What I’m Watching: This Is Us

This Is Us: Season 4, Episode 9 “So Long, Marianne” (B+)

It’s always easy to tell that this show is going on hiatus for a little bit because of a monumental reveal that comes in the form of a flash-forward. Rebecca losing her phone and experiencing a number of memory issues was a fake-out, shown as if it was happening as Randall was worried about her not coming home in time for Thanksgiving, but instead she showed up and confessed to her son that she was developing her own concerns about her memory. How we go from that moment to Kevin’s fortieth birthday party with them no longer speaking to Randall is a mystery, and I think I’m less turned off by that shocker than I have been in the past since I’m really finding this show to be experiencing its strongest storylines yet a few years into its run. I hope that Kevin’s pregnant wife is Cassidy, but we’ll have to wait to find that out too. It was sweet to see Kevin help Tess with her big dilemma, resulting in a celebratory coming out experience. Kate and Beth bonding over the terrible things they were feeling was fun, and it was good that Deja still expressed a need for Beth after she got jealous about Shauna. The lighter moments that were pretty hilarious were Beth commenting on how she was alone while Miguel was there and Nicky talking about how he was looking forward to getting to know Russell. There’s obviously a lot to be sorted out, particularly between Kate and Toby, but I like the notion that a grown baby Jack was still keeping up the newly-established family tradition of Thanksgiving shrimp. I look forward to this show’s return in January.