Well folks, we finally got that big, juicyThis Is Ustwist weve been waiting for.
Kate and Toby are having a boy!
I kid, of course.
THIS IS US — “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” Episode 309 — Pictured: Sterling K. Brown as Randall — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC).Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Seriously guys: If Randall and Beths marriage isnt safe, what is?
But one things for sure: This show knows how to reel you back in.
But Kevin is still seeking answers above all else.
The man responds in Vietnamese with Kevin and Zoes tour guide from the hotel interpreting that he does not.
Instead, the man tells his own story.
It may not be the answer youre looking for, but maybe its the answer to something bigger.
The other big scene comes courtesy of Tess.
As The Beginning opens, shes moody and surly, moping around the house without interacting.
But Tess lashes out in response, saying she doesnt want to talk about it.
Rebecca respects her wishes but connects to her later.
She tells Tess to talk to her parents when she feels ready.
And so Tess does joining her parents late at night in the kitchen.
I think I might like girls, not boys, she admits through heavy tears.
I didnt want to tell you guys because I didnt want it to become a thing.
All props to Susan Kelechi-Watson for her emotionally full acting in response.
Beth says, We love you no matter what.
Look at your dad.
The whole scene is lovely.
(That Tobys crippling depression fits into this template feels offensively unfortunate.)
This episode its Kates job.
So she gives the gig up.
But Kate explains she needs something other than the baby to focus on.
Kate feels desperate to work, to have something thats her own.
And thats about it!
Needless to say, theyre thrilled with the result.
Or is there really no struggle here?)
Brown rants about Randall raising the communitys taxes.
Randall keeps stumbling until he gives a rousing speech, the crowd roaring in his favor.
(We couldve done with one fewer reaction shot of the crowd passionately nodding along.)
Alas, this did not happen.
But what comes next does inform one of the episodes two big reveals.
Randall, in a moment that feels a bit out of character, turns her down.
She appears stunned for the first time, it seems like they could be irrevocably out of sync.
She leaves and gathers bedding for Randall to sleep on the couch.
Beth is working at what looks like a ballet company and agrees to see Rebecca on Tess message.
But she and Randall arent talking.
The other game-changer takes us back to Vietnam.
Early scenes from the war in the episode depict Nicky as increasingly lost, unable to be helped.
He keeps getting high.
He keeps lashing out at Jack.
One day Nicky disappears.
Jack goes looking for him but cant find him.
Then, the sound of a huge explosion and news of a boat blowing up in the river.
Is it Nicky, as wed assume?
Jack dives into the water and swims faster than he probably ever has before on exactly that thinking.
But its the last we see of the scene.
Instead, were taken back to the present, where Kevin and Zoe are getting ready to head home.
The tour guide offhandedly mentions theres no indication that anyone in Kevins family died in the war.
My uncle died in the War, Kevin reminds.
But the guide says he checked the database and theres no one under Nickys name.
Did Nicky fake his own death?
What did Jack know?
What does anyone else know?
So many new questions.
But well have to wait until next year to start getting some answers.
