"You’re really lucky you met her."
Hey, all, I'm sorry this has taken so long, to be honest, I think I found it hard to sit and write about this particular episode, but differently from the last finales, where perhaps there was too much heartbreak to put into words, this time, I found myself disappointed with the overall episode. Yes, it was nice to know the happy outcomes of some of our stories, but other than that, the big reveal seemed pointless, the fact that Rebecca is dying of old age is no surprise, it looks like she's had a long, good, life and she's accompanied by everyone who loves her, yes, it's nice, but it is not a worthy storyline for a drama in my mind. I would've found it a lot more interesting, if absolutely heartbreaking, to find out she was dealing with Alzheimer's, for example, which would've given us some scenes from the progression of the disease to look forward to, and would've given Mandy Moore some epic Emmy material. But alas, I'm not the screenwriter here, so let's just get to reviewing.
After a sad breakfast montage of Beth and Randall on their own, we see that Rebecca is trying to take over parenting for Kate and though she had indeed asked for help she doesn’t seem over the moon about the way it’s being handed out. And it doesn’t get better when important things need to be the focus, like keeping baby Jack from forgetting to breathe; it has to be nerve-wracking having to constantly make sure your little baby is still breathing while, at the same time, dealing with your own mommy issues.
When Kate gets home, though, she shows a whole lot of growth when he tells her mom that she realizes now her reactions are on her. They come from her own insecurities and being a good mom is not a flaw. She says Rebecca has a magical quality that Kate’s afraid she won’t be able to live up to, but she’s willing to let her fears aside for her baby boy to grow up with some Rebecca Pearson level magic. She even apologizes in advance for the times she’ll lash out at her in the years to come and Rebecca says that’s what she’s there for. I’m so happy they finally got here, and it’s so realistic too. This was some wonderful writing, and I’m so happy Kate got this with her mom before she died.
Kevin still seems uncomfortable with his own childless decision but he’s still trying to convince himself it’s the right call. And we know the fact that Beth is busy with dance classes and they’re going to be babysitting the kids will only lead to trouble. He sees Zoe’s great with kids and tells her she might change her mind, but it only makes her realize she has to break things off, for both their sakes. Rebecca’s accident leaves her pretty banged up, and makes the Pearson family realize how useless they are without her, but other than that and some parallels, there' not much the car accident gave to this episode.
Deja tells Beth and Randall she’s on the debate team, but it turns out it was just an excuse to take Randall to a foster home she’d been for a couple months, a place where they kept the kids hungry and used all the money to buy scratching tickets, though they never won. She says Randall won the lottery twice, once with the Pearsons and the second time with Beth. She says he should appreciate the fact that even though barely anyone wins the lottery he was able to win it twice and he should get his act together. I just love how well Deja is learning from Randall's manipulation skills, she’s awesome. This makes Randall consider quitting his job before even swearing in (which almost caused Jae-Won a heart attack), but Beth says to lighten the load for him they’ll scale back and move to Philly where and she can open her own studio.
While her parents were fighting Tess was dealing with her own crisis and though she was trying to spare them she at least gets some wisdom from her uncle Kevin. She says she thought coming out to the family was going to be the hardest thing but she hasn’t yet told her friends, and she feels lost in her own skin. Kevin says he’s never really been through what she’s going through but he does know a little bit about finding himself piece by piece over time, this was honestly a wonderful scene.
In the flashforward where Beth seemed to be having breakfast alone, she’s joined by Randall and Tess, which is where we realize they're still together. Then Toby shows up to let us know Jack made it though, but maybe his parents' marriage didn't. And we also learn Kevin has a kid, though we wonder who the mother it, might it be Sophie again? Finally, Randall goes to say goodbye to his mom and though she's not looking good, she does seem like she had a great life, and her death will be a peaceful thing, joined by her loved ones, including Nicky, which is pretty nice too. This is it for this season but, apparently, there are three more to come! What would you want to see? What do you think they have in store for us?
"Together we set the world on fire."
What do you think about this finale? I look forward to your comments and I leave you with the poll.
