Deja and Malik's First Kiss | "The Dinner and the Date" (407) with special guest Asante Blackk

That Was Us

Film Interviews, Tv & Film, Tv Reviews

4.9 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2025

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today’s episode of That Was Us, we’re diving into Season 4, Episode 7: The Dinner and the Date. Malik and Deja skip school to explore Philly, which leads to a dinner at Beth and Randall's with Malik's parents to discuss how to handle their relationship. Meanwhile, in the past, Jack and Rebecca welcome Randall’s teacher, Mr. Lawrence, to their home for dinner. Plus, Mandy, Chris, and Sterling chat with Asante Blackk, AKA Malik, about his journey leading up to This Is Us, what it was like playing Malik, memories acting with Lyric Ross (Deja), funny memories in scenes with Sterling, and so much more! That Was Us is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. ------------------------- Support Our Sponsors: - Brought to you by Bombas, One Clothing Item Purchased = One Clothing Item DonatedHead over to https://bombas.com/ and use code TWU for 20% off your first purchase. - This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/TWU and get on your way to being your best self. - Keep it classic and cozy this fall with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to https://www.quince.com/twu for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. ------------------------- 🍋 About the Show: The stars of This Is Us, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan, dive back into the world of the Pearsons, reliving each episode and all the life lessons that came with it. Together, they dig in and dig deep, have the tough conversations, bring in very special and familiar guests, share never-before-heard behind-the-scenes moments, and feature listeners in highly anticipated fan segments. Join your favorite family back in the living room to examine our past, cherish our present, and look to the future with new episodes of That Was Us every Tuesday. ------------------------- 00:00 – Welcome Back to “That Was Us” 🎧 Mandy Moore and Sterling K. Brown catch up on life, healing, and why This Is Us remains the emotional balm we all need. 03:35 – Philly Vibes & Cheesesteak Debates 🧀 Deja and Malik’s adorable date begins with laughter, local eats, and some serious cheesesteak talk. 7:10 – The Real Philly: Malik’s World 🌆 Malik takes Deja off the tourist trail to see his real Philadelphia — the heart, soul, and neighborhood connections that define him. 12:30 – First Crush, First Kiss 💕 A beautiful young love story unfolds — from butterflies to that perfect first kiss. Tender, honest, and unforgettable. 19:59 – Meet the Parents: Pearson vs. Hodges Dinner 🍽️ Randall and Beth host Malik’s parents for a dinner that’s equal parts hilarious, tense, and eye-opening. 22:02 – Open-Toed Shoes & Open Minds 👠 Beth’s comic brilliance shines as she tries to “keep an open mind” — and open-toed shoes — during the world’s most awkward dinner. 27:21 – Dinner Table Drama & Class Clashes ⚡ Class, culture, and judgment come to a boil as the families size each other up — with grace said and shade thrown. 38:19 – Truths, Tensions & Tattoos 💬 Randall and Malik’s dad find unexpected common ground after a night of confrontation, honesty, and reflection. 41:07– Parenting Lessons & Redemption 🙏 The Pearsons face their own biases — and learn that love, not control, is what their daughter really needs. 41:56 – Flashback: Jack, Rebecca & Mr. Lawrence 🕰️ In the past, Jack invites Randall’s teacher over for dinner — and the night reveals deep insecurities and unspoken lessons. 58:20 – Langston Hughes, Identity & Healing 📚 A moving finale as young Randall recites “I, Too” — a powerful reflection on identity, belonging, and love. 1:01:3 – Spotlight on Asante Blackk 🌟 The hosts chat with Asante Blackk (Malik) about his acting journey, music, and life lessons from This Is Us. ------------------------- Executive Producers: Natalie Holysz and Rob Holysz Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Video Editor: Todd Hughlett Mix & Master: Jason Richards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	On today's episode of That Was Us, we are diving into season four, episode seven, the dinner, and the date.
0:17.0	Randall and Beth invite Malik and his parents over to discuss how to handle Deja and Malik's
0:21.6	relationship, but the evening quickly takes some unexpected turns. Meanwhile, in the past,
0:27.2	Jack and Rebecca welcome Randall's teacher, Mr. Lawrence, to their home for dinner.
0:32.5	Hello, friends. Yes. What's going on, gang? Here we are. How are we healing? Yeah. Give us an update. It's a good thing we got this couch now. It is a good thing I got the couch. The couch comes in handy. I don't want to put my foot up on the furniture. How's it going? It's going fine. I'm able to do everything that I need to do, so I'm blessed to that with that. I can drive a car, which is cool. You can't drive the lane. No, no, no, no. It's a basketball term. It is a basketball term. It's sad. Thank you for breaking that down for me. Sorry, yes, yes. I was like drive in the lane? Drive down the lane to the hoop. Okay, got it. I know a lot about basketball. This leg, Sully, yes. I was like, drive in the lane? Drive down the lane to the hoop. Okay, got it.
1:11.4	I know a lot about basketball.
1:12.4	This leg, Sully, Mandy, it is a shadow of itself.
1:18.5	Yeah.
1:19.5	Like you, if I, and when I look up close and look at them, like I have a little bit of moment of grief, you know, grieving.
1:26.6	But I'm okay. You're gonna be like that character from Lady in the Water with the one giant muscular arm and one tiny little arm. It's gonna be like that until I start the rehab. So I still got about probably six weeks of wearing this thing before I can get back up to it. But it's neither here than it's there. Nobody cares. You guys care.
1:47.8	We care. We care. We all. Our listeners care. That's right.
1:53.7	The three people that I live in a house with. They don't care. No. And you know what?
1:59.9	We get it. I said this before. I don't do a good job of asking for the help that I need.
2:18.5	Okay. Do you then hold an internal resentment? No. For not getting that help? No. For people not reading your mind about the help you need. You're on it. You're definitely on it. Because that's me. I'm just saying that's me. Yeah. I'm just... I don't... Well, the reason why I don't have that thing that I'm holding on to is because she's got to get these two boys ready in the morning to work or whatnot. And I'm like, all right, bro, just figure it up. Yeah. Just figure it out. Just figure it out. So I figured out. Well, I'm glad you're figuring it out. Thank you very much. I appreciate it For the sake of all of us and your family. But I am enjoying watching this is a...
2:36.2	Let me tell you, the show is a real bomb. It's a real B-A-L-L-M. It's a real bomb, like, in this moment of just sort of like, all right, what I'm going to do with my time, et cetera? Like, every time I watch it, I am infused with a level of joy that I was like, oh, thank God I have this show
2:52.7	to watch. For sure. Yeah. I definitely feel the same way. It is a balm. It's a balm for these times,
2:57.5	too. It's just like a respite to be able to go back in time and remember filming these episodes. And also,
3:04.6	again, not to overstate it, but we are in that period of I don't remember what's happening on the show. So this works out perfectly for your character's timeline. I'm like, what? So you didn't remember anything? No. There's a couple of ones that I didn't remember, and then I remember shooting the stuff between you and I. I do remember that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll talk about that. We'll get to that. Yeah. Because I do remember one particular thing. Okay, I can't wait to hear what you remember. But so this is the dinner and the date. It starts off with Deja and Malik. Yes. Yes. They have a very playful rapport going on. And I think this was shot on location.
3:42.3	I think they shot this in Philly. They went to Philly for some of this, for sure.
3:46.1	They went to Philly because we shot earlier stuff when we were running up the steps and doing the
3:51.3	Rocky stuff. Was that the same trip?
3:52.9	Same trip. So they just sort of like creatively did it so that they could do this date part. And we shot that opening earlier. But like, yeah, we on the same trip. So they just sort of like creatively did it so that they could do this date part. And we shot
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from That Was Us, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of That Was Us and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.