What I’m Watching: This Is Us

This Is Us: Season 4, Episode 15 “Clouds” (B+)

It’s always a toss-up with this show and how it features events way in the past that are supposed to inform things in the present but haven’t ever been addressed prior to this in the scenes in between those two periods. In this case, Randall’s development was very strong, as he learned how to run to calm himself down after his father wanted to help him accept a lone A- on his report card. He walked into therapy ready to talk to the entire time and explain how he was above it, and it’s good that Beth pushed him to return for her own sake so that she didn’t have to be strong for him all the time when he was actually falling apart. I was curious why Pamela Adlon of “Better Things” wasn’t shown on screen for most of the episode after I recognized her voice immediately, and I guess it was to signify that Randall wasn’t seeing her as a real person until he took the time to appreciate what could come of these conversations. Rebecca did a great job of reminding Kevin of how important he is, and the flashback to the eager young teenager’s trading card hunt was endearing and entertaining. Little time should be spent discussing Madison, but at least she pushed Kate in the right direction to give Toby a chance, which turned out to be wonderful as he showed her the many ways that he’s excited about bonding with his son. That still doesn’t explain how we get to certain future scenes, but all in good time.