Recap: 'This Is Us' is getting more stressful by the week
When is somebody going to notice that Kevin is spiraling?
When is somebody going to notice that Kevin is spiraling?
When is somebody going to notice that Kevin is spiraling?
Who is "the most disappointed man" in This Is Us? Is it William, who claims the title as he's being arraigned on drug charges, just weeks after abandoning his son at the fire station? Is it Kevin, decades later, who's spiraling so hard into addiction that he can see only misery in his own future? Is it Toby, who didn't get to stage an homage to Flashdance this week?
There's a lot of disappointment to go around this week. Here are some thoughts and feelings from episode seven, "The Most Disappointed Man."
1. Is going to be the new recurring theme for flashbacks? Because much as that from last season was lovely, the show also really beat it into the ground.
2. Okay, it鈥檚 a William episode. Great for those who were already feeling emotionally fragile this week.
3. 鈥淭he woman鈥檚 a criminal.鈥� Hmmm, okay. We know that Randall is incredibly straitlaced and controlled, and would for sure disapprove of Deja鈥檚 mom鈥檚 criminal lifestyle, but this feels a little overdone. The parallels between Deja鈥檚 mom and William are so clear that it鈥檚 hard to buy Randall missing them.
4. 鈥淭hese beans don鈥檛 grow on trees. You know, actually they do. I mean, technically, it鈥檚 not a tree…鈥� Can Randall鈥檚 Ramblings be a podcast? It would 100 percent be the most soothing podcast in your feed.
5. Alexandra Breckenridge is so endearing as Sophie. (Seriously—remember last season, when the show was trying to pretend Olivia was an appealing human being?) Sure, Sophie doesn鈥檛 have a huge amount of depth yet as a character, but she鈥檚 so natural with Kevin and it just emphasizes that while everything is going his way, he鈥檚 still in freefall. Because addiction doesn't care how well your life is going!
6. Maybe fans should try and come around on Toby. These 鈥淏ABY鈥� shirts are so extra and you just know they were his idea because he can鈥檛 announce anything like a normal person.
7. The fact that Kevin just stared blankly at their 鈥淏ABY鈥� arrow shirts is… concerning. He鈥檚 on another planet, and it seems like nobody around him notices.
8. Deja鈥檚 mom isn鈥檛 even coming?!?!?! How on earth is it possible that they would get this far into the process without realizing that she had opted out? Did she just decide she wanted out at the last minute? And Deja has been saving up her allowance for her mom? This is killing me.
9. Okay, Linda the foster-care lady. You can tell Randall all the self-righteous stories you want about deaf children, but this situation is still awful, and you are handling it very poorly.
10. For a twin, Kate seems to have a very, very poor handle on Kevin鈥檚 mental state. She just vaguely says, 鈥淗uh, did Kevin seem a little off to you?鈥� and then immediately brushes it off. Perhaps this is deliberate, though, because we鈥檝e seen, right from their childhood, this family attitude of 鈥楰evin鈥檚 fine, he can take care of himself.鈥� But...he isn't!
11. At some point, fans are going to need a role-reversed version of the scene from last season where Kevin runs to Randall. In that episode, it was Kevin who finally noticed that Randall was desperately not okay, so it would be very lovely if Randall were the one to notice that Kevin clearly needs help this season.
12. 鈥淟et鈥檚 just go to the courthouse and get married!鈥� Nothing about Kate and Toby鈥檚 engagement really makes sense, which they鈥檙e at least acknowledging, and fans get Kate not wanting to deal with the dress shopping and the father鈥揹aughter dance and everything else that comes with a big wedding. But is this show really going to pass up the opportunity for a big wedding? A big wedding that could potentially play out in the season finale, in parallel with Jack and Rebecca鈥檚 wedding, which we still haven鈥檛 seen? We don鈥檛 think so!
13. Judge Bradley disapproving of Jack and Rebecca adopting Randall is so complex and uncomfortable, as it should be. Sure, he鈥檚 allowing his personal experience to sway his legal opinion, but he鈥檚 also objectively right that there are things about a black child's experience that these well-meaning white people are never going to understand. Does that mean he should let Randall go into the foster system instead of being adopted by the Pearsons?
14. 鈥淎ll of our diamonds are conflict-free.鈥� 鈥淲ell, that鈥檚 good news, Sophie hates conflict. Hates it.鈥� Let鈥檚 give Kevin the benefit of the doubt and assume the drugs are making him extra-dumb.
15. 鈥淲hoosh? Is that the sound that marriage makes?鈥� Is Toby funny now?
16. 鈥淵ou picture this face, and you make a different choice. Can you do that? Can you find me a different ending to your story?鈥� This is just heartbreaking, because we know William must have pictured this judge鈥檚 disappointed face a lot throughout his life.
17. I don鈥檛 love the heavy-handed dialogue in this scene between Randall and Deja鈥檚 mom. This storyline feels like it鈥檚 in real danger of clich茅, and when not even Randall and Beth can sell it…that's not good.
18. Toby has never been more endearing? Turns out all it takes to win fans over is an attempt to have a conversation with the ashes of your girlfriend鈥檚 dead father!
19. Of course Toby and Kate are going to have the big white wedding. And of course it鈥檚 going to be the most extra thing you鈥檝e ever seen, and of course it鈥檚 going to be intercut with Jack and Rebecca鈥檚. That is now a firm prediction for this season finale, let the record show.
20. Sophie is a nurse, and even she doesn鈥檛 notice that there鈥檚 something physically wrong with Kevin? Is he emitting some kind of force-field that prevents people from seeing his true broken form?
21. God, this Kevin/Sophie blowout is brutal. 鈥淲hen I dream of our future together, it鈥檚 a nightmare.鈥� How does this relationship ever recover?
22. 鈥淩ecused? Is that a good or a bad thing?鈥�
23. The Lost/This Is Us comparison has been drawn before, what with the various twists. But this ending in particular, with the two judges, reminded viewrs of those little Lost asides where you learn that two characters briefly interacted in the world before the island. It makes sense that the judge handling Jack and Rebecca鈥檚 adoption case would interact with the judge handling William鈥檚 case, since they鈥檙e in the same area, but still, a cute final beat.