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This Is Us Recap: “Number Three”

By Kelly Shanaphy

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This Is Us concludes its three-part installments on each of the siblings with “Number Three,” an episode dedicated to Randall.

The culmination of his storyline involving his foster child, the episode understandably brings the tears knowing that Sterling K. Brown will knock it out of the park. Sadly, the Pearson’s have to say goodbye to one of the members of their family in this latest installment.

Early in “Number Three,” Randall and Beth learn that the charges against Shauna have been dropped which means she’s now demanding her daughter be returned to her. She shows up at their house in the middle of the night with the intention of getting Deja back right then but is talked down to the young girl to wait until things can be done legally.

While she’s just a desperate mother hoping to get back her only child, Randall and Beth are more worried about the erratic behavior she showcased. While the social worker is suggesting Deja be returned to Shauna, the two foster parents decide to take legal action to prevent their reunion.

After dropping the kids off at school, Randall reminisces about William recounting his decision to not become a part of his son’s life despite knowing where he lived. It inspires him to realize that separating Deja and Shauna isn’t the right way to go, which Beth agrees with and the two are forced to part with their first foster child.

The scene where the Pearson family says goodbye is heart-wrenching. Beth encourages her to be a good girl and to take care of her beautiful hair, a call back to their bonding over Deja’s bald patches. Tess and Annie tearfully hug their foster-sister goodbye before Deja lands on Randall. He had already asked Shauna if he could take the girls to visit, which she was against, so he puts on a brave face for everyone.

But when Deja lets him know that just because she wants to go home doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love living with the Pearsons, is when he begins to break down. Finally, she parts with a hug, marking the first time she’s allowed Randall to touch her and then he finally falls apart.

Fast forward to the scene where Kevin winds up on Randall’s doorstep looking for help. After the two learn about Kate’s miscarriage, Randall is the first to call her. He notices his brother is hitting the vodka pretty hard in the morning but accepts his excuse that he’s just tired from his alumni award.

Kevin ends up getting in the car the moment his brother leaves and races down the highway without a care in the world. Unfortunately, Tess has hidden away in the backseat in a bid to run away from home and drunk Kevin is terrified. Turns out, he gets arrested for a DUI with his niece in the back seat which leaves Beth and Randall livid with anger at the end of “Number Three”.

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In the past, Randall is visiting Howard University, a historically black university/college otherwise known as an HBCU. “Number Three,” doesn’t offer up anything new about Randall’s feelings of an outsider throughout his youth but the scenes are still moving and powerful. When Jack and Randall finish up the tour, they end up going to the Vietnam Memorial where the former opens up to the latter about his experiences in the War. Unfortunately, their bonding is broken up by the news of Kevin’s injury and they rush back to get to the hospital.

While all three installments were impressive storytelling for This Is Us, it’s surprising to say that “Number Three,” was not the best. “Number One,” was easily the most effective because it finally gave Kevin some much-needed character development and the scene of him crying out for help was so powerful.

Next: This Is Us Recap: “Number Two”

It will be interesting to see how the ramifications of the past three weeks will affect the Pearson family now that all of their problems are out on the table.

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