Overall, it feels lacking in energy, and many of the subplots have a perfunctory rhythm.
The strongest aspect of this episode concerns Dejas mandatory visit to see her incarcerated mother.
I got this, he assures her.
Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Linda tells Deja shes going to be able to hug her mom.
But the anticipation is short lived.
Randall is heartbroken on behalf of his new foster daughter, and he unfairly lashes out at Linda.
Sometimes I cant help but wondering if anyones actually looking out for these kids, he snaps.
I know how much you were looking forward to seeing your mom, he says.
He just wants to be supportive.
(I really love her, he says to the jeweler.)
Its all pretty morose, the sight of Kevin sinking lower and lower.
I dont know how to be a father to our kids.
I dont have anything to give you…. Im an empty shell.
Sophie tells Kevin that hes spiraling and says hes not himself, but he keeps on.
She slams the door and leaves him in the cold.
Kate and Toby, meanwhile, seem to only be growing closer.
Yet when they arrive at the courthouse, theyre disarmed by just how unromantic it feels.
I dont think that this is what she wants to do.
So what does Toby do?
Pull off a grand romantic gesture, of course.
In an elaborate sweatshirt-removing proposal, Toby spells out Will you marry me?
(The question mark gets its own article of clothing.)
He formally proposes, and, in happy tears, Kate accepts.
Bets on season 2 ending with a wedding?
On one side, we have Rebecca and Jack in the courtroom.
Bradley gives the couple a blunt opinion: He says Randall should grow up with a black family.
What follows is a powerful monologue about discovering his own black identity and wanting that for Randall.
Rebecca tries arguing their case but fails.
Later, she sends him a letter with a family portrait attached, asking him to reconsider.
(Headherefor executive producer Isaac Aptakers take on Randalls adoption.)
The same could be said for the time we spend with William in the episode.
The judge says to remember his face.
Suddenly, theres a knock at the door: Randall.
Its the moment they meet in the pilot, when Randall tells William hes his biological child.
Its the moral of Randalls arc in the episode that brings these many disparate parts together.
Her face is brutally beaten, which she says is why she didnt want Deja to see her.
Randall says she still made her own choices; Shauna responds angrily.
You wound up over there because, no doubt, things broke your way, she tells him.
Shaunas story parallels Williams in the sense that both indicate how circumstances can get in the way of choices.
Its something Randall realizes after returning home, where he tells Beth about their conversation.
Suddenly our two thin story lines fit within the main story of The Most Disappointed Man.
