This Is Us Review: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning (Season 3 Episode 9)

This Is Us marks the end of its fall season run with a surprisingly subdued mid-season finale.

This newest installment may not have a whole lot of grand show topping moments to win us over but This Is Us Season 3 Episode 9, “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” still delivers a whole lot of feelings.

Despite signifying a brief end as the show goes on hiatus for winter break, the episode’s main priority is to continue building on all storylines introduced this season — even the ones we are not too keen on continuing.

It has been a bumpy ride for Randall this season as he pursues his political dreams and for viewers as well with several inadequate and disappointing arcs plaguing his campaign.

However, for a short time this season, things had started to look up for Randall as he became more confident in his reasons for running. And with confidence in Randall, there was also hope that this storyline wouldn’t be a waste of This Is Us‘ talents.

Now it turns out Randall running for office is just a plot device being used to create more marital problems between him and Beth. Even if Randall ends up miraculously winning the electoral race — which I’m sure he will having been raised by Jack Pearson himself — he isn’t going to win back his wife and that will only cause more squabbling.

One can only take so much squabbling.

All that time spent with Randall’s campaign could have been better spent developing a stronger storyline for Tess as she comes to terms with her sexuality or with Deja as she reconnects with her mother.

This is especially true with Tess, who brings that signature gut-wrenching emotion to the episode that we’ve come to embrace with this show. Her courage to confide in her parents for support as she explores her sexuality is emotionally charged and incredibly endearing.

Tess’ journey through adolescence is turning out to have far more weight to it than Randall’s campaign. One can hope we spend more time exploring the lives of Randall’s family rather than his time spent banished to the couch when This Is Us returns in January.

Now that the weaker moments in this episode have been addressed, let’s talk about that end of the episode montage — and how awesome it truly is!

It’s a shame almost all the important content of “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” happens in the final two minutes but what an epic two minutes they are.

First off, we learn that the her referenced in the flash forwards is most likely Rebecca.

This is really surprising considering Rebecca is the last person anyone would expect to be the center of a This Is Us mystery. I mean she would already be up there in age by the time of the flash forward and she’s not exactly a central character in the present either.

But the childhood game Beth is taking to visit Randall’s mother suggests Rebecca could be very ill and possibly stuck in the past mentally.

This not only gives Rebecca another potentially impactful storyline in the future, but it also opens the door for This Is Us to dredge up her past in what is sure to be devastating ways.

Not too mention the impact this will have on her present-day storyline going forward. I mean does Rebecca’s wrists and neck hurt because she shoved all her feeling down when she was younger or because she’s beginning to suffer from an illness that has yet to be diagnosed?

One thing is certain, Grandma Pearson is a refreshing new version of Rebecca that we have not had the pleasure of seeing before and will hopefully see more of if the show chooses to put a more prominent focus her grandchildren in the back half of the season.

But no moment, not even Kate and Toby celebrating the gender reveal of their baby boy (so happy for them), can overshadow the fate of Jack’s brother Nick — a mystery that has surrounded This Is Us since the end of Season 2.

We have spent a lot of time with Jack in Vietnam this season knowing we would learn why he refuses to talk about his time in the war. But during a shocking reveal in the closing moments, we learn his silence isn’t because Nicky died.

A good chunk of Season 1 and Season 2 was devoted to the when and how of Jack’s death, so it’s rather ingenious of This Is Us to devote Season 3 to a mystery that explores how Nick lived rather than how he died.

It is a clever move on the show’s part to leave the circumstances of that ominous gunshot at the end of the mid-season finale unknown for now. This, of course, builds suspense but it also adds a level of weary and concern This Is Us thrives off of.

Thankfully “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” doesn’t leave us completely in the dark. The most important scene in this end montage show’s off the shadowed figure of a presumably present-day Nick and a piece of mail with his exact whereabouts on them.

The most fascinating and terrifying part of this shocking revelation is the fact that if Jack knew his brother was still alive he chose to cut Nick from his life completely. What would have to happen for Jack Pearson to give up on family? Nothing good, that’s for sure.

This Is Us just knows we’ll spend winter break rewatching the final moments of this episode as we stress over possible theories.

Much of “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” is spent dragging out what little information we have about all the current storylines, so the big reveals can swoop in at the end and wow us.

And of course, we are wowed but a little more substance in the first half of the episode would have been appreciated. Just something more than an elaborate end montage to give the indication that this mid-season finale has some stakes to it.

At least we have some satisfying answers to the Vietnam storyline and even more intriguing questions to tie us over until January.

Where you surprised by the big Nick reveal? Do you think Jack knew his brother was alive? 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 returns January 15th on NBC.

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