
Can you say “fraught”? Things are tense indeed as our Pearson’s wait out Kate’s baby crisis together in the hospital. And we were all there with them, tense and waiting. This episode was a little lacking in warmth and humor for my taste, but it held my interest for the most part. I found myself still mad at Randall for his little “put a pin in it” talk from last week, though I felt more empathy for Kevin.
That’s because of you guys, who weighed in on the This is Us Fans Facebook page and let me know that it’s pretty normal for an addict to relapse, and then relapse again (and again). See, I just thought the writers were making Kev relapse for the drama of it all. Guess I should have had more faith, huh?
RECAP:
- Everyone is in the waiting room except for Toby, who is at Kate’s side enduring we don’t know what. We wish we did know, hence tension so thick you could cut it with a knife (“it” being any food product that cannot be improved by chocolate or ranch dressing, of course).
2. Kevin is being AWFUL, and I’m not talking about his relapse. He demands “Meghan Markle treatment” for Kate, and heavily insinuates that the doctor he could buy with his movie star money would be way better than her actual doctor. Good thing you don’t have a college-aged kid, Kev. That kind of entitlement can get a person in big trouble (I’m looking at YOU, Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman!). Not cool, Kevin. Nor is snapping at poor, innocent Madison, who just wants to wait for news of her friend.
3. Everyone is cranky, exhausted and loopy (hello, bacteria chairs!), but the tension between Randall and Beth is the thickest. He keeps trying to get back on the same page with Beth, but she needs way more time to process. She just got her dream back and he just wants to “put a pin in it”? No way, Jose. Some things, my friend, cannot be pinned.
4. Thank Heaven for Miguel! We’ve long relied on Miguel for his calm composure in whatever craziness the Pearsons throw at him, but he really is such a gem. If not for his “game”–name a food that isn’t improved by chocolate or ranch dressing–I think we all would have lost our minds in there. Especially when the Loud Lady with Loud Chips started yakking and crackling her chip bag… I myself started Lamaze breathing just to persevere.
5. Though Beth is steamed at her man, her concern for her mother-in-law is touching. She seems to notice what the others are not–that Rebecca is frozen in place, not eating, drinking, walking or moving. When Rebecca becomes dizzy upon finally standing, Beth insists she eats a donut.
6. Zoe is in a bit of a daze herself, having just absorbed the news that her guy is drinking again, and lying about it. But she is there for him, which he needs. The drinking, he finally tells her, started at Uncle Nicky’s trailer, and has not stopped since: Zoe notices the presence of vodka in his water bottle.
7. Beth also notices her cousin, and Zoe’s fragile state of mind. “I wouldn’t judge you if you bounced,” she tells Zoe. Zoe has a good comeback, and the best line of the night: “But would you judge me if I stayed?”
8. “Squash,” Beth later blurts out, suddenly playing Miguel’s game. “Ranch,” says Miguel, just glad somebody is actually participating. (Were you playing along at home? Yup, me too. I think whoever said watermelon wins, though. Nothing, not even chocolate can improve watermelon.)
9. Randall, in heavy-duty problem-solving mode, has the solution: His mom and Miguel can be caregivers for the girls while he is off city counseling and Beth is off teaching ballet! Except the grandparents are thinking about relocating to California to be near Kate and the baby ... Come to think of it, what is going on with Kate and the baby? Why haven’t they/we heard anything in so long?
10. Kevin and Randall can’t take it anymore, and they turn on each other, snapping and snarling like a couple of handsome junkyard dogs. Miguel tries to step in, and he is shot down in flames. Finally, Rebecca erupts. “STOP!” She shouts. “Just stop.”
11. She remembers the time she was with Jack in another waiting room, in another time, right after the fire, right before Jack died. Her point: Nothing matters here and now except for Kate and the baby.
12. At this moment, Toby emerges as if in a fog. He takes a ragged breath and then…they cut to a commercial break! GASP!
13. “He’s here,” Toby announces, not jubilantly but in a way that suggests the baby may be in trouble. “He’s very, very small.” And so he is, tiny Jack, born at 28 weeks and in a fight for his life.
14. For most of the episode, I was more annoyed than emotional, but the sight of that tiny baby, so vulnerable, and his brave mama and papa, also deeply vulnerable, did me right in. And when the baby’s wee little hand grabbed onto his mother’s finger? All the teardrops!
I just kept thinking, they better not have this baby die or I will be SO MAD. However, I just don’t think that will be the way they go, do you? I think he will have a terrible time of it for a few weeks but end up okay but with some delays.
What do you think will happen to the baby?
Will Beth and Randall figure out a solution that works for both of them?
Are Kevin and Zoe going to make it through his addiction, or will next week’s problem–that Kevin wants kids and Zoe doesn’t–tear them apart? Not to mention, SOPHIE! Boy, those teaser previews really know how to tease, don’t they?
I cried like a baby when Kate was so tender with Toby and baby Jack. It wasn’t my favorite episode either, till that scene. Hospital waiting rooms are not fun so I guess the writers milked that.
As a mother waiting for her daughter to survive an emergency C section I can attest to how focused you become. All of my grandchildren have been born via C section, all have spent time in NICU, it’s awful! Sitting in the waiting room, holding your breath until someone reminds you to breathe because YOUR baby COULD DIE! You don’t want either of them to die, but, you already know your child, you love them both, but you know your child you don’t know that baby…awful!😥😥😥
Wow, this episode brought out the worst in Randall and Kevin. Not one of my favorites, took too long to be in the waiting room…at least for me!
And poor Madison, I think she should have been there! Keven was too mean to her and I thought surely Rebecca was going to step in and say she could stay.
I’m sorry but Rebecca remembering when she was in the hospital waiting for Jack, she’s married to Miguel now and I feel bad for Miguel. He definitely is second fiddler to Jack.
Why did I know that water was not water that Kevin had. Poor Zoe, I’m not crazy about her but I felt bad for her!
i thought that Randall’s idea of Rebecca and Miguel helping out with the kids was a great idea but it got squashed when they said they were thinking of moving to be close to Kate and the baby!
I was glad that Kate and Toby named their baby Jack! 🙂