This Is Us Season 5 Episode 9 "The Ride" Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Last episode we saw a bunch of babies (the new “Big Three”) brought into the world. This newest episode we saw them all get taken home on “The Ride” in both past, present, and future. There are multiple storylines about driving newborn babies home. Let’s kick it off with Jack and Rebecca in the past!

Jack and Rebecca leave the hospital with the Big Three, and this car ride was the most emotional out of the ones shown. They leave the safety of the hospital, become quite overwhelmed, and they must also process the loss of their third child Kyle. So, when a douchebag driver cut them off on the road… let’s just say Jack was about to explode. It took Rebecca begging him to come back to the car to calm him. That, and alcohol. The series continues to dismantle Jack’s “perfect dad” image by showing us that he is like a real person with real issues. He was not perfect. He was amazing, but not perfect.

The quiet car scene—with the Big Three babies fast asleep—was beautiful character development for both Jack and Rebecca. They unloaded on each other their terror of failing like their parents.

Rebecca is processing Kyle’s loss, and fears she won’t be a great mother. Jack fears he’ll become like his alcoholic father, and came too close to unleashing “his dad’s rage”. It’s honest and raw and something the series will likely explore further later on. They have each other though—Jack and Rebecca—and assured each other that they won’t be like their parents. I enjoyed the sitting in car scene. The best conversations happen inside a car for some reason. Don’t ask me why. That’s the way of life.

In the present day, Kevin and Madison are driving with their baby twins home from the hospital. Madison forces Kevin to nap, after noticing he was enraged about a paparazzi following him for pictures.

During the nap, Kevin dreams of his dad Jack and finally lets go of the idea that he must be like Jack. Dream Jack tells Kevin about his fears of becoming like his dad, and all that did was waste time. Then, Dream Jack ends the speech by telling his son to decide what he wants and to go get it. This drove Kevin to propose because what he wants is a family.

We also got a Beth and Randall hospital home trip when Annie was born. Randall was being extra about having another child, which irritates Beth because they literally had one two seconds ago. Randall explaining why he wants to keep his tree growing makes sense, but it was ill-timed. Of course, being ill-timed is something Randall is known for.

This tree metaphor does extend to the flashforward though when we meet Adults Annie and Deja for the first time. Deja is trying to become a doctor, and she is secretly pregnant too! Only Annie knows about it at the moment, but Future Randall is going to be psyched for her—we already know!

The Kate-Toby car ride with Ellie and baby Haley was awkward and sad when Ellie revealed she didn’t want to do open-adoption anymore. It was all too much for her! However, Katie pushed her to reconsider, and that caused Toby to be the calm one. Seriously? Toby was the calm one this time around.

Toby was still calm after he lost his job too. Kate and Toby are in a much better place compared to seasons 3 and 4. But the flashforward scene is telling us this won’t last…

Overall, what an interesting episode centered around car rides. I enjoyed it for the most part. This Is Us is finding its footing again even in a pandemic.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! See you all soon for the newest episode coming out!