"He loves you like he's in a Disney movie."
In this episode, Jack comes home with a black eye, Rebecca makes him promise not to box again and stick to the punching bag but then, young Randall asks him to teach him how to box, he makes up an excuse about a bully but when it comes up it was a lie, he explains he just wants to be more like Jack and he feels at a disadvantage, but Jack tells him his brains are all he needs. Later he opens up to Rebecca about why he needs to box, that it helps with the bad memories, and then she's on board, she even asks him to teach her how to do it with him which gives us one of the sweetest scenes in a while, and it makes me grateful for these flashbacks since these two are the absolutely necessary fabric that makes this show so special. Speaking of Rebecca I loved Kate calling for advice and the talk they have about raising children when suddenly the child becomes a parent and realizes just how hard it all is
Toby's been back on his antidepressants for a few weeks but they don't seem to be kicking in just yet, Kate told the whole family she was pregnant and though they're thrilled and I totally get it, I think it would've made more sense to wait a little longer before telling everyone, though perhaps she needed to share the joy with someone since Toby's not really up for it. In the end, taking care of Audio helps them bond again and though Toby's worried Kate didn't sign up for the whole depression thing, she says she did, and she'll get him through it, that she's in it with him forever.
Zoe has finished her documentary and decides to celebrate alone in a hotel since Kevin has been a little extra with his newfound obsession about his father's past, so he finds someone else to drive crazy. He joins Randall in his "campaign trail" and it turns out he has a big influence on South Korean voters, so Randall decides he found himself a new electorate, and a new campaign manager, since one of the people he talked to turned out to have one hell of a resume with political campaigns and he saw something in Randall he likes, someone who's willing to listen, and get stuff done. I have to say I'm really excited about the addition of Jae-Won (Tim Jo - Pitch), it looks like there are so many potentially great stories, this is an angle This Is Us hasn't tried yet, and the speech about his grandmother voting for the first time was amazing.
I absolutely love the scene where Kevin explains his obsession to Randall, who doesn't seem to understand at first, of course, he's got other things on his mind and the fact that their father never wanted them to know is enough for him to leave it alone, but Kevin explains that now he's started peeling the wallpaper and finding out what happened he can't seem to stop. And it's understandable when you realize just how much you don't know about people who mean so much to you, it inevitably boggles the mind, he says he admires Randall for following his gut even when no one else understands why he does the things he does and he wants to take a page from his book, so he just goes ahead and asks Zoe to come to Vietnam with him.
Beth is struggling with being jobless and she takes it out on the girls, of course, she later apologizes, but she gets a very sweet Pearson-talk from Deja who tells her to open up to Randall about how she feels and to stop trying to hold it together for everyone. This scene was adorable and I'm glad for what this would seemingly mean for Deja, that she finally feels at home, more comfortable as a part of the family, which is something he really needed. When she finally opens up to Randall he tells her the good news about his new campaign manager and offers her a job, not because she needs one but because he knows what an amazing team they are together, and I'd have to agree.
"Take a deep breath, make a choice, and just hope you didn't screw things up too badly."
What did you think of the episode? I look forward to your comments and I leave you with the poll.
