This Is Us Roundtable: Did ‘Vegas, Baby’ Episode Hit the Jackpot?

It would seem what happens in Vegas does not necessarily stay in Vegas when This Is Us returned this week with a new episode that saw the Pearsons and friends visit Vegas for Kate and Toby’s bachelor/bachelorette parties and ended with Randall and Beth making a startling discovery about their foster child Déjà.

Tell-Tale TV writers Alicia Gilstorf, Lauren Busser, and Starry Constellation Magazine writer Jamie Steinberg discuss This Is Us Season 2 Episode 16, “Vegas, Baby” below.

Alicia Gilstorf (@AliciaGilstorf)

Lauren Busser (@LaurenBusser)

Jamie Steinberg (@NotYerAvgChick)

Of all the interactions in this episode what stood out as your favorite?

Alicia: Weirdly enough, I loved the interaction between Toby and Madison before they left for Vegas. Just her twisting his name into different things throughout the conversation and Toby pretending to be annoyed was such a laughable moment.

Her “you guys are so Mike & Molly. I can’t stand it,” comment and Toby whispering, “I hate you so much,” made me chuckle.

Jamie: I loved Randall and Kate this episode. It was SO sweet that as a kid he watched Sex In The City with her to cheer her up/keep her company. That’s what a good brother would do!

Lauren: Like Jamie, I really love Randall and Kate and until this episode, I never realized how little we saw them interact one on one. It’s always been Kate and her dad, or Kate and her mom, or Kate and Kevin, and they haven’t really had many great moments. So it was really enlightening to see them together in this episode.

We know This Is Us can do tragedy quite well, but do you feel the show does a good job when it comes to lighter moments like the bachelor/bachelorette parties?

Alicia: Sometimes I get so invested in the drama of this show that I forget how good the lighter moments are with the Pearson Family. The comedy is good but I love the scenes where you don’t even notice the transition between the heavier and lighter moments because they all blend together and feel like a natural advancement in the conversation.

Jamie: I think the show does a great job of balancing both comedy and drama. While they were at Magic Mike, they still had a heavy moment of Randall, Kate, and Beth needing to clear the air. It was a great juxtaposition of silly and serious.

Lauren: It’s cliche, but you can’t have light without the dark, and there definitely are some funny moments in this series. I think Kate’s bachelorette really does stand out as a more lighthearted moment, but it is still rife with tension. I also, honestly think the soundtrack does wonders when it comes to coloring how to feel in these moments.

We are beginning to see similarities between the Big Three and their parents. Kevin has an alcohol problem, while Randall and Beth seem to have a similar relationship to Jack and Rebecca, especially when fighting. Do you think this is a coincidence or could we see more similarities moving forward?

Alicia: I do think there are some similarities. Seeing the Big Three plan an anniversary that would rival Jack’s own plans is an early example of just how much they are like their father. I see Jack in Randall the most, especially when he continues to put Déjà first and she’s not even really in his life. It was what Jack did with Randall in the hospital the day he was born.

Jamie: Well, that’s a good question. Obviously, your parents’ relationship rubs off on you. So, it’s probably a little bit of mirroring with a splash of coincidence.

Lauren: I think we’re definitely going to see more similarities going forward, but I think they’re going to manifest themselves in different ways and under different circumstances. In a show about family, I think that’s kind of unavoidable, but I think they bring everything out in interesting ways.

How adorable were the Big Three trying to beat Jack at his own game and plan their parent’s anniversary?

Alicia: That whole anniversary was the cutest! When Kevin started crying because Jack forgot to turn the stove on I just laughed because Jack does not have the best of luck with kitchen appliances. And Rebecca realizing they had created a bunch of mini Jacks was just the best.

Jamie: It was so cute! Clearly, we saw the beginning of Kevin’s acting career with those crocodile tears pretending he was worried his parents were going to get divorced. Then, the sweet card that led them to the roof…SO ADORBS!

Lauren: That was definitely a 14/10 on the cuteness factor. They really tried and got really into it. And it was a very low-key anniversary in the end.

Randall and Beth had several disagreements in this episode. Is there anything that stood out as interesting or surprising to you about their fight?

Alicia: Beth has been portrayed as cold in most of her and Randall’s disagreements, so I loved how during this argument she actually got to show that she has just as much heart as Randall she just doesn’t show it in the same ways as her husband.

Jamie: Neither of them wanted to admit how invested they really were in Deja. They were told not to get attached to her and clearly, that didn’t work out since both of them really didn’t want to admit how much they wanted her back.

Lauren: Their arguments didn’t really surprise me. In the end, these arguments were really about two people approaching a difficult situation in different ways. Randall was worrying constantly, which fits his character, while Beth is more in the moment. I think a lot of their fights were just about perspective on the issue.

Was there a specific quote from “Vegas, Baby” that stood out to you?

Alicia: There were a lot of good ones, but my favorite came from Kevin’s hotel maid. Kevin’s audible sigh of disappointment afterward was hilarious.

Renata: You’re Rehab Manny who got drunk and ran over his daughter with a car.

Jamie: Oh, Jack has the best quotes ALWAYS.

Jack: A big grand gesture, it’s not about the actual thing that you do…It’s about intent. It’s about taking the time to tell the person you care about, I see you I hear you, I know exactly what you need right now & I’m showing how important that is to me.

Lauren: I think going off of Jamie’s favorite quote, I love Kevin’s response: “It doesn’t hurt to have some big ass hens!” That was a good moment of levity.

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What did you think of this episode of This Is Us? Respond to our roundtable questions with your own answers in the comments below! You can also check out our review of This Is Us Season 2 Episode 14, “Vegas, Baby” right here.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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