This is Us 3x02 "A Philadelphia Story" Episode Review
Major Spoilers are included in this episode review.
I think this episode was a rude awakening for Randall Pearson. I said it. Kate is the worst and the rest of the family doesn’t realize this… before we get into that, let’s dive into what I was thinking as the episode progressed.
Out of the three, Randall is the most like Jack Pearson. He is a corny father who gets too involved because he wants to take care of everyone. This is most evident during the flashback sequences: in the wake of Jack’s death, Rebecca can barely function, Kevin drinks too much, and Kate eats too much. Randall is the only one who is keeping it all together and gives up the college of his dreams to make sure his family is okay — a Jack Pearson move.
This is where the worst occurs…
Kate is determined to go through IVF because she believes she is the only one who can carry on Jack’s bloodline. This is incredibly hurtful because it’s saying that Randall has nothing to offer Jack to his own children, which is wrong by the way! And it hurts Kevin too because she’s assuming he will never have kids… yeah whatever we got to focus on Randall.
The family doesn’t deserve Randall. I’m not sure how they handle this revelation, but it will most likely factor into the “her” theory somehow.
Kate and Rebecca had some tense moments with Toby going through withdrawal. Not heroin withdrawal (that joke was something), but antidepressants. He broke character and yelled at Rebecca for not understanding the situation, which lead to him storming out.
But it gives Kate and her mother the chance to talk things out about her weight… everything goes back to her weight for some reason. Like that’s all she is to this show…
William returned in some flashback sequences as well with one of the tenants, who tells Randall that he is not “one of them” because he keeps seeing all of the problems rather than seeing the beauty of it all. Can Randall get a break around here?
Kevin and Zoe’s relationship is also briefly explored, but it’s kind of nonexistent compared to everything else in the episode. We’ll get more of them later. Got to get to Vietnam sometime this season.