Tuesday’s episode of This Is Us was a doozy. Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) face obstacles with Randall’s adoption. William (Jermel Nakia, Ron Cephas Jones) is back, and his storyline just gets better. Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) try their best to be parents to Deja (Lyric Ross). Kevin continues on his downward spiral, and it affects his relationship with Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge). And Toby (Chris Sullivan) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) talk about their future. Here is a deeper look into the episode.
The past shows Randall’s adoption …
After a year full of house visits and evaluations, Jack and Rebecca are finally put in front of a judge to make Randall’s adoption official — but it doesn’t go well at first.
The judge they are put in front of is black and believes Randall should be with a black family.
“I don’t believe that child belongs in your home,” he said. “That child belongs in a black home.”
Rebecca, being the mamma bear she is, writes a letter to the judge. Remember, this is back in the day before email became popular. Her letter must have resonated with him as he recused himself from the case and directed them to another judge who happened to be a black woman. She signs off on the paperwork, and Randall is officially part of the fam.
... and William’s court order
Every now and then we get a glimpse into William’s life, which is nice because he is such a good character.
In the same time period as Randall’s adoption, William stands in front of a judge on drug possession charges. William has no priors, but that doesn’t stop him from telling the judge to lock him up because he doesn’t want to be out in the world anymore after losing his mother and the love of his life.
“I am the most disappointed man you have every met in your whole damn life,” William said.
Later on, the judge visits William before his sentencing. He says if William is the most disappointed man, then he is a close second because he has to sentence people he doesn’t want to sentence.
“I’m a man who writes terrible stories day after day, and I can’t change the endings,” the judge said. “So I’m going to see if I can change the ending here.”
He gets William help, and he doesn’t do drugs for many years.
Then there is time jump forward to the day William finds out he has stomach cancer. The doctor tells him to go out and do what he wants. The next scene shows William sitting at his kitchen table with a lighter, needle, a spoon and some heroin. Right when he is about to inject his veins, he gets a knock on the door that startles him. He rushes to hide the drugs, walks to the door and standing there is Randall. It’s the same scene from the pilot episode. Randall stopped William from relapsing. How beautiful is that?
Randall looks out for Deja
Just like his parents looked out for him, Randall stepped into full parental mode for Deja.
Randall takes Deja on a court ordered visit to see her mom, but the mom declines to see her. Randall and Beth are mad to put it lightly.
“I’m done letting that woman hurt that girl,” Beth said.
Randall is so mad that he goes back to the prison to talk to Deja’s mom. When he gets there, he sees she has a bruised face. That’s the reason she didn’t want to see her daughter. She also says that when she gets out, she is going to get Deja back, to which Randall responds, “You’re gonna have to go through me.”
Randall must soften a little bit because he gave Deja’s mom their phone number so she can call from the payphone. Randall obviously cares about Deja, and he even tells Beth that he is falling for her.
Kevin is spiraling out of control
Kevin’s addictions are catching up to him as it starts to affect his personal life even more.
When Sophie calls to remind him about his flight to move to New York City, Kevin tries to push it back for the third time. After the phone call, he takes a painkiller and washes it down with a sip of beer.
Then Kate and Toby tell him they’re pregnant, which prompts Kevin to think about his future. He goes to a jeweler and buys not one, not two but three engagement rings so Sophie can pick which one she wants. Man, if Kevin was doing this with pure intentions, it would be super romantic.
When he arrives in NYC, he goes to Sophie’s work. He waits for her and has a dream about being a bad husband and father.
He shows up on Sophie’s doorstep sweaty and nervous.
“I don’t know how to be a husband. I don’t know how to be a father to our kids,” he said. “I’m saving you from 40 years of disappoint with me. … When I dream of our future, it’s a nightmare for me.”
He also says he has been faking all of his feelings, and Sophie rightfully slams the door in his face. Kevin really needs to get his act together.
Kate and Toby make plans
Ah, the love birds. After telling Kevin about the pregnancy, Kate urges him to tell is devout Catholic mother that Kate is pregnant out of wedlock. He chickens out, and Kate proposes they get married at the courthouse.
The couple goes through all of the legal shenanigans, but Toby has a hunch that Kate really wants the big wedding. While sitting on the couch, he looks up at the mantle to talk to Jack’s urn.
“I am the king of romantic gestures. I hear we have that in common,” Toby said.
Toby then asks Jack for his permission, and the next day he proposes to Kate. He prefaces the gesture by saying he called his mom and told her about the baby.
“You deserve to walk down the aisle bn your two stupidly handsome brothers and feel them love the crap out of you,” he said. “I know not everyone you want to be there can be there.”
He tells her he talked to the urn, and Kate quickly says “yes.” Toby and Kate deserve a long, happy life together. They are seriously so cute.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
