THIS IS US: “Vegas, Baby” Discussion aka For Once We’re Not Crying

This Is Us returned this week with a much needed lighter episode. Emphasis on ‘lighter’ as although we weren’t sobbing our hearts out, misunderstandings and misconceptions were a common theme of the episode (which took us to Vegas in the present and back to Jack and Rebecca’s anniversaries through the years in the flashbacks). We have A LOT to discuss so join Nice Girls Ange and Melissa as they chat about the first of the three final episodes of the season…

Ange: It’s Kate and Toby’s Bachelorette and Bachelor parties – separate celebrations because they’re already co-dependent enough as it is – and they’re off to Vegas so already the tone is set for a much lighter episode. We get a lot of cute moments from these two in their first scene alone, from them bantering about whether Toby should go for more of a George Clooney Ocean’s 11 look or a Frank Sinatra look and my personal fave, when Madison refers to Toby as “Toby Bryant”. Did you have a favorite Kate and Toby moment?

Melissa: I loved it when Kate was all sultry acting out Julia Roberts’ part in Ocean’s 11 – and Toby immediately got in character as Danny Ocean. I also got a kick out of Toby’s responses to Madison, who just brushed them off. Ha!

Ange: Despite the more fun tone, there is a bit of tension. The return of Deja at the end of last episode and its ramifications this episode led Randall to dub himself as the heart and Beth the head in their relationship. He meant it as a compliment but oh boy! Beth just wanted a fun Deja free zone and was super keen to let loose in Vegas, even suggesting “let’s take ecstasy and see the magician that got eaten by a lion”, but Randall was too caught up in being in a funk about not hearing from Deja. It was rough watching them go at it during the Magic Mike live show at Kate’s Bachelorette though. Ooof!

Melissa: That was rough because they were dealing with some real issues relating to their personalities, some real things that annoy them about each other. I’m glad we saw it, though, because while we’ve seen them in conflict before, it’s been easily smoothed over. What they were venting about in this episode is some deep, fundamental conflict. Normally they can work around it because they choose to, because they love each other, but it still bubbles to the surface occasionally. Every few years, Randall said. You know, as I was writing the above it occurred to me that they’re not really that in sync, are they? Like, when Randall is feeling playful, Beth isn’t and vice versa. Or Randall is going through some ish and makes big decisions (quitting his job, bringing his bio dad to live with them) without consulting Beth. Or Beth is frustrated with her job or another part of her life but doesn’t tell Randall. But then, why does it seem like they have such a great relationship?

Ange: That’s an interesting observation and I think it goes back to what you were saying about it being real and it being rough to see them in conflict because of it and I think because of that realness and the fact that they are able to overcome that conflict and arrive at a resolution in the end makes it seem like they have a great relationship. Does that make sense?

At the end of the ep though, after a bonding session with Kate (more on that in a sec) it was Beth’s turn to be the heart and they go to Deja’s home only to find that she and her mum no longer live there and when they go outside, Beth and Randall find them sleeping in their car. My guess? They’re going to invite Deja and her mum to stay with them for a bit.

Melissa: That’s my guess as well. I wonder if her mom will accept the offer, for Deja’s sake at the very least.

Ange: So going back to the Randall and Beth blow up for a sec, Kate can’t help but try and intervene because hey Randall’s her brother so yeah she’s going to be protective of him. Beth warns her to stay out of it and Kate ends up making a remark about how Randall chooses Beth over the rest of his family. This leads to a nice Kate and Randall scene where she tells him how she always thought he was cool and I have to say it’s really nice to see this scene between them. It gave me the feels! Also, can we talk about how after Jack’s death Randall would watch Sex and the City with Kate and eat Hot Pockets? Chivalry ain’t dead folks!

Melissa: I had no idea Kate felt that way! Bless her heart. I’m glad she got it out in the open, though, because you know Randall has felt like an outsider to Kate and Kevin for ages. Randall watching SATC with Kate reminds me of myself watching football with my brothers, uncles, and male cousins. I’m not that interested, but just sitting on the couch with them seems to count as quality time, so…

Ange: Kate and Randall’s sweet sibling moment then leads to Kate going to Beth’s hotel room, someone who before this weekend she probably had spoken to for a total of 7 minutes. Kate admits that she’s intimidated by Beth who is so put together and also she’s just not good at making friends. Beth tells her she’s far from perfect and opens up about how she’s not coping as well as it appears about losing Deja. This season has been great with bringing together characters that we don’t get to see in scenes together often!

Melissa: That bonding between the sisters-in-law was much needed. I would love to see Kate and Beth sharing meaningful looks when the men are being idiots or having inside jokes with each other. They both need good girl friends in their lives, I think they’d be good for each other.

Ange: Agreed! Let’s talk about Kevin, who is facing his demons and attempting to conquer his own Mount Everest of being sober while in Vegas. However, when he runs into a co-star who reveals she’s been cut of the film they were in and with half of his scenes being with her, Kevin’s throwing himself a pity party again. At the end of the episode he finds the courage to ring director Ron Howard who tells him he hasn’t been cut out of the film but rather he should get a tuxedo ready because the revised version of the film could gather him some pretty good attention. Things are finally looking up Kevin right?

Melissa: Um, how great was that?!? The look on Kevin’s face! Finally, something is going right for him. And he successfully avoided falling off the wagon in one of the most booze-filled places on Earth. Plus he bonded with Toby and strengthened his relationship with Randall. Pretty great trip to Vegas for Kevin if you ask me.

Ange: So great! Back to the past and Jack Pearson is once again demonstrating how perfectly imperfect he is with his anniversary gestures throughout the years. GAH STOP IT! (Seriously, he’s ruined me for any guy in real life at this point…) Tired of being outshone, Rebecca puts a ban on anniversary gestures and is “dejacking” him for the year. No fear though, because the “mini yous” are stepping up to the plate and determined to pull off an amazing anniversary celebration for their parents. Kevin in particular is very adamant that they pull of the perfect meal and it was really adorable to see him so proactive in doing something nice for his parents as opposed to complaining about not having his parents attention for once. When Rebecca said that he’s going to be a chef one day, I momentarily thought that with all the career dramas he was having that maybe he’d switch paths. (I was wrong though.)

Melissa: First, yeah, I totally thought they were laying the groundwork for Kevin to switch careers. His cooking skills have to be featured for a reason, even if he doesn’t become a famous chef. The anniversary gifts made me chuckle. Rebecca’s were thoughtful but practical. Jack’s were ridiculously romantic. I think both were appropriate for the recipient, but I get why Rebecca felt “guilty”. The kids wanting to do something for their parents was sweet, but was the very late, uncooked meal and Kevin’s “you’re getting divorced” meltdown actually part of the plan all along? They were quick to skip dinner and head to bed once they were assured no divorce was in the offing. And it took some time to put together that path to the meteor shower. I’ve got my eye on you, kids!

Ange: Ooh it didn’t occur to me that Kevin’s little meltdown could have been part of the plan too! Although dinner didn’t quite go as planned, the kids did arrange for their parents to share some alone time on the roof watching the meteor shower, this scene where Jack tells Rebecca she’s his daily meteor shower, coupled with a flashback to earlier that day where Jack and Kevin are in the car and Jack tells Kevin that grand gestures are not about being big or about what you say but rather about the intent and taking the time to tell the person that you care about that you see them, definitely tugged at the heartstrings. Dammit Jack Pearson!

Melissa: Oh Jack. He’s definitely raising the bar for real life dudes. *le sigh*

This is Us airs Tuesday 9/8c on NBC.

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