Tonight’s episode of This Is Us is titled “Clooney,” which we’re reminded at the beginning is the name of William’s cat. So, like, is this whole episode going to be about some cat? Because if so let’s just skip this week. I don’t have the patience.
Praise be, it’s not: We start in the ’90s, where the Pearson three are teens. Kate needs a dress for Winter Formal and actually asks Rebecca to take her to the mall. Kevin’s knee is broken from his football accident, so he’s lying on the couch, guzzling soda and feeling sorry for himself. Jack tells him to snap out of it and drags him to the mall to get a Winter Formal outfit, too. Randall also tags along and is enthusiastic because he’s the best.
While Kate and Rebecca are browsing dresses, Kate’s clearly uncomfortable. It looks like she has the number “7” written on her wrist, which is confusing. Is that…the dress size she’s aiming for? I don’t know. The dresses seem to not fit Kate, so she scurries off while Rebecca isn’t looking. When Rebecca finds Kate and suggests they look for other dresses, Kate snaps. It’s the first time ever I’ve empathized with one of the Pearson teens’ bratty outbursts. Have you ever struggled to fit into clothes inside a public dressing room? The panic, the embarrassment, the sweat beating down your neck—it’s horrible.
Meanwhile, Kevin and Jack are heading to a suit shop when they run into Miguel, who reveals his ex-wife is now engaged. Jack tries to make Miguel feel better, but annoying Kevin jumps down his throat and says Miguel is allowed to just let “things suck.” I’m so over his angst, it’s not even funny. (But I’m still crushing on him because I’m a masochist.)
Miguel, Randall, Jack, and Kevin are eating in the food court and talking about “lost dreams.” Jack tells the boys he once wanted to open up his own construction company but didn’t so his family could have a stable life. This is all so boring, and them eating at a food court makes me want to eat at a food court. They eventually get suits. It’s cute. Later, Jack tells Rebecca he wants to quit his job and start that construction business: The Big Three.
But who cares about that because, OMG: Randall made a homemade eight ball and used it to ask a girl at the mall on a date. He’s perfect. (This girl’s also who Randall is seen with the night of The Fire, so ? .)
Adult Randall
Randall has a job interview today, and he’s not excited about it, which is annoying Beth. He has to drive over to William’s old apartment to pick up some random box they found in storage. Oh my God: What if the cat is in that box? No way, right? That’s way too morbid.
OK, so the cat isn’t in the box. He’s missing, allegedly. I really hope we’re not expected to care about this cat. In William’s box, Randall finds poems he wrote about some “lady” and gets excited. I’m confused and, honestly, don’t care. I’ve never not cared about Randall’s storyline.
Randall then goes around from apartment to apartment in William’s building asking people if they know the women from these poems. I could cry from boredom. Where the hell is Beth?
Thank God, she’s here now, shutting down Randall’s chatter about these poems and telling him to get a job. She says he’s in “outer space” and needs to be back in the “real world” with her. He’s devastated when she says this. It’s harsh, sure, but Beth can do no wrong in my eyes, so I support her.
Randall goes for the job interview, but leaves it halfway through to answer a phone call about the mystery poem lady from William’s apartment building. Is she going to help pay for your kids’ college, Randall?!? Is she?!
The call leads Randall to William’s old super, who says she and William didn’t sleep together but the building “felt it” when he moved. Randall eventually finds himself in William’s actual apartment unit, which reveals the “lady” from the poems: Billie Holiday. A billboard of Billie Holiday, nicknamed Lady Day, is visible across the street from William’s apartment. Awww, tender. But boring.
At the end, Randall takes Beth to this building and says he wants to buy it with her and help give the tenants inside the comfort they deserve. Again, tender. (And, again, boring.)
Adult Kate
We open with Kate at Overeater’s Anonymous, talking about how she “fell off the wagon” but is getting back on track because she and Toby are getting married in the spring. She voices anxiety about picking out a wedding dress, which is completely understandable and painfully relatable. Surprisingly, Madison—the thin girl in their OA class who Kate hates—proposes to take her wedding dress shopping at a place that does custom gowns. Kate agrees. Geez. I hope this ends well.
They arrive at the wedding dress shop, and things are actually going great…for Kate. It’s Madison who seems to be on edge about something. Answer: She ate several macaroons when she arrived at the shop and threw them up. When Kate goes to confront Madison about this, she gets defensive and leaves Kate in the parking lot.
Later, Madison calls Kate in a panic. It turns out she came home, binge-ate old frozen yogurt, and fainted. Kate then opens up to Madison about some of her issues: Apparently, Kate lost a lot of weight after Jack died. She became so thin, the size-seven Winter Formal dress that didn’t fit her from the flashback was loose on her. But the weight loss didn’t bring her the happiness she thought. She felt empty; Kate says she liked being overweight because she liked hating herself and hearing the angry voice constantly telling her to lose weight.
Oof. Full personal disclosure: This storyline’s hitting pretty close to home for me. Like Kate, I’ve struggled with weight (and trying to lose it) for as long as I can remember. It’s an unhealthy, all-consuming obsession that’s somehow become a part of my identity—as it has for Kate. And here, Kate asks a question I’ve repeatedly asked myself for years: Who would I be if I wasn’t constantly thinking about losing weight? It’s incredible This Is Us is tackling a body-image issue this specific and nuanced.
Adult Kevin
Kevin’s leaving rehab, but his therapist says she’s worried he may slip up if he goes back to Hollywood. So he goes to stay with Rebecca and Miguel, which will probably end terribly.
It’s already awkward five minutes in. Rebecca stocked up on all this healthy food, but Kevin says he’s on a super sugary diet because…that’s allowed when you’re a recovering drug addict? At the grocery store, Rebecca and Kevin share a warm moment about their Jack necklaces. But then Miguel reveals to Kevin in private that Rebecca’s been a “wreck” since their therapy-session fight and Kevin’s arrest. He says he’s going to “protect” Rebecca from any more “bombs” Kevin plans to throw at her. Kevin then makes some horrible comment about how Jack, not Miguel, is Rebecca’s husband. Again, Kevin’s being the worst, as per usual. Is anyone surprised?
Kevin eventually apologizes to Miguel, but then jumps straight into interrogating him about Jack. Miguel says he wasn’t in love with Rebecca when Jack was alive but he is now and isn’t going anywhere. And that’s a good thing, Kevin! Why the hell do you not want your mom to be happy? He’s ridiculous. Kevin and Rebecca eventually have a nice conversation, though, and he comes around to the fact that Miguel makes her happy.
But the most important scene in this episode happens at the very end. When we opened, ’90s Rebecca told ’90s Jack they needed to pick up batteries at the mall, but they forgot. And it turns out those batteries were for a smoke detector. A smoke detector that probably didn’t go off during a certain fire. Is that why the fire was as bad as it was? The Pearsons didn’t realize it was happening because the smoke detector was broken, and it escalated? Oof. Another layer to this mystery!
Parting thoughts: Check our smoke detectors, apparently.
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