad as like all the kids are doing things for dad and sort of preparing for the birthday celebration. And you see, I think we see for the first time, do we see the bike shop?
in that moment or not. - There's a flashback with her. It's her and her mom walking by the bike shop. - Yeah, as a little girl. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. Oh, I guess I kind of have to touch a little bit on what the Beth and Randall part is also, Zoe is staying with them while she's working on her documentary.
And Beth is... Convinced. Convinced. That Kevin and Zoe are hooking up. Their boots are knocking. And she happens to be right. Yes. Totally. We don't know it for sure, but... And this scene has one of the best written and best delivered lines in the series. Which one? She tells you, you need to talk to your brother. And you say, say what? And she says, to get your hands off my cousin or I'll murder you in the face. Oh.
I'll murder you in the face. I don't even know if that was as written or that might have just been Sue. That's Sue. That's gotta be Sue. Is it?
And you make her promise not to do anything. And she has to swear on Oprah. On Oprah. You know, it's funny. When I watch us in that scene in particular, I said to myself, I was like, these are two people who love each other. Oh, yeah. Like, it comes across really as an audience member. It's not the first time. It's so evident from the beginning. From episode one. It's really, really cool to watch. Randall and Deja.
So because they talk about it in that scene, also it's like, now I think it's time for me to have the conversation. And you're like, oh, what conversation does he want to have with her? So he takes her to the apartment building that they bought where he first met William, where he lived and whatnot. Yeah.
And he tells her that this building sort of defined my life or being adopted has defined my life. Right. And I didn't have any say in it. And I don't want that to be the case for you. So I want to let you know that Beth and I would like to officially adopt you. But we want to make sure that that's something that you indeed want.
And this little girl, she just sort of hits you right in the gut. She's like, "Look, man, every time you try to come up with these scenarios where we're the same, I get a little cringy or whatnot because we're not. Like you had two dads who loved you very much. I had a dad that didn't want anything to do with me, right? I've had to bounce from family to family to family. So you trying to come and act like we're the same, like just stop, right?"
And I'm like, man...
Dude tries so hard. And he tells her later, he's like, you know what? I'm sorry. I thought long hard about this. I had planned this speech. She's like, I could tell. And it just never quite goes the way that he's hoping that it would go with her, right? Then, I think you're an exceptional person. Exceptional person I had written down too. He says, I think you're an exceptional person and I miss talking to you.
And at the end of that scene, she says, I'm sorry I screwed up your birthday, Randall. And he's like, you didn't. Like all these moments of like attempting to connect sort of work antithetically to what he's hoping for. So he thinks, right? Because ultimately something happens where Deja leaves the crib and she says, I got something I got to go do.
Well, I think she's watching everybody get ready for the birthday party and whatnot and how much love they have for Randall. And so she goes to see her biological dad. Back to the bike shop. Back to the bike shop. And she's like, you don't have to pretend like you don't know who I am. I'm going to be something great. I'm going to do something great with my life.
This family, they want me so bad that they plan out weird conversations to tell me. And so I came to ask you for one thing, then you'll never have to hear from me again. And in that conversation, she also says, they told me that I'm exceptional. That's the word that they use with me. And it's like, to the writers, I get this sort of like,
We think sometimes as parents that like our kids, and maybe as they get older for you guys, but like as I'm talking to the teenager, I'm like, I don't know if this dude is hearing what I'm saying. So I'll say it a couple times and it's probably going in one ear, out the other. And then you hear reflected back to like, oh, they did. She did hear it. And it did mean something.
You know, like the effort does mean something. Even though it doesn't go the way that he wants it to go in the moment, like the effort, the fact that there's a dude who wants me. Yeah. There's this family that wants me. It's such a beautiful thing for her to reflect back to that dad of hers. Right. So-
She comes back and she has like running shoes. Yeah. Well, she left, right? She left. Because at the end of the episode, Beth and Randall are like calling for the girls to come downstairs. They're going to sort of cut the cake. Yeah. And she comes in the front door and it's like, oh. Her opening line is, I snuck out. Yeah.
And Randall starts to reprimand her. We have rules in this house. And she was like, yeah, but I have this. And then your tone changes. One of the best shifts. Ever. It's so funny because you're like, oh, did you give me a gift? Is that for me? Is that for me? I love presents.
It's so dumb. But it's genius. It's perfect. It's a lot of fun. And it's a pair of running shoes. It's a pair of running shoes, which is just like this thing that I've talked to her about. Like it's a real knowing sort of gift. You know what I'm saying? Very thoughtful. Very, very beautiful. More That Was Us after these words from our sponsors.
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Should we at least remark on the fact at the end of this episode, we flash into the future again. We do flash into the future. To older Randall. Older Randall. Older Tess. Yes. Again saying, it's time to go see her. She's not ready. They now walk out of her office. She excuses herself to go to the bathroom or something, right? Something like that. And Randall calls. Gets on the phone.
Call my man Toby. Toby! That's right. Call my man Toby. That's right. And very much like your first experience in old folks' makeup, Toby looks like David Letterman. He's like, Toby looks like he's running a tech company in the year 3020. His beard is like perfectly like...
Sitting in like a perfectly modern futuristic bedroom. Yeah. And you make this phone call. Are you making a phone call on like a see-through plastic? Yeah. It's a fancy future phone. It's a future phone. It's a fancy future phone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like these little future things. Nondescript future phone. Nondescript future phone. The thing to notice is.
is that he's in a big bed. By himself. Por solo, by himself, and nobody's on the other side of the bed. So that ignited speculation of where's Kate? Lots of speculation. Is she alive? Is she not? Are they together? Are they not? Behind the scenes on that scene, we shot that two ways with another lady in the bed. Oh! Did you? There was a lady in the bed.
And we shot it with her asleep next to me. Yes. And we shot it without, because they didn't know which way they wanted to go. Oh, wow. I love those little fun tidbits. Yeah, with and without a wedding ring. Covering our bases. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you didn't have the wedding ring on in it? I actually didn't catch if I had it on or not. I don't think you did. Oh, gosh, I got to go back and see that now. I don't think you did. I don't think you did. I don't think I did. And I think it was like people were like, oh, shit. What happened? Should we have...
Had him wear one. Oh, really? Oh, you think after the fact people were like... Yeah, it was like, yeah, nobody's going to know. Well, so, okay, let's go into Katobi right now. Sure. Because this storyline, I think, is really powerful on two levels. It's...
'Cause we end last season knowing that Tobe has taken antidepressants, right? That that's a part of his history, essentially. 'Cause I don't think we'd learned it until just before the wedding or right at the wedding there. - Yeah, correct.
- We do know about his history though, with depression. - But we do know, we do have the flash forward to season three and we see Toby lying in the bread, almost in a comatose state. - With Kate. - With Kate being like, "Hey man, you know, take it easy." - We'll get your medications adjusted. - We'll get your medications adjusted. So now we start in a happy moment. We've just gotten married. You know, we can make this all right in the eyes of God. Let's knock these boots officially and get another child up in here, right?
So they're excited, but we're getting lots of negative pregnancy tests, what have you. We go to see the doctor and the doctor's like, you know, we're going to try and figure some things out. There's different options. Toby, I'm going to have to check you out too. This is obviously a heavy storyline, but this is also a very silly storyline because it seems like Dan and the writers cannot get enough of Toby talking about his sperm starting right now. And it happens so much. Did he talk a lot? Yes. Yes.
It seems like at every turn, he's like telling you, listen, you want to hear about my sperm? And guess what else? And now this is going to be clipped and it's going to be me talking about my sperm again on the internet. Yeah.
What else is new, Chris? Enough. We get it. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. So we're checking. We're checking. We're checking your sperm. We're checking the viability. But the doctor also says, but have you been checked? Yeah. Yeah. But Doc says that she can't. I think it's in this one. She can't take Kate on as a patient because of her weight. Right. It's a liability issue. And is this discussing IVF specifically in this particular one? I think the egg retrieval, they think, would be too dangerous. Yes.
And this is true, right? Like it is dangerous. I would imagine, yes. And there are issues with regards to someone who is plus size, right? And it's interesting because like I'm taking a moment to pause in terms of like how we talk about it, you know, because there's a sensitivity that you have to pay to it. But there's also like real considered um-
consequences, right? Because later on, when we get to the next episode and Rebecca finds out, she's like, oh, this is dangerous. Yeah. Right? And then you have to respect the wishes of the family. They're like, we have considered the dangers and it is still something that we wish to do. Right? So, and it's interesting to hear doctors say like, look, it's not even just my choice. Yeah. I got partners in this firm and there's liability issues, et cetera. So,
They leave that feeling pretty bummed out. And Chrissy, like the way Chrissy ends that scene and says, it's nice to meet you as she's like choking back tears. Yeah. Broke me. Yeah. Oh, goodness gracious. And again, it's their birthday too. Let's not forget. Yeah. And then she's got to go to a birthday party thrown by everybody's favorite best friend, Madison. Yeah.
These were the dark ages on set for Chrissy and I, I think. Were they? Like, it was just like one heavy thing after another that was just like, oh, boy. Okay. Yeah. Another, you know, like, it was, I remember it feeling different when we got into this storyline where it just was not as...
I can believe that. Yeah, I mean, you usually are a part of providing the levity of the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so to really sink into new territory is... And it's also, listen, because Metz is the divine human being that she is, it's like, it's all... Yeah. There. It's all there. Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? So if she's feeling it, she's feeling it. And everyone is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You pick up on that. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. So I'm trying to make sure I don't skip anything and please help me out here, Chris, because does anything significant happen before you get the phone call? Well, at
the party she sort of reveals to everybody which is so vulnerable like just so you guys know we want a baby and we're trying for a baby and we're trying to figure this out we just got this news and she even lost 40 pounds yeah and no one notices and it doesn't factor in she says it's like a black cloud that follows me around and every time I get away from it it catches up to me I am so tired I am tired of smiling and pretending like it's sunny out hmm
I loved about that scene, Madison tries to break the tension there with a little joke or not, but I love the way that you just listened. It was just, you were like, oh, my wife is... Because the listening also plays into the fact that, and we should reference this, that in that earlier conversation with the doctor, you take antidepressants, and she's like, well, maybe that's also bringing your sperm count down. He's like, but it's also keeping me from crying myself to bed. You know what I'm saying? So I should probably...
from crying all the time. You know what I'm saying? So maybe I should stay with this. But in listening to the wife, I think that was one of the catalysts for you going to the medicine cabinet and being like, you know what? I got to get these swimmers up. That's right. I'm going to throw these things in. Doing the most medically advisable thing and just throwing all your medication in the toilet. Cold turkey. Maybe not talk to a doctor about how to do this. No. I need strong semen. And that's what I'm going to do. Right? I'm going to have to talk about it in the next three or four episodes. Yes.
So we got to get rid of these antidepressants. Yeah, man. And they come home from the party and have a conversation where they essentially decide like, you know what? There are other ways to have. Other ways to do it. A kid. Yeah. Screw IVF. He says it was stressing him out. Yeah. He was really nervous. He's worried about her. Yeah. It's just why have this pressure on this new marriage?
Screw IVF. We'll figure it out. And as that's happening, they get a call from the doctor. She wants us to come back in. Yeah. Right? So, and the doc says she wants to make the impossible possible. There's a 90% chance of failure. But if you want to take that on, I'll take you on as a patient. Toby Fain's enthusiasm. That's what I wrote in my notes. Yay! Yay! Here we go! But what an interesting crossroads to be on. Like...
I don't know if you guys have had this sort of experience, but have you ever been at a crossroads with your partner as to a major life decision where you guys see it like fundamentally from like two different perspectives? We haven't yet, but I'm sure there will be a time. Yeah.
But that's about the biggest one that could be. I mean, this whole process of shooting these episodes was before I had kids. Yeah. Just before. Yeah. Yeah. It was before. 2003. Yeah. Not 2003. Episode. 301. I have two kids now. And I was not aware. I certainly had friends that had gone through the IVF process. I was not aware of how common it was.
miscarriage was, how much a part of a lot of people's stories, this, when you're trying to conceive that this happens a lot and that, and that it's not something that gets talked about because when are you supposed to talk about it? But the IVF of it all is another thing that's it's like an impossible thing to, to talk about like the financial stress, the physical stress, the hormone therapies, the like,
you know just the act of having to inject yourself or is is a is a different it has a different level level of stress involved and there's pressures you know there's pressures a diff a whole different kind of pressure around that process that i just had pressure not only just in the success rate but it's also like you're spending a great deal of cash yeah like am i going to get an roi like in a very base
Depending on how many cycles you have to go through. It's another 10, 25, 30, 40,000, whatever the cost is. And it's not something you think about when you're planning a family. You're like, wow, the expense will be incurred once the child arrives, essentially. I think that's what we're all sort of raised believing. And when it's not as easy as one hopes, and we do have to employ these
methods of starting a family, you're right. It's like, it's the last thing you want to be thinking about. Right.
It's so stressful to begin with. Yeah. Child, please. So thank you, Chris, for that. That does conclude that Katobi storyline for that episode, right? Yes. So then we should dig into Kev and Zoe. Is it open with them? Kev and Zoe, they're trying to hide things, right? We saw at the end of season two, they were on a plane together.
To Vietnam. Yeah. Yes. That's not a spoiler. Yeah, that's what it was. So now we're back in season three. There's boot knocking. There's fun that's being had or what have you. But we're trying to keep things on the low, low. But because there's a birthday party at your house for you and Kevin. For me and Kev, right? Kevin is coming to the house. He's coming to the house. And Zoe's like, Kevin coming here?
Which is fine. She's casual. Yeah, it's going to be casual, but she's like, you're going to blow it. If I see you in front of her, Beth's going to know. Very cute conversation. And she does not want Beth to know. It's totally adorable. Nobody does phone calls like This Is Us. Nobody does phone calls like This Is Us. We do pretty good. Well, when you got half the family on one coast, you better figure it out. Yeah. A lot of phone calls.
wittiest phone calls on television. A lot of phone calls, right? But they decide that they're going to keep things under wrap or what have you as soon as Kev walks into the house. Yeah.
Beth looks at him and he says, y'all two are screwing. Yep. Yeah. And they're just like, right? Cat's out of the bag. They go, Beth is chewing out Zoe in the kitchen. And I love when Kev gets to talk to my daughters because they're just like, are you and Zoe like dating or not? He's like, ah, you know. Spending a lot of time together. Spending a lot of time together. Yeah. It's not that deep. I was thinking about inviting her to my premiere. Yeah. Yeah. That's when you know Kev is like. Yeah.
He's like, it could mean a little bit more to me. Yeah. Right? He's like, I did date Jennifer Love Hewitt. Yeah. Whatever. And he's like, he dated the girl from Party to Fight. And she goes, I love Neve Campbell. Yeah. It was great. That was great. It was great editing. Yeah. The way those two scenes were going back and forth with each other. But you see, Beth's upset.
Set. Yeah. Right? And you're not quite sure why just yet. Yeah. And the assumption would be because Kevin is unreliable. Sure. She's protective of her cousin. Of her cousin would be the assumption. Very much so. A great switch when she calls him into the kitchen and she says, you, leave. You sit down. And as soon as he sits down, I can't even look at you. I can't even look at you. Get out of here. Get out of here.
But it ultimately turns out, like, she winds up telling him, like, I adore you, brother-in-law. Like, you're a good dude. You have a kind heart. You're the only person that talks to my daughters like they're not little kids, et cetera. I know my cousin.
She will break you. Yeah, she's complicated. And this is the reveal that she's actually protecting Kevin. Trying to protect Kevin. You know what I'm saying? And so now, because Zoe has just seemed like a breath of fresh air. So we're kind of now waiting to be like, all right, so what is it about Zoe that we need to be wary of? Right? And the reveal is she makes documentaries.
She makes documentaries. That shit's going nowhere. Yeah. You know what I mean? Do we end with them going to the premiere? Are they? I don't think so. I think that's the next episode. That's the next episode. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So that's everything in this episode, I think. It is. It is. Indeed. That was a good episode. Yeah. It was good to get back into it. To your point, Mandy and Chris-
We go to the future at the end of the episode. There's sort of a curiosity as to who they're going to see. Right. Right. We also know that Toby exists in this future timeline as well. Without Kate? Question mark? With Kate, et cetera. Then we go, let's go back to the carnival for a second because for a moment it's
Rebecca says something to Jack about, it must've been tough going to the war. Something about the war. And you see him just sort of instantaneously go. Flash.
There's a flash to the battlefield and he goes quiet, right? And he tells her, like, I don't really like to talk about the war and I don't like to talk about my brother, right? That's also the moment we realize he lied about being a mechanic. He lied about being a mechanic, which is not true. But he does also say, I do like talking to you. Mm-hmm.
Right? Like talking to you is, feels like home. Feels like I'm home. Feels like home. I was like, that's what you tell a woman that you want to marry. Don't say that to people that you don't want to marry. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Because otherwise they'll think you want to marry them. Yeah. Agreed. And that's not cool. The next thing you know, you'll be married. There you go.
And maybe you don't want to be. Maybe you don't want that. You got three kids. Don't tell somebody they feel like home. And then you can't say, this doesn't feel like home anymore. You know what I'm saying? I changed my mind. It's a little more complicated. You can't say there's too many people in this house. This feels like an HOA and I want something that's more permanent. Yeah. You know? But so I say that because now,
Man, you were saying again, like Jack, there's mystery. And I think Milo is mystery. Yeah, he is. And I think the writers are saying like, we need to like cater to this man's sort of mystery. You know what I'm saying? And the public, so it's like, we love Jack. And I actually love, you still get to love Jack.
Because you start off with love, but now you're like, oh, this is what I signed up for. Like I signed up for more than I actually knew that I was signing up for. He's not just a superhero. Right. He is a human. Yes. He is fallible. Yeah. He has a lot of different colors in the mix and we get to find out
more about him, more than he ever really reveals to his wife as well. Which I love. I love when we see a fuller picture that maybe other characters aren't aware of. But we as the audience get insight into that. Absolutely. Absolutely. So that, I think, is a great springboard into three because we solve the sort of mystery of how Jack passes away, but they introduce...
new things as well. What's this whole Vietnam thing? What's the situation with this brother? Like what happened in the war with this brother? What's going to happen in the future? And it goes back to that question that we said to Dan. Is the drama in and of itself enough?
And I think we as actors, that's the thing that we enjoy digging into. It's just sort of like the character. But in terms of a narrative, like he gives you that and. And the and is the engine that really keeps people being like, what is going to happen? He reminds people to be curious. Yeah. And he asks the questions. It's interesting, as we've said kind of all along, like,
It's the story of this family. It's just told out of order. You're watching the video cassettes of like this family's life. They're just not in order. So that's inherently what provides the mystery because we're not watching things in sequential order, which is interesting because to me, that's not gimmicky. Like, oh, this is just, we're just playing things out of order is all. Yeah. So,
Should we get to the fan segment? Our favorite part? Yes, sir. Of every episode? Let's do it. Sounds good. All right. See you in a sec. Bye.
All right, gang, it's time for one of our favorite parts of the podcast, our fan segment. And today we are talking couple origin stories. We love a good how did you meet moments. We obviously talked about the three of our moments with our partners. And this week's episode gave us a big one, too. It was Jack and Rebecca's very first date. So we asked you.
Our listeners of the podcast to send in your couple origin stories along with photos.
from your early days of dating. I love this. Oh, boy. Here we go. Let's get into it. Let me do number one. Let me do it. This is email one. It says, Hi, Chris Sterling and Mandy. My husband and I met at a party in college. Hashtag Hail Southern. I had seen him around campus a few times and honestly thought he was so cute. Oh, look at them right there. Got to see this on YouTube if you want to see these beautiful people.
When I saw him at a party, he was eating celery off a wing platter. And I thought that was interesting. Since I had a little bit of liquid courage in my system, I approached him and asked why he was eating celery off the wing platter and not the wings, since it was being a wing platter. He ended up telling me that he was a vegan.
And we've been inseparable ever since. I guess that's how you do it. Just don't eat me. That was in 2017. We got married in 2021. And we're currently expecting baby number three. She did it like you, man. Y'all knocking these babies out. Fun fact.
What up, Naila? Thank you. Look at that.
She did not tell us her husband's name. Oh, it's Joshua up top. It's Joshua. There we go. Okay, Nailah and Joshua. Wait, look at them. You have their proposal picture. They do have their proposal picture. Look at her face. You have to see her face. She's like, what is happening? Folks, this is why you want to find us on YouTube. His sweet smile.
Pull the car over. It's adorable. Pause the podcast. Go to YouTube. Look up our channel. Fast forward to the fan segment. Yes. Oh, I love them. You guys look cute. Congratulations, Nayla Joshua. Baby number three. Love you guys. I'll do the next one. Go for it. Hi, guys. I love you all so much, and your podcast is the highlight of my week always. Thank you. My partner and I met while I was dating someone else. She had feelings for them, so we hated each other when we first met. Okay. Wait a second. Hold on. Hold on. My partner and I met-
While I was dating someone else. While I was dating someone else. She had feelings for them. She had feelings for them? Yeah. I think for the partner. So we hated each other when we first met. Okay. That's how I'm taking it. Maybe I'm wrong. So, wait a minute. Sully's got a right he needs to understand. So Lindsay and her partner. She had feelings for them.
For them. For them. And them is perfectly vague. We hated each other when we first met. Got it. I think her partner had feelings for Lindsay's ex. Got it. And so they didn't like each other. Okay, okay. Got it. Cut to a year later, my ex had moved across the country, and her and I slowly became best friends and bonded over our love of Taylor Swift. From there, we had a year and a half of hiding feelings from each other in a true will-they-won't-they cliche. Finally, everything...
I got the courage to have the conversation after we went to an Eros tour together. And I looked over at her and thought, oh yeah, you're my forever person. I can't let you go.
Now we've been together for two years. We've lived together, have cats together. Real marker of a relationship. I did that with my husband. And I'll be popping the question next year. I got it. I have attached our Halloween costume from our first year of dating. You can probably guess what we were. And yes, I still have the jersey. Life's funny like that. Anyway, sending my best to you guys. Cheers.
- Lindsay. - Lindsay, thank you. And Chris and I both are guilty of heteronormative- - No, no, no. - I think so. - I know, I got that. I mean, what I didn't know was did her partner have feelings for the person or did the person have feelings for the partner? - Okay, I got you. - So there's Lindsay and Kira. - I did the heteronormative thing. - Travis and Taylor. They're Travis and Taylor for those not watching on YouTube.
Don't tell them who they are. If you're not watching, you go to YouTube. You do your own work. But Lindsay, I hope Kira doesn't listen to this podcast. Because she says she's popping the question next year. I mean, that needs to be a bit of a... That's true. And if not, why doesn't Kira listen to this podcast? Wait a minute. I hope she doesn't, but also... No, no, we give Kira a pass. Don't give it away. Do number three. After you pop the question...
Tell her about the podcast. Start from the beginning. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Oh. I love the way this one's written. Let's go. Email three. You don't need that title. That title's nothing. You read the damn thing, man. That's just the third email. Look at these people. Look at Dave and Helen. Oh, I love this. Oh, goddamn. That's back in the day. That's back in the day. That's some sideburns after my own heart. That's back in the day. A pay phone. Hold on. Okay, let me get into this. Oh, here we go.
All right. Guys, you're in for a treat. A payphone, a wrong number, and the beginning of a life together. It's Liam Neeson. I'd like to tell you the story of how my parents met. It was 1967, and my mother, Helen, was 15 years old. Okay, hold on. Okay. You're good. You're good. I'm going to start over. A payphone, a wrong number, and the beginning of a life together.
I'd like to tell you the story of how my parents met. It was 1967 and my mother, Helen, was 15 years old in a small town in Vermont. After school each day, she called her best friend and they watched their favorite television show, General Hospital. One day, her life changed because she dialed the wrong number. But not just any wrong number. It was the number to a payphone in the public park. Get out of here. My father, Dave, happened to be walking by...
And picked up the ringing payphone. They both lived in the same town, but on opposite sides of the quote-unquote tracks. And all that implies. My mother went to the Catholic high school, my father to the public.
They began talking by phone for several weeks. But my mom used a fake name, the name of her favorite character from General Hospital, until she was sure my dad could be trusted and she was ready to meet in person. Good for her. Their first date was to see the scandalous movie, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman. This choice, especially when paired with my father's sideburns and brown leather jacket...
meant my mom's mother, my grandmother, was not an immediate fan. They were the only two people in the theater, save for the two Catholic nuns in their habits. That's pretty funny. My father, ever the joker, led my mother through the aisles and rose, pretending to find a seat, and went right up to the nuns and sat next to one of them. Is this seat taken, sister? He joked.
They didn't stay there for the whole year. My parents dated through the rest of their high school years at rival high schools and then moved to Providence together for college. They graduated college in 1971, got married in 1973, and then years later in 1983 had their first child, a daughter named Alyssa. That would be me. There you go. They were married for 40 years when my father died in 2013. Oh.
The story of how they met and their first date has always been my favorite family story, and so I am happy to share it with you. I have attached photos of their early life together. Their names are Dave and Helen Hadley. Oh, I love Dave and Helen. Wow. Look at those pictures.
What a couple. She accidentally called a payphone. A public payphone. Yeah, yeah. A public payphone. And my man said, that must be for me. That's my destiny calling.
He said, hello. How amazing is that? Incredible. There are no coincidences. Now, if you're not on our YouTube channel, the brown leather jacket is one thing. The pompadour and sideburns, the horn-rimmed glasses. The cigarette dangling. And the patent leather white shoes are just blowing my mind. This couple-
Maybe wrong side of the track, but they clearly meant for each other. They're killing it. Yeah. They're killing it. They look absolutely gorgeous, man. I love it. I love it. Look at that tuxedo. 71 married in 73. Yeah. I got to say, 10 years. Back then. That's a long time to wait. Yeah, yeah.
My goodness, Alyssa. Yeah. You got beautiful parents. I'm sorry for your father's passing, but what a beautiful story. And it seems like they had a beautiful marriage. Thank you for sharing it with us. Thank you for sharing. That warms my heart. I love Origins. I love love. I love love. And I love our fan segment. As do I. Should we sign off here? If you guys have anything else that you would like to share with us via fan segment, you can always hit us up at...
That was us, pod at gmail.com. And if you want to call and tell us a fun story about that, you can always call us at 412-501-3028. That's 412-501-3028. We should know it by now. One more time, Sterling. Go ahead, Sterling. What was it? 412-
3028 is the last four. I can't remember the next one. 412. 501. 501. 3028. There you go. There's been another episode of That Was Us. If you haven't subscribed by this point in time, I don't know what you're waiting for. Like, subscribe. Tell a friend. Tell a friend, man. Tell one friend. We still got another four seasons of shows and we'll have standalone shows as well and whatnot. You listen on YouTube? That's fine. Yeah.
That's great. We want to see you on YouTube. If you're listening anywhere else, go to YouTube anyways and just subscribe. It's fun. It's a great time. It's friends talking about one of their favorite things. It's free to click it. There you go. It's free to click it. Listen. Click it. It's free. Let me come up. That's the new tag. Subscribe because it's free. And that's our show. I love you guys. We'll see you next time. Bye. Take care, y'all. 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.