The Ride
Episode 9 of This Is Us Season 5 gravitates around that memorable first car ride home with the babies. In the past Jack and Rebecca try to juggle changing 3 babies while setting up the car seats. With no manual, Jack eventually turns them around and tries to settle his breathing. Amusingly, this ties in with the present too, as Kevin starts trying to sort out the car seats. This tension is amplified too when Kevin learns that Madison is given the green-light to head home that day. This causes some new Dad fears to grow as they prepare to head home. They’re not alone though, as a montage sees each of the Big Three doing the same thing. The car ride is certainly eventful, as Kevin is followed by paparazzi. Interestingly, a lot of his moments mirror what’s happening with Jack in the past. Thankfully Madison is there to calm Kevin down and she manages to stop anything untoward happening with the journalist. Unlike Kevin though, Jack finds himself bubbling with nervousness in the past, downing a small bottle of whiskey and trying hard not to let the new Dad jitters get to him. These two characters are so intertwined this week that we receive a really touching dream sequence between Jack and Kevin. They both talk about being a parent and the ups and downs that brings. Jack tells Kevin to stop being like him and to go after being his own person. When Kevin awakens, he finds himself in the car fast asleep. Heading inside, he finds Madison with the kids on the sofa. He makes a big decision and asks Madison properly if she’ll marry him. Meanwhile, Ellie has second thoughts and outright admits that she can’t do an open adoption with Kate and Toby. Back home, the couple talk about her sudden change of heart and how hard all of this must have hit her. In fact, there’s harder news to come; Toby has been laid off from work. As the episode closes out, we cut back to the future timeline as Annie, Deja and Tess show up at the house where Randall is waiting for them. However, they’re not alone though as another car arrives. Only, we don’t get to see who that is right now.
The Episode Review
Being a Dad is the scariest thing in the world. As a Father of two myself, I remember the first time I held my kids and the feeling of heading home absolutely petrified. With my son, I was only 22 at the time and phoned the hospital for advice the minute he started crying. Eventually things settled down and I still treasure all those night feeds. With my daughter, things were different. Born on Christmas Day, her birth led to a very special sort of Christmas, with Christmas dinner followed by birthday cake for every year following that. Those feelings of fear, pride and joy never really leave though, and this episode is really a tribute to new Dads around the world. It’s a beautifully touching moment and one that reinforces just why this show is so effective at stirring the emotions. While not the best episode of the season. This Is Us delivers another emotionally stirring bite of drama, one that leaves the door wide open for where this one may go next. Who’s in that car too? Is it Kate? We’ll have to wait and see on the 9th March as it appears This Is Us is taking a week’s break.
