What I’m Watching: This Is Us (Season Finale)

This Is Us: Season 3, Episode 18 “Her” (B)

I just saw a friend who told me that my assessment of this show as emotionally manipulative has permanently colored the way she watches it, mainly because she completely agrees. We haven’t seen too many flash-forwards this season, and I had forgotten that they were presented in a manner that made it seem like Randall and Beth weren’t together anymore. That was replayed to underscore the marital difficulties they were having in this episode, though of course it was all a red herring and those two are the only ones who are actually still doing okay in the future. Those scenes did present a handful of new questions, namely why Nicky was there with Rebecca as she was dying rather than Miguel and why Toby was arriving on his own with both Kate and Kev notably absent. It was affirming to see that, after everything, Randall and Beth proved their devotion to each other by researching solutions to make the other happy, and the best part was that Beth wasn’t looking at houses or apartments in Philly but rather studio spaces so that she could still invest in herself while enabling him to pursue his newfound career. We haven’t seen much of Deja this season, and her pep talk was a nice chance for Randall to listen to someone else for a change. Zoe leaving because Kev indicated that he thought she’d change how she felt about kids eventually was inevitable, and apparently, in the future, Kev does end up with a kid just like him. Pairing the present and future events with Rebecca’s minor car accident was effective, and I like that even Jack couldn’t stand the corn sandwiches he made for his kids. Interestingly, this show has yet to be renewed for a fourth season after a two-season pick up following season one, but I have little doubt that it will be back again.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth