‘This Is Us’ Fans Want to Know How Travel Really Works in the Show’s Universe
When a hit TV show comes along in the age of social media, fans start to nitpick on the details of how certain things can happen without logical explanations. Because NBC’s This Is Us has most viewers emotionally attached to its plot and its brilliant sense of familial reality, fans want everything to make sense so it fits into the real world.
Unfortunately, not everything has had a complete explanation, including many details of things going on in the background we’re not privy to seeing. Part of this involves the unexplained career of Kate, plus other minutiae like how they travel so quickly.
When looking at the latter more carefully, there is a bit of a question mark on how the Pearsons are able to zip from one place to another in seemingly one day.
The illogical problem of being able to afford things in TV shows
Just about every show ever made has made travel look easy when it’s not. When it involves constant travel to different cities, it can also create a bit of a logic problem in the TV continuity.
Had air travel occurred in the early days of the Pearsons on This Is Us, it wouldn’t have made much sense considering they were struggling financially then. As the kids grew up, they at least became successful in their own ventures, making regular travel a little easier to afford in the modern era.
However, some fans are still wondering how they’re able to travel with so much ease when visiting one another for reunions. Based on how much they’ve gotten together flying between Los Angeles, New Jersey, and then Philadelphia, PA, travel miles have likely added up. Also, with their busy schedules, it sometimes seems implausible they’d have time to just hop on a plane at a moment’s notice.
Fans on Reddit have noted some of the inconsistencies of travel on TiU, including the family driving to their private cabin in the Poconos. As a few people note, that’s not exactly a quick jaunt by car, unless the Pearsons didn’t consider a five-hour road trip a big deal.
Not worrying about the logistics of travel at least gets the Pearsons back together
Out of all the times the Pearsons have gotten together through the years, there seems to be a consistency on TiU of making travel look conveniently fast. There was even a moment when Randall was in college and it was said he could get from there to Washington, D.C. (to see Beth) in less than twenty minutes.
Most people have contended on Reddit this isn’t possible. Randall apparently went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, making it more than a 20-minute drive to D.C. Removing this logic, it at least got Randall and Beth together faster as well.
The writers aren’t going to ruin any chance of this family being in the same room just because travel is often more problematic than TV or movies let on. Then again, classic movies like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles didn’t let up in how awful travel can sometimes be.
At least there’s been a look at Kate traveling with baby Jack and some of the complications involved when with a special needs child.
Did Kate provide a little more reality about traveling?
Since Kate also lives in L.A., she’s at least close to her mom. However, traveling to see her brothers requires some serious travel planning. She’s seen traveling with her special needs son, Jack, to get to the family cabin retreat to reunite with her brothers. Kate did this without Toby, making it a bit of a risk doing so with young Jack.
A few harsh realities of traveling were touched on, if ultimately not the main focus. Eventually, maybe the show will have a story focusing on the endless problems associated with travel, including airport delays and problems on airlines.
No matter how experienced the Pearsons may be in traveling so fast across the U.S., there are probably a few nightmare stories to tell about what they experienced just to get everyone back together again ever so briefly.
