This Is Us has been enhanced by moving in a darker, more emotionally complex direction in Season 2

Vulture

The NBC drama still remains “escapist family fare,” but its willingness to move in a more realistic direction “has pleasantly surprised me this season,” says Jen Chaney. “And when I say pleasantly surprised, I mean that in the episodes leading up to and including Tuesday’s midseason finale, the show has delved into outright sadder, more emotionally complex storylines. While it still seeks out silver linings, This Is Us also is more willing to admit that sometimes, life is just heavy clouds with nothing silver inside at all. That slight swerve in approach has turned a solid, occasionally too schmaltzy, network series into one that’s inching closer to greatness.”

ALSO:

• This Is Us swapped melodrama for maturity in its midseason finale
• The midseason finale avoided a “new, horrid cliffhanger”
• Sterling K. Brown agrees that Season 2 feels “completely different”