Andrew Robinson
This review will be as spoiler-free as possible, but minor spoilers may appear.
Summary
Jack’s time in Vietnam during the War is depicted, as is his relationship with his brother, Nicky.
Analysis
After last week’s struggle of an episode, “Vietnam” takes us to peak This Is Us. While only one main character – Jack – is explored throughout the entirety of the episode, the viewer doesn’t feel him/herself missing Kevin, Kate, Rebecca, Toby, Beth, or Randall. As I posited last week, Milo Ventimiglia gives an incredible performance, and single-handedly carries the episode.
When the credits were rolling during the beginning of the episode, I noticed that Tim O’Brien co-wrote the episode with Dan Fogelman. In high school, we read a book of short story collections called The Things They Carried, which followed Vietnam War soldiers and vets. The book was written by one Tim O’Brien, who is a Vietnam War veteran himself. Sure enough, according to tv.avclub.com, the O’Briens are one and the same. This shows just how far Fogelman and Co. are willing to go to create a great episode of television; according to IMDb.com, O’Brien had just three movie/TV credits to his name prior to TIU, all three of which have between 0-83 IMDb-user votes to their names (for reference, TIU has 64,783, and the recently-released film A Star is Born already has 48,218). In short, Fogelman brought a Vietnam War veteran who has produced one of the most studied books ever written on the Vietnam War, yet has barely dabbled in television, to the writing table of one of the most-watched shows in the United States. The idea pays off to a large degree, as “Vietnam” is one of the more realistic looks at war that I can remember a television show producing in the last decade. This was a brilliant, unselfish move by Fogelman that will largely go unrecognized.
The first twenty or so minutes of “Vietnam” are a wonderful, heartbreaking look at war, in general. Aired without a commercial break (most network shows have a commercial break within the first seven minutes or so, and rarely ever does a network show air twenty consecutive minutes), those first twenty minutes will be remembered for one thing, and one thing only: war. I love the decision to air this segment continuously without commercial, and think it significantly aids in the emotional impact of the episode, even though some cliches are present. Also, something that cannot be lost is that this episode aired on network television. Rarely does network television dabble in war because, well, war is violent, and network shows aren’t allowed to be overly violent (though my beloved Hannibal may have something to say about that, lol). The fact that NBC, Fogelman, and Co. decided to go as in-depth as they did into the war is something that I loudly applaud.
The way the episode is structured is entirely unique. I’ll admit it: after those first twenty minutes, I thought I knew what was coming next. TIU, however, continues to surprise me with its originality in the art of storytelling, and produces a really interesting arc for an episode that they could have easily justified making predictable.
Seeing the family dynamics between Jack, Nicky, their father, and their mother is important to the show moving forward, especially considering the mini-reveal concerning Jack’s father in the final act of the episode, when Jack’s grandfather shows up. We all already knew that Jack is a protector, but the episode attacks this angle in an interesting way, and does a good job at making sure we know that Jack isn’t Superman, no matter how perfect he may seem. While his actions seem to be super-human at many points throughout the course of TIU, “Vietnam” weaves in a few seemingly-minor details that reveal just where Jack struggles. They are so beautifully interwoven into the episode, in fact, that I missed the importance of them on my viewing; it took reading the review attached above for me to fully grasp the meaning of the aftermath of one of Young Jack’s moments of protection, as well as Vietnam War Jack’s moments of leadership.
The unique turn on storytelling also left us with a few unanswered questions, which TIU loves to do. I don’t necessarily hate this, but sometimes I do feel as if they set themselves up for difficulty in the future by leaving so many stones unturned. This approach, however, allows the show to go back to the War or Jack’s childhood without much warning and justifiably, so that can be a good thing.
The cinematography is fantastic in “Vietnam.” A major grip of mine is when war depictions simply don’t seem to capture the true setting of war, but TIU does this pretty well, especially considering the fact that it is a television show with a limited budget that must largely be spent elsewhere. I never felt as if I was watching a cheap reenactment of a war; it felt as real as a TV/14-rated depiction of war can look.
Verdict
“Vietnam” is quintessential TIU. There is emotion, there is a huge familial love theme, and there is Jack. Next week, TIU promises to take a deep dive into Toby. Hopefully the show can live up to the pressure, much like it does with “Vietnam.”
8.75/10
