What I’m Watching: This Is Us

This Is Us: Season 1, Episode 7 “The Best Washing Machine in the Whole World” (B-)

We’ve known for a few episodes now that Kevin and Randall have a fractured relationship. The assumption is that, over the course of this show’s likely long run, we’ll see more and more events happen that explain how they’ve reached the point that they have by their thirty-sixth birthdays. Being put on opposing football teams and having to play each other didn’t help at all, and somehow, decades later, they were still fighting on the ground the same way. What I felt was missing was how they got to a point where Kevin could fly across the country and feel like it was okay for him to show up and just stay indefinitely with the man he has never officially called his brother. Randall accidentally revealing that he had never seen “The Manny” elicited an angry reaction from Kevin, but Randall responded in kind by challenging Kevin to name his job. Far better was the pot brownie-assisted bonding session between Beth and William, and the unfortunate slip about William’s past with Rebecca is going to shake things up in a troubling way (sort of like that malfunctioning washing machine). Toby making his goal weight when Kate only lost a pound and a half was an unoptimistic start, and Toby’s casual binging isn’t helping Kate at all with her own secret eating. At least the two of them are staying together and managing to create a relationship only defined and driven about ninety-nine percent by overwhelming concerns about food and weight.