This Is Us season 6 episode 16 recap: Family Meeting

This article contains SPOILERS for This Is Us season 6 episode 16.

With Rebecca needing more care at home than expected, the Big Three sit down for an emotional family meeting in this week’s episode of This Is Us season 6.

Catch up on everything from the last episode here!

After an emotional episode dedicated to Miguel last week, This Is Us season 6 starts this week by showing audiences just how caring and loving of a mom Rebecca is. It’s the middle of the night for her three kids, all the while comedically Rebecca’s receiving no help from her heavily sleeping husband.

These wholesome clips are immediately forgotten when an elderly Rebecca wakes up in the middle of the night a week after Miguel’s passing. Rebecca’s Alzheimer’s disease makes her confused and angry that she does not have her late husband to ground her anymore.

Luckily, the Big Three are all in the house. They wake up in the middle of the night, just like the three of them did when they were babies and into their teenage years.

Kate is taking the lead on the care for Rebecca while Randall and Kevin look timid to lend their help. In the morning, viewers see how everyone is living peacefully in the house Kevin built.

Sophie, Beth, and Phillip all went into town for special bagels while Uncle Nicky and Edie are showing Madison, Elijah, and Madison’s three kids around the area of the cabin.

This Is Us season 6 episode 16: The family meeting begins

After everyone is gone, Randall speaks up and says their mom needs more stable family care now that Miguel is gone. Kevin is insulted since that went against the plan of building this house and having aides around.

Kate, being the primary healthcare proxy, is conflicted. She agrees there should be a family meeting to hash it all out.

Their better halves return but Beth noticing the energy from the Big Three takes Sophie and Phillip down to the cabin to let the siblings hash it all out. A flashback shows a recently widowed Rebecca getting a call at 1:30 am which leads her to pick up her three drunk teenage children from a house party (where Randall has a bruised face).

As she is cooking some mac and cheese for her kids, Rebecca finds out Randall got punched protecting his sister from some guy who was trying to take advantage of her because of the way she looked. During the eponymous meeting, Kate offers a therapy cat she bought for their mom so whoever holds it can speak.

Randall goes first and states that Miguel was doing a lot for her so his role needs to be filled by moving their mom to Philly with him. While this serious conversation is going on, Beth and Sophie mimic their men’s decade-long “who is the better son” contest beautifully while Phillip believes in Kate’s power to keep the peace.

This Is Us season 6 episode 16: Rebecca gives every kid what they need

During the flashback, Rebecca goes to check on Kate with a bowl of mac and cheese. She reminds her lone daughter that she has so much to offer the world.

Kate is very much in the thick of her depression while blaming herself for Jack’s death. Kate tells her mother that she and her dad were wrong about her and her greatness.

To close out how Rebecca reacted to her kids in the flashback, audiences see her bring Kevin his share of mac and cheese. She tells a teenage Kevin sternly that he can go out and drink all he wants, but he is not allowed to bring down Randall and Kate with him.

Meanwhile, the meeting is going exactly how Beth and Sophie pictured it. However, it takes a new, deeper level when Kevin states he was a pain in the butt to their mom his whole life.

He believed that building this house was the first and only good thing he did.

Randall is taken aback by this sentiment from his brother as it clearly made an impact. Even still, Senator Randall tries to do his typical ‘white knight’ persona to save his mom.

Kevin is not having any of it especially since Kate is in charge. Randall sends a jab Kate’s way as a result and distances her from him.

This Is Us season 6 episode 16: Rebecca is always doing her best

Rebecca and her aide finally come into the kitchen. It turns out Rebecca did her own make-up and it looks exactly like how a child would put on blush, eye shadow, and lipstick.

Kate takes her mom for a walk leaving Kevin and Randall alone. Randall states that this is not their mom, and they need to adapt to their plan now that they are in this position.

Down at the cabin, Phillip expresses how he doesn’t like how Beth and Sophie can joke about something so serious. Beth matter-of-factly states that, yes, she needs to blow off steam after being in this family for over 30 years.

But that doesn’t change the love she feels for the Pearson family. One night when Jack was out on a business trip, Rebecca accidentally drops baby Kate after trying to get her daughter to fall asleep for hours.

She is panicking as any new mother would, but Kate looks to still be a healthy baby. Rebecca lays down with Kate in her crib.

This scene parallels adult Kate bringing elderly Rebecca back in from their walk and sits by her mom’s bed until she falls asleep.

This Is Us season 6 episode 16: Kate calls for some back-up

Once Rebecca finally goes down for her nap, Kate calls Toby to check in on him and their two lovely children. Kate catches her former husband up on the Rebecca dilemma.

After asking if he could overstep and be blunt, Toby says Kate is a professional juggernaut but all that leaves her when she is around her brothers. He closes by saying that her mom chose Kate for a reason and reminds her to not forget that.

Eventually, the Big Three separate and go their own way after having a meeting with no solid conclusion. Randall and Beth go have a chat where Randall explains his plan, but Beth counterpoints by saying his sister and brother are not the same people they once were and not to underestimate them.

Sophie finds Kevin and he explains that he wanted to recreate the magic of their childhoods but with more grandchildren. This house was supposed to be the major catalyst for that.

Sophie beautifully validates Kevin on this image he had in his head, but it looks like he’s coming around to Randall’s idea of moving her. Just then, Kate walks up and tells her brother that she is ready to continue their meeting.

Before Kate announces her decision, she states that her brothers need to truly look at their mom and not be put off by what she looks like now. To help this, Kate brings Kevin and Randall into their mom’s bedroom to have her brothers brush their mom’s hair and apply lotion to her dry hands.

This brings back some of that compassion and care her two egomaniac brothers lost.

This Is Us season 6 episode 16: Kate’s decision on Rebecca

Flashing back all the way to when Rebecca and Jack found out they were going to have a baby, she expresses how she is not ready to be a mom. Jack reassures his wife that they can do this because it is only one baby and two of them.

Oh, how little did they know… Returning to the present day, all the adults are sitting around the next day as Kate gets ready to share her decision.

Kate and Phillip decided Rebecca will be best living in LA with them. Kevin then speaks up and says he has talked with Sophie.

They agreed they would move into the house with their mom. After Madison explains Kevin’s children will also be moving, he gets the thumbs up from Kate.

He then asks Randall who just leans in, shakes his brother’s hand, and states, “Thank you.” The episode concludes with a beautiful montage that shows the circle of life.

Rebecca looked after her three children for the first few years of their life, so it only makes sense they all chip in and give back to their lifelong caregiver. The montage ends with Kevin calling Randall saying their mom does not have much time left.

Have you also been crying at the end of every episode? Are you worried about crying too much in the final two episodes?

Whose goodbye to Rebecca is going to be the hardest? Let us know your answers and opinions in the comments below!

Watch the new episode of This Is Us season 6 next Tuesday, only on NBC!