This Is Us is continuing to kill it in season four.
Tonight’s episode was not earth-shattering in the way many others have been. There was a glimpse into the future as we watched a montage of baby Jack growing up with the new garage music studio his dad built for him, but otherwise it was just a nice glimpse into the lives of the Big Three as they continue to grow. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Toby surprised Kate with the idea for that garage studio after she came back from the cabin. He realized he was wrong, and he was ready to try to be a better dad for Jack, so he wanted a music studio for both Kate and Jack to use.
Kate, at first, didn’t think he was sincere, but Madison convinced her that maybe he really was trying his best.
Madison forced Kate to have brunch with her to make up for having slept with Kate’s brother, and yet still couldn’t stop going on about what it was like to sleep with Kate’s brother, because Madison has a way of putting her foot in her mouth even when she has the best intentions.
She explained that she slept with Kevin because he was somebody who already knew her, even in some of her uglier moments, unlike her Tinder dates, and while Kate seemed sure Madison was not about to be her sister-in-law, we’re kind of still hoping this is more than just a hook-up.
Kevin, meanwhile, took Rebecca on a little adventure before her follow-up doctor’s appointment. They went to a record store where Rebecca listened to Joni Mitchell and remembered a time when she and Jack had tried to find Joni’s house in LA, but didn’t succeed.
Kevin decided they would find it, and they finally did. Rebecca stood in the yard and sang the song that Graham Nash wrote about the house as we saw past Rebecca sing it with Jack, and it all made what we learned next all the more heartbreaking: Rebecca likely has Alzheimer’s.
Back in Philly, Randall finally started therapy, but the first session was a whole mess. He berated the therapist and freaked out about the noise of a coffee machine. He got mad when the therapist revealed she had seen his speeches, and had heard the story about his two fathers before. He was just sure he would get a text that Kevin had forgotten to take Rebecca to her doctor’s appointment, because Kevin just can’t be trusted. He questioned why he was even there, and claimed he would probably not be back.
He then went home and told Beth he wasn’t going back, and she promptly dumped out her purse to show him why he absolutely had to go back.
She’s been carrying pepper spray because now she’s terrified to close up her studio at night, and she bought their daughter an iPhone because she needs to know where she is at all times, and she got a prescription for sleeping pills because she’s not sleeping, and if Randall doesn’t get help for his anxiety, she can’t deal with it.
So then Randall went back with a much sunnier attitude, and we discovered that the therapist was Pamela Adlon.
Rebecca’s prognosis might not be great, but everyone else seems to be in the best place they’ve been in many episodes, and it sure is nice to see.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
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