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The latest episode of the hit NBC drama 鈥淭his Is Us鈥� included a road trip with听a man (Sterling K. Brown) and his birth father (Ron Cephas Jones), the latest development in a plotline about adoption that has drawn praise from some critics, adoptive parents, and those who were adopted themselves.听

鈥淯s鈥� tells the story of a family, depicting the lives of two parents (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore) and their three children, from the children鈥檚 births in 1980 to their lives in the present day. One of those children is Randall (Brown), who was adopted by parents Jack and Rebecca after his birth father, William (Jones), left him at a fire station.听

The first episode of the show included Randall tracking down his birth father. Subsequent installments have shown William, who has been diagnosed with cancer, becoming part of Randall鈥檚 family.听

(Spoilers follow for the latest episode of 鈥淯s鈥濃��)听

The newest episode included Randall and William driving to Memphis, Tenn., William's birthplace. Their time there included Randall meeting his and William鈥檚 extended family.听

鈥淯s鈥� has been the subject of praise from some who know adoption well, in terms of how it depicts the complex relationships and feelings many families experience.听

Author Lorilee Craker, who writes that she herself was adopted and adopted some of her children, wrote of the show, 鈥淣ever have I felt so compelled by the adoption insights in a TV show 鈥� never!鈥澨�

Ms. Craker wrote of Randall鈥檚 feelings, 鈥淩andall鈥檚 eagerness (really, hunger) to have a relationship with his birth father, to be seen and acknowledged as the child once abandoned, is authentic. We sense as viewers that he will do anything to make this weird situation work 鈥� anything. I see myself and other adoptees in his heartbreaking vulnerability and keenness, and it rings true to the bone.鈥澨�

Meanwhile, writer Lisa Qualls, who blogs about adoption and parenthood,听wrote on her site, 鈥淎s an adoptive mom and birth/first mom, I鈥檓 very critical of movies and shows that attempt to tackle the subject of adoption. It鈥檚 nearly never done well. 鈥楾his is Us鈥� is the exception to the rule.鈥澨�

Vulture writer Rebecca Carroll, a black woman who was adopted into a white family, has shared her thoughts on how the show portrays the complex identities of children in interracial adoptions.

Of meeting her own birth father, Ms. Carroll wrote,听鈥淓ven though I couldn鈥檛 immediately relate to this man who stood in front of me 鈥� I couldn鈥檛 turn away, just like Randall when he tried to leave his father鈥檚 apartment. Rather, Randall turns and says, as if the words just fell out of his mouth: 鈥榃ant to meet your grandchildren?鈥� That鈥檚 what the pull feels like: a marrow-deep draw that is simultaneously familiar and foreign.鈥澨�

鈥淭here are glimmers of honesty on the show, too, in watching the flashback scenes, where Rebecca and Jack struggle with how to raise a kid of a different race,鈥� Carroll adds, citing examples like Randall's hair cuts. But as challenging as such practical questions can be, 鈥渕ore important is access to the language and legacy,鈥� she writes, as adopted children try to reconcile听鈥渁 racial identity in a family that represents the default framework of a country that has historically hated us.鈥�