What I’m Watching: This Is Us

This Is Us: Season 2, Episode 6 “The 20’s” (B+)

Now this is an hour that used this show’s premise to its utmost advantage. It also managed to make a Halloween episode work very well, with Randall eager to use a map designed to maximize house-to-candy ratio and Jack and Rebecca dressed as Sonny and Cher. We’ve already explored some of the complex relationships within this family, and Jack and Rebecca each accusing the other of being too close to one of the kids and never saying no was an interesting and logical reflection on the dynamics that we’ve seen play out. Pairing this Halloween flashback with a time ten years in the past for the adult children was very effective, and the makeup and hairstyling team did an okay job making these older actors look much younger. It’s nice to see Rebecca forging a connection with her daughter-in-law when she arrived to help with the birth, especially in light of Randall’s earlier meltdown which nearly continued when he sought the advice of a store employee about what it’s like to have children. Rebecca meeting her grandchild for the first time was very sweet, and seeing how it compared with her meeting Randall with Jack in the background was touching. Getting a message from Miguel on Facebook was a cool development too that helps to explain where that relationship came from in the wake of Jack’s death. It’s good to see that both Kate and Kevin have come a long way since this time. Kevin trying to score the role that his roommate got was particularly low, and even though he’s spiraling out now, at least he’s a much better person.