This Is Us returned from hiatus with an episode that had everything we’ve come to expect from this fantastic show. It was emotional, heart-warming, and made me realize just how much I missed all these characters over the break.
First things first, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, Toby is okay! However, after suffering an arrhythmia the doctor tells him he has a hole in his heart that will require surgery. He’s not a great patient and you can tell he’s really scared. At first, he opts to not have the surgery but when Kate gets upset about this, he reevaluates and decides to get the surgery after all. Just before Toby goes in for the operation, he says he loves her but she can’t say it back. This really weighs on her as she’s waiting for him to come out of surgery. To get her mind off things she asks Kevin and Randall to come wait with her and they do. I love how they’re there to support her and I love their conversation. The three of them interacting continues to be one of the highlights of this show and I hope Kate and Toby decide to stay in New York for a bit longer. Now that I’m used to getting scenes with them all together, I don’t want to give that up. After the surgery is over Kate tells Toby that she loves him too while she thinks he’s asleep but then he “wakes up” and says he heard it all. He also says he would marry her right now. While this is a beautiful moment and I really love them together, I’m still worried because I’m not sure she’s ready yet. The problems that they had before this haven’t gone away, so it'll be interesting to see how they navigate things after Toby’s health scare and now that they've shared how they feel about each other.
Elsewhere, Olivia is back and she’s supposedly “changed” after finding herself, spiritually. She claims she’s changed but she doesn't seem that different to me. I don’t trust that she’s that different after only a month and I’ll need to see some actions from her before I believe she’s really changed. Olivia wants another chance in the play and with dating Kevin, however, things are complicated now because he’s really into Sloane. After a lot of thought, Kevin sits down with Olivia and tells he that he’s going to choose Sloane, both to date and act in the play. However, as he tells her this, he says, “sometimes you have to do the right thing, even if it’s not what you want”. That was really not a great choice of words and when Sloane overhears this, she’s understandably upset. It now seems like he might have lost both of them. I’m really happy Kevin chose Sloane because personally, I like her more. I’m not sure yet if she’s the better match for Kevin but I think he can learn a lot from her and I’m hoping they’ll make up soon.
Since the discovery that William is gay or bisexual, Randall has really been struggling. Not knowing about William’s sexuality makes him feel like he hasn’t really been getting to know him and he’s probably a bit jealous to have to share William in his final months. When Randall confronts William about this, he says he’s pulling away because he doesn’t want Randall and his family to go through the pain of losing him now that feels he’ll be dying soon. His medication isn’t working anymore and he wants to stop getting treatment. Randall is supportive of this and just wants William to experience his final days the way he wants to. I can’t handle William crying or the thought that he’ll be dying soon. I’m really worried the show won’t feel the same without him.
Meanwhile, in this episode, we got to see a glimpse of Rebecca and Jack’s life in the earlier stages of her pregnancy, when they first found out they were having triplets. Rebecca is in full nesting mode and they’re going house hunting. Right after they’ve picked out the perfect two bedroom apartment, their doctor tells them they’re having triplets. This really shakes everything up for them because the place they just rented will never work for that many kids and they also don’t have the kind of income to support such a large family. They’re both having a hard time coping and are feeling pretty desperate. Jack asks his boss for a raise and after a lunch with her judgmental mom, Rebecca suggests they stay with her parents for a couple of years after the babies are born. In one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the show so far, Rebecca sends Jack out to get her ice-cream but when he forgets his wallet, he comes back to hear her sobbing. I thought Mandy Moore’s acting was exceptional in this entire episode, but especially in this scene. After Jack hears this, he pays a visit to his father, who we saw was quite abusive throughout Jack’s childhood. Jack asks his father to borrow some money because of how desperate they are and he sells his car that he loves. The next day, he takes Rebecca to the house he’s been working on for work and tells her he just bought it for them. Soon she starts picturing what their whole life there could look like and she falls in love with the house. The episode ends on this hopeful and happy note and I can’t wait to see more of Rebecca and Jack’s pre-birth history.
What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
