I’ve Got This
Episode 10 of This Is Us Season 5 begins with our new parents – both in the past and present – feeding their babies. Meanwhile, Randall hides away on the porch from Beth’s Mother, although Beth reassures him that she’s leaving soon. Well, unfortunately that soon has just been delayed by another week. While Beth preps for dinner (and fends off her Mother’s judgmental comments), Malik comes over and speaks to Randall about Janelle. It turns out she’s back and wants to be in their child’s life again. Randall is taken aback, and after introducing him to his Basel planet gives some sound advice that helps put Malik’s mind at ease. Elsewhere, Kevin invites Kate and Randall over for dinner. Kate is enthused, seeing it as an excuse to shower this week (thankfully she’s only joking here) while Toby’s zoom interview goes horribly wrong when the lamp falls. The interviewer seems enthusiastic though, telling him he’s a good candidate and that he’ll be in touch. Predictably, Toby anxiously checks his phone throughout the day. On the way over to Kevin’s, Toby asks Kate not to tell Kevin about him losing his job. When they get to Kevin’s, Toby receives word back from his interview – it’s not good news. The two dinners progress forward and the juxtaposing tensions are definitely felt here. Kevin and Madison’s numerous gifts and talk about a compound in Malibu certainly cause some tension for Toby and Kate. In fact, Toby believes all of this is a play against him, and immediately sets the tone and mood for the rest of the episode. Toby refuses to accept Kevin’s handouts, and shoots down Kate’s idea of heading back to work too. Things eventually blow up, with Toby bringing up the class differences between the two families. The two families do eventually patch up their differences though with a shake of the hand. However, the hangover from this certainly gets Kevin thinking. Meanwhile at Randall’s house, Beth’s Mother continues to fire over snidey comments while the rest of the family issues blow up. Eventually this leaves Randall, Beth and her Mother at the table. Beth finally speaks her piece, telling her Mother she doesn’t feel like she can be herself until she goes home. This prompts Beth’s Mother to get up and begin silently packing her things. The Malik situation sees Deja and Randall talk outside on the porch. It’s a pretty touching conversation, with Deja confirming that Randall is her number 1. Together, they begin looking through Janelle’s Instagram feed, cracking jokes. Elsewhere, Kate receives some advice from Rebecca regarding finances, which is enough to propel her into confidently talking to Toby. She’s going to take a job offer at Jack’s school and promises Toby that they’re going to be okay. As the episode closes out, Nicky shows up at Kevin’s door.
The Episode Review
This Is Us returns this week with a solid episode, a poetic slice of drama that contrasts these different families and their finances over dinner. The reveal surrounding Beth’s Mother was a really nice touch while Kevin’s sudden realization that he’s living in a different world to Kate and Randall is a pretty big hammer blow to him too. Throughout the episode we also saw Jack’s strained finances in the past. I know I didn’t write it in the recap above but to be honest there wasn’t a lot to talk about there. The financial situation and strain with a newborn is always tough and as someone who’s been on that poverty line in the past (One week I had to choose between topping up my electric or buying baby milk. That was fun!) money can be a massive source of stress and worry. You find yourself constantly working out finances on your calculator, constantly reaching that same glum realization that you have no money and struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here, we see that play out with both Toby and Jack’s storyline but much like the past, it seems like Kate and Toby are going to be okay now that the former is about to get a job. The ending with Nicky certainly leaves the door wide open though and quite where this one will go next remains to be seen.
