I think I need to see a doctor, she told her concerned son.
Not only was Toby conspicuously absent, so was the other birthday boy, Randall.
When Rebecca asked Kevin where his brother was, Kevin reminded her, Were not speaking, remember?
NBC; Ron Batzdorff/NBC (2)
(Adding to the intrigue of the scene was the revelation that Kevin had a fiancee.
Make that apregnantfiancee.)
Weve got something as good as answers:Sterling K. Brown.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This was quite the holiday for Randall yet again.
[Laughs] By next season, youll see a completely different Randall.
Youll just see him eating in a corner by himself while everybody else is over at Kevins house.
Its the first Thanksgiving in Philadelphia.
And theyre like, Oh my God, are you serious?
So thats going to be an interesting thing to unpack in terms of when that disconnect happens.
Weve seen Rebecca forgetful, confused, and experiencing erratic behavior shifts.
My mom is close to 80 now and its interesting because she needs more than shes ever needed before.
Thats a tough space to occupy for both parents and child when the dynamic becomes flipped.
What is [the adult childs] place in terms of being of help?
Its something that a lot of kids who are around 40 can relate to.
And its something powerful.
Mandy was absolutely wonderful in that Thanksgiving episode.
I thought she was extraordinary in particular when shes in the Chinese restaurant and she cant find her phone.
I started crying, like, right there.
But I do think that theres something really interesting about the nature of memory.
Whats real, whats not.
He will make himself available until he uses himself up.
And that may be something that we see until he uses him up.
Thats what Randall does.
He does too much until he cant do anything else.
That will be something that will be delved into further on in the second half of the season.
And yeah, the parallels are uncanny.
Dating back to childhood, Kevin has had issues with the tight bond that Rebecca and Randall share.
Rebecca asked him on a couple of occasions to confirm that he kept this conversation between them to himself.
And theres a couple of times in which Kevin at Thanksgiving asks him point blank, Wheres Mom?
Why is she not here?
You are my brother.
But dont ever act as if you get a chance to steer this family in one particular direction.
If anything, the three of us need to make these sorts of decisions together.
… Thats going to be an interesting thing to unpack in terms of when that disconnect happens.
Hes really playing around the idea of when things happen and how he can milk them for dramatic effect.
We know that they turn out just fine in the deep future, but how bad is this fight?
Kevin told Randall hed have a wife and kid and the whole shebang by his 40th birthday.
Nine months later, he got his wish.
One read on this situation is, Good for him for pulling it together so quickly!
But another is, Um, what has he done this time?
Which way should we lean?For such a long time he was unclear.
Like, I cant see myself becoming a father.
That would be awful.
Then he finds someone who doesnt want children, hes like, Cool, were on the same page.
So I lean towards it being a positive.
Does the second half of the season spend a lot of time setting up that tense birthday?
So whether or not that is indeed the season 5 premiere on our birthday remains to be seen.
Yeah, we will set it up.
And then those things will intersect and then theyll have an episode together…
The last couple of episodes will really set up whats going to be happening in the season to come.
Its uncomfortable to watch someone that you love start to fail themselves.
Their body, their brains starting to fail themselves is something tough to watch.
Thats something that most families can relate to and will find hope in, that you come together.
