What I’m Watching: This Is Us

This Is Us: Season 3, Episode 9 “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” (B-)

I’ve been thinking over and over throughout this season that it feels silly to spend so much time getting to know a character who we’re well aware is going to die before anyone aside from Jack can interact with him. I guess that’s why this season has spent so much time invested in building up the idea of Nicky the lost brother only to surprise audiences with the news that he is apparently alive and living under his real name, something that seems extremely strange given that Jack would have wanted to reunite with him if he didn’t indeed die in Vietnam. It was awfully easy for the news of his non-demise to be revealed, though it’s possible no one ever bothered to check if Jack was so sure that he had died. Kate not checking a great music teaching job because of her lack of a college degree was disappointing, and kudos to her supportive husband Toby for encouraging her to reenroll so that she can follow some dreams. Deja calling her mother seemed like it might be a problem for Randall and Beth, as might Tess being uncertain about her sexuality, but a debate in which Randall managed to rally the troops in a way only he can turned into a much more serious issue for the couple. What the flash-forward at the end seemed to indicate is that Randall and Beth might be splitting up, which is both surprising and upsetting. Going to see Rebecca together in the future doesn’t explain much, but that’s the nature of this show, dropping little hints to tempt viewers that won’t be resolved for a long time, at least not until the show returns from its hiatus in mid-January.