This Is Us – The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning

By: Maddie Ruby

Okay, I am not going to lie, I honestly think that the last This Is Us episode was one of the best they have ever done. The surprises and the emotions and everything that has happened in this episode has combined to make it one giant This Is Us drama ball. No shock there. All in all, this episode was one of the best. There is so much to confer, I am not even sure where to begin!

Let’s start off with Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) A.K.A. your favorite This Is Us power couple…or should I say power team. They are in some hot water with each other and it is not looking good. At Randall’s debate it is clear he has so much on his mind. Just like Beth and Randall’s relationship right now, the debate is not going to well. Councilman Brown (Rob Morgan) just keeps shutting Randall down every time he tries to speak and trying to overrule the whole debate. Randall is stuck until he finally takes control. He tells the crowd he believes they are one of the same, both underestimated. He spreads his word and tries his best to show just how hard he cares. You know he broke through a little when they all start shouting Randall’s words, “Take a chance!” Or so we think. It seems everything went well until Jae-won (Tim Jo) ruins the excitement with the news that it is virtually impossible for Randall to win this election as he is too far behind and they don’t have enough time for Randall to pass up Councilman Brown.

Meanwhile, we obviously already know why Tess (Eris Baker) has been acting so bratty lately. She might like girls and she knows that she needs to tell her parents, but she isn’t sure she is ready or completely sure of herself. Kate (Chrissy Metz) must think she needs to talk to someone too because she broke her promise to Tess about not telling anyone and OF COURSE she told Rebecca (Mandy Moore)! I was not a surprised, but very offended and hurt for Tess. Imagine having that secret and then your GRANDMA, for crying out loud, knows. Ugh. Anyways, Rebecca tells Tess that sometimes she physically aches because she has kept secrets and bottled-up her feelings for so long and the last thing she wants is for Tess to end up like her. Tess takes this advice and, as nervous as she is, she tells Beth and Randall that she might like girls. Now, this was a moment I replayed just to watch again. You can see how much they love and care for her in this moment and to no wonder they are as loving and reassuring as ever.

Tess heads upstairs and this is when things begin to go downhill for our superstar parents. Beth essentially tells Randall that the debate is over and what matters right now are the girls. Tess is figuring this out, Deja (Lyric Ross) wants to go visit her mom and Annie (Faithe Herman) is in a spelling bee. (Not that Annie’s spelling bee isn’t important, but obviously Deja and Tess are the ones they really need to focus on right now.) Randall does not relish the idea of the campaign being over. In fact, he says he is not done. (Even though Jae-Won pretty much said IT’S OVER, you know Randall Pearson is not one for giving up).  Beth makes it even clearer to Randall by pulling the trigger and saying she is not on board anymore. If remembered correctly, Randall said…No, Randall PROMISED to back out if Beth wasn’t on board. But I guess Randall would rather break his wife’s heart than let down the public and he says he is seeing this through. Nonetheless, Randall might be sleeping on the couch for a while…or maybe worse.

This comes a little bit fuller circle when we get another Randall – Beth – Tess – Toby (Chris Sullivan) flash forward This is one of my favorites. I am SO curious to see what happens with this. In this future, an older Randall asks an adult Tess (Iantha Richardson) if she has talked to her mom and let her know they are on their way. I am not sure why Randall must go through Tess to talk to Beth and I’m not sure I want to know…just yet. An older Beth is running a dance company when her assistant sends a message saying Tess has called. Beth says they are going to see Rebecca and that she needs to grab the “pin the tail on the donkey” game. A Big Three tradition. So, presumably something may be wrong with Rebecca, meaning that she is the “her” talked about in the other flash forwards. This is odd because of the clip we saw with Toby being asked to visit. Where is Kate? Speaking of, Kate and Toby do a little cake gender reveal this episode. It’s a boy! I am not sure how I feel about the possibility of it being named Jack, though.

Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Zoe (Melanie Liburd) are still in Vietnam searching for any information about Jack’s time there. They meet a nice man, who just happens to be a fan of Kevin’s show. He introduces them to a local who grew up in the area during the war and still lives there. Kev shows this man the picture, but to Kevin’s disappointment he doesn’t recognize Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) or the woman. Kevin thinks he is going to leave Vietnam with nothing, but would they really write this whole Vietnam story line for NOTHING? No.

We get one last flashback before the final blow. Jack and Nicky (Michael Angarano) have gotten into a fight. Jack still cannot get through to him and he only has two days left with his brother. He finds Nicky high, again, who basically tells Jack that he just can’t do it anymore. Jack later notices Nicky is missing and then an explosion is heard. There is a boat that blew up on the water and Jack hears someone say they think a U.S. soldier was on it. The Jack Pearson instinct: jump into the water in case Nicky was aboard.

Now, in the present, we find out just whether a certain Jack Pearson brother was on that boat. Kevin and Zoe are about to leave with nothing, but a beautiful exotic vacation experience when they are stopped by the hotel manager who says he was going to give Kevin a memento to lay on his uncle’s name at the Vietnam Memorial. That is until he did some research and found there was no record of a Nick Pearson dying in the war. Now, Kevin doesn’t know if Nick is alive or if he died after the war, but he sure didn’t die in it.

We cut scene to an older looking man with glasses living in a trailer. He sets down a box and a pile of mail that is addressed to Nicholas Pearson. Could this mean Nicky is alive?!