Tears, but no fears
Midseason finale of This Is Us is emotional, but not a cliffhanger
Warning: Spoilers ahead
Last season, This Is Us aired a midseason finale that gave viewers an edge-of-their-seats ending — the unknown fate of fan favourite Toby (Chris Sullivan), who suffered a cardiac emergency.
Not so this time around. Tuesday night’s episode, which was the last until the NBC/CTV drama returns Jan. 2, left us in tears but avoided also leaving us with a new, horrid cliffhanger.
Number Three completes a trilogy of episodes, each of which follows a member of the Pearson brood during two different periods: as teenagers when Kevin (Logan Shroyer) injured his knee and as adults confronting major challenges just before Thanksgiving. All of the episodes centre on hot-button themes, including addiction, miscarriage, race and the foster-care system.
This episode centres on Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who, along with wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson), finds out that a social worker has recommended their foster daughter be returned to her mother, who was just released from jail. The intensely protective couple resists. But we also see flashbacks to teenage Randall as he grapples with his identity, learns more about his dad’s past and sees a potential new home for himself at Howard University.
Earlier in the season, grown-up Randall tried to relate to his foster daughter, Déjà (Lyric Ross), by telling her how out of place he felt growing up. And while we’ve seen episodes that get at what it’s like for Randall growing up in a white family and going to an allwhite school, Tuesday’s episode shows teenager Randall articulating what it feels like to his dad, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia).
“You know how you felt at Howard when you thought I hesitated to introduce you because you’re white? How you were kind of mad but couldn’t say exactly why? I feel that way all the time,” teenage Randall tells his dad on their ride home from a campus visit. “I feel like I’m always going to feel this way — not mad, but like, off-balance. Like everything is just going to be a little bit more complicated for me.”
Jack tells Randall that he gets that, and he tells his son he doesn’t have to reassure his white parents that they aren’t at fault. He also tells Randall what it was like for him after he returned from Vietnam — a piece of Jack Pearson history we and his family know little about. Jack then tells Randall that life will be full of off-balance and balanced moments, but he knows his amazing son will figure out how to navigate it all.
This episode also gives us a flashback to a new tidbit of information from Randall’s childhood, as relayed by his biological dad, William. (Three cheers for another Ron Cephas Jones cameo!)
Before William died, he told Randall how after Randall’s mom, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), tracked him down the second time around, he followed her home and almost knocked on the door. Cue the heartbreaking montage of what could have been — William present at Randall’s birthday, graduation, Christmas, “the big stuff.” But William stopped short and turned around from the Pearson house when he realized Randall had a whole life without him. What right did he have to intrude, William says, when his mother didn’t want it?
It’s a lesson that connects back to the present for Randall, and he convinces Beth they need to relent and let Déjà go home to her mother. The most tearinducing scene came as the three said their goodbyes.
Number Three did build up the momentum toward the end — anyone else scream when adult Kevin (Justin Hartley) said he was driving away after throwing back all that vodka? — but spared us all from losing sleep wondering how that drive would conclude. Although it was terrifying, we can rest easy knowing that Randall’s daughter Tess (Eris Baker) walked away from that car ride physically unharmed. Kevin getting arrested for a DUI may finally be the wake-up call the show writers have been teasing all season.
But as for the biggest cliffhanger of this series — under what circumstances did Jack Pearson die? — we got no new clues. It’s a reveal the writers have been dragging out and we’re just hoping is resolved before this season ends next spring.