This Is Us Season 5 Episode 3 “Changes” Review
Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.
This Is Us returned with a whole new episode on November 10—a week after the 2020 Presidential Election—about the Big Three’s present-day struggles connecting back to their time in the eighth grade. While this flashback story about the Big Three going through puberty might seem minor on the surface, in true This Is Us fashion, we’re shown the origin story of the Big Three’s present-day struggles.
Let’s start with number one Kevin, who has a workout addiction. His portion of the flashback story revealed when he and his dad started working out together, and how that lead to him getting addicted to working out—how he can’t go a day without getting a second workout in there. He also clearly told Madison with so much honesty, “I’m an alcoholic and workout addict with daddy issues.”
Kevin’s shared this with Madison because she disclosed her eating disorder and how that’s affecting her pregnancy—with how everyone’s telling her how big she’s getting and the pounds she has to gain due to eating more. She had to put the babies’ ultrasound on the refrigerator to remind herself to eat for their sake. Honestly, Madison’s character development was so unexpected whose been in the show since the “Pilot”, but I’m not 100% convinced that Kevin’s married to Madison in the flashforward just yet.
Let’s get moving onto Number 2 Kate. The flashback story about Kate was about liking a boy who joined her Group Project. She assumed the boy joined her group because he liked her, but it turned out that he liked deserts. Kate called him a “desert groupie”, and I’m thrown back into Pen15 mentality. Middle school was the absolute worst, seriously who invented that awkward era?
This connects to Kate’s present-day storyline because she’s getting too attached with Ellie, a birth mother that she and her husband Toby matched with through an adoption agency. While things seem to be going well with Ellie, Kate, and Toby, it was getting problematic with how Kate bonded with Ellie over Buffy and texting her right away when they got home from visiting her. Toby cautioned Kate not to get too attached because Ellie could still change her mind at any time. In the flashforward, we know Toby and Kate have a daughter named Hailey, but there is no indication that this could be her origin story. This could blow up in their faces. Knowing This Is Us, let’s also have caution going into this storyline.
Number 3 is Randall Pearson. He is on the hunt for Black therapists, and he landed on the one who gave him homework. Randall sure does love doing some homework. The new therapist instructed Randall to write down a childhood story for next session—something Randall wants him to know about.
Then Randall and Beth had to deal with their oldest daughter Tess posting a profane video with another student telling their teachers to screw off because they wouldn’t stop touching Black students’ hair. Tess views the situation as standing up for herself and not staying quiet whenever she sees injustice like that happening to her or to others.
Beth and Randall are of course angry with Tess for handling the situation the wrong way, but Randall does admit he’s a little proud because when he was younger and something Anti-Black happened, he’d stay quiet and bury it—which is why he’s in therapy now. The conversation led us to his flashback story and the story he will write down for his therapist to learn.
Kate’s eighth-grade friend Tanya—from her Group Project—was putting the moves on Randall. When he rebuffed her advance to kiss him, she told him that she always wondered what it’d be like to kiss someone like him. When his mother Rebecca asked how his day was after and what he thought about Tanya, Randall told her that Tanya was nice and buried what he actually thought. Randall even admitted in the writing that he never told this story to anyone before too. Randall is going to make great progress in therapy. We believe in you, Number 3!
This Is Us is also continuing to tease us with Randall’s birth mother being alive, and how it’s connected to a story about an old Vietnamese man and his granddaughter that bookended the episode in the beginning and the end. The time period is still unclear for this storyline, but it’s connected to the old Vietnamese man who was a former lover of Randall’s birth mother. I have no idea what this means, but I’m ready to get answers like right now!
Overall, I enjoyed this episode of This Is Us. I’m so happy this show is back and ready to teach us more uncomfortable lessons about life and the new normal regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter 2020 Movement. Yes, those things are still happening—don’t let your guard down, y’all. Keep being safe out there.
Anyway, the fans need to hear this stuff more than ever—to cry, relate, and learn through the power of storytelling. Thanks so much for reading this episode review. I’ll see y’all when the next episode drops!