This Is Us Review: Number Three (Season 2 Episode 10)

What This Is Us Season 2 Episode 10, “Number Three,” is able to achieve is conclude an interesting set of episodes that allow each Pearson child to have their moment in the sun.

On this episode — and the show’s winter finale — It’s Randall’s turn.

As “Number Three” hinges on Randall and Beth’s ultimate decision to let Deja go back to her mother, we look at parts of Randall’s life that led him here, including a previously unseen conversation with William and a road trip with Jack.

As difficult as it is to watch the goodbye unfold, it’s a relief that Randall and Beth come to their senses regarding Deja.

Reunification is integral to the foster care process, and while the two were growing attached to their foster daughter, and providing for her a loving home, giving Deja another chance to be with her mother is probably the right call. 

The driving memory that helps Randall come to this conclusion is something that happens between him and William before William dies.

When the show builds on flashbacks we’ve seen previously by revealing new things, it’s honestly one of the show’s best traits.

The last time William and Rebecca saw each other, Rebecca snuck out of William’s apartment when she panicked about losing Randall. It turns out that William followed her home, and nearly reached to the Pearson doorstep.

What stopped him was the realization that Randall already had a life that William knew nothing about. He felt that he would be intruding in on that life, and decided to turn back and to not complicate things.

As William recounts this to a quiet, mindful Randall, it’s clear what this conversation will later serve for Randall when he finds himself in a similar position.

Thanks again to Ron Cephas Jones for casting his usual soulful spell during his monologue, I was brought to tears — a rare feat.

The other part of the episode follows Randall and Jack as they visit not Harvard University, but Howard University — a historically black college.

While I love this subplot because it continues to explore the push and pull of Randall’s identity as a black man living with a white family, and him trying to reconcile those feelings, some of this story feels divorced from the rest of the episode.

It’s not totally clear what the connection here is, apart from Jack being a good father and trusting his son to make the right decision, but the scenes work on their own.

It’s interesting to watch this phase of Randall’s life, and I would like to see the show peel back the layers more because there is still a very reserved quality to this incarnation of Randall that I find intriguing.

By the end of the episode, the family says their goodbye to Deja, and it’s a moving, beautiful scene. While Randall and Beth are crushed, there is a lot of grace in how they handle it.

The remainder of the episode catches us up after where we left off, after Randall informs Kevin of Kate’s miscarriage.

In a really strange series of events, Kevin ends up getting arrested for a DUI with Tess in the car. To be fair to Kevin, he didn’t realize that Tess sneaked into the backseat so that she can spend more time with him, but the situation is messy and will no doubt make his relationship with his brother messier.

This is a weird note to end the episode on, but it’s clear that the lives of all of the Pearson siblings are in limbo. While things are looking are up for both Randall and Kate who choose to be hopeful of the future, where Kevin goes from here is to be determined.

Other final thoughts:

• I actually cried another time during the episode, and that’s when Sterling K. Brown gets teary after Deja hugs him. It should never go without saying, Brown so good in this episode.
• We got a glimpse of a young boy who may be the next child Randall and Beth foster. He’s adorable, so he’s got that going for him. Let’s hope we have another talented child actor in our hands.
• Of all three episodes, I think I liked Kevin’s the most, though I think all of them were strong. I like when the show experiments with form.
• I hope Kevin’s DUI forces him to get the help he needs. I’m looking forward to seeing Randall help him get that help, because I love that relationship and we haven’t gotten to see much of it lately.

What did you think of this episode of This Is Us? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

This Is Us returns on NBC in 2018.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!