This is Us season 3, episode 9 recap: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

The This is Us fall finale pulled out all the stops, revealing a lot, but leaving us with more questions.

After a mediocre season of This is Us thus far, the fall finale tonight did not disappoint.

Before you jump down my virtual throat, can you honestly tell me this season has been as good as the first two? I’m not saying Season 3 has been bad – it has just had a lot to live up to. Seasons 1 and 2 rose the bar, and it’s ok for a show to go through dips sometimes.

With that said, I still love the show and will watch for a long as it’s on. I mean, I’m still watching Grey’s Anatomy, even when I swore I’d never watch again after killing off McDreamy.

Without further ado, here’s your fall finale recap! I’m giving you fair warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Read. This is Us Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Six Thanksgivings. light

It’s a boy!

Kate and Toby’s doctor delivers some great news, their baby is healthy and progressing normally. However, Kate’s job as a singing “Adel-a-gram” concerns her since she’d be sitting in a car for hours at a time.

Luckily Kate’s BFF Madison tells her about an open position for a choral director at her school. Kate nails the interview, but unfortunately, her lack of college degree prevents her from getting the job.

Meanwhile, Kate and Toby decline to find out the sex of their baby because they’re terrified something will happen to the baby and they don’t want to get too attached yet.

In the end, Kate decides to finish her degree, and they choose to find out the sex of the baby, and it’s blue for a boy!

Take a chance on Randall Pearson

Randall seems distracted leading up to his debate with Councilman Brown. And for pretty much the entire debate, Brown steamrolled Randall. I wanted to punch Brown square in the face.

When Randall tries to connect with the audience by sharing his personal experiences and is mocked by Brown, Randall puts down the microphone, picks up his binder and sits on the steps. He speaks to pages of “I’ll-look-into-its,” complaints and issues filed by citizens from over the past several years that are still unresolved.

Randall promises to fill the potholes (that is an issue all over Philly, let me tell you) and help shovel the sidewalks himself. The crowd eats it up, and he feels invigorated. The only problem is, he’s losing the campaign, and there’s no way he will win.

His campaign manager suggests he drop out of the race.

Back at home, Deja asks to visit her mom in Delaware, who now has a job and a place of her own. And after Rebecca lets it slip to Tess that she knows that she may be into girls, (gee, thanks Aunt Kate), Tess decides to tell her parents.

Before I continue, I have to say how beautifully done that scene was. The anxiety a young teenage must feel to come out to the two people she loves and trusts most in the world is probably massive. I felt that anxiety through the brilliant performance of Eris Baker. Randall and Beth’s response couldn’t have been more perfect: supportive, loving, and genuine. It was one of the more beautiful moments of the entire series.

It makes me sad that Randall and Beth end the fall finale with Randall sleeping on the couch. He won’t drop out of the race. Beth reasons with him saying life is complicated and the family needs him, but so does the 12th district and he won’t concede, even though he promised he would drop out if Beth didn’t support it. Not a good move Randall!

Back in Vietnam

Again, Jack’s war flashbacks run parallel with Kevin and Zoe’s visit to Vietnam.

Jack struggles to connect with Nicky, who just wants to be left alone. But the whole reason he’s in Vietnam was to protect his brother. He begs Nicky’s CO for more time, but he’s rejected.

Nicky just wants to forget and gets high to help numb his pain. Jack may not understand that now, but in the future, he self-medicates with alcohol.

In the present day, Kevin and Zoe travel to Jack’s village. With the help of a translator, he meets a man who is a local historian, who I initially thought was the little boy Jack treats during the last episode, but it’s not.

The man is kind. He doesn’t know the woman in all of Jack’s pictures, but he tells them that his father was part of the Viet Cong. His father used to sneak into the village to visit him and his mother.

Kevin is disappointed, but the man tries to make him feel better.

“Our fathers were enemies, but they were not so different. And now here we sit, happy, healthy, sharing a meal in a place where our fathers once fought. It may not be the answer you’re looking for, but maybe it’s the answer to something bigger.”

And that “something bigger” turns out to be one of the biggest reveals of the series.

Before Kevin and Zoe leave Vietnam, their translator tells them that he looked for Nicholas Pearson in the Vietnam War Memorial database and he didn’t find him in it. So, if Nicky died, it may not have been in Vietnam.

Cut to a man wearing glasses that looks eerily familiar. Could it by Nicky is still alive? As the camera shows an envelope addressed to Nicholas Pearson, 2125 Songbird Rd., Bradford, PA 16701, we now know what my mom called last week: Nicky is still alive!

So, what the hell happened between him and Jack?!

Next. This is Us experiences ratings low during Thanksgiving week. dark

In the future…

Another widely thought theory was that Beth was dead in the future. But she’s very much alive and now working for some ballet company. Future Randall and Future Tess call Beth from the car to let them know they’re on the way. And apparently, they’re going to see Randall’s mother.

Beth’s assistant hands her a Pin the Tail on the Donkey game from her office because she promised she would bring it with her. What the heck is going on for the future Pearsons?

Hopefully, we’ll find out when This is Us returns on January 15.

Read last week’s recap.

Watch This is Us anytime.

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