This Is Us Review: Toby (Season 3 Episode 5)

Plenty is obvious about what This Is Us Season 3 Episode 5, “Toby,” is trying to be.

After the hauntingly beautiful trip to Vietnam on the last episode, “Toby,” looks to bridge the gap between Kevin’s search into Jack’s past and the present. This episode’s one job is to set up the arc for the entire third season and in doing so it ends up carrying a heavy weight of responsibility on its shoulders to work.

If you are hoping an episode titled “Toby,” would shed some light on Kate’s fiancé you’re in luck. There are some intriguing insights into Toby’s home life growing up but for an episode named after him, we don’t see as much of the character as we probably should.

This Is Us makes the poor choice to showcase the root of Toby’s mental health issues in an episode with too much already going on.

Not only does his entire backstory feel less significant than Miguel fixing a fridge but insight into Toby’s depression and the stigmas surrounding his mental health are completely lost in the chaos of everyone else’s problems.

This show has a way of making every human experience they tackle feel important and emotional but for an episode that is supposed to shed light on depression, we are left with very little of that beautiful writing that makes you want to grab for some tissues.

With the theme of mental health coming up more and more in Beth and Jack’s storylines this season, one can only hope Toby’s depression will be a more prominent talking point in the coming episodes.

But again, if that’s the case then why put so much emphasis on the character in the episode title when his mental health is only going to take a back seat?

As we approach that mid-season mark, episodes tend to feel like they are just the opening act to a much bigger performance and it is clear “Toby,” is setting up for a big reveal likely coming later in the mid-season.

While the possibility of another grand emotional reveal is both exciting and terrifying for fans of This Is Us, episodes like this that try to cram information about a dozen different characters into a small time frame tend to feel underwhelming in their need to be overwhelming.

The transitions in this episode don’t have the same seamless feel to them.

As the Big Three branch off on separate adventures it’s feeling less and less like they are connected. In a show where the format involves giving everyone equal moments in the spotlight without a way to connect these current storylines, it feels like the show is pushing bigger arcs aside to focus on less important ones.

That being said with an episode attempting to pull the audience in several different directions, the Vietnam storyline still manages to stand out.

Seeing Kevin reconnect with his father’s past while establishing a romantic relationship with Zoe is leading to some great material for the couple. I particularly like how the show briefly addresses the issues they will face as a biracial couple.

The bittersweet cherry on top to this storyline is the reveal that the necklace Jack gifted to Kevin actually belonged to a girl he met in Vietnam.

Obviously, the handsomely perfect Jack Pearson wasn’t single all those years before meeting Rebecca and yet the thought of seeing him with another woman is a surprising concept — and an intriguing one.

One storyline that just seems completely out of place, however, is the reveal of how Miguel came into Rebecca’s life after Jack’s death.

While it is completely necessary to show us how Miguel ended up with Rebecca, I don’t think an episode focused around Toby’s mental health is the best timing for this revelation. I mean present day Rebecca and Miguel aren’t even featured in this episode.

We want to get to know Miguel and forgive him for taking Jack’s place in the Pearson patriarchy, but just not right now when his story is so easily overpowered.

“Toby” is clearly leading towards a big reveal, but in being so concerned about the future of the show it feels like This Is Us has completely forgotten about the importance of the present in this episode.

One can only hope with everything going on in this episode — because there is a lot — these new arcs that have been introduced for side characters like Beth, Toby, and Miquel end up going somewhere in the coming episodes. For the sake of their Pearson group chat, these three better get the screen time they deserve in Season 3.

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

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

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