This is Us season 6 episode 4 recap: Don’t Let Me Keep You

This article contains SPOILERS for This Is Us season 6 episode 4

As Jack says goodbye to his late mom, he struggles to find the words for his eulogy in this week’s emotional episode of This Is Us season 6.

Catch up on everything from last week’s episode here!

When we last were with the Pearsons in This Is Us season 6, 1980s Jack just received a phone call informing him that his mother Marilyn (Laura Niemi) passed away. This is the same mom Jack saved from her abusive and alcoholic husband Stanely (Peter Onorati), something that delayed his relationship with Rebecca but something he knew was for the better.

This Is Us season 6 episode 4: Jack struggles to keep up

This episode kicks off with Jack and Rebecca packing for his trip alone since bringing three six-year-olds on a multi-hour road trip is not good for anyone. Jack is seen driving from Pittsburgh into Ohio, something that draws parallels to when he initially drove his mom to the Buckeye State to escape the shared evil man in their lives. When Jack arrives in Ohio, he is greeted by his mom’s cousin Debbie (Camryn Manheim), who shows disdain for Jack since he hasn’t been around in 13 years. Jack tries overcompensating financially by offering to buy the casket, plot, and flowers, but Debbie informs him that his mom Marilyn took care of it all to not be a bother.

Jack braves his way into his late mom’s bedroom, where he tries to find a dress his mom can wear. While there, he finds a cat in the room. Debbie informs him that the cat now belongs to Mike, his mom’s boyfriend. Jack brings the cat over and has a conversation with a strange man who knows his own mother better than him. Jack is stunned to hear about this woman who was genuinely happy and had a distinct smile and laugh. Mike tries to tell Jack about how they met at a local coffee shop and that Marilyn loved him for saving her from her evil husband, but this only makes Jack get anxious, and he leaves Mike’s house.

The next morning, Jack wakes up to work on the eulogy but is struggling to write it. He tries going to the coffee shop where she met Mike — but still no luck. That night, he goes to a bar (this is pre-sober Jack) and finds Mike with Debbie and another woman having drinks in remembrance of their Marilyn. Jack joins and is seen using alcohol to cope with the myriad of emotions he is feeling but is unable to truly express.

This Is Us season 6 episode 4: Classic destructive behavior from Jack

Jack gets back from the bar, dials the phone, and calls his dad Stanley. Without any introductions, Jack tells him Marilyn is dead. Jack drunkenly tells the bane of his existence that this evil man hung over Jack for all these years, and that is the reason why he missed his mom’s beautiful and happy second chance at a happy life. Stanley tries to say he will show up to the funeral to pay his respects to the woman he loved even though Jack tries to stop him.

On the morning of the funeral service, Jack informs Debbie of his intoxicated mistake before finally picking a dress for his mom. Jack finds some ice skates Marilyn purchased for the Big Three when they were old enough. This leads to a flashback of his mom visiting him and his family in Pittsburgh but being on edge that Stanley might show up at any minute. The two make tentative plans to have Jack, Rebecca, and the kids visit her so the kids can learn how to ice skate in a pond near her house. After a brief call before the service, we see Jack call Rebecca, explaining how they never found the time to follow through with those plans.

Throughout the episode, there were two running themes. The first was the weekly calls between Jack and his mom, and the other was of an unknown boy who might be Charles Foster Kane sledding down a snowy hill all alone. The calls are something every one of her friends knew was important to Marilyn because that is when she could talk to her heroic son. The sledding boy turned out to be adolescent Jack Pearson when we see a young Marilyn help Jack hide the breaking of his sled from his erratic father.

This Is Us season 6 episode 4: Saying goodbye for the last time

When it is time for the funeral, Debbie reads one of her original poems — a passion she shared with her cousin. When it’s Jack’s turn, however, his eulogy starts off as rough as one would expect it to after his failure to prepare.

But then the door opens, and Jack looks up to see Rebecca and his triplets arriving at the service. Jack then finds the words when he explains how he and his mom built new and joyful homes following their shared traumatic one, and they struggled to be in the other one’s life since a part of them was still stuck at that traumatic home. Jack and Marilyn both had this understanding, even if it was subconscious, but Jack realizing that at this moment makes him overcome with emotion as he says his final goodbye to his mom.

After the service, Jack, Rebecca, the Big Three, Debbie, and Mike all head back to Marilyn’s house and hang out with Mike, showing the little kids some pro-wrestling moves. The gang all go out to that pond Marilyn always talked about and enjoy some ice skating. Back home, Jack makes a snack his mom always made, which makes Jack take a second by himself. When Rebecca comforts him, all he says is “I don’t have a mom anymore” before embracing his lovely wife. The episode of This Is Us season 6 ends with Jack and Rebecca returning to their adorable kids.

Did you also cry like a blubbering idiot watching this episode? What storyline are you looking forward to getting closure over the last few episodes? Let us know your thoughts and answers in the comments below!

Watch the next episode of This Is Us season 6 airing Tuesday night, February 1st, only on NBC, and streaming the next day on Peacock and Hulu!